Well, it's been a while, eh?
Mayn many things have happened since my last post. I made my first billion ISK, made an alt account, got my first PvP kill...but I'm not going to talk about any of those things.
EVE's market is an almost fully-fledged stock market. EVE is pretty much a small country in that aspect, and that to me is a big aspect of its greatness as an MMO. However, corporations shares are still monetarily and speculatively worthless. Additionally, there is no system in place for people to borrow money from institutions, with loan repayments, sleazy interest rates, or put money in the bank and have varying degrees of risk for your investment, ranging from low profit guaranteed return to high-risk investments with more lucrative possibilities.
I don't think there are any insurmountable technical difficulties in establishing this, even in having player-run banks, so I was wondering today why this doesn't exist. Is it because it's too many more spreadsheets? Would it just escalate the "rich get richer" phenomenon, like it does in the real world?
Whichever it would go, I'd love to see actual simulated economics with a degree of detail approaching the real world.
Give your thought on reddit if you're into that sort of thing, or just comment below!
We had a little argument with Jackus in chat today.
And as most things in EVE, we resorted to mathin order to come to terms. because our opinions were divided. and math is an integral part of any capsuleer's arsenal, when wanting to stay rational, in addition his imaginary spaceship....fraction warfare?
Pun overload. What was I even talking about?
Jackus had me lookup some price for him, because he was too lazy, implying that's my job description. I asked if he paid me, he retorted he pays me in blog posts.
But much is a blog post worth? And does anyone care about his hair care flair?
Let's see here, about 1 post a month. Assuming if this blog were monetized I'd get 0,01 currency (USD or EUR, makes no difference in this context) for ever 10'000 pageviews.
PLEX sells for 15 € or 15 USD, or 540 million ISK.
So I got an appointment with a stylist! Or rather, Jackus Loftus did. He was getting tired of his old, scruffy, hobo look and wanted to look more commanding, have a more shining presence (no homo). His old look didn't really evoke a lot of trust from fleetmates when ordering them around. "That guy looks like a burger flipper in McDonald's that 420's erryday rather than an FC, he's gonna get us all killed!". I present the new, intimidating, yet oh-so-beautiful Commander Jackus!
Hopefully people will stop snickering at my haircut behind my back now.
Anyway, news of Derelus, things have been quiet for the most part. Have gotten quite settled into my new nullsec base of operations and pickings have been okay. Caught a 2,6bil Machariel for my gang the other day, that was pretty nice. Am still getting acquainted to the layout of the region and have been taking my Hound out a lot for some exploring of the local populace. Have yet to score a solo kill as I haven't gotten into any solo fights yet, but it will come, yarrrr!
Other than just roaming about, looking for trouble, not much else has been happening. Some new found love for the Hound though, ohhhh that glorious piece of a ship. I also scored two corpses, awww yeah! Busy nights ahead!
Well it sure has been an eventful week, in an out of EVE, but you only care about the former of course.
We recently saw what may have been the biggest battle in EVE history at Asakai, all because someone was drunk at the wheel and jumped his Avatar instead of bridging for his fleet...silly people.
Still, just like Israel and Palestine kicking the crap out of each other has little to no actual bearing on my life, neither did this EVE battle. I was too busy selling off all the minerals I'd accumulated over a month and a half of playing to care, that took quite a bit of hauling. Then I finally liquidated all of my heavy water. Selling off one and a half million units of the stuff took a while, but it was worth it in the end.
I'd also been building 61 Bestowers for resale, and they netted me a tidy profit, selling them at between 1 and 1,2 million ISK for a manufacturing price of around 800k ISK.
However, I'd gotten so used to transporting multiple ships for resale in my own Bestower, Belly Beluga III that my brain farted and I caught myself transporting by bestowers for resale inside...my bestower.
Yo dawg, I heard...yeah you know the rest.
I ended up hiring red frog freight, an extremely well respected freighting company to move 43 of my 61 bestowers to a better sales location. It only cost me a few million, easily recouped by the sale of the said bestowers.
Nearing 700 million ISK in cash, I was feeling pretty good about my life as a capsuleer, and figured it's time to step up my game in the mining business. Enter exhumers to replace my mining barges and significantly boost my productivity (Bless you, ORE!). Sadly, I've gotten too emotionally attached the my Tuggy the TugboatRetriever and couldn't bear to leave it behind. Therefore, I bought a MAckinaw BPC and all the T2 parts needed and asked my corp boss skimore1 to build me a Mackinaw out of Tuggy...Frankentuggy.
Sadly, since I'm a bit daft, I'd forgotten a skill and miscalculated my training time for exhumers, so it'll still be close to a month of training yet. Getting Astrogeology and Mining Barge to level 5 sure is a bitch.
