To The EVE Community: Thank You

Greetings, Fellow Captains.

I’ve made it a point in my life to stay as far beneath the radar as possible, so this dev blog is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to write. However, a formal introduction is long overdue, so please bear with me as I try and muddle my way through it.

First and foremost, let me begin by sincerely thanking all of you—the EVE Online community—for your astounding support and encouragement. I had no idea that these stories would generate so much interest, let alone such positive feedback. There are no words to describe what this experience means to me, as it has far exceeded my every expectation.

I started writing Theodicy in April of 2005. At the time, there were between 55k – 60k active subscribers in EVE. By the time we published the Prologue, there was almost twice as many, and the number increases every day. The word is getting out, and the universe of EVE Online is growing rapidly and evolving just as fast.

The “universe”, by definition, is incomprehensibly vast. Our worldviews are shaped only by what we can comprehend, and not necessarily by what is. There is so much about the world around us—our planet, history, cultures, and often times, the collision of all three—that we either do not know or just fail to understand. On February 25th, the population of Earth—the only planet that we can say with certainty hosts our definition of “life”—surpassed 6.5 billion people. Between that day and now, more than 900 species of native life forms—from bacteria to mammals—have become extinct.

There is ample scientific evidence suggesting that we are the cause of those extinctions. And though we dare not label ourselves as deities, to some species of life in this world, we have unknowingly become just that. Our universes have collided, with immediate catastrophic effect to theirs—and possibly to our own as well.

The universe of New Eden—with its 5,000-plus solar systems, hyper-advanced technology, and mastery of interstellar travel—is conservatively estimated to be host to over four trillion non-capsuleer inhabitants. Their existence as a species spans a linear timeline of tens of thousands of years, and it is safe to say that immense swaths of history remain untold, and may have been lost forever. That means entire civilizations have risen and fallen, epic wars have been fought and lost, and countless acts of good and evil that may have changed the course of history have gone unrecorded.

And yes, this also includes the possibility that there are now, or may have been, races out there much more powerful than anything we can even conceive.

We will never know all that was in New Eden, nor will we know everything that is. In observations of our own world, the passage of time tends to make history subjective, and even worse, as a species we have selective memory. We prefer to place history in a context that gives us firmer ground to stand on today, and the resulting filters on our worldview obscure the true state of the universe and the infinite sets of possibilities that reside within.

New Eden is an unfathomably big place, and as capsuleers you represent the tiniest fraction of its life forms. You wield great power, but like history itself, all power is subjective. As I write this, there could be potent forces conspiring to claim their own stake in the game of the millennium—Kali—and with it, plots could be unfolding right now that might force you to reexamine history, and perhaps even give you the chance to make some history of your own. In the universe of New Eden, your actions could potentially affect the lives of billions—and maybe even trillions—of people. Choose your allegiances wisely, and above all else, make no assumptions: EVE is not a static universe. That much is certain.

Let there be no doubt in your mind that the best for EVE is yet to come.

To quote one of the great ancients of our own time, what little I’ve accomplished in this realm is due to my standing squarely on the “shoulders of giants”. In no particular order, here are some of the giants that I owe special thanks to for their guidance throughout this journey:

• Gauti, for his expert literary counseling and encouragement;

• Torfi, for his steady advice and profound insights;

• Borkur, for his immense artistic talent;

• Nathan, for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime;

• Jon Hallur, whose music always tells a story;

• Keli and Reynir, for creating such an amazing universe;

• Hilmar, for his inspiring leadership and vision;

• The entire CCP, Aurora, and ISD teams, for their creative and technical brilliance, and steady flow of beer.

Because of you—the EVE Online community—CCP has awarded me the honor and privilege of being selected to write a novel for EVE Online. I am humbled. All I can promise is that it will be my greatest effort to date, and I can only hope that it will be greeted with as much enthusiasm as the rest of my endeavors on behalf of the EVE universe thus far.

With the utmost sincerity, I say “Thank you.”

Yours Truly,

TG