Eve Online has a reputation as a toxic cesspit of sociopaths and malcontents. However, in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. What outsiders fail to grasp, and what distinguishes a true capsuleer, is that we know that these are only roles that we play. While there will always be people who take things too far, for the most part Eve players consider each other to be members of a common community. Although we may find ourselves in the position of adversaries, we are never enemies.
New Eden is, at its core, a grim-dark future of slavery, oppression, rampant capitalism, and violence. As a matter of pure survival, capsuleers band together into fleets, corporations, alliances, and coalitions. And, this tribalism leads to competition. Wars are fought and ships are destroyed. But, it’s all just space pixels and it’s all done in the name of content. Despite all the propaganda and the trash-talk, at the end of the day we are all here for the same thing and we are all in this together.
To further elaborate, I would like highlight an example that is near and dear to my heart; the HMA vs. Safety. rivalry. Now, admittedly, this rivalry is fairly one-sided as our organization is woefully outclassed but from the very beginning it was my desire to build the HMA as a direct antagonist to Safety. However, despite the role I have chosen to play, I have nothing but respect and admiration for Princess Aiko and her people. Perhaps they take their salt mining too far but, in their hearts, they care more deeply about this game than most of the people they kill. They understand what Eve is and they fight every day to keep its spirit alive.
We may be adversaries, but we are not enemies.
