This was originally posted when I worked for Crossing Zebras under the name Hibbie as an internet spaceship columnist. It’s here for completeness of my writing. It feels like it’s been a long, long time since I was a new player. To be perfectly honest, I can’t remember why I joined the game, but my corporate history suggests I was a Fw4pper and then, after a typically short time, a 5punker. This was a forum I was on, so I must have heard about spaceships and joined. EVE was my first MMO, and I went in with no expectations. …

This was originally posted when I worked for Crossing Zebras under the name Hibbie as an internet spaceship columnist. It’s here for completeness of my writing. In large organisations it’s really easy to get lost. When there are thousands of people surrounding you, all talking constant shit, it’s difficult to see regular faces and make strong connections with anyone. EVE, at its core, is a social experience, and without friends the game is lonely, difficult to learn, and nearly impossible to succeed at. With this in mind, Goonfleet introduced Squadrons in 2006 – a method of subdividing the member base into smaller groups in order to give newbies and veterans an anchor within the corp. …

So, judging by the reaction I got to last night’s post, I think I may be a touch addicted to EVE to the detriment of other things. Let’s find something to replace that with! I’ve always liked running. As a kid, I could effortlessly run 1500m races and do well, and win at 400m and stuff. I tried some longer distances too, 4k, 5k. It was good. But then I got older, discovered alcohol, self abuse, developed growing-related knee pains I could use as an excuse and suddenly university happened. Just as suddenly, university finished, and I was thrown out the door into the real world. …

So everyone who has the pleasure of knowing me knows that Internet Spaceships are a big deal in my life. So what happens when they’re taken away? Well, I focus on new things, but that’s a discussion for a different post. What does happen, though, is that I get a chance to take stock. What with being on a laptop and having a crap connection, I’ve been forced to step back from spending all night, every night on the game. This can only be described as a Good Thing. Less time video gaming and thinking about games is definately a great benefit to my lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong here - I absolutely love the medium, but people stare at me, aghast, when I tell them of the 7 hours I spent at my desk in the battle for 6VDT. I choose to not tell them about the numerous nights and days when I can easily spend that time at the desk, just farting about in EVE doing ’nothing important' …