Give me a punk rock EVE Fanfest

Live on the scene in Iceland

This past weekend, I was at a small local concert in Colorado. My friends were playing, and that’s more than enough reason for me to go see a show. Toward the end of the night, just before they went on, some punk rock kid came up and drunkenly slurred that the next act is John Mayer with special guest T-Pain.

It was a weird combination. This dude played the punk part to perfection, all spikes and patches, so I’m assuming he came up with two acts that he loathes. “That’d be awesome,” I replied. “John Mayer’s crazy talented and one of my favorite musicians.” Wistfully, he shot back “Yeah, me too, man. Me too.” Then he thrust a beer at me, a canned Guinness nitro IPA. That’s an odd beer for this punk rock kid to carry around a small indie show. Whatever. I obliged and drank it something like Stone Cold Steve Austin, getting more on me than in me.

Three days later I’m remembering this exchange. As I’m on a plane to Reykjavik, Iceland, I have my usual international flight cocktail: Two parts Nyquil, one part John Mayer — usually Battle Studies. I’m typically out before he gets to the song about being a lustful assassin.

Ironically, the only thing waking me up is the seat in front of me banging my head. A few days ago I’m headbanging, now my head is being banged. I shoot incredulous glares at the back of the seat, the inconsiderate person occupying it none the wiser. It’s where I make this connection between John Mayer, my punk friend, and, now, EVE Online.

John Mayer may fall out of the equation there, but the punk rock undertones are still plenty apt. This just might be the most uneasy and unsettled EVE Fanfest yet. EVE Online is entangled in an all-out war right now. The Imperium is going at it with the Money Badger Coalition. Almost everyone has something at stake, almost everyone has picked a side. That’s probably especially true for anyone who cares enough about the game to fly out to Iceland to celebrate it.

I guess it’s a good year for that state of unrest because Iceland itself is in a state of political unrest. Its prime minister and other officials have recently resigned after being linked to tax evasion via the Panama Papers. Thousands of people protested in the Reykjavik city center a few weeks ago. Points for thematic consistency and all these tourists showing up who also have their problems.

How developer CCP addresses all of this will be a treat. Sure, Fanfest will have its share of reveals, updates, and new directions. We’ll probably get to see the first-person shooter that’s replacing Dust 514. We’ll likely get continued progress on the virtual reality front. And, we’ll see changes and evolutions to EVE itself. But, there’s this explosive, very recent conflict that adds extra oomph this year. I’ll be here to report on everything as it unfolds, like the Geraldo Rivera of video games.