What Not To Do As A Girl On EVE

What not to do as a female space pilot:

 
DON’T think you’re a special snowflake. Sure, you’re a female in a game with one billion guys (roughly 96%), but that doesn’t inherently make you any kinds of special.

DON’T use your womanly powers to get free stuff on the game. When you manipulate boys into giving you free ships/mods/ISK, just because you have boobs, you make the rest of girl gamers look bad. Put on your big girl panties and learn how to make ISK for yourself. Be a strong, independent pilot who don’t need no man!

DON’T think that if someone does give you something free, it’s because you are a girl. Lots of times, guys will give each other ships for various reasons. It isn’t because of gender. There are a lot of genuinely nice folks on EVE who will share the wealth.

DON’T play to a stereotype. There’s no need to play dumb or act all slutty. It is a game about spaceships, not hookers in space. Ugh, and please don’t be that girl who streams the game merely to show off your tits and ass. Nobody likes an attention whore.

DON’T bring your dating drama into the game. Okay, I was going to say, ‘don’t date EVE boys’, but some of you single girls are going to do it anyhow. (and sometimes it does work out for some couples) But do keep it private. No need to have your relationship be the main focus of your corporation or alliance, because if you break up, you’re forcing the people you fly with to deal with your angsty crap. Again, people are here to play a game about spaceships, not be awkwardly drawn into your Space-Brangelina drama.

DON’T be afraid to stand up for yourself. There are so many great guys in EVE, but there are some real douche bags too (it’s part of the Internet, no place is completely without them). Some guys will hate on you simply because you are female, and go out of their way to make things hard for you. If you find yourself harassed, you have several ways to handle it. If they are within your corporation or alliance, immediately report it to those in charge. It is their job on the game to deal with issues, it’s what they signed up for. If they are in a different corp/alliance, send a polite mail to their CEO/Alliance Executor. Use the block button, it is very easy to do. Right click their name and choose block. If they are in a chat channel with you, then report it to the channel moderator. Lastly, report it to CCP. From the CCP EULA: You may not use any abusive, defamatory, ethnically or racially offensive, harassing, harmful, hateful, obscene, offensive, sexually explicit, threatening or vulgar language. (Alternate spelling or partial masking of such words will be reprimanded in the same manner as the actual use of such words.) To make a report, click on the ? on your sidebar in game. It will give you a link to the Help Center out of game, and you can file a report under the EULA, TOS, POLICIES section. It simply isn’t okay to be bullied or harassed because you’re female.

DON’T think all smack talk is offensive. You have to have a thicker skin to play EVE. Coming into this game, you need to realize that it is a very dark atmosphere with an unforgiving environment. You’ll have to learn the difference between normal smack and someone deliberately trying to harass you because of your gender.

DON’T think that other girls are automatically going to be your new BFF. But some might. If you’re seeking to bond with other female gamers, there are two female-only channels. Visit the in-game channels, Women Gamers Public, or WGoE:Public. Just remember, not everyone can be a Space Pirate Queen like Mynxee or EvE’s Parody Queen, Sindel Pellion, so check your jealousy at the door.

DON’T settle for a bad corp. Take the time to find one that is going to suit your play style and have an atmosphere that you are comfortable with. You don’t have to settle for corp chat / fleet chats full of porn links and immature behavior. To find corps, you can always browse the EvE Online Recruitment Forums.

DON’T be timid or shy on voice comms. Yes, the majority of pilots on comms are going to be guys. Yes, they are going to collectively gasp the first time you speak. There will probably be comments like, “OMG a GURL”. And that’s ok. Let them get it out of their system.

DON’T give up! The game has a steep learning curve, and it might seem impossible to learn all the things when you’re just starting out, but know that it does get easier in time, and not everyone knows every little thing anyhow. If you don’t know something, it is okay to ask for help.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, welcome to EVE!

xoxo
Elisen

Blog Banter #62

Welcome to the continuing monthly EVE Blog Banters and our 62nd edition! For more details about what the blog banters are visit the Blog Banter page.
Niden (@niden_GMVA) tweeted this: “It’s not cool to want walking in stations, right?”

That tweet got a few positive agreements, but on the other side of the coin we have Xander Phoena of Crossing Zebras being mentioned in the current minutes:

“Xander said that he would officially like to be documented as protesting any art time going to avatars instead of spaceships.”

What is and/or should be the future for walking in stations?
***

I don’t see the point of walking in stations to be honest. In other games I’ve played (granted, there’s only been a couple), you experience the game through your avatar. You need that visual because that is the essence of the game. But in EVE, 95% of the game is carried out via spaceships.

