Good:
Solo PvP: Ever since my first kills solo in my meta-3/4 fit Rifter in 2007 with my one month old character, I was hooked on it. For me solo fighting in Eve has never been about the end results of killboard statistics and shiny mails (although they are gratifying) but because it's a form of PvP I find risky, exciting, and challenging. I enjoy the hunt, the baiting of a fight, the unpredictability of engagement, and the sense that you have no safety net except your own wits, knowledge of fits/tactics, and their effective execution. Now I'm not going to say I'm elite or pro at solo PvP with superb killboard stats, because I'm not, nor do I have much interest pursuing such. At most I'd say I'm competent or above average. I do it because my solo engagements tend to be the most memorable ones. The ones where I'm in slivers of hull left with my mods burnt out and my ship on fire having after having taken long odds and come out wondering how I got out of that fight alive at all with the killmails. I can remember so many of my solo fights, but only very few of the small gang/fleet enagements mostly because the latter doesn't provide much excitement for me anymore - it just feels a bit rote.
Identity Creation/Branding/Organization: I enjoy the creation fictional identities not only for characters, but also for an organization or group of players that provides a sense of identity, a vision, a brand people can buy into and that others - roleplayer or not - can participate, collaborate and make it their own. I had a lot of fun back in the day presenting the concept of the Villore Accords MDP to the QCATS and SOTF when Calmil had taken all the systems and a lot of people were saying the FDU had "lost" only for a small cadre of relatively unknown corporations working together to turn Nennamaila into a fortress the Caldari still have never taken and become some real effective killers two years later. I had just as much fun recently with Pyre Falcon in trying to take a lot of the gameplay, culture, and small gang pvp focus that worked with the Villore Accords project except brand it under a Kaalakiota corporate mercenary identity.
I find such content creation projects engaging. Especially when the brand or idea created creates cause for involvement and collaboration with others, emergent in-game content, and the simple satisfaction of having provided an effective framework for others to grow in their ability and confidence to the point I feel I am no longer required. Then I can just close my briefcase, put on my coat, and turn off the lights before closing the door and walking out into the night and obscurity again.
Bad:
Eve Online Roleplay: Two years ago, I decided to pursue a wider engagement with Eve roleplayers to see what it offered and what it was like given previously I had tended to prefer lurking on the fringes in my metaphorical mountain hermitage.
My experiences have shown me that quite frankly, I am terrible at the style of roleplay in Eve. Having come from a background in roleplay in text-based MUD's, forums, and play by mail, I'd my RP style of simply seeing my characters as just a collection of fictional tropes, themes, and archetypes that I execute in the setting does not mesh well with the prevalent style in Eve which I view as something more akin to method acting or as Author Insertion.
This difference in style and perspective I think leads to a lot of misunderstandings, especially given that one of my more public characters is I will admit written as a woman who can be confrontational and aggressive as well as being well equipped to deploy the vitriol and acerbic rhetoric given their background experience as a corporate lawyer. However, I now recognize that in truth my frustrations were due to having rustled my own jimmies with my own unrealistic, and frankly arbitrary expectations of others in the community.
In having now re-adjusted my expectations of roleplay in Eve Online whilst additionally feeling I am now able to return to my aforementioned metaphorical mountain hermitage (Except with more Iron Curtain) my jimmes have returned to their usual and natural unrustled state. I accept now that if people want to immerse themselves as their own character in Eve that's cool, and simply their own legitimate style of roleplay that I am terrible at.
Online Leadership: I am terrible at it mostly because when the initial impetus of energy and ambition fades I can end up in a situation where lack of interest and motivation leads to poor management which in turn leads to further lack of interest and motivation. This creates a frustrating scenario where whilst I'm aware of what might need to be done I've become too enervated to actually make plans let alone implement them. The lack of my own motivation to do anything then naturally leads to a lack of motivation, buy-in, and participation among others thus exacerbating an already unfun situation for all involved.
In addition, I have a terrible habit of not delegating tasks, micromanagement, not providing a clear portfolio, and essentially doing everything I know I should not be doing when in a position of online leadership due to past experiences elsewhere and the latent mistrust it caused.
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Topic: EVE OOC: What are you good at? What are you terribad at? Confession time. (Read 4498 times)