This fall, I started building a model ship, the Albatros. When the difficulty curve for this project has kicked up, I've sometimes redirected my mind toward video games: Splinter-Cell (meh), Call of Duty (blah), and Lego Marvel Super Heroes (yeah!) all distracted me from nailing planks and gluing strakes.
Most recently, though, it's Eve Online. Why? I'd heard about Eve off and on for a long time: the web occasionally lights up with videos of enormous space battles, and Eve is mentioned in the after-aftermath coverage of Sean Smith (one of the oft-unnamed in the refrain about "Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans"). Furthermore: I'm a sci-fi nerd. And as much as games divert from building Albatros, there is a shared notion of ship-ness between Eve and my model that appeals to something deep in my DNA. Plus, hey, 14-day free trial! So, last weekend: downloaded, installed, puttered.
It was about day 6 when I asked my wife whether she was okay with us paying the monthly subscriber fee.
There are a lot of things about Eve that fascinate me. There are a few things I'm absolutely wary of (that were even barriers to me giving it a try earlier). From what I've seen and read, there are some aspects of the Eve community that are hugely appealing, but also some of the same things that make me wary of the online gaming "community" in general.
As much as I like ships, I like writing. That's why I've been writing about building Albatros, and that's why I'm going to write about Eve. Whether I'm flexing my hand-eye coordination with tweezers or a mouse, it's nice to process my thinking and ideas through the written word. So, here's the first one. More to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment