HALP?! How do I Get my [insert female companion title here] to Play Eve?!

This is a question I’ve been asked several times since starting Eve Online.  I’ve been asked by corp and alliance mates, those that listen to the podcast and even random people in some of the open in-game chats that I hang out in.  The inquiring pilot’s background can vary from null sec capsuleer to market trader to casual miners.  The question is always the same though.  Why doesn’t my significant other find EVE Online as fascinating as I?

The truth is; I have no freaking clue.  I don’t.  The first problem is that I don’t know your significant other.  That makes it difficult to give good advice because I have no idea of what they’re looking for in a gaming experience.  In fact, I don’t know if they even like video games to begin with.  That coupled with the fact we’re discussing EVE Online, there could be any number of reasons they don’t want to play.  Just think of all the different things current players dislike about the game.

I love this dude.

That said I’m going to try to impart some advice anyway.  Mind you, this advice comes with stipulations.  They are as follows:

1. I have no idea what I’m talking about.  Most of this will be pulled out of my ass. 
2. This is all 100% my opinion.  No facts will be included at all.  Ever.
3. Posted responses are extremely generic in order to fit to a wide variety of situations.
4. You’re reading an advice blog from a chick that plays EVE Online and is way too into ponies.  I would say use your best judgment when necessary, but let’s face it.  The fact you’re here proves you have terrible judgment anyway.

On with the gud poasting!

What’s the Point?

One of the issues with player acquisition and retention on any level is how well new players understand the game and end goals.  This becomes a problem when you look at MMO’s in general because for most people “getting to the next big shiny” is not a valid goal.  Without concrete and easily measurable goals, most people automatically feel there’s no real point or purpose. 

I'm totally borrowing this from Eelis Kiy's blog

The Solution:  The trick is to get the potential player to see how the open sandbox is a benefit more than ‘a rubix cube to go F*** yourself with.’  Take the time to explain how you can basically do anything you want.  For the nurturing and puzzle loving types there is the industrial side with its myriad of blueprints and manufacturing chains.  For those who are more adventurous there are a vast number of null sec and wormhole options.  If their play style is more aggressive, they can duke it out by participating in low sec via piracy or faction warfare.  Even those that prefer role play in rich and stimulating settings are getting their piece of the pie with live events and new changes Incarna is bringing.  EVE Online has a little something for everyone.   

Lack of Instant Gratification

Another common issue is the complete lack of “Push Button; Receive Bacon” in the new player experience.  Yes, there is a small amount of instant gratification in the form of receiving skill books after certain mission or getting a new hull after you complete the tutorial arcs, but it’s not much.  Removing training skills was a good attempt to soften this blow to the NPE and get people in to the game faster.  However, you still need the patience of Mahatma Gandhi in order to get to any serious game.  Just look at the necessity of core, fitting, gunnery, ship command, etc skills.    

The Solution:  There isn’t one.  Yes, you can trick-out their clone out with implants and set them up with the most pro skill plan ever, but… that still only helps so much.  If the potential pilot doesn’t have patience, they won’t make it in EVE Online.  As anyone who’s played EVE Online for any extended period of time knows; you need patience to do anything.  From mining to industry and even PvP, you will spend a fair amount of time waiting.  Those are the breaks. 

A Nobody with No Body? Part 1

Since the dawn of EVE Online, avatars have not played an important role.  This made EVE Online stand apart from most of its MMO competitors.   This also excluded EVE Online from a big portion of the MMO market share because… well.. people like bodies.  For some the disconnect is unbearable and the lack of personal in-game representation (not counting a ship in space) breaks their immersion.  This makes it hard for some people to ‘get in to the game.’

All about the space ships

The Solution: Incarna.  Now that Incarna has come we finally have bodies.  They are bodies stuck in one room, but we have them.  The advent of the NeX store makes it possible to dress up those bodies.  If you wait a little while (there’s that waiting again!) CCP will soon be iterating on walking in stations.  Once Incarna is fully realized capsuleers will be able to move into entirely new era of being corporeal.  Pilots will be able to have shops, poker parlors, hang out rooms or whatever their minds can come up with.  These things combined should appease the Second Life/Sims type crowd.  Hopefully, it will be the door that leads them to actually fly in space.  Get it… door?  I hate you Captain's Quarters alt screen.

