EVE Search - Eve Types - Why Do You Play?

All Channels

EVE General Discussion

Eve Types - Why Do You Play?

» Click here to find additional results for this topic using Google

Monitor this thread via RSS [?]

Pages: [1] 2 3 :: one page
Author	Thread Statistics \| Show CCP posts - 0 post(s)
Mealtrom	Posted - 2009.12.13 06:47:00 - [1] Edited by: Mealtrom on 13/12/2009 06:48:24 One of the most interesting things about Eve is that if you ask ten people why they play you'll get ten different answers. We have labels for them like "griefer" or "carebear" but those don't really get at the heart of why people play the game as they do. I've been sort of subconsciously classifying people for years and I thought I'd try to work out a little system of groups separated into three main sections. Of course nobody fits in a little box and most people will be two or more of these, but if somebody asked you to summarize why you play Eve in one sentence your answer would be where you fit below. I'd like to hear what other people think. Give me your interpretations, examples, suggestions, or criticism. My first big group of people is creatives, people driven by the desire to create something or reach a goal. These are the groups most apt to be called "carebears" as they aren't primarily interested in fighting, or in some cases even interacting with others at all. Optimizers "Once ze rockets are up, who cares vere zey come down, zat's not my department," says Wernher von Braun. The point of Eve is to reach mechanical nirvana. Optimizers are fascinated by Eve's technical detail, and feel compelled to master it. They delight in tweaking fittings and fumbling with roles. Unlike the builders though they are ultimately unconcerned with their creations, and will capriciously strip down a ship they just built or disband a corporation just to see if they can do it a little better next time. Optimizers feel they are important because they drive the technical innovation that makes Eve so unique, and help others better understand the game. Builders You progress not through improving what has been done, but reaching toward what has yet to be done. The point of Eve is to create. Builders are drawn to Eve's sheer potential for growth. More than anything they love to see things come together, whether it is a ship, a group, or even a plan. They are less concerned with the technical perfection, utility, or even value of their creations as long as they find them interesting or aesthetically pleasing. And while they may acquire ships, territory, or wealth they do so for the joy of building and collecting instead of any other goal. Builders are common in corporations and alliances, but are distinguishable from the dominator in that they are more than happy to live and let live (just as long as nobody is blocking the space for their next creation). They more than anybody get in conflict with the troll, who delights in knocking down the sand castles the builder has so carefully erected. Builders feel they are important because they literally create the Eve world. Hoarders See, if he was poor, we'd call him crazy. But since he was rich, we just called him sir. The point of Eve is to accumulate wealth. Eve has many yardsticks for success but none is so concrete as isk. Hoarders are drawn to Eve's wide open market system and its potential for untold riches. How they acquire these riches is secondary, and for every scrupulous business man there is a scheming profiteer. Hoarders can be found many places but tend to eschew the shifting sands of nullsec, seeing its volatility and highly socialized nature as obstacles to their personal success. The fattest wallet, the shiniest ships, in the end it will all belong to the them. Hoarders feel they are important because whether they are symbiotic or parasitic, they drive the economic system that underpins everything else in Eve. Part 2 and 3 coming as soon as I can post....
Mealtrom	Posted - 2009.12.13 06:53:00 - [2] reserved
Mealtrom	Posted - 2009.12.13 06:59:00 - [3] Edited by: Mealtrom on 13/12/2009 07:06:06 The third group is aggressive types. They play Eve expressly for its conflicts, often putting them directly at odds with many of the other groups. Not that they'd have it any other way.... Trolls The point of eve is to deflate egos. The troll looks at a a world of self important alliances, penny pinching carebears, and neurotic EFT warriors as ripe targets for the picking. He may gain wealth by scamming or join a corporation to position himself but the only resource the troll is really interested in harvesting is tears. The troll is drawn to eve because of its unparallelled freedom to make people suffer. They will scam, pop, harass, blackmail, or steal from just about anybody if it seems amusing enough. Trolls will join together if they think the potential to wreak havoc is greater that way, but are perfectly happy to go solo or stab their erstwhile allies in the back. They don't see any of this as necessarily evil, and the common