We previously ran a bounty asking you to dig into the proverbial treasure chest and tell us about the rarest items you own in-game. Now we want you to dig back in and do the same for items that aren't necessarily rare or valuable, but still hold emotional value for you.
To be eligible for a prize, we want you to tell us what the item is, describe how you acquired it, and explain why it holds sentimental value for you. We'd love it if you shared a screenshot of the item too, but it's not a requirement for a bounty prize.
We're looking for 100 words or more for this bounty. Thanks to Swagger Olacar for suggesting the idea!
If there is something I hold dear, that something probably dates back to my time in Alexylva Paradox. Those were the good times for me.
In fact, if I think of something with an emotional value for me, I think of the Stratios cruiser that had been sitting in Jita since 2021 gathering dust. Last time I used it was when I escaped from Alexylva Paradox eviction in 2021, but the last battle it fought goes even further back, in 2018, when me and two corp mates killed a ratting Gila in a nearby hole. That battle was one of those good moments, when things were good, perfect coordination, perfect timing. And it was the last time things really were good for me in EvE.
I could scrap it for ISK, but given that I don't play nor I need the ISK, I prefer to keep it there, knowing it's there, a memory of good fun and friends.
Maybe this story is not about one specific item, rather its about an item type that became special in my journey through Eve Online. I started playing Eve Online in 2022. After flying scan for a bit, I decided to become a trader. Not really understanding how trading works in the game, I looked at prices on the EveMarket website and looked for where I could buy cheap and sell expensive, right away, without using orders(I didn't know that these items were sold and bought by NPCs). And then I saw that in the Domain region (Amarr space) you can buy Slaves and sell them in Jita with a 50% profit! This was the most profitable thing I've seen so far! I was aware of the camps in lowsec, but I didn't want to fly 45 jumps from Amarr to Jita. And then I was suddenly lucky to find a wh from Domain to the system in 3 jumps from Jita! Taking Tayra, I fly to Amarr. I buy slaves for all 20kk isk I have. I fly to the wormhole. I go out to highsec. I warp to the gate with autojump. And then suddenly I get a notification that I'm being fined. I go through the gate, and I'm fined again! and they take all my cargo, because Slaves are illegal in Gallente(where the exit from the wormhole happened to be). Shocked and with negative 40kk isk on my wallet(I never knew it can go below zero), I created a new account to play and a new character with the second name KLEEN, which Is my main char to this day, and which reminds me of this unusual item
One of my most valuable ships is a simple Caracal.
I was a few months old and had just created my second char that I wanted to take into lowsec. I started shooting people and enjoying my life as a pirate, but my security status was lowering, so I decided to shoot NPCs in my free time. I took my trusted Condor out to roam the belts of our home system, but soon it became too dangerous as lowsec NPCs can deal some serious hits to newbie frigates. I thought about getting a Caracal, but cruisers are expensive and lowsec is dangerous!
At that time, my corp temporarily moved to a different system and the veterans were cleaning their hangars. One morning, there was actually not only one, but three fitted Caracals in the free-ships hangar! I kept an eye on them and after two days, no one had taken them out again, so I decided to get one of them. I started using the new ship to check the belts and during the first week or so, I docked every single time someone showed up in local.
It went on for quite long and for a several months I always repaired my security status with my Caracal. After a while, I moved the ship to a different system, it was quieter and had more belts. Then one day, a Loki decloaked on my while I was ratting. It got point and started shooting me. At that time, I had already skilled into thermodynamics so I overheated both my hardeners. A friend was in system running FW sites with his army of alts, so I started calling in local: "Help! Nina, I'm tackled in belt X - planet 5! A Loki caught me!" He actually saw my messages and warped several Drakes and some destroyers into my belt and started shooting the Loki. My hardeners were burning and my shields dropping, but the Loki actually lost point and I managed to warp off to the gate I was aligning to. I jumped system, docked and repaired, and when I came back, The Loki was already dead. I could not believe that I actually survived this encounter!
I docked the Caracal and left it in station for many weeks. Then one day, I decided to fly her home again and docked her on the second station in our system to make sure I would not accidently take her into battle one more. Today, this Caracal is one of my oldest ships. I did not undock her until today where I took a screenshot for this bounty and I probably will not do it again any time soon. Nowadays it's just a cruiser, 15-20mio, but the emotional value remains...
I can't believe it! I just found the killmail by accident. It was not Drakes and destroyers, it was Gnos and Merlins. It happend even before Nina changed his favourite doctrine and seems like I actually did considerable damage aswell! Crazy, I took nearly an hour looking for the killmail, and now found it by pure luck!
Back in 2012 I had just realized I was finally trained enough to finally be able to fly the vaunted Machariel. I mentioned this over on Twitter and the post really started taking off. Eventually Sindel Pelion and a few other fellow Tweetfleet members started a fund raising drive to purchase my first Machariel for me. Back in those days I truly was just a poor Pirate.
Eventually a new Mach was sent to me over contracts and I began the process of getting her fitted up. Over the years I've bought, flown and lost a number of these amazing ships - once rather famously in the NEO Tournament. I even thought, for a brief time, that the original had been lost. But I quickly realized that it has simply been left in another NPC station during a move. She was quickly retrieved and - believe it or not - she still sits in my hangar to this day.
And this is not (like my original Tengu) a ship I do not fly. She gets undocked and flown when the moment calls for it, but she has - against all odds - survived intact.
Her name is "Tweetfleet" in honor of those who donated.
These days her value is more sentimental than anything and I probably won't be using her in any actions that might see her destroyed. I can afford to lose a lot of ships, but some of them are worth more alive.