So I need to see what my ship is doing, but I really don’t need to see what my avatar is doing while not in space. I have the captain’s quarters turned off, because it is laggy and pointless.

Sure, I do love the space clothes, and would love if they introduced new clothes every other day, but I don’t need to actually prance my avatar around in her quarters to enjoy them.

The only way I think walking in stations could be fun (for me) is if there was something meaningful you could do with your avatar out of ship. IE:

*see the station undock through a view port

*land on planets and walk around

*visit stations to buy/collect from specific vendors that I could see in station

*carry guns and kill players and/or npcs in the station

I’m mostly ambivalent about it. If it happens, great. If it never does, oh well. But if it should happen, I hope they introduce something to go along with it, because I really don’t see the point of being able to just sit on a space sofa with someone else.

 

Participants:
Sand, Cider and Spaceships –  The Incarna Hot Potato
Evoganda – Walking In Station
Evehermit – Incarcerated Wishes
Warp Drive Active – Reincarnated?
The Ancient Gaming Noob – Like Walking in L.A.
Thera or Bust… – Walking In Stations
A Missioner in Eve – Going for a Walk
Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah – Attitude

Five Things Friday

Today’s Five Things Friday topic is ‘five things you probably should never say to a female you’ve just met on EVE.’

Granted, I’m not trying to say that ‘all girls are the same’ just like I wouldn’t generalize and say ‘all men are assholes’ etc, but generally speaking, these are pretty obvious things most girls don’t want to hear.

1. What do you look like/can I have your picture?

You don’t ask guys for their pictures do you? You don’t nag random dudes asking what they look like do you?

On EVE it’s probably a bad idea for a girl to give out her pictures. Either it becomes fap material, or the enemy get’s their hands on it and turns it into wretched propaganda.

I think my worst experience of giving out pics on the internet (before I came to EVE) was with this guy on another game who took my pictures and made a website with creepy I-love-you poetry he wrote for me. A whole website dedicated to me! Creepy.As.Fuck.

2. What’s your Facebook & other IRL information.

Respect a female’s right to privacy. No, she probably doesn’t want to be your facebook friend. No, she doesn’t want some random dude she’s just met that she shoots spaceships with to know where she lives in real life. The internet is scary enough for females.

EVE Online can be worse because of the male/female ratio, oh, and also because EVE is such a crazy game with a cornucopia of sociopaths. Most girls don’t want out of game contact with people they have just met. So don’t ask. If eventually she wants you to have it she will let you know.

My worst experience with facebook was friending a gamer and he used it to stalk like…everything. Every person I knew, my schedule, everything. Creepy. I got so fed up with the harassment I just deleted the whole thing.

3. Can I see your boobs?

Would you want some basement dweller online asking your mom/sister/wife/daughter/girlfriend for nude pics? Probably not. So why do you think it’s okay to ask? Sheesh. It’s the internet, find your bobbie pics elsewhere please!

The maturity range on EVE spans from gentlemen to guys who act like prepubescent little boys who snicker everytime a girl speaks on comms. I guess some guys were never taught by their Mamas that it’s not okay to ask for pictures of no-no parts.

My worst online experience with boob pics (before you assume, no, I’ve never)…back before I was wary of giving out pics, this guy asked for boobs and ofc I said no. No worries. He photo-shopped my head onto a topless body. #someguysarepervs

4. Get back in the kitchen/Make me a Sammich.

Comments like these usually come from guys who are awkward and don’t know how to speak to females, yet crave some kind of female attention. It’s silly, really.

I’ve never really experienced anything like this (except that one time, at band camp, with Poetic), in EVE or any other games but I know some other girls have.

It’s rude, so don’t say it, don’t even think it because girls are quite capable of giving you an in-game beat down thank-you-very-much. Being good (or bad) at games has nothing to do with gender.

5. Are you on your period?

This is usually said after the ‘honeymoon’ phase is over. At this point guys used to having a female around all the time and suddenly one day she bitches about you not getting tackle or fucking up her PVP experience somehow or other. Instead of owning up to your mistake, you turn it around by saying ‘oh my god you’ve got your period don’t you!’ Bad bad mistake.

So there you have it. Sure, there are exceptions to every rule. I know there are girls like Mintchip who document most every little thought they have and put it out there for you, and sure, there are a couple of girls I’ve heard about who have flashed boobie for ISK (so gross). But for the most part, the majority of females on EVE just want to log on just like you and play the game, just like you.