Heroes and Villains – Surviving the insignificance of YOU in EVE.

While still young by standards as a pilot in EVE it does not take much to realize that there are no clear lines of light and darkness to guide my path. As a willing and able new recruit to the wars of New Eden it is clear that no side is better than the other. Even if they all make claims to be the “good” side or the “right” side struggling against tyranny or for carebear rights or cheaper beer or whatever.

It becomes very clear early on that EVE is not about YOU being the Hero or the Villain. For many this dent to the ego is a fast track to end subscription button. This sense of being a small speck in grand scheme of it all requires one to shed the “me” mentality. So what can we do to make a difference in EVE and fill our ego meter?

To answer this I must first consider my position in the EVE big picture. To say I am at this stage just another number in a pool of three hundred thousand other like numbers would not be far from the truth. While not self glorifying or heroic in any way this position is not insignificant. See taking a number in EVE is not like taking a number at the deli line to be discarded and forgotten once you have your hot salami and Swiss cheese. This number we are granted allows us to provide influence for as long as we hold it. This influence can be measured in basic terms as our worth in skill points multiplied by our drive or ambition to use said skill points.

To make a difference in EVE you must choose to do something. It’s that simple as every action small or grand will affect another or others in EVE. Will they know it was your actions at work, perhaps yes or perhaps no. Weather they choose to react in turn with a counter action or simply continue down the path of their own choices might in turn shape your next decision. The entertainment value of these choices is the net rewards of our influence in EVE on a VERY simple level.

For me some of my choices have lead one of my characters to the wars in 0.0 as nothing more than a member of a small corporation who has joined with an alliance in Providence. I cannot tell you what effects my choice has had yet. I cannot say that I yet understand why I am here. Yet there is a sense of influence and worth from arriving here for me. This worth is that I am fighting for something and my influence is combined to a greater good even if I am not dictating what that is.

In turn my other characters now contribute to the effort as well. The ships I build are now a little more than just a means to make ISK. The stuff I haul is not just rocks and market gains. Yet in reality I am still just another number in a war. A war over a few systems someone else chose to fight for but somehow it helps me charge my ego.

Anyhow, just a perspective on one role we can play in EVE and how that role can bring worth to the ego. There are many ways one can influence New Eden and I hope a new player who might read this can set aside the “me” and become part of the “we” that makes all our egos flourish.

Cheers

EVE SOB