Starlight Corp: Looking for Teachers, Hoping for Students

[Qia_Kare]

In a nutshell, Starlight Corp is a friendly, casual, and new player friendly corporation, or it at least aims to be. However, the definition of ‘casual’ here may not be the one you are used to if it includes wardec exemption. If you can’t tolerate a war, this corporation is not for you. You won’t be required to fight, but you will be required to endure or make due with a bad situation using your resourcefulness and that of your fellows.

What I mean by casual:

There are two essential components to this, the first component people generally approve of, the second people generally do not, but I feel both components are important.

The first component is that there are no required operations. People are free to play, or not play, as their schedule and disposition dictate. There are no current scheduled operations, but were there to be any they would be based on mutual interest of the participants and purely voluntary.

The second component is a ban on multiboxing. Some people do not have the time, or money, or inclination to multibox and I want everyone to be able to meaningfully contribute with just a single character. I also believe that playing just one character adds reasons to be social and work together that would be otherwise missed. I don’t go so far as to claim multiboxing is the devil, and I don’t want purists or bigots to badmouth players who prefer to play differently, but I do want people who want to play casually to have a home where they can be on equal footing with their peers.

What I mean by friendly:

We have a policy of only fighting those who have been or appear to be hostile, and we have an open door policy on setting blues. We aim to be on good terms with people who play like us, or who play differently from us. Furthermore, we aim to be an asset to the community at large, particularly new players. Members are encouraged to teach other players of all stripes about game mechanics, whether inside or outside the corporation when they ask or express confusion. I’m not looking to be another Eve University with formal classes on a vast array of topics, but rather I am looking for people to provide helpful one on one assistance when a player, any player of any affiliation, encounters issues or roadblocks to doing what they want to do.

About war declarations:

I personally believe that wardecs are supposed to be an important part of highsec, though I endeavor to avoid being involved in them. I also think that being able to stick things out through a war says a lot about the character of a person who can do that. Bottom line is that I want people of strong character. If someone can’t get through the tough times, then I imagine they’ll give up before the good times can be actualized. This means we will probably suffer losses and setbacks, but that is fine. Rebuilding is also playing and gives us an immediate goal to work towards.

What We Are Looking For:

We are looking for people with a helpful disposition, but who are able to operate independently for the time being. Preferably people who are familiar with Eve and who could be on hand to teach potential new recruits in the future. Clone state is not important. Teachers can still teach, students can still learn, both can still play and chat, all of which is more important to me than what ships can be flown or what skills are trained. Our PvP target selection is typically very limited, but there have been occasions where people do bring a fight to us. We are interested in PvP players to teach and prepare for the times we need to fight, but I can’t promise a lot of content of that type at present.

What we are not looking for:

We are looking to avoid players who hate any general class of player, so long as that player class is abiding by the terms of service. This means no hating on Russians or Chinese, or any other nationality for that matter. This also means not hating on either industrialists, pacifists, gankers, wardeccers, gate campers, pvpers or what have you. Hatred, by definition, is an extreme, and likely toxic condition that overrides rational thought. People are free to have their own opinions and engage in in game aggressive behavior (within the confines of our ethos and designated enemies) so long as they display an appropriate level of respect and restraint towards others, but should be able to tolerate the opinions of others that differ, and/or engage in intelligent debate where differences of opinion must be discussed or challenged. People who can not do this are not welcome.

CEO personal notes:

I want to stress that what is important to me is player happiness, not member count, and I include all players of Eve Online in that. The point of my doing anything at all is to make the game a better place for everyone who plays it, and I prefer to do that one person at a time on an individual level. I appreciate others who do the same. I don’t have a million moons to mine and I don’t have any promises of easy money to offer. Honestly, if someone is just looking for easy ISK or personal benefits then I don’t think this would be the culture for them, anyway. Activity is low, which is why I’m looking for independent teachers who will not be negatively impacted by this. If we get enough folk to provide a consistent nurturing environment for rookies, I would be more comfortable extending an invitation to those rookies in the future. I still will accept a suitable applicant that is new if the above especially resonates, but I do not want to advertise on the basis of promises I am not absolutely confident I can keep.

