[OOC] Crossroads

PEOPLE'S WHOLE LIVES DO PASS IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES BEFORE THEY DIE. THE PROCESS IS CALLED 'LIVING'.

-- (Terry Pratchett, The Last Continent)

Yes, I'm still alive, no, I'm not fully back to EVE.

Yet again I'm at a crossroads in this marvellous universe, not really sure what I want to do. I've accomplished much in my time, much of which I've written about at one point or another, but you need goals to really keep you interested and to be brutally honest, I have none.

I set out two and a half years ago to forge a name for myself as a solo PvPer/Pirate and to a degree I have. Sure I've stuck to mainly flying small ships but that's my style, I'd much rather fly a Rifter than any other ship in the game.

The game has changed.

Two and a half years ago being a solo pilot in lowsec/nullsec was nigh impossible, yet I managed to do it. I made friends and enemies as I went about my business but there's only so much casual friendships can help you achieve in the game.

Many times I've found myself in situations where I was outnumbered many times over, the mighty Rifter no match for the assorted fire power and ECM availed against it. It was times like that I wish I had a gang of my own, a gang of like-minded individuals out for a suicidal attack, win or lose, good times.

Now I'm pretty gung ho about going into fights, but my suicidal nature has been tempered with the painfull reality that whilst I may be enjoying the moment, it's still a loss. Again, the reality of losses to a solo Pirate matter more than anything else, they affect the bottom line, profit.

I have many investments, enough ISK to last me a lifetime but one thing I've always maintained is that my lifestyle as a Pirate should fund itself and as such I'm loathe to dip into the corporate wallet. My time in EVE has seen me invest in Capital ship building projects, T2 invention & high end market manipulation. I own a T2 BPO, one particularly suited to my favourite class of ships, through this BPO I've been able to fund many of my interests over the years and with my investments in Capital programmes I have friends who have researched and manufactured for me. In the end it's not what you know but who you know.

I'm particularly interested in each of my characters being able to fund themselves, Keira has R&D as a major source of income, of course to get the R&D she had to grind missions, which was painful but paid off. A year or so ago I started her towards an Archon carrier, not touching any corp ISK, she ground out mission after mission to make the 2 Billion ISK for the skillbooks, hull and fittings. Again, missions are boring as all hell but they take very little effort and as such after a long day at work I can mindlessly grind them out. Skill wise, Keira is proficient in flying every ship Kane can although she is specced more towards larger ships. She has Battleship V in three races, maxed in Commandships, exceptional probing skills, all in all a very rounded character, not as focussed towards PvP as Kane but still very, very capable.

The special friend in her covops is absolutely maxed for probing, started specifically for that role but has branched out into transport ships. She flies a mean Prowler. Exploration in lowsec has interested me and this character has been pivotal in this role. She can salvage, hack, analyse and harvest gas, with that in mind she has been known to partake in Ninja Salvaging operations. She is also skilled for PvP and is just a few days away from Interdictors V with Assault Ships V thrown in for good measure. At 30million SP she's a useful character with very good base skills.

There are a few other characters floating around but they will for very obvious reasons remain unknown to anyone but myself.

The latest member of the family was started to be a bait Drake pilot but has evolved into his own. Kenny @ 15million SP is focussed towards flying a max skilled Drake and with that you just know he's being used to grind missions, not for ISK but for Loyalty Points. His latest project is what is taking much of my EVE time when I can be bothered to log in, but the pay-off in the end is huge. Thus far on this little project he has been able to fund a Tengu strategic cruiser which I must say is a very interesting ship.

Now you're probably thinking, Kane, what the fuck? Missions?

Well, uhm yeah, my work schedule has been severe, I have just finished a 22 day straight stint at work, I'm physically and mentally burnt out and as such I have found missions to be rather relaxing. I get to log in, chat with old friends and still play internet spaceships.
I love PvP but it takes a lot of energy, physical and mental to really be successful.

Work though is unrelenting and as such my Piracy and PvP will be virtually nil for the foreseeable future.

So what now?

I've debated a few times closing this blog, but then I've started writing a fictional short story involving some of my characters (I do actually hope to get this done and published on here but I only really write when I'm inspired)

I'm unsure what my future in EVE is. Solo Piracy has always been difficult, taking the most selfish, mentally unstable attitude to being successful but like I said before, the game has changed. Very few people are confident in their skills to take someone like me on solo, they always bring friends (more friends than I can handle), or just happen to be with a boatload of friends whilst I attempt to explode them.

I've become a dinosaur in EVE, the last of my kind. Solo Piracy may well and truly finally be dead.

Nullsec? I really enjoyed my trip to nullsec and my old corps HQ for the Frigate Thunderdome but their membership in Goonswarm doesn't endear that choice to me, they did however recently reveal their first Titan, an Erebus that was involved in a rather successful dual doomsday and with that a massive congratulations from me. Which brings me to another problem I have with nullsec, the blobs are bigger and have bigger toys. The option to join another corp or nullsec alliance does nothing for me, I'm just not going to be another cog in the machine.

Wormhole exploration? An option but a one man operation, even with multiple characters is going to be time consuming. Wormhole Piracy? Again, a time commitment I'm not too keen on.

Faction Warfare? Heh

Open recruitment to NovaKane? An option I've thought about on numerous occasions but one ultimately destined to fail. I just don't have the time and I already run a busy Kitchen, in which I have no time for drama, doing so in a game just doesn't seem to be a productive use of my time off.

Join a small corp of like minded individuals? Shit, I just don't know. Two corps who I have friends in are red to each other, seems like I'll always have mixed loyalties. Again, being a small part of a corp is not for me, my ego wouldn't be able to take it down a notch and I fear I may never fit in. I wouldn't be able to offer much to any corp that would make the corp stronger as a unit, I've been solo too long, preferring to do my own thing, at my own pace in my own time.

It might be that I need to change my perspective on things to find the next challenge, the next big step, to finally achieve something after having done so much in this game to little or no consequence.

So what does the future hold? Well, to be honest I don't know, what I can tell you is I'll still be around, on different characters, but still around. I may actually do some writing from Kenny's perspective as a change of pace cause let me tell you, PvE needs a kick in its ass.

So that's it, an update from me.

Edit: Blogger seems to have been the victim of further DOS attacks and as such I've only just been able to correct some of the many spelling mistakes made, probably more to get but I will try and rectify them ASAP