Blog Banter #22: Corp Loyalty

Welcome to the twenty-second installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week or so to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check for other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month topic is brought to us by L'Dene Bean of Nitpickin's who asks: Why, and how did you pick your corporation? Is your loyalty solid or just until a better placed organization "recruits" you. The shorter version: Who holds your Unshakable Fealty and why?




I can distinctly remember not wanting to join a Corporation when I first started playing Eve.  At the time it seemed like more of a hassle than anything else, rules, goals and other crap to deal with. The whole idea of being 'responsible' to others within a game seemed so foreign to me at the time. It still does in a way, but that was way before I understood the importance of the Corporation within Eve. Heck, back then I was still trying to figure out what an MMORG was all about.


Since those early trial weeks I've been in 12 different Corporations and certainly worked with hundreds more. I've started three of my own for various reasons, only one of which is still up and running (although it is simply a home for my Alt). And even though I've been playing Eve for a little over two years now, nearly half that time has been spent in one Corp - Dissonance. Of which I am now a full-fledged Director and whatnot.


How did I pick my Corp? That varies but the general underlying theme has always been trying to find the place where I fit in, where I can best practice my trade (Fighting) and where I feel as if I am actually contributing to something important. Perhaps something even more important than myself. As silly as that sounds in general, in context I enjoy the game more if it isn't pointless. Just flying around shooting at other people holds very little interest to me, although I have done it from time to time, I rapidly lose interest.


Early in my career I followed those that I fought alongside more often than not. There were pilots that I thought were good at their craft and I followed them into Corps to learn from them and hang out with those they hung out with. All of this in the larger context of Alliances and regional political turmoil, wars and other things that have often motivated me - like returning to Providence on several occasions to fight -A-. But this is how I came to join Dion the first time, I had flown in fleets with several of their members and in many of their gangs and I liked the way those people did things. The Corp that they came from must be decent I suspected. At the time the Corp I was part of was leaving Providence and I didn't want to go. So why not?


There are plenty of other posts on this blog about that history so I won't belabor the point. Suffice to say I've been in Dion almost half of my Eve career and I plan on staying as long as I can. Which brings up the question of "unshakable Fealty".  Or loyalty. Right off the bat, again context, nothing in Eve holds my unshakable fealty. It's a game for goodness sake. So now that we have context out of the way, for me loyalty goes like this: 1) Me 2) My Fellow Pilots 3) My Corp 4) My Alliance. Seeing as how me and my fellow pilots are in my Corp the first three are often the same thing. But not always. Heck sometimes all 4 of those are the same thing. Depending on the situation they can even exchange priority from time to time. But usually I think about myself first, which we all do wether we admit it or not, then those I fly with.


I've said before that I believe Dissonance is the best Corp in the game and I plan on being in it as long as possible. That remains true. What could happen to shake that loyalty? Any number of things which I find pointless to speculate about. Things change and sometimes those changes might take things in a direction I'm not all that interested in taking. That seems remote at the moment, especially since I am part of the leadership team and would have an opportunity to impact any decision. 


To answer the other question raised in the blog banter, my loyalty is solid and no one can recruit me. If I were to leave at some future date you can be certain it would be a choice I made alone and in context of in-game changes and changes in direction. Not because I was seeking greener pastures. I've found a place where I fit in, where I can practice my trade (although not as often lately as I would like, my own fault though) and where I not only feel as if I am making a contribution, but where I really am making a contribution.




OTHER BANTER TYPE PEOPLE:
Chocolate Heaven
Merry Life and a Short One
The Elitist
A Mule in Eve
Mike Azariah