What is that one thing, that when you possess, you have all other virtues? Compassion.

Definition of compassion – from “A fearless heart.”

Compassion is a sense of concern that arises when we are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to see that suffering relieved. Compassion is what connects the feeling of empathy to acts of kindness, generosity and other expressions of altruistic tendencies.

Eve Online is not known for its compassionate view. Eve Online is a game of blowing up ships, taking territory and has all of the aspects of “real life” that is lacking from most other online video games. A working economy, a “single shard” environment, a history that spans 15+ years, and more than anything… The ability to make an impact in the Eve universe through your actions and behavior.

Those outside the Eve Online game probably see it no differently than any other online MMO. Lots of people get together and play a game together, people spend hours and hours online in “camps”, “on roams” or “fitting my ship” and then that stuff gets blown up, or they get to blow someone else’s stuff up. Sometimes things even happen in Eve that jump from the Eve Online community into the “real world”. The big thefts, social engineering, and “take downs” that are sometimes worth tens of thousands of dollars and can spell the end of in-game and out-of-game organizations.

Those who play Eve see the gamut of humanity. All of it is there in all the different permutations. Eve attracts those players who are interested in a wide and varied type of gameplay AND social interaction. You see, while many video games attract a “certain type of person” (MOBA, FPS, Turn-based strategy, etc), Eve Online thrives because of the vast diversity of people and temperaments within its community. What other MMO do you know of that has a player-panel on scamming other players, alongside a panel on community support systems?

That brings me to the social aspect of Eve Online (and other MMOs as well). Eve Online is about connecting with other Eve Online players. Sometimes that connection is on the end of a gun, and sometimes it’s a snowball or a “space hug” but it’s about connecting with those people and experiencing as many aspects of the Eve Universe as you are interested in. Just think of how boring most online games would be without that connection with other people.

So this Holiday season please remember that as you are shooting at the newbros, as you spam the warp button in your capsule, as you corner the market, as you run that complex, as you mine that Veldspar, and even as you get your faction-fit T3 cruiser blown up, that it’s the players of Eve that make our community amazing. From those whom we love to hate, and those who we hate to love, it’s about the actual human beings that we are playing this wonderful game with.

We are all someone’s son or daughter. We are parents, spouses, geeks, nerds, gamers, and many other ways that we choose to define ourselves. We are all human beings who are suffering through this holiday season just like we have the previous years of our life. Some of us happy and surrounded by friends and family, and some of us are muddling through with far less than that. But all of are seeking a connection with another human being this holiday season. Some of us with space hugs, and some of us with lasers, artillery or missiles, but make no mistake about it, the connection that we have with our chosen tribe of Eve players is critically important to Eve, and to us as human beings.

I wish you the very best holiday season and hope that you find contentment and happiness in the things that you DO have, instead of yearning for what you don’t.

Imperium News is recruiting writers!

The Purpose of Imperium News

Imperium News intends to be the voice of the Imperium in the media, much like the Voice of America. We’re working to create a platform where our people can both read and write articles of interest to our community, both as staff writers and enabling ad-hoc blogging through the User Submission system. We publish writing on a broad array of topics of interest to our people – game news, science news, opinion pieces, book reviews, fiction, humor, as well as highlighting opposing voices from players outside our organization.

What Imperium News Offers Writers

Compensation: Write something related to Eve Online and receive 500m – 1b ISK. Bonus: we have a new system where your editor will pay you within 72 hours of publishing an article, no more waiting until the end of the month!
Your Own Editorial Team: Unlike other sites where there are a pool of editors and writers, Imperium News has introduced a team structure for editors and writers. Our writers each have an individual editor who mentors and provides feedback as part of a team of up to eight other authors. Each team has its own Discord channel, so you’ll never be lost in the crowd!
Better Platform: Imperium News is a WordPress site and the staff is coordinated on Imperium Discord – keeping in touch is a snap, and if you wrote for TMC on the old Drupal platform, you simply would not believe how much better WordPress is for writing.
Requirements: All you have to do to remain on staff is write one piece every thirty days, and be active in our staff chat channels on Discord; that’s it!
How to Join the Imperium News Writing Team

