Survival is tough--especially in space. Eve Online is a game of depth and mystery, one wrong step and you will find yourself on the wrong side of a laser turret; go into this game unprepared and welcome a myriad of confusion and tender despair. My mission was simple; survive in Eve Online for eight weeks and report my trials and tribulations. I knew this would be hard but still I was unprepared. This is Eve Online Survivor Guy.

Week Seven: Maturity

My quest of survival was almost drawing to a close. Now in my seventh week I had learnt much but still found myself in a bewildering daze when trying to contemplate my next move and step; fortunately however, I had found a corporation and within I had found a small group of friends, a wealth of advice and the purpose I had needed. My goal was to enhance my skills, obtain a Battle Cruiser, and ultimately further the cause of my corporation. Surviving in Eve Online certainly wasn't easy but with determined perseverance I was finally witness to the game's various joys.

I had been flying with my corporation for the better part of two weeks; in their company I had learnt much but also carved out a clear and concise path of progression. My companion's goals were to indulge in wormhole adventure, a little PvP and also to form alliances with other likeminded organizations. It was all very exciting; I felt a sense belonging in the vast void of New Eden. Every night my presence was greeted with friendship and after a few moments we would set to work flying level 4 missions and gaining enough ISK to fulfill the needs of whatever member. It felt exciting to be a part of something so organized and also exhilarating to finally have the purpose I needed to really enjoy my so-called survival in Eve Online.

During the day when my follow comrades were not on hand, I would gather ISK through mining, mission running and scavenging; all the while I would anxiously watch skills as they trained as if in a mesmerized trance. I had even taken to exploring at the behest of fellow corporation members. I came across JIta whilst it was in the midst of an epic battle between players. Upon entering the region I was greeted with the sight of hundreds of space ships; some the size of space stations themselves, others mere dots in comparison; whatever was going on however, after a rainbow of lasers illuminated the horizon, I knew it wasn't wise to hang around.

Upon docking in a station I browsed the market, marveling at all of the wares on offer. I had heard this was the place to be when it came to obtaining goods, I purchased a dozen skill manuals, sold some of my items and finally decided to come back and haul back a bounty of Veldspar that I had in reserve. Every dozen or so hours I would glory in my progress, revel that I finally understood the charm that Eve Online offers. A mere two weeks ago I was ready for throwing the towel in, now I had plotted my progress for the next year or so.

Being that most of my corporation were residents of the US I would spend the day time alone due to our time zone differences. This would often lead to lonely treks through the universe during the day and very early morning adventures of epic conflict. Often my sessions of Eve Online would finish as the sun started to rise, this was only a testament to my burgeoning enslavement to CCP's games. My quest through Eve Online had started out as professional survival, now I felt like I was strapped to a space fairing madman hell bent on New Eden domination.

As previously mentioned, my day time travels throughout space were a little lonely. There was only so much reasoned and rational mining that I could stand before I started to crave for further adventure. Of late I had been straying long distances away from my so called "home space station". As it stood this wasn't much of a problem as my corporation were seemingly a nomadic tribe of mercenaries going where the missions took them, but it did put me in some slightly dangerous and tricky situations. A journey back to the rest of my ships would take me through 0.0 space twice. Every journey home became a white knuckle ride of rapid clicks, hovering hands above hot keys and steely nerves. Of course my natural day to day of mining and skill progression would only lead to trouble as boredom set in and my surroundings offered such naughty fun.

Low security space had fascinated me ever since starting Eve Online. I had constantly heard about various adventures and quests throughout the land of the 0.0 but I had never before stuck around to find out. I was a cautious sort flying a ship the size of a small blue bottle fly compared to others, I had no business in a place without law; or did I?

Inevitably after a day of stagnant mining I decided to do the bad thing; curiosity had bested me and I decided to explore a little further than normal. Jita was fine but I wanted to be a short term maverick. After flying various level four missions and receiving the charity of friendly corporation buddies, I had quite a modest amount of cash and therefore in preparation of departing into outlaw country, I insured everything I could have possibly insured; I equipped new shields and manner of gadgets and finally, I bought another ship to venture out with. I wasn't going to lose my Catalyst to some tobacco chewing, gruff voiced Lee Van Cleef type, that's for sure.

I was about five jumps out of low sec space and my anticipation grew at every stargate. I had visions of warping into the opening scenes of Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith; I would undoubtedly save some sort of beautiful maiden and also aid righteous rebels in defeating a gang of ne'er-do-wells. Of course after a while I would be crowned the king of all low security space and my legend would echo throughout the ages. My excitement grew and grew, finally I came upon my last gate, and I gulped and entered.

My predictions of course were wrong, there was no epic conflict, no maiden to save, not even a celebration that the future king had arrived; there was however a small gang of what can only be described as "ne'er-do-wells". On entering the regions I erupted into the blackness of unassuming space, this was a destination like any other, if anything I was a little disappointed. I scanned my surroundings and finally discovered a small cluster of what looked like floating buildings. My heart dropped as I realized I was being targeted; suddenly my reflexes and coordination seemed like a distant memory, I wasn't about to escape, the inevitable explosion came and I was in a small pod, quickly I warped back into safety. Low security space was probably not for me yet.

A few hours later I was back in my cherished Catalyst, cowering behind a corporation member as we attempted a level four mission. My place was still to stay firmly at the bosom of mightier friends; surely in time I would become powerful enough to become a bully of sorts. For now I was simply a wimp in a small ship touting my brilliance as a survival guy. Join me next week as I report my findings in Eve Online for the last time.