EVE Community Spotlight: CrazyKinux page two
The EVE blogging community you've brought together is made up of players of all types: industrialists, pirates, militia fighters, even drug dealers. Somehow they all seem to get along. Looking at the EVE forums, people tend to clash all the time. Why isn't this the case with the EVE Blog Pack?
I remember watching a TED video of Seth Godin on Tribes, and something he said struck me: people want one thing, they want to be missed. On the EVE forums, one way to do that, one way to get a response is to provoke. On forums that works, and is why we've got trolls. On the EVE Blog Pack that's different. We know a bit more about each other, we're trying to have discussions on what drives our gaming passion: EVE. Getting along is a necessary requirement, otherwise people won't come back to your blog, read and comment. Which is actually one of the requirements of the Pack, to participate in the discussions. Unless you want to be ignored, you'll respect everyone's opinion.
Do the connections players have made out-of-game through the EVE blogs carry over to in-game interactions?
I'm aware of a few occasions where EVE bloggers got together and played together in-game. But since we're all spread out over New Eden, most of us connect through the EVE-Blogger channel while playing. But the EVE Blogging Community has allowed us to connect on various social networks. I've added dozens of friends on Facebook that I've met through EVE blogging, people I get to know personally outside the game. It's quite amazing to connect with people you've never met face-to-face, but with whom you interact with daily.
There's been a real surge in activity with people writing about their experiences with this game. With over 500 EVE bloggers you've found altogether and 30 in the Blog Pack, that's a great deal of content written about the game being produced continually. How do you keep up with it all? *Can* you keep up with it all?
The EVE bloggers have grown to such numbers, that it's impossible to follow everything and everyone. But there are tools to help out there. Over the years, I've come up with a method to monitor the blogosphere in general and the EVE Blogging Community in particular. Tools such as Google Alerts, Google Reader, StatCounter, Google Analytics, and other sites that I'll keep to myself. A Blog Father has a right to keep his sources secret.
Additionally, I'm often kept abreast of the interesting articles and news items by my network of bloggers. It's something that I treasure, very much so.
In some respects, has writing and reading about EVE become part of the game experience for you? Or do you view it as a side activity to gameplay?
My activities in blogging, podcasting, and making connections with fellow capsuleers outside the game, have become as much a part of the pleasures of EVE as the game itself. You could say that the game and its community are inseparable. In my case, one can't live without the other. Both are rewarding experiences that I cherish daily, every time I get an email, a comment, or an evemail.
You devote a substantial amount of time and effort to the EVE community, but is it hard to balance the time commitment between family, work, socializing, CrazyKinux's Musing and, well, simply playing the game?
It's nearly impossible, is what it is! It's been difficult to balance all these priorities, and numerous times, I've had to put family and work before the rest. It's never a hard decision, but it's something I try to avoid as much as I can. It's the reason why we're doing this interview a bit late. You're a very patient man Mr. Egan, and I appreciate this. The funny thing is, so is the EVE Blogging Community, the Blog Pack, and my Phoenix Labs corp mates. I've been blessed with folks that understand the RL always comes first. I guess it shows the level of maturity of the general EVE community.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of what you've achieved with establishing this cohesive EVE blogging community?
As well as making friends from every corner of the world, one of the most rewarding aspects is seeing a community that thrives and grows beyond anything I could have imagined. Projects such as Capsuleer, Podlogs and GameScribe are but recent examples of achievements that any EVE blogger should be proud of, and should be inspired by. And they are! Not one week goes by that I don't get an email from someone new to blogging who has this idea and wants some advice to help him or her start. It's something I'm quite proud to be a part of!
Thanks for speaking with Massively, CK.
The pleasure's all mine! Fly safe!
