After being invited by CCP Games to Iceland for EVE Fanfest celebrating EVE Online’s 20th anniversary, having never actually played EVE Online, I needed to get to work. The first step was downloading the game. However, due to an insane September schedule, I have yet to dive in. So the plan was to act cool and hope no one found out I was a complete fraud. They saw right through me.
EVE Fanfest Day One
I’ve been a gamer my whole life. I’ve lived the hardcore MMO beat with World of Warcraft. I’ve buried myself in thousands of hours of life-stealing RPGS. I figured I would be able to hang out with the fans and devs and at least get by undiscovered. However, words like capsuleer, corporations and more went right over my head, and I immediately knew I was in trouble.
I’ve been on the outside of massive titles looking in, feeling like there was no way to bridge the gap between new players and veterans. I’ve been the veteran, too. Even the most simple MMOs can be intimidating with thousands of players, multiple expansions, constantly changing mechanics, and that doesn’t even touch on the 20 years of lore EVE Online has behind it.
Many of the conversations between developers at CCP, journalists and fans all surrounded death, destruction and complete chaos (a huge theme in the new EVE Vanguard, by the way). I thought I was heading into the den of a cult where I was sure to be sacrificed…but then I actually met them and learned about some of the innovative parts of EVE Online that showed me that these people were, first and foremost, good people.
EVE Online players paid good money not only to buy tickets and sell out the 15th annual EVE Fanfest but flew to Iceland, home of CCP Games, from all over the world. There were fans on our flights from Canada, the US, the UK and more. Alliance members from different continents were gathering, some meeting for the first time in person, and yes, there was a pub crawl.
EVE Fanfest Day Two
Now, I am sitting back in the press room after a nine-to-five shift at EVE Fanfest and a hearty pub crawl, and I can safely say I feel like a part of the family now. We were split into groups (shout out to team 13!) with CCP devs, players, community members and press. I headed into the pub crawl worried I was being separated from the few people I knew, but I took my shot of Brennivín in the middle of the town square and on we marched.
I’ve never seen a company so deeply connected through both their staff and community, and I think that is a major factor in why CCP Games and EVE Online have the longevity that they do. They create a (somewhat chaotic) family and welcome people in with open arms.
CCP’s Commitment to EVE & Its Community
Speaking with CCP CEO, Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, he explained a bit about the company’s philosophy: “The mission of the company to make virtual worlds more meaningful and real life and underneath it forever is a provocation. It’s a provocative statement.” He went on to explain that because CCP’s mission for EVE is so challenging, only people that truly believe in that mission stick around. “So if you have another agenda, you quickly just sort of self-select out of it, because it’s not just some pretty things we put on the wall.”
The mission to have EVE live on forever is an impossible task, and Hilmar recognizes this, “I’m attracted to impossible problems because things are only impossible until you’ve done it. Everything that has been impossible, we have actually just done it. Everything that people say it says can’t be done. We have done. And that, I think, is the mission of mankind is to take all these impossible things and just do them.”
That sort of thinking and that goal to keep EVE going forever is a commitment to both the company and the community. It is a promise that if you invest your time and energy in EVE Online, EVE Vanguard or any of the many other properties in the EVE universe, you aren’t going to be abandoned or left behind as long as you believe in their one impossible goal.
As of writing, I have not launched EVE Online yet, but EVE Fanfest already made me feel like a part of the family. I am looking forward to EVE Fanfest 2025, and I’m eager to see how much I can learn in a year, spreadsheets and all. MMOs hold a special place in my heart, so with a community this welcoming and a company so committed to that community and what they hold dear, there is no way I can walk away from EVE Fanfest and not play EVE Online.
