With the decision to wade into the deep end of New Eden made, it was time to find a corporation to call home. To find a good match, I needed to know what I wanted out of the experience and what would be expected in return. For my part, small gang and medium size fleet activity were at the top of my list. Having read good things about the changes to Faction Warfare I want to test those waters and have some time to continue my pursuit to unlock Level 3 Missions.
My goals in mind, I grab something to drink and join the Recruitment channel. Trying to make heads-or-tails of the chat is an eye-watering experience. One-line messages visible for a nanosecond, are gobbled up by the constantly scrolling text chatter. Neatly formatted multi-line adverts warp by. I focus on the larger adverts – the ones taking the time to tell me something about what they offer as a corporation.
I read the corporation bios. I check to see if they have a presence in low and null security sectors. Do they mention that they are PVP noob friendly? If so, that scores more points. It also doesn’t hurt to see that they have mission running and help with gaining reputation. The right side of my screen is cluttered with the corporation bios I’ve set aside for further consideration.
When I reach the point where I’ve seen all the Recruitment Channel has to offer, I use the recruitment search features. Applying filters for my preferences netted a couple hundred. Yikes! Luckily, the list sorts those meeting the largest percent of your requirements at the top. I check through several of them, adding a more bios to my screen clutter.
Comparing the open bios, now spread all over my screen, I narrow down my choices and close several. I have my top five identified when I receive a private message. Unlike the old days, blind messaging people sitting in the channels seems to be a thing of the past.
He asks if I’m looking for a corporation to which I respond that I am. He launches into all the cool things they are doing and asks what I’m interested in. The two seem to match so we continue talking. I’ve been in this rodeo before so I bring the Recruitment Channel back to the top and watch to see what he may be seeing in chat there. I want to see if he’s selling the same story.
As he’s ratcheting up the sales pitch, he asks more detailed questions about me –number of skill points and focus of the skill training. What time zone I’m in and what hours do I typically play? Would I be willing to provide an API Key?
API Key – the code to lifting your skirts in EVE Online. Depending on the type you generate, you give someone or a 3rd party application, the ability to see all known in game data about your character or ALL of the characters on your account. This of course, does NOT include your real life personal information. Nor would it allow them the ability to manipulate your account. Corporations use it as a means to verify who you are (in game), what you’ve done, your skill training, what corporations you’ve been a member of, how much money you have, your assets, etc. The API Key is a resume + credit check + net worth + references in New Eden.
By the time he asked about an API Key, I’d already opened his profile in order to obtain a link to his corporation, which I noticed was NOT included in his recruitment channel advert. Again, noob but not new to EVE, to me this meant one of two things. Either he doesn’t know how to do a chat link which screams he knows less than I do or what he’s selling doesn’t match what’s in his hand.
Me: Uh, there are only two people in your corp??
Him: Hehe. Yeah, just me and a buddy right now.
Me: Oh.
Him: Coming back from hiatus. Acct banned over BS.
Me saying: Ouch that sucks! While thinking, yeah right. CCP is known for customer service and leniency in interpretation of game mechanics. Very few things will result in a ban, none of which I want to be associated with.
Him: Have TS3 and do other games together. More friends are coming.
Me: Cool. Will keep info for consideration. Looking for bigger group but not making a rush decision.
Him: K. Would love to have you. We play for fun and enjoy ourselves.
Me: Good luck with the recruiting. Added you as contact.
Him: U2. Keep in touch.
Into the dust bin, I click the close button on his corporation’s window.
It’s getting late. I’ve reduced my top 5 choices down to 3. I generate a 30 day API Key and paste it into the in-game Notepad app for future reference. My number two choice requires an offline application process which I complete. The other two I submit via the “join” feature. I include verbiage about myself, why they’re a good match and the API Key. I join each of their public recruitment channels intending to engage tomorrow.
Yawning, I’m about to sign off for the evening when I see a message directed toward me in one of the corporate recruitment channels. It’s the recruiter from my first choice. He asks me a few questions. I reply, letting him know that I’d already sent a request via join and included an API Key. He’s pleased that was already done.
Other corporation members in the channel start chatting with me. They talk about what they’re doing. Ask what I’ve been up to and where I’m located. The recruiter chimes in and says that they are doing Faction Warfare at the moment in Caldari space. He says that an invite to me is incoming but not to accept until I’ve vacated Gallente space.
Damn, I think to myself, I had considered focusing on corporations for my faction but none floated to the top of my list or didn’t specify which side of FW they were fighting on. I ask how that will impact my ability to reach my level 3 mission goal. Multiple people chime in at that point. I’ll have access to great mission agents where they are located and they will help me gain status on this side of the fence.
Me: I’m in Arnon and Hek. Where do you operate out of mostly?
Them: Ichoriya
I click the link and open the map. My mouth drops open. For me, and the number of assets I’d need to move to hold me over indefinitely, that’s the other side of the universe. I hesitate. I consider declining and looking for something closer. Then I remember that the goal is to pike jump into the deep end and experience new adventures.
Me: Wow, but is cool. It will take me several sessions to move my stuff then will accept invite.
People start linking names of haulers they trust or suggest doing a contract if those people are too busy. Tips for protecting myself if I contract out fly by. Someone offers to activate an alt account that could do it for me. We could negotiate an ISK price or I could purchase them a PLEX for the month, which is probably cheaper than a contract and allows me to use real-life cash if I want, to move things along. My head starts to spin.
I thank everyone for the advice and offers to help. I need to think things through. I bid the room goodnight and start closing the clutter of windows I had open. My new email alert is blinking. At this moment it feels like a ticking time bomb. With each flash it’s screaming, “Are you sure???”
I don’t even want to touch the email client. I take a peak and see that it is indeed, email from the recruiter. I close the email app without opening the message itself. I must not accept the invite while still in Gallente space. Never mind being a target for players. The game NPCs, my own people, will blow me out the sky on sight.
Yeah, I’ve had enough fun for the night. I achieved my goal and have an invite waiting from my first choice as a new corporation. My cat-like qualities bristle. I prefer discreetly prowling terrain I know. But staying in the known is the opposite of leaping, so off the edge I go.
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