BB51 – SPIKE

Welcome to the continuing monthly EVE Blog Banters and our 51st edition! For more details about what the blog banters are visit the Blog Banter page.

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EVE Online can be a game of heart-pounding, palm-sweating, adrenaline-fuelled ecstasy or agony. Sometimes over the years those reactions dim and what was once a panic inducing situation becomes commonplace routine. For some, the shakes never go away.

From Druur Monakh (Twitter: @DruurMonakh) we get the topic of this banter: what was your most nail-biting experience in EVE Online so far? It could be PvP in a 1v1 or 1000v1000, your first fight or your latest one, a scam so close to being uncovered too soon, a trap almost sprung on an unsuspecting victim or the roles reversed and you desperately try to escape.

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Hi All,

For me, it’s essentially situational. PvP gives me the most unbelievable adrenaline spike. We’re talking serious, muscle cramping, back aching, adrenal shakes like you would not believe. To the point where hitting any combination more complicated than F1, F1, F1 becomes a real challenge. As a consequence, it’s not something I do often, and has been rare to say the least since we left null.

Here’s the irony: my job involves the occasional bits of physical confrontation, and in some fairly dangerous situations as well. That adrenaline spike comes in bloody useful when you’re eyeballing several ratbags who would like nothing more than to make your life miserable. Not sure if I’ve been lucky or not, but the ability to control a situation when there is three or more of them, and just the one of you – with back up a wee way away, lets just say training, self belief, and the ability to operate at twice normal speed makes all the difference in the world.

Now as far as EvE goes, that’s no help whatsoever. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s a huge hindrance. Your body is screaming at you to move, and move fast. Your muscles primed for explosive action, nerves singing with the impulse to DO SOMETHING…!!!!! Sitting still at a keyboard when that happens isn’t exactly what I’m designed to do. Basically, I’d have to say that I’m actually no good at PvP, in part because of that, but also because your world view shrinks dramatically. You’re focused on the immediate threat only. Local? What local? Overview…? Oh yeah…. d-scan..? >snort<

Given that a lot of fights are often over before they begin, or you need to consider swapping ammo, manage transversal, your and their optimal, overheat, cap, MWD, web, scram, the people I suspect are actually good at PvP tend more to the ice water in their veins types. That just isn’t what I’m blessed with. Coupled with the fact that what I do sometimes involves protecting people, initiating PvP against an unwilling participant?  Well it just seems wrong to me. Hurt me and mine on the other hand….

One of the biggest hits I’ve ever had was after losing a recon in null during a POS save attempt, then having to do about a dozen jumps back to the NPC station we based out of. So there is me in my pod bouncing around trying to get home, and having a good run of it, when I land at a gate and cannot jump through. Suddenly, gatefire and approximately 40 reds appear in local.

So there is me spamming the jump button, repeatedly… come on, come on, COME ON JUMP #$%^ it!!!! with reds appearing all around me, when finally I looked at the overview, and the gate was at 2503 meters with my pod slow boating towards it. When I did make it through after what seemed like an eternity, no one followed. But I sure had to walk away from the PC for a while just to level off once back in station.

On the good side, there is a huge rush when I manage to save someone through either timely reps, or by removing sufficient DPS such that a tank can hold. White knighting it may be in some eyes, against the dog eat dog ethos of EvE online no doubt in the eyes of others, but there it is. Something I  do enjoy.

Too much adrenaline though. Great if you can channel it in RL emergencies, but no help whatsoever when you’re wrangling pixels…. 🙂

FS,

H