Easy! Send us a writing sample using the User Submissions system with “Application” somewhere in the title! The sample should be a minimum of 600 words and be worthy of publication if you’re accepted; this will be your first piece published on the site if you’re brought on the team! Write something you’re passionate about: opinion pieces, battle reports from recent conflicts, gameplay guides, lore articles, and book, movie or game reviews all make for fantastic writing samples.

Examples for Writing Samples and Submissions

Want to write, but unsure what type of articles we love to publish here? Here are examples of common types of articles we’ve published to give an example of style, format and flow.

https://imperium.news/imperium-news-writers-join-us/


Want to Write a One-off? Try the User Submissions System!

Not sure if you’d like to commit to joining the staff, but have something to say? Check out the coolest new feature on Imperium News – our User Submissions page! Now you can write articles for publication using the same writing interface as our staff writers, and what you submit will be proofed and published by our editorial team. We guarantee feedback: if you write a piece that is unusable, you’ll receive an email within 72 hours of the submission explaining why your piece was rejected. This is a great way to see if writing is for you, and to ensure your voice is heard.

Transitioning from TheMittani.com to Imperium News

Between now and the end of October you can expect to see a transition from TheMittani.com to Imperium News. For now, articles are being posted on both sites as our fantastic dev team collects feedback and squashes bugs. As we ensure the last whizgigs and beepboops on Imperium News are working to our satisfaction, we’ll begin redirecting articles from TheMittani.com to Imperium News, and eventually we’ll be shutting down TheMittani.com and its Drupal platform entirely once our community is satisfied with Imperium News. It’s an exciting time, with a unified Imperium News, Discord and Twitch presence – join our team today!

https://imperium.news/home-holidays-5-games-5-99/

The holiday season is fast approaching, which means family, food, and maybe a little extra free time to do whatever you want to. If you’re anything like us, it’s very likely that you’ll fill this free time with video games, because that’s what free time is for, right?! You could sift through the ol’ collection and replay some classics, which is always fun… but with there being such a wide selection out there, why not try something new for a change? We’ve had a look at 5 games on Steam, picked completely at random, that will both fill your free time and maybe not be too heavy on the wallet. Who knows, maybe one of them will actually turn out to be a good game?

HOOK ($1.09)

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Let’s start off with a puzzle, shall we? Hook has a bit of an eye-catching nature about it, being purely black and white, which is probably what drew me to it in the first place. Sometimes with games giving you so much sensory overload with crazy colours and sounds, it’s nice to dial it back a bit and have some fun with something a bit more plain. Hook combines a straightforward puzzle design with relaxing music and sounds to provide a slower paced, yet immersive experience. As with any puzzle game, it starts you off by familiarizing you with some of the more simple puzzles, and progressively becomes more difficult as new elements are introduced.

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This game rewards the patient player with a discerning eye, as any wrong clicks will lead to resetting the puzzle and trying again. I made a goal of trying to finish each puzzle on the first run without making any mistakes, and was defeated in that goal pretty early on. The game is a bit on the short side, but for the money you pay for it I’d say it’s worth it. If you have some family over for the holidays that like puzzles you could challenge them to timed runs through the game, since it’s a decently intuitive affair for just about anyone.

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As fun as this is though, let’s pick up the pace a little bit here.