mantra to their teary eyed victim is ôits just a game, lighten upö. Trolls feel they are important because they provide antagonists for the game, gleefully playing the role of Eve's mustache twirling villains. Brawlers The point of Eve is to fight! The Brawler doesn't particularly care who they fight or why as long as the frozen corpses keep flowing. Brawler's are drawn to Eve's brutal PVP system which allows them to engage anybody at any time as long as long as they don't mind the consequences (which they generally don't). Brawler's are singularly focused on winning fights, and sometimes with just fighting. They don't care about the long term gains or consequences of doing so, just as long as they get to hone their skills and feel the adrenaline rush. Creative types are wary of them, especially the hoarders who are equally annoyed and exasperated by their habit of running headlong into pointless fights. Brawlers feel they are important because they provide the action and tension that make's the Eve universe an interesting place to fly in. Dominators The point of Eve is to control. Control markets, control armies, control space. Dominators see eve as a gigantic chessboard to manipulate. Unlike the hoarder who is content to spin his ships in a hangar and stare at his wallet the dominator only wants resources as a means to expand his influence. These are the types most commonly found in nullsec alliances, especially at the top echelons. They see any competing sphere of influence in their field as an affront and will crush it even if it poses no significant threat. Dominators tend to run afoul of most of the creative and experiential types who find their pathological need to stamp a logo on everything irritating, but just as often they enjoy a synergistic relationship with them. Dominators see themselves as valuable because they provide the massive overarching dramas that Eve runs on.
Dirk Magnum Royal Hiigaran Navy	Posted - 2009.12.13 07:11:00 - [4] Edited by: Dirk Magnum on 13/12/2009 07:12:41 "Don't Fit In Club" reporting. Your archetypes lack a good place for me good sir and I am reporting you to CCP for it. edit: actually wait a minute hold on I'll get serious for a second. I have to disagree with the Creatives part. That misses the mark on what a carebear is by a huge margin. Carebears have no goals but to acquire. They aren't into building or innovating. Those things require risks and competition, and those are the foils of the bears.
Lance Fighter Amarr	Posted - 2009.12.13 07:39:00 - [5] Edited by: Lance Fighter on 13/12/2009 07:42:15 Well.. I moved from a hoarder, to a brawler, to a dominator in my eve time.. I suppose thats progression! edit and for the record, I disapprove of creative people (read: carebears... they never want to join my ops -.- ) and are neutral on the subject of experimental people OHGODS BELOW THIS LINE IS MY SIG !!!! SRSLY! Blane Xero > Lance is at -0.9 sec status with a 1 million bounty. Lance is also amarrian. Thats 3 evil points
randomname4me	Posted - 2009.12.13 07:46:00 - [6] tldr EVE Online: Rated RRR- For Explicit Breakfast Piercing Bullets.
Santiago Fahahrri Galactic Geographic	Posted - 2009.12.13 07:49:00 - [7] Originally by: Dirk Magnum "Don't Fit In Club" reporting. Your archetypes lack a good place for me.
Zeba Minmatar Honourable East India Trading Company	Posted - 2009.12.13 07:49:00 - [8] I have five accounts and have multiple alts that fit each of your catagorys. I r teh Sybil of Eve! \o/ Originally by: Akita T We don't hate people like you, we look at you with mostly pity and a hint of disgust balled up in a big wad of "notto disu shi'tto agen".
Cyprus Black Caldari Cowboy Diplomacy	Posted - 2009.12.13 07:53:00 - [9] Got tired of being a Builder and am testing my hand at being a Brawler. I like what I see so far. ___________________________________ ôIf you're not willing to fight for what you have in EvE... you don't deserve it, and you will lose it.ö ù Karath Piki
Frenden Dax Dax Acquisitions	Posted - 2009.12.13 08:01:00 - [10] A good read! There are some other types of people that don't quite fit into your categories, but you got captured the personalities of a lot of people I know in-game. Also... Originally by: Zeba Edited by: Zeba on 13/12/2009 07:56:57 I have five accounts and have multiple alts that fit each of your catagories. I r teh Sybil of Eve! \o/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociative_identity_disorder Originally by: Karanth Or, in other words, random people can't usurp rights from government because they are insane/bitter/vengeful/made of potato salad.
Zeba Minmatar Honourable East India Trading Company	Posted - 2009.12.13 08:05:00 - [11] Originally by: Frenden Dax Also... Originally by: Zeba Edited by: Zeba on 13/12/2009 07:56:57 I have five accounts and have multiple alts that fit each of your catagories. I r teh Sybil of Eve! \o/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociative_identity_disorder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Ardell_Mason Originally by: Akita T We don't hate people like you, we look at you with mostly pity and a hint of disgust balled up in a big wad of "notto disu shi'tto agen".
