The Roles We Play

This post has been percolating in my brain for almost 7 years, ever since I began my journey into New Eden. As a lifelong fan of RPG's (the pen and paper kind), a born storyteller, and an aspiring writer, I naturally sought to live out my own heroic story in EVE. I was astounded, almost to the point of unsubbing, to discover that roleplaying an immortal Empyrean waging apocalyptic war was considered taboo; the fact that most of the people, who flew internet spaceships in a fictional, dystopian sci-fi universe, considered RP to be the ultimate in nerd-dom was inconceivable to me.

For most of those years, I wandered alone amongst the relative safety of hisec, content in my carebear ways and spending my time telling myself stories about the things I did as a capsuleer. That changed when I joined Faction Warfare, however, as I learned to pew with some of the best pilots (and RP'ers) in the Amarrian Militia: the Imperial Outlaws.

It was iLaw who showed me the glory of small-gang PvP, and it was within iLaw that I found a community to call home. But it was FW that illuminated to me the nebulous, sometimes tenuous, relationship between roleplaying and EVE Online.

The thing about RP in EVE is that no matter what you're doing in New Eden, regardless of WHY, you are playing a role. FC's, logibros, and even station traders fill necessary roles within the metaculture of EVE, but would never consider themselves to be RP'ers in the traditional sense.

In FW, there are two fundamentally different player archetypes: the Farmer, and the Warrior. The Farmer is only there to make money off of a broken game mechanic, has no interest or stake in warzone control, and avoiding combat is a financial obligation. The Warrior, on the other hand, is there primarily for combat, warzone control is a financial obligation, and has real (if stationed inside the warzone) stakeholdership in the overall war. For the Farmer, the objective is ISK/hr, and just like in the real world of war profiteering, these vultures feed on conflict regardless of any concern other than the all-important ISK efficiency. While the Farmer plays an inadvertent role, their impact on the warzone is visceral and often overinflated by propaganda, but nonetheless can contribute to massive swings in warzone control.

The Warrior, by contrast, cannot help but fill the role of crusader (or freedom fighter) while in the warzone, whether he imagines himself roleplaying or is just "in it for the pew", as his every action embodies the essence of the conflict. If a corp makes a fortress out of their home system, the enemy cannot resist destroying it for the " gud fights", and if an FC leads a fleet on a patrol, another will plan a counterattack. While kills, in and of themselves, don't change warzone control, the morale gained (or lost) can have epic repercussions; Burn Huola is a prime example. And even at this strategic level in the FW, the meta is rife with unintended RP, complete with spies, diplomats, and executive power-struggles.

With the CFC rebranding itself as the Imperium, and embracing (if not RP'ing itself) the lore of EVE to the extent of overthrowing the Empress Jamyl Sarum, the question must be asked: where does the dividing line fall with regards to RP in EVE? With the community engagement of lore on the rise, as evidenced by the popularity of The Scope's recent YouTube "news" segments, will roleplaying be seen as something other than incredibly lame and nerdy?

One can only hope.