OO ($1.09)

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If Hook was the short, relaxing puzzle game, oO is its counterpoint, being a fast paced addictive arcade game that I may never beat no matter how hard I try. I picked this game simply because the title caught my eye, and it turned out to not be too bad of a choice! This game is another fairly minimalist game, similarly to Hook, there aren’t a whole lot of bells and whistles going on with this one though it has a bit more visual stimulation. The controls are simple: either press your spacebar or click your mouse. The goal is pretty simple as well, move your little dot from circle to circle using the space bar. Totally easy, right? The dot spins around the circles at a fairly quick rate of speed, so you have to have good reflexes to bounce the dot to the next circle right where the two circles join. Though it’s simple enough at first, it quickly starts to ramp up the difficulty, and before you know it you’re at face melting frustration difficulty. As it is, I had a few stumbles going through the first little introduction section of the game.

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Even something as simple as making the graphics go all wavy completely changes the complexity of the game, making the simple introduction stage difficult enough for me to have to sit back and take a breath. As I was playing this game on my computer, the first thing I thought was, “I wish I could have this one my cell phone so I could never be bored in a long line up at the DMV ever again”, well it turns out that’s totally possible. oO is also available on both Android and iOS, so you can take the experience of complete and utter defeat with you everywhere.

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Alright, we’ve got relaxation and devastating frustration out of the way, but maybe you’re looking for something with a bit more depth to it?

DARK ECHO ($3.29)

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Dark Echo is a pretty unique concept. Imagine yourself in a pitch black room with nothing but the sounds that you make bouncing off the walls to guide your way. It’s a pretty eerie feeling, and this game definitely capitalizes on that feeling. You play a pair of little white footprints, and you use the arrow keys and the space bar to move and make sounds that produce visual sonic waves that you can then follow to the exit. Of course, if it were that simple the game would be over pretty quickly. As you progress through the levels, the game starts to introduce some new sounds and dangerous elements to enhance the sense of suspense that you already get from trying to move around in the darkness.

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I never thought I could get chills from a bunch of red lines moving towards a pair of footprints, but it definitely happened. Not only are there static danger elements that you have to avoid, but there are also “monsters” that will move towards you once they hear you. The developer recommends that you use headphones to play this game with, and that definitely enhances the sense of immersion you get while playing. You’re able to hear all of the little nuances of sound that have been included. Though it may not be the most visually stimulating game on this list, it still has a cool visual element to it as well! I found myself making noise in some rooms just to watch the sound waves bounce off…that is, while I wasn’t being chased around by monsters.

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So far this random list of games is shaping up pretty nicely, and I haven’t even spent $5.99 yet! Not bad at all!

DEAD PIXELS ($3.29)

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Now for something completely different! I was a huge fan of River City Ransom as a young fella, and this game looked similar to that one in the screenshots, so I was immediately drawn to it. As nostalgic as this game looks with its 8-bit graphics, Dead Pixels is a gory, fresh trip down the well trodden path of side scrolling brawlers. If you’ve ever played River City Ransom, then you know what you’re in for: make your way from one side of the map to the other, fighting bosses and goons along the way, with a little bit of action RPG stat building thrown in the mix. Dead Pixels takes that another step, however, and introduces the element of zombie survival into the mix. Rather than punching and kicking your way to victory, you’re given a shotgun with limited ammo and grenades at the beginning. Looting buildings will net you ammo, more weapons, and items to sell to traders. You have to be careful though, because there’s a limit to how much weight you can carry, and going overweight will slow your character down to a crawl.

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Though I haven’t played River City Ransom in a very long time, this game didn’t seem to be as gratifying an experience as I remember that game being. There was just something about running around and knocking out hoodlums with chains and garbage cans that really spoke to me as a youth, I guess. One thing that makes Dead Pixel a bit more fun is the ability to play with somebody else on the computer using a gamepad. Adding teamwork to the mix makes the game more interesting, and does certainly add to that nostalgic feel of playing 2-player games with siblings or your pals back in the day. I’m not so sure how much I would play this game solo, but the co-op makes it worth a look for sure!

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Still looking pretty good on this list, one more for the road!

