The Notes on the Page

Sometimes, I miss not thinking about game mechanics.

It seems like a stupid sentiment, but looking back on other games I have played, I don't remember thinking about balance, or constructing in my mind a good 'fix' for some or other mechanic in the game. I don't remember long discussions with other players about various changes we thought the game makers should make in the future.

I remember quests that I did, things that I built, things I killed. And in taking up a weapon, or item, I never remember thinking to myself, 'they really need to fix this or that' about it. I remember slaying the dragon with it, instead.

EVE Online is very different from other games, in that the veil between player and the inner workings of the game making process is much thinner. And, in an age in our community where people demand more knowledge, more communication...demand to know more and more, maybe I am the only person out there that sometimes wishes to occasionally know a little less.

I was classically trained as a pianist growing up, from the age of five. And, in many ways I find EVE to be like music --sometimes, I just want to sit back and listen and not have to worry or think about the complexities and technicalities of the notes on the page.

But sometimes, after you start down the road of analyzing, interpreting, and pulling apart those notes, it's hard not to be aware of them every time you hear even the simplest of tunes.