The Eve Gate

Approximately 3 light-years out of system, this is the closest one can come to the giant wormhole that dominates our cluster.

Rather than ruin the image with words, I'll only say that the Eve Gate is on the left, with the New Eden systems star on the right.

Worth the trip.

The Monolith

Whilst the Eve Gate is certainly the main attraction of the little Genesis cul-de-sac, there is another little curious site. Nestled in an off-shoot of the original trail, is a floating black monolith.

I had dropped out of the militia without too much fuss. One less mercenary didn't warrant much fanfare. I may join up with another corp whilst I do my last errands in New Eden, but I doubt I’ll try.

Solo capsuleer to the end really.

The trip from Hek to Genesis was fairly uneventful. Surprisingly there was a rather poor attempt at a gate camp leading into the Eve Gate constellation. Not very competent, they managed to lock my Astero up, but a quick burn back to the gate got me free without even the shields getting scratched.

I think if something like that happens again, I’ll get the names of the capsuleers doing it. Not out of any naming and shaming, but I think they’d enjoy the notoriety. There might be something in that.

Back to the monolith.

The system is Dead End. Clearly our ancestors found nothing of value here, and named the system accordingly.

For my part, I didn't stay long. Low-sec is never really good space to hang around, even if you are flying in cloaked ship. And I was eager to get to my end point. I stuck around long enough to note the pirates hanging around the monolith, and get a snapshot.

The pirates were Blood Raiders, by the way. The bounties were worth about 500k all together. I can’t speculate as to their interest in the monolith, but there's probably a story there. I was already on my way to the Eve Gate before it occurred to me to have a closer look around the system.

I tried to tell myself I would do that next time. But 'next time' wasn't the purpose of this trip.

The ship

(Evidently real life conspires to thwart my grand plans of leaving New Eden in the style I'd like to. Of course I don't think someones out to specifically stop me flying, but this is a little suspicious.)

My first item to tick off the list will be a trip out to the Eve Gate.

It was actually the first landmark I went to visit in New Eden. I took a Rifter out there, feeling very brave at the time as I navigated through the hazards of low sec.

Taking a look at some maps, and checking for ship destruction data, I probably shouldn't have felt as brave as I did.

Experience tends to make a mockery of youth's achievements.

But anyway, it was a good trip, and ironically happened about the time I first joined a militia. My memory is a bit hazy on which militia it was, but I was flying a Rifter at the time. It may have been the Tribal Liberation Force.

All I really remember from those times was flying out to a battle and seeing the Eve Gate on the way back. Oh, and soloing a Rupture. I nearly won, which came as a shock to me at the time.

When I got to the Gate, the entrance was strewn with anchored containers, slowly decaying into the stars. Messages were left on these containers by previous visitors, and I recall a few. Some were the simple "Eric was here" sort of graffiti you find on bathroom stalls across the cluster, and some were actually moving comments left by explorers. One had the unforgettable quote:

"We came. We saw. We squeeed."

I remember cursing that I didn't bring my own message to leave spinning in space for the next few, and vowed I'd come back to leave my temporary mark.

Time to make good on that vow.

For ships, as much as I love the Rifter, it's not suitable for the rigors of this journey. I'll be taking my Astero. Cloaked, and designed for these missions with no seeming end, it should be flexible enough to do whatever needs done.

I'll be carrying most of what I need in the hold. Fortunately I came up with a list of essentials from my camps in null-sec. For this particular trip, I'll be carrying an extra Mobile Depot, to leave the message.

The name of the ship took a great deal of thought. Typically my ship names are sentimental acknowledgments of the dreams I have outside of New Eden. But this time, such things didn't seem to be appropriate. I'd rather it be an acknowledgement of the things I'll leave behind IN New Eden.

I'd also like something similar to Clear Skies. Not an aggressive name to strike fear into the hearts of my enemies, but one that merely wishes for a peaceful journey.

So, when I un-dock for the Eve gate, it'll be in the freshly christened: Farewell.

Shot across the Hek star. 

Quitting Eve

Well. It's bee a long time since I've been in space.

Or even in station.

Or written a single word.

My apologies. It turns out moving country is magnitudes more difficult when it's more than just one person. I've done it myself dozens of times before, but my usual exit strategy of "Sell off junk, throw clothes in single bag, get on plane" doesn't take into account my wife's things.

She has a lot of clothes.

I always thought this was just a cliche joke.

She has two, half-meter high boxes of shoes...

Regardless, a lot of the leg work on moving out has been done, and I finally have a little time to get back to New Eden.