A Nobody with No Body? Part 2

People in EVE Online hate people they do not know.  The meta game with in EVE Online and most styles of game play tend to feed that mentality.  Current players of EVE Online took the 80’s message of stranger danger to heart and that mode of thinking is not going to change any time soon.  This can be a new player’s biggest obstacle when it comes to getting started in the game.  Who you run with is a big deal in EVE Online and if you’re running alone… you’re doing it wrong.

The Solution: Give them the hook up.  If you are bringing a new player in to the game, it is in your best interest to introduce them to the right people.  Chances are your corp or alliance isn’t going to want them joining up right away.  However, many larger corps and alliances have starter corporations for lower SP pilots and once the players have the proper amount of SP and have been shown the ropes, they are allowed to run with the big dogs.  There are also corps who’s sole purpose is work with new people.  If your corp does not have a sister corporation for newer player then get them in EVE University.  Also check to see if they are a part of a larger social organization as Goons and Test have their own versions of intro corps, but you have to spend some time in the greater social group first. 

You Are an Awful Instructor

Remember when you were first learning how to drive?  Remember when your parents would clutch their hearts and slam their foot into the floorboards any time the car went above 15 miles per hour?  Or how they would scream “WATCH OUT” when ever there a person/car/stop sign/cat/etc 5000 feet in front of you?  That’s you trying to teach your significant other how to play EVE Online.  Really, it’s not that you’re a terrible instructor.  It’s just that your expectations for them are much higher than they should be.  After all… they’ve watched you play for how many years?  That’s how not to think btw.

The Solution:  Sometimes they best thing you can do, is to pawn your potential pilot off on someone else.  There are organizations out there that are much better at training new players and have a much better success & retention rate than you do.  Off the top of my head I can think of EVE University and Project Halibut.  There are also a lot of great mining and mission running corps that act as great havens for new players to get their feet wet.  There are even some corps that specialize new player PvP training programs.  Sometimes the best way to teach a bird to fly is to kick it out of the nest.  Plus if you aren’t hovering over their shoulders prattling on about how terrible they are at this game they just started playing, it could prevent a break-up/divorce.

Have You Really Talked to Them?

No.  I don’t mean did you mention EVE Online in passing that one day two years ago.  Have you really sat down with them and talked to them about EVE Online?  Have you told them how much you enjoy the game and why you think they might enjoy it to?  Have you told them that you would like to use the game as a medium to spend more time together?  Have you explained that you would like them to take interest in your passion?  Have you shown them eveisreal.net?

The Solution: Sometimes all it takes is a little conversation to get a lot more action.  I say that from personal experience.  I had not touched an MMO until my now ex-boyfriend came to me and said, “Hey.  My last girlfriend didn’t play video games, wouldn’t have anything to do with them and it would really mean a lot to me if you played with me and took interest in my hobbies.”  That Christmas I got a shiny new gaming machine and then entire expansion pack for World of Warcraft.  Within a few months I had my level 70 Hunter and I was working on my Priest.  It’s pretty amazing what can happen when communicate openly and effectively with your partner.

Because one day we all want this.

So that’s all the advice I have so far.  This may be one of those blog posts that turns in to a series, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.  I hope this helps out TerroxEracktor and all the others out there that one day hope for their significant other to understand what's so great about internet spaceships.

Ciao for now♥

I Ain't Givin' You No Tree-Fitty: STFU

No seriously. STFU.

Keeping your mouth shut and your fingers still can be your best weapon again those engaging you in unwilling PvP or uPVP as I’ll call it. Cussing pilots out in local and posting scathing threads about evil-doers in the forums does not help your cause. In fact, it usually only makes your problems worse. How do I know? Some of my closest friends are the people you love to hate.

Allow me to introduce to you Wrecking Shots [WSHOT]. They are greifing, shit talking, mood killing, monocle demanding assholes, liers, scammers and nere-do-wells lead by a delightful CEO by the name of ‘I’m Hostile.’ They also happen one of my former corps and remain good friends of mine. Recently one of the pilots in the corp, esquimo leviticus, sent me this tweet keeping me up to date with the corps happenings:

#tweetfleet WSHOT love [Short Link] @Arydanika Your missing out on the monocles x

Now that you’ve read that; back to my main point… STFU.

Do note that I’m not trying to be mean or troll you, but I do want to be harsh if only to engrain this method of survival into your heads; STFU.

Often times when pilots lose a ship by means which they think are “unfair”, “uncouth”, non-epic pvpzors or whatever; they feel the need to tell the world about the offending party. The victims of these events will resort to posting in local or (like in this case) on the forums. What these victims parties usually is realize is that more often then not; the offending party doesn’t care. What worse is that your act of out-rage can possibly make your situation worse.