I am looking to have an identity in Eve that is distinct, and that’s why I’ve set policies in a somewhat unconventional way that likely doesn’t have wide appeal. When players hear Eve-Scout or CODE. they get a distinct impression of what those groups stand for. I want to be more than just a group like any other of my ilk with a different name and flag, even if being different means being a small group with limited influence.

If you have questions, comments, or want to communicate further, you can send an Eve-mail to Qia Kare. Due to the Coronavirus, and my sector being classified as essential, and a shortage of workers induced by the pandemic, I am kept fairly busy trying to keep people fed, but I will try to reply to mails if and when I can. (If I even get any with an ad like this. ^^;) Please be patient with me and I’ll get back to you.

[Shipwreck_Jones]

Well, it seems like you have a pretty good philosophy overall. However, I was floored by the restriction on multibxing. A) This is not going to stop your opponents from multiboxing, so you’re not providing a level playing field, you’re just forcing your side to fight at a disadvantage, B) multiboxing is super useful outside of PvP, and C) multiboxing forces you to learn hotkeys and improve your execution. On the plus side, fighting at a disadvantage should force you guys to learn/develop single box strategies.

Finally, there are plenty of corps out there, and you are free to do as you wish, but just in case you didn’t know, this policy isn’t very friendly to introverts. I mean, you think it’s great to allow people to chose when and how much they play -right? Well, introverts appreciate the ability to chose when and how much socializing they do -and prohibiting multiboxing reduces our ability to do that by making it harder to be self-sufficient.

We do not shun all human contact. But lots of social interaction with large groups and/or people we’re not super comfortable with becomes draining after a while. Thus, one of the reasons I like to multibox is because it makes it easier for me to be self-sufficient. Let me put it this way, there is some content in Warframe that is designed to be run in groups (i.e. the lua challenges and the corrupted vaults). When encountering this content, my first instinct was not to turn on public matchmaking (or whatever), but to look up guides for how to do it solo. And, such guides already existed! lol. I mean, it would be so much “easier” to just briefly hop in with some randos and do it, but introverts would rather beat their head against the wall figuring out how to do it solo, then make a youtube tutorial video (and complain about content that punishes solo players while they’re at it), than be forced to interact with strangers.

[Qia_Kare]

I am a hard core introvert myself, so I would like to say I understand what it’s like pretty well. I also understand that I’m putting myself, and the rest of us at a disadvantage, pound for pound, vs. people who do multibox. I am not trying to make a statement on whether people should or should not be doing it in the greater Eve universe, either.

For people who wish to multibox, there is plenty of opportunity to do so. My strongest allies are quite fond of the practice and I will refer players who wish to go that route to them, or to another corporation that I feel aligns with their goals and with which they will be happy. If I do not know of one, then I know people I can refer them to or ask advice from. I also don’t mind if people decide later to graduate out of the corporation to multibox, or if people want to associate with the corporation without joining. Given that we default friendly there is only a problem when others decide they want to be unfriendly.

One of the several things I would like to accomplish is to provide an entry level corporation for new players where they can be competitive and genuinely helpful. I think this feeling of being useful can go a long way to make a long term player out of someone who might have otherwise wondered why they matter, and it can help with motivating a player to stick out a bad situation or trying to change it instead of throwing up their hands and declaring they can’t do anything so they might as well not log in.

Giving people a strong reason to form some kind of social bond is uncomfortable for Introverts. I know I am personally rather terrified of the Duty Finder in Final Fantasy XIV, but it is also true that some of my best memories would never have been if I hadn’t gotten up the nerve to interact with people. I don’t think it is too far out of the realm of reason that I might encourage people to make one or two connections in this way. With everyone on the same footing and likely in need of assistance now and again a player should be able to find ways to offer up their skills and feel less like a third wheel than they might if all their peers were self sufficient but they were not.

Starlight isn’t for everyone. Maybe it isn’t for anyone, but here it will be just in case it would be a good home for someone out there. For those players it does not suit I would happily help them find a home they are happy with. I would like to retain my identity, for those to whom it might appeal, and defend it with all vigor so that if people put their faith in me and my ideals I do not let them down by compromising on them later.

I do appreciate your detailed, thoughtful, and well meaning post. It was worth the read, and I do take time to consider constructive feedback like this. I generally like to spend more of my time listening than talking. ^^;