Last weekend I went to the Eve London Meet-up organised by Demetri Slavic and Ross Taylor - well done guys, it was great fun.
The venue had a nice view of the river Thames and a good supply of super yum food (the burgers were particularly good) and liquids that are pleasant to swallow (which may have included pretty good beer amongst other things LOL).
I managed to hang out and talk to a lot of players (and some CCP guys) from a wide variety of in-game demographics and there were also several corporations there. The corps that particularly stick in my mind are the ExoGen Foundation (a great corporation for newish pilots) and the Intaki Liberation Front (who were hilariously funny - and yes, the name is Monty Python inspired). I did manage to forget loads of names and details though so apologies for this but feel free to name-check me here if you want to remind me and say ‘Hi’.
We chatted about pretty much everything that you get in Eve, which ship is the best for null sec, the tactics of mid-warp smart-bombing, mining and ethics, how to set up an apprenticeship scheme for new players, and how far computers have come in the last 40 years and where Eve might be in 50 years time when the human/computer interface gap with be the thickness of a hair.
All utterly fascinating stuff and a really nice way to spend a summer’s day.
One of the main reasons I was there was to chat to players at the event about volunteering opportunities with the Interstellar Services Department (ISD) and this went pretty well with several people expressing interest. Of the people who’d heard of ISD already, all of them had a positive impression. And once I’d explained the Program to the people who hadn’t, there was lots of positivity.
This backs up my own experience, it’s one of the best things that I’ve done in Eve so far. I get to hang out with people who are cool, passionate about the game, enthusiastic and fun - what’s not to like?
I did say to some of the pilots that I met at the event that I’d possibly post something up in the forums about ISD, hence this post, and so here’s the elevator pitch:
If you love the game and have passion, positivity, dedication and some expertise - all things that most Eve players have in abundance - then ISD would love for you to bring those elements to our Volunteer Program. You can find info on how the program works here: https://volunteers.eveonline.com.
Essentially ISD volunteers make the EVE experience bigger, better and brighter by lending their free time to the five specialised teams within the Program, such as player support, news, fiction, quality assurance and communications. If you want to be a part of this productive and enthusiastic group of volunteers, we want to know.
As far as the event goes, if you haven’t been to one, I’d definitely consider it, it was well organised, great fun and you’ll probably meet some pretty chilled out and cool people.
I can’t wait for the next one!