16 years: Stay cool

The first five years of my Eve career were spent wandering the wilderness. Like many of us. Struggling to find your place, survive the long skill trains, learn the sheer volume of things there are to learn, and discover for yourself what you truly enjoy. My journey in those early days was in many ways a lucky one. Early on I found a Corporation of good people to join and they were largely in the same boat, with enough very patient veterans to mentor a young player like me. I was very lucky.

I was in Providence very quickly, only a few weeks into the game. Growing up in Null Sec was extremely challenging, but it instilled in me a love for that challenge. I discovered pretty quickly that I enjoyed the challenges of combat in New Eden. Fighting other players. The tactics. The strategy. All of it. And so I went and learned from everyone I could. I took FC lessons and learned how to lead gangs and fleets. And we fought in several very large wars. Or at least I tried to fight in several large wars. Back then, the Eve server wasn’t as stable as it is today. In a large battle, I would spend most of the time staring at a black screen, only to find that I was already dead. Eve was a strict mistress back then.

I won’t tell you my whole story. The point is that I eventually discovered that the spirit of those early days in Providence wasn’t common in Null Sec space. But it was common in another space called Low Security space. And once I was properly introduced, I fell in love with it. Lawless. Independent. And full of pirates and other criminal elements. Low Sec felt like home. I had finally discovered the place where I belonged in New Eden. Now I just had to find a way to make it a real home. So I decided once again to learn from the best.

There can be no doubt that my greatest achievement in Eve Stay Frosty is. I set out with determination to build the greatest pirate company New Eden has ever seen. And in those early days, that was nothing more than bravado and propaganda – my determination (at least to me) was never in question. Others did not see it that way. And in the beginning, we faced a tremendous amount of challenges. Spais, thieves, traitors, players who shut down our servers and stole our communication channels, wars, threats, and so much more. The road was littered with wrecks and challenges to overcome. But there was never a moment when I hesitated or thought about quitting. And while some of the decisions I made in those early days are ones I would gladly make again, I cannot. And in the years that followed, I have tried to make peace with them as best I can.

Since then, our success has been based solely on the pilots who have chosen to fly with us. A list of some of the best solo and small gang players the game has ever seen. Some are still flying with us, and others have moved on to become players in other areas of space. And some have left the game to pursue other interests or real life. But they are all part of our family and always will be. But I have to say that our current group of players is some of the best we have ever seen. We work together in ways that old Stay Frosty pilots would not recognize – while still maintaining the spirit and independence that we worked so hard to build. It is truly incredible to be a part of.

What will the next few years bring for us? I don’t know. Who can predict? Stay Frosty will be 12 years old in May of next year. We’re not that far away from celebrating our 100,000th solo kill as a company. There are still many milestones to be achieved and set for the future. And I’m looking forward to it.

YEEEEES…