Hi there!
I'm a player returning to Eve after having dabbled in the game for a few months here and there over the last four years or so. I stumbled across this board quite by accident, and I was really impressed with how mature, grounded, well-educated, and interesting the regulars here are. As an (undergraduate) student of cultural anthropology and linguistics, I've been delighted to find so many people with overlapping interests working to flesh out the Eve setting.
I joined up here principally because I'm in the middle of the same semi-crisis I've had every time I've picked up a pilot's license over the last few years: the decision to fly as Minmatar or Amarr is one I find exceptionally difficult. The trial character I'm working with at the moment is Amarr, but I've been having pangs of conscience recently over giving assent to slavery.
I suppose the decision will ultimately rely on which race, in practice, would be more fun.
I know that if I play a Minmatar character, there will be options available to me as far as playing the role I would like and flying in a like-minded corporation. I can only really imagine my Amarr character as being somewhat estranged from the common loyalist sympathies (he's a Khanid zealot) and potentially Tetrimon-sympathetic. If I could find like-minded Amarr pilots, however, that would be a significant push toward the Empire in my book. Not that I feel entitled to your responses, but I am certainly not opposed to folks on the board plugging for their own race, corporation, or alliance.
If you'd rather I bring this question to another board, please let me know. Thanks for having me!
NS