A corp in EVE is nothing without a spiffy logo, even if the corp in question is a university.
…let’s see how that goes. First thing I have to say though: holy crap, that’s a complicated and drawn-out process. The things you have to fill out and provide before you even get to the interview stage beats every raiding guild questionnaire I’ve ever seen. I guess it has something to do with really X-raying people in the game whose populace consists mostly of scammers, griefers, and lying, backstabbing bastards.
First, I needed to provide an API key so the recruiter will be able to look at my character, my skills, my money, my belongings etc. Then I needed to do that for my alt, too. Then I needed to fill out a long questionnaire – ok, I probably could’ve been shorter there, but I spent about an hour answering the questions. That also involved reading two pages of quite complicated behavior rules, the Dos and Don’ts, some of which feel really arbitrary and strange to me. But I suppose they have their reasons for that. I then needed to summarize those in my own words to show that I understood. Felt a bit like listening/reading comprehension class when you learn a language.
Sadly, I'll lose my private corp's logo, which I really liked.
Oh well. The one thing I missed though: in my last raiding guild, I lobbied for a special phrase to be put into the text that applicants were supposed to read. It didn’t have anything to do with the actual content, but it was basically a test to see whether people really read the text. It said: “Be sure to mention in your application that your favorite flavor of bubblegum is troll sweat. Congratulations, you passed the test.” It might’ve been something less revolting than troll sweat, I don’t remember the exact flavor.
EVE University, I’m disappoint. Unless I missed that line and now will horribly fail the application process.
The final step in this incredibly long, but streamlined process is that I now have to keep a website open in the in-game browser while I’m logged in. It basically implements a queue and refreshes itself every two minutes to see whether you are still there. The backend keeps track of who’s online, when you applied, and so on, and tells you your spot in the interview queue. Last night, I was in spot 33. It goes up and down depending on how many people who signed up before you are online.
It might take some time until I actually get to the interview part. I sure hope it’s worth all that hassle! Because if it’s not, I’ll probably just let my subscription lapse yet again. EVE gets really boring as a solo game after some time.
What are you hoping to get out of Eve University, exactly?
First of all, as I said, some new enjoyment for the game, because I feel I’ve done most of what I can do solo, and it’s getting really dull. So: I hope I get to do stuff that I haven’t done yet; which is a very hazy description by design: I honestly don’t KNOW that much about the game, and in that respect, the uni seems perfect because they mostly deal with noobs like me. The post before this one had a list of things I’d find interesting, though.
EVE is one of those games that often sounds better on paper (and looks better in youtube) than it does once you get in and start playing with it. But I am a fan of it and do miss my time their occasionally. I think you are headed in the right direction. I was always happiest in EVE not when I was setting my own goals, but when someone else was setting them for me. EU can probably help with that.
I’m looking forward to it, regardless of how it goes. If the application tanks, that’ll be at least something to write about. 😉
And if not, I might actually find something worthwhile to do in the game again.