I hope this answers why some people are taking their game so serious. I do stress some of them and not all.
+1
Aside of what OP described zKill can also act as a journal, a kind of āphotoā book of your combat encounters. It can be a good way to share some interesting, funny or otherwise memorable combat or even other type of encounters that resulted in a kill/lossmail.
This doesnāt necessarily mean the people involved are serious about said killboards, instead can simply mean that they find it an easy and suitable way to quickly reference and keep track of past events and share the experience on their own or along with supplemental information.
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Exactly, like dumb mistakes, such as the one time I lost an Orca, Skiff, and a combat ship to a single player in a battlecruiser in high sec because I took the bait from him stealing my ore and going suspect. Or the time I lost a Gila to Kusion because I was antagonizing him in an ice anomā¦
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Thatās the best description Iāve seen for how I use zkillboard!
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That might be too popular, especially with the gankers using it as I do zkillboard. If for example; a ganker could look me up by name or search on a system. Then they would know where in low sec I am hauling or mining in real time. It all depends on how much information is given to the general public.
Some of the gankers and gate campers donāt care for zkillboards ratting them out. As a special haulerā¦ aka smuggler of goods, I use zkillboard logistics to examine my route. Earlier I ran a load of weapons and ammo from Jita to Hek via the pirate systems of Rancer, Miroitem, and Otou. Over 260 million worth in a Nereus, Eat me Goonswarm! 
That load continued all the way to a market beyond Hek. Where it is being sold for 1 billion ISK. If I had not made the trip successful, I would be a tiny bit upset for the loss, but nothing to cry about. I could go the long way around, the boring way around, but I am a nefarious smuggler for Covert Undercover Logistics Transport. That is how I play.
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this is a mystery to me as well, since the messurements are in no means a indication of success.
i guess its just the typical leaderboard type of thing so the economical metrics can just be ignored for that ype of gameplay.
but for the rest i do agree, i take it serious myself, the game does show human traitās or does (in some way) make people show the true face they have while hiding behind a character they play, its quite interesting to see how this group psycological aspects do play out, where groups naturally form based on the way they interact with the world. quite facinating actually.
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I have absolutely no interest in anyone knowing how much I mine, or run missions or how much I do of anything.
Thatās just giving out far too much info about myself.
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Different people have different play styles. Different people enjoy different things. For some people this game is an escape from reality so taking it more seriously helps them immerse themselves better. At the end of the day itās really simple, are you having fun playing the game in your own way.
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Correct, yet a lot of players still lambast someone for playing the āwrongā way.
I play how I play and if someone doesnāt like it then they should remember that I pay for my sub, not them.
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The question is: why do you care so much what other people think?
I donāt, but I see it on here all the time, nothings changed in 12 years.
Then it doesnāt affect you in any way thus irrelevant if they say it. Right?
Correct, but I do like to point out now and then that thereās no right or wrong way to play EVE.
Just do you.
As with zKillboard, presumably a well-designed leaderboard would include an āopt-outā or limited information option. Or it could be implemented within corps only or something. The concept is one thing, the exact implementation is a different discussion.
However the points people have made about others using zKillboard etc. to criticize other peopleās gameplay or glorify their own, brings up another point related to the OP:
One reason some players that EVE so serious is due to ego and self-image. EVE has been long thought of (rightly or wrongly) as being a āhigh level of difficulty, very hard to masterā game. Therefore anyone who takes the time and effort to āsucceedā at EVE (in whatever terms that means to them) can pat themselves on the back and envision their performance as being āmasterā level.
For some people, the ability to demonstrate skill and mastery at something, even just a game, is integral to their self image and feelings of self worth. Thatās not something people take lightly.
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zKillboard isnāt opt out. Your are being forced to have your losses/fits/whereabouts on display forever if the other involved party opts in.
The killboard is fine the way it is. Some people prefer to play competitively and thatās fine. The killboard helps them keep track of stats. Same as a kdr on call of duty. Big competitive groups care about things like that.
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Therefore we all should participate in this. Some people prefer to tag others in their party fotos, therefore nobody should be able to do anything about it.
I donāt see any other reason for logging in at all. No-one knows how much ore you have mined, or how many ships you have manufactured, or how many trillions of ISK you might have. Which all seems rather pointless. I meanā¦what is the point of making 157 trillion ISK if no-one else knows you have ?
Surely the only point of logging into a game with other people in it is to gain some sense of being ābetterā at this or that. But most activities provide no such portrayal. Perhaps it would be different if there was some sort of mining or industry leader boardā¦but there isnāt.
So, the only thing at which one can publicly excel is PvP. And CCP canāt really even be bothered to make that public within the game so it requires an external source.
It all boils down to reasons for logging in at all. I have numerous other things I could be spending my subscription money on.
The need for external validation seems to be the going answer for many people.
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All Iām seeing is people who canāt actually āreadā kills and losses (because they lack the experience and knowledge) and, thus, only look at the number stats.