WHAT THE BOX ($5.99)

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Last but not least is What The Box. In this particular game, you play a cardboard box. Not just any cardboard box however, you are able to move, operate a box cutter, and shoot things (somehow). Those tools will come in handy because you’ll be playing online against other players also piloting cardboard boxes, and they’ll be trying to kill you. The game can be played in both third and first person, and has game modes ranging from standards like Deathmatch and Capture The Tape, to some different modes such as Juggerbox and One Bullet. The part that makes this game particularly interesting is that each of the maps is a warehouse full of cardboard boxes that all look identical to the players. This allows for an element of strategy, as a player then has the choice of either running around aggressively to try to destroy the opposition, or hiding amongst the inanimate boxes in an attempt to get some sneaky kills.

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Though this game may have a really interesting concept behind it, there’s one problem that sticks out with it: it’s kind of difficult to get into an online multiplayer game when there is next to nobody playing it. I managed to find a couple of games to jump in on, and it’s possible that there are more people playing at different times of the day during the week, but overall the various room lists were somewhat bare. I would recommend this one to a group of friends who are fans of FPS type games, but are looking for something that’s a bit of a change of pace. Maybe even if you have family over for the holidays that brought laptops? For the solo player who wants to bounce from server to server getting kills however, this may not be such a great pick.

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There we have it! If we’ve piqued your interest in any of these games at all, go have a look at Steam and give one a try! You only have a few bucks to lose!

(Note: All prices listed are in $CAD)

https://imperium.news/imperium-news-writers-join-us/

Imperium News is live – and we’re now recruiting writers!

Why Join the Imperium News Writing Staff?

Compensation: Write something related to Eve Online and receive 300m isk. Bonus: we have a new system where your editor will pay you within 72 hours of publishing an article, no more waiting until the end of the month!
Your Own Editorial Team: Unlike other sites where there are a pool of editors and writers, Imperium News has introduced a team structure for editors and writers. Our writers each have an individual editor who mentors and provides feedback as part of a team of up to eight other authors. Each team has its own Discord channel, so you’ll never be lost in the crowd!
Better Platform: Imperium News is a WordPress site and the staff is coordinated on Imperium Discord – keeping in touch is a snap, and if you wrote for TMC on the old Drupal platform, you simply would not believe how much better WordPress is for writing.
Requirements: All you have to do to remain on staff is write one piece every thirty days, and be active in our staff chat channels on Discord; that’s it!
I’m In! How Do I Join?

Easy! Send us a writing sample using the User Submissions system with “Application” somewhere in the title! The sample should be a minimum of 600 words and be worthy of publication if you’re accepted; this will be your first piece published on the site if you’re brought on the team! Write something you’re passionate about: opinion pieces, battle reports from recent conflicts, gameplay guides, lore articles, and book, movie or game reviews all make for fantastic writing samples.

Write Rarely? Try the User Submissions System!

Not sure if you’d like to commit to joining the staff, but have something to say about gaming topics of interest to our community? Check out the coolest new feature on Imperium News – our User Submissions page! Now you can write articles for publication using the same writing interface our staff writers enjoy, and will be proofed and published by our editorial team! We guarantee feedback: if you write a piece that is unusable, you’ll receive an email within 72 hours of the submission explaining why your piece was rejected. This is a great way to see if writing is up your alley, or to have your voice heard without a monthly commitment!

Transitioning from TheMittani.com to Imperium News

Between now and the end of October you can expect to see a transition from TheMittani.com to Imperium News. For now, articles are being posted on both sites as our fantastic dev team collects feedback and squashes bugs. As we ensure the last whizgigs and beepboops on Imperium News are working to our satisfaction, we’ll begin redirecting articles from TheMittani.com to Imperium News, and eventually we’ll be shutting down TheMittani.com and it’s Drupal platform entirely once our community is satisfied with Imperium News. It’s an exciting time, with a unified Imperium News, Discord and Twitch presence – give it a try, join the writing team today!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=xWxs8PLFrHY