Wacoede Amarr Allied Combat Team	Posted - 2009.12.13 08:06:00 - [12] Originally by: Dirk Magnum Edited by: Dirk Magnum on 13/12/2009 07:27:50 "Don't Fit In Club" reporting. Your archetypes lack a good place for me good sir and I am reporting you to CCP for it. edit: actually wait a minute hold on I'll get serious for a second. I have to disagree with the Creatives part. That misses the mark on what a carebear is by a huge margin. Carebears have no goals but to acquire. They aren't into building or innovating. Those things require risks and competition, and those are the foils of the bears. edit again: and to answer the question of why I play... well tbh the acerbicity of those players who I do share common gameplay interests with is endearing to me. This means that Eve possesses something that other games (in my experience) don't: a playerbase that is itself a reason to keep playing when your interest in other parts of the game is on the wane. That's not to say I think Eve in general sucks apart from that, I'm just saying that sometimes, even when I don't want to play, I'll still come on this or "that other" Eve forum (oh yeah that one baby) and read what people are saying. The forum has, much more than once, compelled me to log back in and get cracking on whatever part of the game had been appealing to me before my interest started to slump: missioning for ISK, blowing ISK on PvP, dealing with corp stuff, or what have you. then you fit in the Socials section quite nicely then :P ___________________________________________________ Originally by: Avery Fatwallet when someone sez "eve is too tuff" standard reply is "can i have stuff?"
Synex Gallente BIG Libertas Fidelitas	Posted - 2009.12.13 09:06:00 - [13] One of the best written posts I've read in a long time! Synex BIG
Malcanis Vanishing Point. The Initiative.	Posted - 2009.12.13 09:23:00 - [14] So yeah I guess I'm a "Social" with interludes of "Brawler".
Lexx Khadar Minmatar Free Minmatar Union	Posted - 2009.12.13 09:25:00 - [15] Edited by: Lexx Khadar on 13/12/2009 09:26:57 I just love eves skill system and the dynamics of the one server approach ccp have taken. Plus your free to set your own goals to achieve. Be they just get by, get a nice ship and have fun. To shaping the political landscape in 0.0 and carve yourself an empire. Ive never found a game with more scope and depth.
Mealtrom	Posted - 2009.12.13 09:26:00 - [16] Originally by: Dirk Magnum I have to disagree with the Creatives part. That misses the mark on what a carebear is by a huge margin. Carebears have no goals but to acquire. They aren't into building or innovating. Those things require risks and competition, and those are the foils of the bears. Well I only said they often get called carebears. A hoarder might take on risky investments or engage in piracy as long as it kept bringing in isk, or a builder might choose to make their empire in nullsec. Almost all carebears come from these guys, but it doesn't necessarily make them all carebears.
Abrazzar	Posted - 2009.12.13 09:47:00 - [17] I just 'play' because I haven't quit yet. Guess that's a category of its own. --------
Jacinta Worth Reikoku IT Alliance	Posted - 2009.12.13 09:50:00 - [18] OP wins for quoting Tom Lehrer :D
Spoon Thumb Paladin Imperium Curatores Veritatis Alliance	Posted - 2009.12.13 10:19:00 - [19] Many of those aren't mutually exclusive. For example, I'm a builder. I want to try and (help) build an Empire in 0.0. I'm also a socialiser and an occasional optimiser (EFT warrior). Incidentally, this means I pvp to help build security in my region, as a means to an end
Lady Spank Amarr Sekret Kool Klubb HYDRA RELOADED	Posted - 2009.12.13 10:58:00 - [20] This is why I love eve, the possibilities are endless. I like to do a bit of everything, more or less. Originally by: Tirus Sinobi Your response has set your intelligence barrier so low that anything you post from here on that breaches it, will have to be considered posted by somebody else.
Suneai Gallente Jovian Labs Jovian Enterprises	Posted - 2009.12.13 11:11:00 - [21] I'd say I tend to flick through quite a few of those categories depending on what I feel like doing; I usually jump between Social, Optimiser, Builder, Role-player, Brawler... I'd say Social, Builder and Role-player are my main three.