I also bought a Harbinger on a whim, because why not. I can fly it, as long as I don't have any fittings on it...but one day..yes...one day. I will obliterate everything in my path with it, but more about that at a later date.
Oh, I almost forgot, Cesare and Waifu had a baby! ... a full grown hairy adult baby.
Due to complications in the in-vitro meiosis process, he came out a bit...shall we say "under-performing", but we couldn't put him down (cloning babies isn't cheap). We just parked him at a trade hub to keep a lookout on good prices, just like his mum does in Jita.
Well this went better than expected!
My RL moving went smoothly, and I even shamed RagnaR into posting again, Huzzah!
Still, RL work starts monday, so don't expect new posts every day...maybe once a week, or as often as I have stuff to say.
Although Cesare is gone (For now or ever, hopefully the former), this blog is not (at least not completely). Although not nearly as diligent in writing, you will be hearing from me from time to time, when I can manage the motivation to get off my apparently "lazy, frozen ass". Now, I don't really have a lot of time to play EVE these days, and I don't play every day, but this blog isn't dead, not even close. So don't delete that bookmark yet!
So in the past weeks, pretty much since christmas, my corp has been declining in activity. This started during the holidays, when people generally didn't have much time to get on and do stuff. The few times people actually had time, nobody else was online and this has kind of snowballed since then. See, people stop coming online to do stuff with the corp because nobody is coming online to do stuff with the corp (omg so meta!). And thus the cycle continues, and the result: A low-activity corp. Balls.
Me in my corp chat recently. So ronery. Also an accurate representation of this blog.
So the CEO and director decided it was time to step up our game. Thus we began to ponder moving to nullsec, like we had planned before, to get the ball rolling. I won't go into any specific details, but we decided to join an existing, small, established alliance, since nobody likes blobs. This of course means leaving our own alliance (Corelum syndicate), but I think they will be kept running as our logistics division. We're currently on our trial period with the new alliance, before they "deem us worthy" to join, so that means: MURDER TIME! Just yesterday evening, I got in on a small fleet patrol around our home system, and we managed to kill about a billion worth of stuff (one of which was a 600m isk pod, oh deary me). So things are looking up in the murder division, yarrr!!
Anyway, that's what's going on in my EVE-life these days. I will update to the best of my ability, although the updates won't be daily, or even bi-daily. Maybe weekly. Depends on my busy schedule and playtime. So adios for now!
Well my friends, it's been a blast writing this blog and chatting with you willing readers in the in-game chat channel.
Sadly, since RagnaR doesn't seem to be getting off his lazy frozen ass, there will be no more daily posts on this blog in the near future.
Since my new real life job is starting and I'm moving to a new town, I need time to settle in and may not have much time for EVE, let alone writing about it.
I'll check back in here in a week's time if all goes well, and we'll see how things go from there. Maybe I'll never write here again, maybe I'll update it once a month...once a week...maybe we'll even be back on the daily schedule.
In the mean time, keep pew-pewing and raking in that space-cash!
Word of the day: hangar: it's spelled hangar, not hanger, get it through your collective skulls!
Music to accompany this post:
Remember when I said my bank statement was quite a roller-coaster? Well I finally found a way to graph it out, by plugging my API into EVE mentat (it's a pretty cool tool, and APIs in general are fantastic, also give EVEmon a try if you haven't already)
As you can see, things were pretty steady until I discovered the joys of trading, and became more and more aggressive in doing so. I brought my wallet funds to near 0 a total of 10 separate times within a 9 day span, but each time making more profit back immediately...except with those 1,5 billion litres of heavy water. I still have a third of that to unload.
It's been a busy and fruitful time, although the pure graph doesn't show it, peaking for only a few seconds at over 200 million cash. There have been no actual losses, only investments (like 50 million worth of attribute implants on the 23rd, and 54 mil worth of skill-books on the 24th).
After spending so much time trading, I felt like it was time to vary tastes, so I did go back to mining for a little while. Managing to haul a record amount of 106 million ISK worth of minerals on the 23rd, I basically spent all afternoon and evening strip-mining two belts, while semi-AFK packing my things IRL. But minerals are only potential and unproductive money...they're piling up in my hangar, taking up ungodly amounts of space (good thing there's infinite room in that station).
A few missions with my Omen cruiser, æole had put me in a cocky mood, so I started clearing up rat nests in scan sites, for relatively good bounty prises. Most importantly, I was actively playing the game, not just clicking something every few minutes...the problem was, æole was pretty powerful, and quickly, these activities devolved into something similar to mining very small asteroids. ctrl-click, W-click, F1, rinse and repeat. At 30km, I was almost always out of range.
