Blogger Profiles #6 - Erbo Evans

Erbo Evans is the latest of our Blogger Profiles for you to enjoy. He and his partner Selenalore spend a lot of their time running missions, doing their bit to save Empire space from those rat pirates! (Between you and me, I'm hoping Selenalore will send her profile in soon too...)

What is your character's name or handle?
Erbo Evans.

What is your blog's URL?
http://ralphadogs.wordpress.com: this is our corporation blog, the other two authors of which are LexxEva and Selenalore.

How long have you been blogging?
On the Ralpha Dogs blog, since the beginning of October. Blogging as a whole, for somewhat over 2 years.

What region of EVE do you mostly operate in?
We're primarily in Metropolis and Heimatar, with some jaunts into Sinq Laison and other nearby empire regions.

When did you start playing EVE?
April of this year; I was introduced to EVE by a friend who had been playing it for a couple of years before that.

What do you enjoy about EVE?
Mainly the limitless possibilities of the environment. I feel like it may take me years to thoroughly explore the potential in here. My girlfriend (who plays as "Selenalore") likes to kill. :-) I can do with some of the pew pew action, but I also like figuring out how to make money through manufacturing and marketing, and I've also been doing scout operations on lowsec regions, which will hopefully allow us to start working those regions, eventually.

Also, the depth of the backstory is amazing for this game. It all hangs together at least as well as Star Trek or Babylon 5 does.

What is your playstyle?
The EVE personality poll called me an "industrialist with teeth." Generally, in the Ralpha Dogs, we mine, we build stuff, and we run missions. (Selenalore and I run a LOT of missions together.) We don't PvP or pirate people, but we will fight back when attacked. And we don't engage in smacktalk; as the saying goes, "Loose lips sink ships!" If that puts us on the "carebear" end of the scale, then so be it. Whether we go farther than that in the future is basically up to Lexx, who runs the corp.

Do you play any other games?
I'm in Second Life, and have been for around 2 1/2 years (see also my SL blog, http://evansavenue.wordpress.com). In fact, I used my SL name to name my EVE character. :-) I also have other PC games, and Xbox game consoles (both an original and a 360). The last other PC games I enjoyed recently were Hellgate: London and Portal. On the consoles, I've played Halo 2 fairly extensively, and a scattering of others.

What do you blog about, and why?
Since the Ralpha Dogs' blog is still new, it kind of needs to settle down and find its "legs," as it were. In terms of intent, I plan to talk about various aspects of the corp and of EVE as a whole. Certain posts on the blog are written in "storyline" mode to chronicle some of our adventures in the world; Selena has shown something of a knack for writing those.

What are your other interests?
I'm a programmer by trade, and fairly well versed in aspects of virtual communities. I'm also a fan of science fiction. And I'm developing more of a talent for cooking these days, since Selena generally has me fixing dinner. :-)

What advice do you have for EVE players who are struggling to stay motivated?
This is a complicated game; one of the most complicated I've ever seen. It's a little like learning to fly a 747. But you CAN make sense of it all, eventually. Selenalore only started a couple of months ago, and now she's totally hooked. If she can do it, so can you.

Also, it helps to be in a good corporation. We're trying to make ourselves into a good corporation, for just that reason.

Anything else to offer?
Shout-outs to Lexx, Selena, and my other fellow corp members, to our friends in the Hauling Hogs, to Slif and Valandriana over in Chilled Solutions who helped us get our start in EVE, and, to our patron saint, Jeff Duntemann (http://www.duntemann.com), author of The Cunning Blood, the science-fiction novel from where we get our name and many of our titles and traditions. Fly safe, everyone, and clear skies to you!