So Long, Mr. Teg

While it is sad to see any blogger decide to put down his pencil, I am glad to see that Riperd’s departure is not because he’s leaving the game. And, while many seem inclined to point out his cynicism about EVE as of late, I’m not sure a blogger can express his love for the game more than by deciding to play it more, and write about it less.


Jester’s Trek is one of the first EVE blogs I picked up to read, and has been a true source of inspiration for me. True, it might have occasionally been perturbed inspiration, but it is my belief that the true talent of a blogger is not in his ability to get everyone to agree with him, but his propensity to make people think, reason, and consider things from perspectives they may not have previously considered. And where this was concerned, Mr. Teg was truly masterful.

In addition to sticking his neck out on the more controversial topics, Riperd was also a very informative writer. He has written a profuse number of guides over the years, from overheating (one of my personal favorites) to a multi-part guide on incursions.

He also has expressed new ideas about game mechanics, including a recent post about PVE. And, as a CSM representative in CSM 8, he also was the voice to others’ ideas and game mechanic concerns.



In some ways, I feel as though I’ve let Riperd Teg down a bit. Recently, I wrote a post regarding my disapproval of how he handled the Erotica 1 situation. And, as I started to write this farewell post, I was a bit aghast to realize that while I’ve been quick to call him out on perhaps the 1% of things I disapproved of, I’ve been extremely remiss in expressing anything about the other 99% of things that have been quite positive.

I forgot to tell him that almost every time I fly a ship I’ve never flown before, I think to myself “I bet Jester has a fit I can try in one of his ‘Fits of the Week.’

I forgot to say that during CSM 8 I was very appreciative of him keeping us all in the loop—as much as he could. And, that often his blog was more of a go-to for me to find updates about mechanics and expansions then even CCP’s dev blogs.

I forgot to say that his participation in the Alliance tournament was a breath of fresh air. That it is good to see a blogger who plays the game, and is actually very good at it. It so easy as an EVE blogger to let blogging become the entire game, forgetting about spaceships.

I also forgot to tell him that sometimes he’s made me uncomfortable. That some of his thoughts in the past on morality, griefing, and etc. in EVE has made me pause and consider my own gameplay, and what my own gaming attitude reflects about me as a person in real life.


So, Mr. Teg:

I’m very sorry it took me this long to express such things, and I genuinely hope that you enjoy your retirement from blogging to utterly bury yourself in internet spaceships. I hope that you will look up once in a while from the utter in-game devastation and explosions you are likely to soon be causing to remember the blogging community –that may have given you hell at times, but also considered you chief amongst us.

So long, and thanks.