EVE is, and always will be, a community driven game. I imagine for most of us if it wasn’t for the people we spend our time with in-game we wouldn’t still be here. Clearly with so many great friendships and communities built up over time there will unfortunately be some loss. This post is to talk about some of the ways we, as players, remember those who have been lost.
Recently Benzmann posted an open thread on the EVE Online forums offering to help pay respects to any lost capsuleer with a candlelit vigil at the Eve Online Monument in Iceland.
The following is a short conversation detailing his reasons for doing this.
Amymuffmuff > Where did the idea start from?
Benzmann > Well a friend of mine passed away recently, that I had known for a couple of years, and my old alliance held a cyno lighting and a memorial fleet. I unfortunately had Real life stuff to deal with that day, so I couldn’t make it. So instead I decided to buy a candle and some flowers to put by his name at the Eve Monument here in Iceland (where I live). I contacted some friends at CCP, and a couple of the Devs came (CCP Falcon, CCP Quant and CCP Guard). Then we took some pictures by the monument with the Devs and I showed my mates the pictures, and they just lost it kinda, everyone liked it so much and CCP Guard said that this was the first time that an event like this has occurred by the monument. So I figured, why not do this for the whole Eve community, so I talked with my RL friend Maddi and we decided that we should do this for everyone that looses a friend in Eve.
Amymuffmuff > So is this someone you just knew in-game or out of it?
Benzmann > I only knew him in-game.
Amymuffmuff > How did you find out about the guy being lost? Out of game contacts/friends of friends etc?
Benzmann > We found out through some other friends that knew him well in RL as well.
Amymuffmuff > Is this the first person that you, personally, have known to have been lost in game?
Benzmann > Yes it was.
Amymuffmuff > Do you know of other ways that people have mermorialized players? Have you been involved in any others?
Benzmann > There may have been more, that I am not aware of, but that’s also another thing, because we never know what happens to good friends that just stop logging in one day. Most people in Eve are mermorialized by cyno lightings and memorial fleets, and no I have not been involved in any of those before. But I saw on Reddit a few days ago that another player had passed away in RL, so I went again to the monument last weekend and lit a candle for him also, and sent his mates pictures of that.
Amymuffmuff > What do you plan to do with this going forward?
Benzmann > Well, that’s why I made the forum post, so others can contact us if they wants us to do something similar for their friends that have passed away.
Amymuffmuff > I note the different placement of the candle on the plinth. is that with respect to their character names I assume?
Benzmann > Yes, we place the candle on the plate where their name is engraved. If players don’t have their names engraved, then we will place the candles at a nice spot on the monument. If people have any special requests, then of course they can come to those with us and we can work something out, if they want us to do something more than just light a candle.
One of the main points raised above is the comment that “we never know what happens to good friends that just stop logging in one day.” I know for certain that this has happened to all of you if you have been playing the game for any reasonable length of time and I have first hand experience in this myself. A good few years ago, back when I was in the Minmatar militia with my first “proper” corporation, one of the most active players suddenly vanished and we had no idea why. That is, until his partner at the time posted on our forums for us and explained that he very nearly died after having a ruptured oesophagus and a serious infection with it. Clearly, this had us all concerned about his welfare, and his partner thankfully provided us with updates on the forums about his progress and an address we could send “Get Well Soon” cards to – which I believe he greatly appreciated. In the end he recovered and a few years later he flew over to a meet in the UK with the rest of us which proved that all was in-fact well!
The point is, if his partner wasn’t aware of the connection between the community and Eve, we could have been completely unaware of what was going on. Clearly with more and more Eve gatherings happening throughout the world the socialising aspect of the game is expanding. It now involves a whole host of mediums which would likely prevent something of this nature being missed by absolutely everyone, as most will have some form of social media connection with those you spend most time with.
With the game now on it’s 13th year there have been multitudes of players who have came and gone from the game for one reason or another, and some of that will unfortunately be due to ill health. When players are aware of it there is a mutual sign of respect given to those who have been lost. Even if they are unknown personally, the playerbase still mourns them in it’s own way. This may be with a cyno lighting or a memorial fleet as happened with the loss of John Bellicose which happened roughly a year ago.
One of the most well known losses across New Eden is that of Vile rat, who was a crucial member of Goonswarm Federation as a pilot and diplomat. Unfortunately, his job put him in some very dangerous situations and eventually his luck didn’t hold out. Being such a well known member of the game, the memorial for him was slightly different: a large majority of the nullsec entities changed their station names in his honour, whether they be friend or foe. It was a sad day for New Eden.
A lot of people who don’t play Eve find it hard to understand that the friends we have in this game are much more than just those you meet in most other online games, simply due to the amount of real-life time invested together. I know of at least one person who had a fellow Eve player be his best man at his wedding, with no other connection than this game! As I mentioned earlier, this game is completely community driven and if it wasn’t for the people you play with, it wouldn’t be the game it is today, or likely lasted as long as it has.
No matter who you are, what you fly, where you fly and who’s side you are on, may you fly safe and well.
New Eden will always remember you.
