After a nearly month-long hiatus, Rixx and I are back from the summer lull and easing into one of those deceptively simple EVE questions that quickly opens up into something much bigger: what does it actually mean to win in a game that never really ends?
We start with vacation, heat, and the usual New Eden summer slowdown, then wander into sandbox metaphors, piracy, loss, leadership, friendship, aging, and why EVE is less a game you beat than a place you keep returning to.
No guest this week — just Rixx and me catching up, comparing notes, and accidentally wandering into one of those bigger EVE conversations: what actually makes the game work after all these years. A little summer lull, a little corp movement, a little real-life desk tinkering, and then straight into the rules beneath the rules.
In episode 6, Rixx and I dig into the biggest EVE Online announcement in a while — CCP's Exordium, a 53-system PvP-free region for new players. We've got strong opinions, open questions, a healthy dose of skepticism, and a quick recap of the latest Frigate Free-For-All. I was also fresh off a trip to France and still a bit jetlagged, so bear with me.
In this episode, recorded back on March 24th, Rixx and I dive into what happens when CCP pulls the rug out from under your favorite ship mid-stride. Rixx has been on a PvP tear, stacking up fights and cracking the mystery of his disappearing video recordings, while I'm still reeling from the Catalyst major update that basically nerfed my entire gameplay loop.
We get into patch notes philosophy, Pochven lore, blockade runners, abyssal arenas, and why the best advice in EVE often comes from the guy who just blew you up.
The above is "After Hours Podcast – Episode 3", and it’s a nearly-decade-old (May 2016) chat between the infamous pirate Rixx Javix, and myself — looking back on the “golden age” of EVE blogging and how that whole scene shaped a lot of us.
I came across that old episode while researching for an upcoming project on EVE Online podcasts, past and present (more on that later).
I’ve never been deep into the roleplaying side of EVE Online—not like the pilots who fully live their New Eden personas every time they log in. (Is that still a thing?) But I’ve always liked giving my characters at least a bit of background. The old RPG player in me still enjoys a good story.
With my current character, Crazy Kinux, there was a chance to do something that actually tied the “Crazy” and the “Kinux” together. I played around with a few ideas, and the version below is what I settled on.
Curious what you think. Do you roleplay at all in EVE?
Caelin "Crazy Kinux" Kinotsuki
For years, Caelin lived the standard extractor’s routine—long shifts, quiet camaraderie, and the simple satisfaction of meeting quotas.
That ended the day his crew was caught in a Gallente ambush.
They were operating in a contested border system, running a routine extraction. Nothing unusual. But with tensions high between the State and the Federation, a Gallente strike group jumped in and misidentified the wing as a Caldari recon element. They attacked immediately.
Caelin survived only because his pod was thrown clear during the first pass. He drifted for hours before a State patrol recovered him.
Everyone else in his crew was gone.