These past few months have been quite revealing in terms of how I think about the game. I did a number of workshops at school on Game Design for Classrooms, and I spent a lot of time thinking about Eve... if not actually playing it.

It also brought to light the severe limitations of my writing style. I try to keep in character. Behnid is the author of my New Eden tales, and I but his humble scribe. However, the limitation of that is then when I find a nifty mechanic or un-examined part of the universe, I need to look at it in terms of the character living there.

But the biggest revelation was the realization that I would one day quit Eve, as yesterday's cryptic and over-dramatic blog post eluded to. Not through any dissatisfaction, but eventually life will take over, and even the 20 minute micro hunts of faction warfare will become a struggle. And there're other games I want to play, starting with Eve with swords and magic: Pathfinder MMO.

So, I will be quitting Eve.

At least eventually.

Eve Hermit brought up the idea of how you felt about our game time in his Winning Eve post, and what it would mean if the servers went down tomorrow. Well, I wouldn't say I didn't have fun. But I would feel an incredible loss for the things I hadn't done/seen.

I aim to correct that.

From now on, I will try a different play style, or go look for a new experience in New Eden, as fast as skill point accumulation will allow.

I'd like as many suggestions as you can give me.

The criteria will be quite broad: meeting Eve celebrities in space, seeing curios/unique structures in space, and even testing out the more esoteric and under valued play styles.

My list so far includes:

• Visit the Eve Gate
• Duel Rixx Javix
• Run a sleeper site.
• See a black hole.
• See Chribba's Veldnaught
• See Mittanigrad
• Duel Jack Dancer in a Breacher.
• Ninja mine in Low-sec

The only restrictions I ca say would be to keep the suggestions on the more pleasant side of Eve, and keep them achievable by one player. Scam a miner isn't something I want to experience, and ripping apart the CFC is probably a little beyond my budget.

Before anyone can ask for it, I will be using all of my remaining assets to support this new project. Any thing left over will be converted to PLEX, and held for the next PLEX for Good campaign. So no, you can't have my stuff.

Looking forward to your suggestions!

Awakening

... bright lights.

Rolling hills, blue skies.

The hum of the propeller. No... the faint scent of the moa racing ahead.

A barren wasteland? Mountains? The thrill of dice clattering to the table top.

Songs being sung through school halls. Piles of paperwork. The sweaty heat of a Sunday afternoon chained to a desk, dreaming of-

... stars.

I awoke in the pod a few days ago. Coughing, and hacking up dried-pod connection fluid, I emerged onto the hangar floor, collapsing as my atrophied limbs failed me.

Disuse had decayed what little muscle I had saved since becoming a capsuleer. Skin hanging like rags around me.

And the dull realization creeping though my gut that I no longer cared. I no longer recognized this body as a part of me. Rather, it was property, to be worn, and discarded when it no longer served it's purpose. The daily grind to maintain this soggy container of my concious seemed hardly worth the effort. Why bother eating? The savage hunger pangs of starvation can be barely recalled when a fresh clone is activated.

I looked back at the pod.

So that was the Sleeper experience.

To fold oneself into the world apart from New Eden. To have fevered dreams of ancient atmosphere craft, and to experienced wild fantasies of swords and sorcery. To revel in the simple pleasure of a well-run school, and the relatively mundane, yet sublime struggles of a normal life.

It was... attractive.

I somehow managed to drag myself to a food prep station, more out of habit than any real desire to feed. A thick salty broth eased some of this body's desperate cries, and over the next few hours, I placed ever more solid chunks of nourishment in my screaming gut. Dogmatic training super-cedes emotion in times like this, and I had been born Khanid, trained as a knight, and had long been taught to keep my body in good health. My body saw to its needs whilst my mind wandered.

I had been gone long this time. Longer than before. The sleeps were coming on more rapidly too. The gap this time just a few months, and the sleep itself nearly as long.

It's difficult to describe the sensation of knowing your end is close. Not even much of an end. More of a tiring slide into suspension. Not even the rigors and passions of youth declining into old age, but simply... stopping.

I dragged myself to the console, pulling up my public log. Readers still came and still commented. Strange how much that still meant, as if the human connection was all that mattered. Perhaps I always felt that way.

I am... reluctant to leave.

Too much I haven't done.

Too much I haven't seen.

So much... but I doubt there's time left.

Eventually, the sleeps would take me. And for all I know the kind, if somber, staff of Doomheim would find the nearest wormhole and release my body to the strange stations scattered beyond easy reach. Perhaps I should just take a shuttle out to the nearest blue star like the poor soul trapped in Geztic.

Well.

Now what?

Seems like only one thing to do.

Everything.