Blog Banter 24: In Real Life

This month’s Banter topic comes to us from the ever helpful Eelis Kiy, capsuleer behind the “Where the frack is my ship“ blog. She asks: How does your real life personality compare to who you are as a character in EVE? Does a good leader of people in the real world make a good leader of pilots in game? Or vice-versa? Do your real-life skills help you with the roles you fulfill in your corporation or alliance? Or do you behave completely differently? Does the anonymity of the Internet allow you to thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst you work as a Good Samaritan away from your keyboard? Or are you as mean outside of your pod as you are inside it? Have experiences in EVE Online affected your behavior, skills or attitudes outside of the game?

The blog banter essentially echoes the lyrics of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody in asking, “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” However, there are a lot of questions being asked so I will answer them individually.

How does your real life personality compare to who you are as a character in EVE?

As would be expected, there are quite a few similarities between my real life persona and my in game persona.

Analytical – In game, I pore over ship fittings, game mechanics, and battles. I spend far more time reading and theorizing about Eve than I actually play it.

Frugal – I dislike wasting ISK. I always pinch pennies, buying the cheapest modules for my ship (most of my ships are not even rigged) and flying inexpensive ships (the only faction ship I fly is the Slicer, which costs 20 million). I also hate seeing wrecks go unsalvaged, a trait that my corp mates often tease me about.

Quiet – I do not talk much unless I have a good reason to. One of the byproducts of this is that sometimes my corp mates will constantly say “Hi Sage” on Vent until I say something.

Competitive – I do not play to lose. If I am poor at flying a particular ship, I will switch to something I am better at. If I lose a fight due to my own mistakes, I will berate myself and resolve to do better.

Loyal – I value loyalty and trust as much in game as out of game. That is the reason why, during my two years in Eve, I have only switched corporations twice (once because the CEO was abusing his power and once because my corp did not PvP much).

Despite the similarities, there are also some differences.

Pen Fifteen Club – Being a member of the Python Cartel and a valiant Defender of Pen isLand, I sing of the virtues of certain male parts. In real life, this is not the case.

Smack talk – It is well know that smack talk is an art perfected by the Python Cartel (what other corporation comes back from roams with half its members gagged by GMs?). I often smack talk opponents in local, often accusing them of having small genitalia and equally small brains and courage. In real life, most of my friends consider me to be a nice, caring guy (which I really am, honest!).

Does a good leader of people in the real world make a good leader of pilots in game?

Although I do not have a leadership position in game (aside from managing the Tweetfleet) due to not playing frequently enough and having poor internet, I believe that a good leader is effective both in and out of Eve.

Does the anonymity of the Internet allow you to thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst a Good Samaritan away from your keyboard?

I commented earlier in this post about how I smack in game but am nicer out of game, so initially it would appear that I indeed “thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst a Good Samaritan away from the keyboard.” But I do not believe this is the case. Schadenfreude is not one of my traits. I smack for fun, not tears. And I PvP for fun, not tears. Things like can baiting, ninja salvaging, and neutral RR do not appeal to me. Many times after killing a new player I will convo them to teach them about Eve, lowsec, and PvP and give them ISK to buy a better ship.

Additionally, the anonymity of the Internet is not something I take advantage of. As stated earlier, I value loyalty and trust. I have never ‘Pythoned’ anyone (invite a newb to fleet, warp to them, and kill them). I have never used aggression mechanics to kill people in highsec. I have never scammed or stolen. Of course, I am not judging people who engage in such activities; I merely do not do them myself.

Have experiences in EVE Online affected your behavior, skills or attitudes outside of the game?

To the best of my knowledge, no. All the similarities I listed were already present out of game, and the differences obviously are not present out of game (otherwise they would be similarities, not differences).

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00sage00's Romps Through the Eve Universe