For those who don't know I've been on a
pretty lengthy Eve break. The reasons behind my leave of absence are
quite varied. With both of my parents being diagnosed with cancer
within a month of each other(they are both on the mend now) I had some IRL srs things to deal with
and stressing over internet space ships was not on my priority list.
In addition to that Amarr had finished
a rather large war zone push. I ended up Fcing/planning/coordinating
way more of that than I should have. Shalee asked me to help take one
system in the back of Metro to keep the Minmatar from getting a medal
and I agreed. Our offensive went so well we kept the ball rolling and
with the Amarr Militia working like a well oiled machine(for once)we
rolled on finishing up with the capture of Arzad.
Arzad was kind of the proverbial straw
for me. I've said it a million times but I will say it again, I care
not for war zone control. The weekend we took Arzad I woke up to find
the offensive pretty much stalled. Iron Oxide was dug in hard and
ripping the split attacking forces to pieces. I took over the Fweddit
fleet and merged in a few other fleets to blob IO into docking up.
The fleet swelled to over 100 people and at that point you are not
FCing, you are babysitting. The combat was non existent. The Minmatar
tried to take advantage of people not listening or paying attention.
Getting ganks in new plexes before I could have the right number of
people in the right ships in a plex.
There is no glory in blobbing a system.
Many systems we took that way were hollow victories. Earlier in the
year we fought over Dal for almost a month. That victory was sweet,
but that was the exception. The majority of systems I have help take
were either blob fest or “didn't want that system”.
So I took a break. I played Kerbal
Space Command, Minecraft, Sins of a Solar Empire, and hell I even
played Lemmings. Anything BUT Eve. I've enjoyed my time off only
logging in to talk to people and load skills. I was still on comms
talking to my friends and playing other games with them.
Today I bought the motorcycle I've been
pondering on for almost a year. I have plans to ride down Highway
One, see the Red Woods, maybe take a trip down to Yosemite. But as I
told Shalee today, I may end up back in Eve before too long. When I
got home I checked the forums and saw this
http://i.imgur.com/KcFiDLG.jpg
. I went from thinking about playing Eve to hating Eve again. It was
like a light switch being flipped in my head.
(right here I wrote a rant about FW
mechanics, how I can't be bothered caring. I cut it out because it
put a sour taste in even my mouth)
If I do come back to Eve I never see
myself leading 100 man fleets again. I don't see myself dropping
dreads on the Huola gate. I think those days are behind me. I truly
believe I have reached the top of my game as an FC. I was never a
great FC, I was just good enough. People like Pinky and Rina made me
better than I was. Maybe someday soon the Minmatar will get to bitch
about an Almity fleet again, but there is a good chance its going to
be a hell of a lot smaller in numbers and ship size!