How do I know? Well, after weeks of mandatory overtime, some real life bad news and spending the last few days running around like a chicken with my head cut off; I decided that I would log in to EVE and have some fun. I cloned down to Gallante space, fitted up a pirating hurricane and joined these evil horrible people in Oulley to obliterate my sec status. I needed this. I really did and I had a freaking blast.

Blast #1
Blast #2

But Dani! How could you do such terrible things?

That mind frame right there is part of the problem. If it was a “terrible thing” it would be against EULA and those doing it would be hit with the ban hammer so hard they’d go cross-eyed. Yes it’s horribly rude and inconsiderate, it inconveniences pilots, it costs the offended party ISKies, but it’s also perfectly legitimate game play. Once “victims” recognize that then they can start to develop ways to combat this type of uPvP which brings us back to our main point. STFU.

WSHOT is enjoying their time in Oulley and I had a great time with them. We spent our time in TS3 laughing at the above mentioned forum post that others thought would serve to mock, troll and de-moralize them. I read Lord Ashur’s blog post that highlighted the threaded and added a few additional lulz and then decided to write one of my own about it. Then of course there was holding pods for monocle ransoms while spamming local with pedo-monocle bear and bouncing between gate perches trying to catch any poor bastard that picked those the wrong time jump though. They also taught me the finer points of surprise buttsecks and prepped me for the possibility of hulk gank should a fitting target be found.

Hopefully that description illustrates the point I’m making here. The cries in local, the flaming forum posts, the angry tweets and the mails of outrage that are frequently made by PvP offended parties have only made their zeal for this activity stronger. The behavior of the pilots being targeted only served make their blip on WSHOTS radar that much brighter and caused the targets on the sides of the ships to grow larger and sweeter. The wailing, moaning, protesting, calls for revenge, offers of white-knightery and gnashing of teeth only caused WSHOTs resolution to stay in Oulley and “kill everything that moves” to grow stronger.

Of course there is an exception to every rule. Everyone once in a while a pilot may feel a flush of embarrassment as they are public called out for “low brow tactics”, but most PvPers have no shame. Then there are cases of those that use their communication skills in this situation for a higher purpose. One of those exceptions happens to be a plucky little hulk pilot named Theos Cragen.

After getting ganked by a surprise horde of thrashers, he opened up a convo with one of the pilots. That pilot then invited the entire fleet, including me, into the convo to troll the guy. In the convo he explained that he was a new player to the game and that he spent all his ISK on that Hulk. He also said that he understand that it was part of the game and that he wanted to eventually join up with WSHOT once he had enough SP and ISK because he was interested in PvP. The guy still ended up get trolled and scammed out of 25 Mil*, but I provided him with an invite to the Project Halibut channel where he could get some help with a new Hulk. Plus, he did make a positive impression on the corp which may help him out down the line.

So I implore you pilots of New Eden. Please. For the love of your own sanity. STFU.

*Yes, he got scammed too. One of the WSHOT’s pilots told him that he could by back his corpse and if he salvaged it, he might get his implants back… poor fool. I’ll also mention that one of the WSHOT’s guys felt bad since he really had no ISK and sent the guy 5 Mil, which he ended up giving to the other WSHOT guy that scammed him. At least they tried right?

EVE Online is a Man’s World… Or is It?

Back in May, I decided to start a project called the Women Gamer’s of EVE Interview Series.  My inspiration for the project came from a mix of things.  Most of it stems from the stories of epic female pilots I heard prior to subbing with EVE Online.  I heard tales of Mynee and the Hellcats, Laedy and her pirating escapades and a few other tales about these elusive Vixens of Violence and the others like them.  Then there was the over all perception woman gamers.  And by perception I really mean; “omgwtf there’s no chicks on the interwebs” or “tits or gtfo” or “h@x ur using a vox mod”.  I know.  The internet is a terribly class place.

EVE Online is a man’s world.  That statement is generally accepted as fact for a variety of reasons.  When looking at the actual build of the game including the sultry voice of your ship navigator and the penes laden imagery; you can see it.  It shows in the attitudes of some of the players which usually polarize into “White Knights” or “Women Haters.”  It even shows in the hard numbers where only 4% of subs are made by women.  While “EVE Online is a man’s world” is accepted as fact; is it really true?