Ssakaa Minmatar Peshwar Krusual Annwn Matari	Posted - 2009.12.13 11:27:00 - [22] Originally by: Synex One of the best written posts I've read in a long time! Yes, a very good read, OP. It's where some of your categories bleed into one another that's perhaps the most interesting place to inhabit. A player can progress from one category to another as time goes on, as suggested, or simply try to think outside the box and run with that. I'm a dedicated roleplayer, for the reasons you mention above. CCP supplies a basic canonical framework for roleplayers but also strange incongruities here and there. Which is a good thing, for creativity purposes. Think Minmatar -there's a huge pool of back story to dive into -now think Krusual tribe (which I'm particularly interested in) -a non-playable tribe run by a Brutor CEO . There's range enough there to attempt to flesh out something. It's going to be fun while it lasts. Elsewhere, one only has to take a look at Electus Matari or the excellent Ghost Festival (and others) to witness a cross-over between your distinctions; one of the latter's goals, I believe, IMO, is to disillusion those who believe that roleplayers needn't necessarily be inadequate at PvP or whatever else is available in EVE.
Premanurechu Appogriffin	Posted - 2009.12.13 13:34:00 - [23] This is a frame and not a orthogonal basis of archetype vectors. Well written!
Bull Flu	Posted - 2009.12.13 13:43:00 - [24] Neither my playstyles nor my ingame goals seem to fit any of em...
Junko Togawa Caldari	Posted - 2009.12.13 16:31:00 - [25] Very nice post. I'm deffo a Hoarder with a sprinkle of Optimizer. I think you've got the right categorization, some people just don't like that their playstyles can be summarized with broad categories and so buck at it.
Flash Granola Suddenly Ninjas Tear Extraction And Reclamation Service	Posted - 2009.12.13 16:50:00 - [26] Edited by: Flash Granola on 13/12/2009 16:52:19 Originally by: Mealtrom Trolls I do it all because I'm evil, and I do it all for free, your tears are all the pay I'll ever need. The point of eve is to deflate egos. The troll looks at a a world of self important alliances, penny pinching carebears, and neurotic EFT warriors as ripe targets for the picking. He may gain wealth by scamming or join a corporation to position himself but the only resource the troll is really interested in harvesting is tears. The troll is drawn to eve because of its unparallelled freedom to make people suffer. They will scam, pop, harass, blackmail, or steal from just about anybody if it seems amusing enough. Trolls will join together if they think the potential to wreak havoc is greater that way, but are perfectly happy to go solo or stab their erstwhile allies in the back. They don't see any of this as necessarily evil, and the common mantra to their teary eyed victim is ôits just a game, lighten upö. Trolls feel they are important because they provide antagonists for the game, gleefully playing the role of Eve's mustache twirling villains. ... you've been reading the Suddenly Ninjas (motto: "My loot, your tears") corporate manifesto, haven't you? Edit: One archetype I don't really see in your categories is the helper, or anti-troll; the guy that hangs out in the newbie help channel and gives advice, or joins EVE-U for the sake of training up the newbies, just because he enjoys it ("I do it because I'm good, and I'll do it all for free?") Not that that archetype is very common in EVE, but you know.
Ava Starfire	Posted - 2009.12.13 16:57:00 - [27] Quite a cool post. I guess i am a blend of optimizer, brawler, and troll... But hey, its fun. Space is fun!
Thundercatt Gallente Federal Defence Union	Posted - 2009.12.13 19:19:00 - [28] Part limelighter, part optimizer, part social, part brawler. I want to have good fits, fly with fun people,blow the **** out of my adversaries, make my char famous and look good while doing so.
PeHD0M	Posted - 2009.12.13 20:07:00 - [29] 2OP: you forgot about: 1. explorers - play to explore space 2. paladins - play to fight with evil, like heroes 3. freedom flyers - like fly and do what they want, don't like to be bound to something or someone 4. helpers - like to help good people in any way
AmarrettoDiAmarr	Posted - 2009.12.14 04:35:00 - [30] Thank you for a well-written and interesting post. I see myself as a mix of optimizer, builder, and hoarder. I tend to think of it as people who want to create something, people who want to do something and people who want to hurt someone, of which the majority are the latter.

Pages: [1] 2 3 :: one page
First page \| Previous page \| Next page \| Last page

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
EVE Online, the EVE logo, EVE and all associated logos and designs are the intellectual property of CCP hf. All artwork, screenshots, characters, vehicles, storylines, world facts or other recognizable features of the intellectual property relating to these trademarks are likewise the intellectual property of CCP hf. EVE Online and the EVE logo are the registered trademarks of CCP hf. All rights are reserved worldwide. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. CCP hf. has granted permission to EVE-Search.com to use EVE Online and all associated logos and designs for promotional and information purposes on its website but does not endorse, and is not in any way affiliated with, EVE-Search.com. CCP is in no way responsible for the content on or functioning of this website, nor can it be liable for any damage arising from the use of this website.