Then one day Trioxis the billionaire for whom mining is but a hobby told me about an incursion not far from where I was. Hmmm...an incursion. I have no idea how these things work, but there's only one sure-fire way to find out.
I heard RagnaR's voice inside my head: "faggot!" he called me...well that wasn't very helpful. "faggot! noo! don't do incursions with æole!"...oh, right, well that's a bit more helpful. Yet I chose to disregard that rude advice. Entering the contested system, I saw that local was packed. ALL RIGHT! Let's do this! ...but 47 out of the 50 people in local were actually dustees. Crap. Nobody's fighting in space.
Well it can't be that bad, I figure, I'll just warp to one of these incursion sites and see what all the hubbub is about, eh? They're proabbly stronger than I am in æole, but I'll just take a look and warp out.
No. No, I still haven't learned from my mistakes, and continue to do reckless things like that. Immediately after using the acceleration gate, I target and open fire on the sansha bastards 30 km away from me. Aw yes! the perfect range! But within seconds, moving at seemingly 10k/s, frigates get the drop on me and quickly start draining my shields and armour. crap crap crap. Good thing I'm already alligned to the nearest...they're warp-scrambling me CRAP CRAP CRAP KABOOOOOM!...well shit. I need a new cruiser. RIP æole, you were the best friendship I ever had (apart from Tuggy the tugboat, Life Lessons, several Belly Belugas and Speedy Gonzales).
Screw it, I'm not getting another Omen, I'll just train up Battlecruisers before CCP splits them into faction skills...then a side dish of covert ops. But first, let's refocus on my strong points: mining and trading. In a couple of weeks, I'll buy an exhumer, that'll teach those space-rocks who's boss!
word of the day: Goonswarm: ...your guess is as good as mine on this one.
Music to accompany this post:
In AD 23236, all the major Factions had met each other and established a fragile balance of power. That year, at the Yoiul Conference, the factions' various calendars were abandoned in favour of EVE Standard Time, which is suspiciously similar to our real-life Gregorian calendar. Thus began year YC 0 (Yoiul Conference).
Fictional Turmoil continued until YC 105, when the Capsule and the clone were successfully merged, and players joined the universe. That was 2003 by our Earthly Gregorian calendar,which makes YC 115 the current year.
My own EVE experience being very limited in time, and there being no official information on the events of the past 10 years, I resorted to outsourcing. Below, you will find a personal outlook on the history of Eve throughout the years, courtesy of reddit-person l33teci. Only slightly edited for spelling and grammar.
Many thanks to him!
There were no faction wars in 2003, Eve was a different place. A more elegant era when battleships were looked upon as Titans are today. Resources were scarce and income was low, no one was burdened by blobs and many were unaware of the riches that lay in null sec. There were no capital ships, no alpha maelstroms, no logistic supported fleets.
We flew active-tanked ships for some time, meeting someone in space was uncommon unlike today. You could have gone past entire high sec and only meet few people.
One of the first to emerge as a superpower of those days was the PA ( Phoenix Alliance ) taking the North for them selves and establishing them selves as a dominant null sec alliance. But their reign would not be long-lived for others soon rose to power. One alliance would soon rise above the others with ambitions to claim all sov there was:
The first to emerge was a power greedy alliance know to many as Band of Brothers and the lasting peace would soon end. In May 2004 the hammer was struck and it had begun The Great Northern War that would soon engulf everyone.
PA resisted BoB but their will will soon have been broken as the friends who PA has long neglected leave their side as the evermore growing BoB sliced a deeper wound. The war had lasted for almost a year and in December 2004 the final battle closed the chapter and rule of Phoenix Alliance.
However, as one chapter closes another, one opens and the drums of war will soon beat again. While BoB was busy fighting in the north, Removing PA and its allies from their sov, new power started to rize in the shadows of empire. One that all ridiculed but many soon learned to fear.
After the purge of the North, the eye of the newly found BoB alliance looked upon the regions of Fountain Delve and Querious. BoB started to move towards the south, purging everything in their path, from Deklin to Querious. Finally reaching their desired home: the Fortress Delve where in BKG they established their rule and raised their first station.
Enter the age of capitals, the behemoths that will soon dominate everyone in sov space. The first to seek this new power was BoB, with determination to eradicate anyone who would have tried to stop them or produce capitals on their own.
We knew super capitals existed but no-one talked about them they were rare and not looked upon everyday. The mere mention that an alliance was building a super capital would erupt in a mass conflict. However no one could stop what had begun, and no one at that time predicted what was to come.
