Much like EVE Online has evolved over its 20-year history, so have I.
I started playing EVE Online in 2009, intrigued by the idea of ratting amongst the asteroid belts in a Rokh.
Little did I know what I was getting involved with.
Since 2009, I have progressed from mining to missions to transport to combat to incursions, with even null-sec operations and supercarrier-krabbing under my belt.
EVE Online has had a positive influence upon me, especially with the idea that it has made me a wiser and more learned man with respect to finances and protection against scams.
I often draw comparisons to EVE Online and how conducting oneself in EVE mirrors how one might conduct oneself in reality. There are many similarities to how one approaches life out of EVE, as well as within.
The major lessons that stick with me include a sense of maintaining financial responsibility, caution before making great or large purchases, avoiding living beyond your means, dodging scam attempts, and in particular “Don’t sign a contract before reading it.” That’s saved my bacon in EVE Online, as well as with false job applications and even product purchases. You have no idea how slimy some end user license agreements or purchasing contracts can be for everyday items (including smartphones, especially considering I once worked for a major cellular service provider). With respect to financial stability and responsibility, I never make major purchases in EVE Online unless I have the means of recovering from my expenditures and closing my efforts at an “ISK-positive status” (i.e., progressing beyond the highest point of financial achievement that my wallet has ever maintained). In this manner, my total ISK value has progressively increased over the last 16 years, and I have never closed a year in the negative.
My real life has mirrored similar success. Since finding full-time employment in as a pizza delivery driver when I was down to the last $500 in my bank account in 2014, I have continually achieved better financial circumstances. In 7 years, I became a cybersecurity administrator for a major corporation, and am now in a position to invest in the stock market, live my life with some sense of entertainment, and save for a place of my own (although I never forgot where I came from and how much I struggled throughout my career). I never forgot the lessons EVE taught me – to mind my expenditures, to save money and spend it responsibly, and never invest in anything unless you are able to recover from it in the event of disaster (or it looks really untrustworthy).
EVE Online also taught me to stand up for myself and my friends – to learn how to defend myself when attacked or a scam attempt lands in my inbox. While I wasn’t in a circumstance where I was being physically threatened, I know how to resist efforts to subject me to a scam attempt or take advantage of my trust to deprive me financially, even beyond my cybersecurity training. I’m not afraid to file reports, to submit requests for inquiry into illicit financial activity, and most certainly, I know what to look for when it comes to unsavory individuals trying to scam innocent people out of their hotel rooms for conventions.
I now serve as a chat moderator for a number of major groups and conventions, and I have become something of an expert in identifying scam attempts. Whereas many will simply block a scammer and move on, I actively reach out to administrators of chat channels to report these individuals and have them removed to protect the group. I am now working the logistics of hosting panels at the conventions I attend on how to spot, evade, and decimate fake hotel reservation offer scams, and how to properly advertise your own hotel room legitimately.
EVE Online may be a game, but it’s a game that can teach real-life lessons, if you are willing to learn.
