"You're Gonna Make It After All..."

A little while ago, I read back the new description I just added to the title of this blog and thought to myself, "It sounds like you're the interstellar Mary Tyler Moore." Yeah, well, ok...I kind of feel like that right now, anyway. If I am, though, then I haven't even reached the beginning of Mary's show yet, when she heads out to the big city to make it on her own. No, by that kind of storyline I'm still in college (literally if you consider what corporation I'm a member of), still going to school, working blue collar part-time jobs, and preparing for that big day.

Since I began playing Eve, I've often thought about how long it would be before I'd be comfortable heading into 0.0 for the first time. I know it's where I eventually want to find myself in this game, but I also know that it's probably going to be at least a little while before I'm ready for 0.0...or before 0.0 is ready for me. Chances are, I'll probably make my first venture into 0.0 space in the course of joining a corporation with an established base there. This seems highly likely given what I've heard from other pilots as to how they were recruited to low-sec corps and made their own first forays into 0.0.

I am, at heart, an explorer. For me, there's just no better, more satisfying vacation than getting in my car and driving a very long distance, preferably well out of state. Playing Eve helps me satisfy those instincts when I can't get in the car and disappear for a while (which is generally most of the time), and more and more I find myself looking for excuses to go to places in Eve I've never been to. The only time I've ever done such a thing in this game without a valid reason was my trip to Jita. As I wrote earlier, I do want to make a trip to Korsiki and Eve-Uni HQ, but since it's twentysomething jumps each way, I don't expect I'll be doing it until I have a specific reason to go...but I do hope it'll be soon.

In my last post, I wrote that the Eve-Uni folks aren't the only terrific people I've met in this game. Now, I'm gonna be a little careful here because when I started this blog I made a promise to myself that I was going to keep this about Eve and avoid RL issues that don't directly relate to the game and the players. I write and talk about these issues enough in RL and in other media I create or participate in creating, so there's little or no need to for me to again bring them up here.

The group of folks I'm talking about find each other on an in-game channel called "GLBTA". These initials stand for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Accepting. These are folks, connected by a common bond of difference, who come to meet and connect with others like themselves. It's a terrific and very welcoming place to spend some time, and I find myself doing so regularly. The group is small, but there's a comfort level and a familiarity in that channel that I really enjoy when I'm playing. I used to be one of those who always had the chat window minimized on-screen...now, I've actually, I kid you not, actively carried on conversations in chat while blowing away Serpentis spies (or somesuch) in deadspace at the same time. The fact that I'm a pretty fast typist helps, a lot.

I tend to try to keep up with the corp chat and GLBTA while I'm in-game, with occasional checks of alliance and local. On the other hand, should I be heading into low-sec, I'm trained totally on local from the time I enter to the time I exit. Doing so has provided a timely alert that saved my butt at least twice. When I'm docked, I follow whatever's active.

I'm sure by now you're wondering if I'm one of those letters, G, L, B, T, or A. Well, I'm obviously A for accepting, but does the rest really matter? If I were to tell you, for example, that not one but two, or even three, of those letters applied to me, would it make a difference to you, as a reader of this blog, as a player of this game?

No, I'm not going to tell you. If you really want to know, with enough digging you can probably find the answer in plenty of places online...it's just not going to come from me. Because when all is said and done, it's not about the answer, it's about the question.