And soon the first Titan was born to Ascendant Frontier (ASCN) who would not see a long life. Null sec was once again engulfed in a war that would be the prequel to the First Great War.
From the shadows rose one alliance who BoB hated more than anything else, give birth to Goonswarm and soon the two were fighting each-other Goonswarm relied on their numbers and inexpensive ships while BoB relied on the power of T2 ship who at that time had no match. Goonswarm was eventually defeated and fell back to NPC space. But they were not to stay there forever.
The era gave birth to other major alliances the RSF, Red Alliance, KIA and TCF... Yet all of these would not be enough to bring BoB to its knees. War after war, battle after battle, BoB continued to beat the southern alliances back until that faithful day when a foolishly cloaked Titan piloted by the infamous SirMolle fell prey. With this one stroke, the southern alliances had ended BoB's campaign and forced them to retreat in the fortress Delve where they maybe should have remained.
Hidden in their fortress Delve, BoB begun to resupply and prepare for war that will determine the future of us all. Hidden in their keep the Greater BoB Community ( GBC ) will face the might of the Red Swarm Federation and their new nemesis the Northern Coalition.
So it begun the First Great War of our time. We were no longer poor and careful as we were back when it all begun. The industry has kicked in and mass supply had begun, those who once could not fly battleship were now fielding dreadnoughts and carriers.
GBC soon found themselves surrounded from all sides and hostile to everyone in the universe. They stood alone against the overwhelming force that has risen to end their reign.
The war lasted for a year, and many fell in battle. Feeling the pressure from both South and North GBC could no longer endure they have managed to push the enemy back but unable to hold what they have taken. The GBC War machine pushed the Northern alliances all the way back to Venal. With North defeated, GBC refocused their effort on the South. They will reach all the way to Detroid and for the moment establish the biggest sov empire that ever was or will be. Their dominion spanned from Venal to Fountain to Paragon Soul to Detroid.
But RSF and AAA will not have given up so easily. Striking at displaced GBC elements whenever they could, taking system by system, basing out of Catch and Querious. With GBC now fully occupied in the south, RAZOR took the chance and regained their home in Tenal.
With their forces scattered in the south and NC pushing from the north with a combined forces of RSF, AAA and Red Alliance GBC had no choice but to retreat back to Delve to reconsolidate their forces.
With GBC fortified in Delve and the rest of universe eager to rid the universe of this Goliath peace after the First Great War had not lasted long. Old alliances would soon be broken and the Second Great War would begin.
The war saw defeat of GBC which was followed by many other wars between GBC remnants and Goonswarm and NC. Soon BoB was disbanded and reformed in to KenZoku which will not endure for long but will reform in to IT.
There will be many smaller wars between the two sides PL will be evicted, NC will be defeated and the remnants of old BoB will once again become the dominant force in EVE.
There are many great wars and events that transpired in this time the eviction of PL, Max Damage 1 and 2 campaigns etc. IT will establish itself as dominant alliance by the sheer number of super capitals and titans they were able to field but this will not last.
The last great war we witnessed was war between IT / NC / DRF. In the end all 3 will fall and from their ashes will rise a new coalition one more powerful than any before the CFC.
Today, we have two greater coalitions: CFC and HBC. Soon history was to repeat itself.
As First Great War has passed we have seen complete remap of the universe those who ruled for so long have now been defeated and the North and South divided by the victors. Those with numbers took to the north while those who were too late to voice their opinion headed south.
Peace did not last long, but everyone took their time to rebuild and reship. Those in the north will have soon learned that their keep, has become the backbone of the industry. With north now fully populated and empire becoming more and more alive with people who now could afford to fly better ships and with new doctrines being born the era of T2 hulls has been set in motion. The era of Tech has begun, the industry was in motion and the wast wealth of tech soon fell in to the eye's of the enemy.
First Great War left many scars on a lot of people many have fallen but few have risen and the sift of power has happened once again. From the quiet darkness of Catch a sole corporation will soon rise and shake the very foundation of the universe.
Those who were once enemies now formed what will be the most fierce force in EVE. Goonswarm was first to enlist help of their ranks and with their strength and experience they smashed the BoB warmachine in the very heart of their fortress. This ragged band of skilled pilots took to the north grabbing system by system until finally claiming the Fountain. They prospered and grew and soon forgot their Goonswarm friends and start anew, with great ambitions in mind.
BoB remnants now on the brink of destruction prepare for the onslaught. But the mind of a sociopath is not easily tamed. In an effort to evade being sieged in Delve and certain defeat, GBC rallies for a counter attack to secure their former empire.