The latest peak of the WGoE In-Game channel is only about 30, but there has to be more of us out there.  In fact I know there are more of us just from the math with the sub numbers, but I think there are even more than that little measly 4%.  Every time I turn around I’m either being told about, being introduced to or finding another woman gamer on my own.  What’s most impressive is that the vast majority of them are all making some kind of notable contribution to the game.  Some are in the null sec scene, some are CEO’s and Directors, some are recruiters and FC’s and some are players in the community.  Women Gamers do a lot to contribute to the success of EVE Online, their alliances and their corporations and I don’t think I’m the only one that’s noticed.

It seems that CCP Games has their eye on this little minority.  As of late it appears the company is urging its dynamic force of woman to come out in to the open as well and TweetFleet is a prime example.  I currently follow: Katrín (Team BFF), CCP Fallout (Community), Anne (Asst. Producer), CCP Affinity (QA) & Kelley (Recruitment) and chances are I’m leaving a couple out.  Sorry Ladies!  Then of course there’s the curious case of CCP Sunset.

CCP Sunset seems to be EVE TV’s replacement for StevieSG.  Hallan and I actually had the opportunity to interview her along with CCP Soundwave around the time of AT9.  From my interacting with her, interviewing her and watching her live on the AT9 stream as well as on the you tube videos; I think it’s a fair assessment to say that she’s a nice person, but certainly doesn’t have her “space legs” yet.  She comes off as quiet and unassuming and seems to prefer not to take the lead or be the center of attention.  I attribute this to the fact that she had only been working at CCP Games for a month or two (if that) when they asked her take this on.  Hopefully the next time we see her it won’t seem like there’s someone off camera pointing a loaded gun at her. 

Another indicator that CCP Games is looking towards women is (supposedly) Incara.  Now, I’m about 50/50 on that theory.  I can see why, but I have my arguments about why not.  It’s clear that Incarna is meant to attract from a new source of players.  Whether or not it will bring in a large portion of female players and keep them in game is yet to be seen.  Let me break my thoughts on it down for you.

Is Incarna for women?  The Yay-Sayers think it is because of one simple concept; Space Barbie.  I can see why they would get that impression.  Most of the women gamers I know from my real life like having an avatar.  Most of the women games I know have also had the specific gripe of “I don’t want to be stuck in a ship the whole time.”  There’s also the thought that in-game social mechanics will entice more female players.  Yea, I guess I can see that, but there are some significant holes in those theories. 

The first hole is; the cute outfit thing gets old.  I’ve played World of Warcraft [WoW] and I’ve played City of Heros/City of Villians [Cov/CoH].  There’s only so much time that I can look at hot pants clad pixel ass with go-go boots before I become disinterested.  In CoH/CoV, you get 5 costume slots that you can change up any time you want for a small in-game fee.  There’s thousands of selections and even special “costume packs” available for purchase with open more options along with each having a special transport method and clothing transition.  However, none of that mattered when I hit end game after 2 or 3 months and got bored with the same rehashed missions and the “create your own” mission lab.  So… does looking cool really matter against the actual content of the game?

Then there’s the in-game social mechanics.  First off, the real social game can be found on voice comms, the various forums and twitter.  I doubt that will change with casinos, brothels and hooka dens though I am still looking forward to these things.  Also, in its current state EVE Voice is pretty terrible and if it remains terrible most establishment owners will most likly get their own vent, ts or mumble server.  Along with that there is the “Pools Closed” factor.  (If you don’t know what that means look -> Here)  How many sexy ladies are going to want to hang out in player establishments only to be trolled in one way or another for hours on end?  And don’t say that won’t happen, we’re talking about EVE Online or Trollandia as it’s known in some cultures. 

Finally, avatar versus content.  I’ll admit it.  I was a little put off with looking at a ship the entire time and staring off in to space when I first came to EVE Online, but once I got into the game my attitude changed.  As I talk with other women gamers that play EVE Online, I’ve come to find that their opinion tends mirrors my own in one way or another.  This game is all about the spaceships.  EVE Online is about pvp, industry, carebearing, trolling, scamming, smack talking, good fights, gud poasting and probably a couple of more things that I missed.  The only group that I really benefiting from Incarna’s walking in stations are the role-players and that’s a good thing in its own right. 

So, Is EVE Online really a man’s world?  If it is, will it continue to be?  Will Incarna bring hot babes running to your Captian’s Quarter’s doors?  Will they be actual hot babes and not Comic Book Store Guy?  I don’t have the answers.  I’m not sure anyone does.  The questions are pretty fun to start arguments over though. 

Ciao for now♥