They always say first impressions are the strongest. Making a good one is important when getting to know people. Making a bad one can be tough to overcome, but with some luck you might get to have a good laugh.
Guess which kind I have in mind?
As I was out merrily working to hone my PVP skills and regularly getting splattered all over screens worldwide, I decided to have go at it on the cheap using a free rookie ship, one of the little Reapers. The thought was that using inexpensive ships, I could exercise the same skills as with the larger, more-expensive ones. All I had to do was find some people interested in doing just that, and I’d be set.
So there I was, with my miniscule Reaper — affectionately thought of by many as a flying junk pile, but I actually like the looks of the thing — in a LowSec system looking for trouble. Literally. I put a message up on local chat that I was looking for some low-level PVP, and that I was flying a Reaper. At least two people on local instantly replied that it was a trap. Pffft! Skeptics! I countered that they could use their scanner and see for themselves.
I waited.
Inside of two minutes, someone showed up, his ship’s icon decorated with the little green star that indicated he was in my corporation. Mind you, the only corporation I’m in is the default one that came with my account. I guessed it probably had about 8 million noobs like me in it at any one time, so I didn’t pay any attention to the little marker. He was obviously there from my invitation, because there wasn’t anything else interesting around that I could see. I set course for him, ready to lock on and start a fight.
He just sat.
I locked target on him.
No response.
I started firing.
I got a response, too.
His ship wasn’t too big, so I lasted a little longer than usual, but still things happened pretty fast. I tried a couple maneuvers I thought would help my survival time, and I think they did, but I knew I would lose because my ship was so fragile. So, a number of hits into the exchange, my ship exploded, leaving me in my pod. I saw him lock on, tried to get away, but was just a touch late and wound up waking up in my clone again, a few stargates away, the mail icon lit up, calling my attention to one of those silly messages from the insurance company. Like I didn’t know what just happened….
I didn’t have the time that evening for another go, so I gathered my wits and headed to my home system. For whatever reason, I was watching the corporate chat channel, which is not my normal habit. I was involved in a conversation about something unimportant when a message from a strangely familiar name popped up: “Hey! Why did you attack me just now?”
Oops! Bad first impression. Somebody flies in minding his own business, and I load up and start shooting at him. Not exactly a page out of “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Of course, we’re ignoring the obvious truth here that wanton piracy was exactly what I was training for, but that’s another story.
“What? I put out the message that I was looking for low-level PVP, and you showed just a minute later. I thought that’s what you were there for.”
“Oh, right. Well, sorry if I cost you any expensive implants.”
“Just a new clone, that’s all. No problem.”
And that was that.
A blatant unwarranted attack, followed by armed conflict, a spaceship’s destruction, topped with plain old murder, essentially resulted in “Sorry about that.” Not bad for working out a poor first impression, eh? Try that in real life and, if nothing else, just imagine the lawyers.
These virtual universes do have their advantages.
— Will Collum
Read Previous EVE Online Diaries:
January 23, 2008; January 30, 2008; February 6, 2008; February 13, 2008; February 20, 2008; February 27, 2008; March 5, 2008; March 12, 2008; March 19, 2008; March 26, 2008; April 2, 2008; April 9, 2008; April 16, 2008; April 23, 2008; April 30, 2008