With a force never seen before, a capital fleet unmatched by it's size by any other, supported by a supercapital fleet they took to the north. Battle after battle the sound of doomsdays spread death and destruction in the north, no station to siege, no system to take, no moon to grab only utter destruction and chaos of infrastructure and ships.
The campaign had ended by a bright death of a titan in VFK. Northren Coalition at this time fell back to Tribute which from where they will launch a counter offensive and drive the madness from the north back to Delve.
In the south a betrayal echoes as AAA a previous ally of Goonswarm takes up arms against them and siding with GBC to take the south for them selves. With bitter defeat in the north what was left of GBC deployed to south to aid AAA against their oldest foes.
But there was no victory in the south only sorrow as once great alliance is brought on their knees. Disbanded by the madman they will reform in to a shortlived alliance KenZoku and so ended the firs MAX campaign.
But the betrayal will not have been easily forgotten, and bitterness of defeat had the universe poised on the brink of war once again.
After 5 years of conflict and war, one side finally managed to gain the upper hand: The Coalition. Assembled at full strength the alliances of north and south rallied against KenZoku, AAA, Atlas and the remnants of GBC to root out the menace from it's home and existence.
This time those that have been ridiculed since their creation will lead the spearhead of the offensive. With Goonswarm leading the attack in to the heart of Delve and Northren Coalition from the north and TFC from Querious the Goliath has finally been surrounded in its home.
Was was not as easy as everyone expected. The defense was fierce but in Fountian an alliance had taken shape that will emerge as Pandemic Legion. In hellish fortress of Delve a capital fight first of it's kind is about to erupt with massive losses to both sides yet The Coalition managed to outlast their enemy.
Now surrounded in 49-U a battle never witnessed before is about to take place. The last stronghold of GBC fell and with it fell Delve in a battle of near 2000 pilots The Coalition managed to finally defeate the GBC.
So ends the Second Great War, PL held Fountain Goonswarm captured home of their enemy and the Northern Coalition returned to it's home in the north for their time had now come to rule over the galaxy.
KenZoku now defeated and their allies scattered it was time for them to look back on their many mistakes but the Goliath many believed was dead will soon rise again under new flag and new name and their wrath will follow them where they for vengeance is undying in our universe.
From the chaos of defeat had risen a new alliance, the IT Alliance. The thirst of vengeance is never fulfilled and soon their former home will be set ablaze by the fire of their titans. The second MAX campaign had begun with their eyes set upon Fountain.
The space will not have been easily regained as a new alliance has risen to power. It began in late 2009 with a full on invasion of Fountain by IT Alliance against Pandemic Legion. Goonswarm rallied to support Pandemic Legion but the fury of the IT warmachine could no longer be held back. With a short strike they evicted Pandemic Legion from their space, recapturing system by system, cutting off Goonswarm from the help of the north and their eyes set upon Y-2 a border system in to their old home.
They stroke with all their fury and strength in Y-2, the final standing ground for Goonswarm and Pandemic Legion. The battle lasted for some time and when the smoke cleared IT Alliance stood as clear victor they were back and in strength. On that day they managed to inflict heavy losses on PL and Goonswarm with PL titans dead and many other capital ships lay ruined the gates to Delve have been opened.
Fearing certain defeat and humiliation, Goonswarm refused to pay their Sov bill and thus lost Delve and by extent the war. Soon a Goonswarm leader will do on to them what, one has done to BoB.
IT Regained their former stronghold of Delve and this time they will not give it up easy. They surrounded them selves with blue alliances in Fountain and Period Basis and fortified Delve but they will soon make the same mistake as past always repeats itself.
And so the galaxy lay in quiet for the moment as everyone has been defeated by the war that had been going on since the fall of Phoenix Alliance. Goonswarm soon after their defeat reformed back in the north with their old friends the Northern Coalition. Wars erupted and wars ended but there was no shift in power as the massive supercapital build up had begun with all sides in race to build as many as they could.
The ego in the north grew and echos of the war drums were heard once again. Eager to stand on top combined forces of IT and Atlas will launch a maximum damage campaign against NC smashing as they move through north. This time the north will lead the advance, unable to match their super capitals one to one they relied on their subcapitals where odds were two to one. Soon after GSF will join the cause and assault on Delve will begin once again.
The invasion resulted in stalemate and IT had no options but to fall back yet again the balance of power has finally come true. But pilots of the north will not have, stayed in the north their assault soon followed IT to their door steps.
Yet IT had not yet felt the pressure of the events that had taken place, unaware that soon their neglect of their friends will cost them their keep. One by one the alliances in buffer zones of Fountain and Period Basis fell and the war front sifting north and south and echo of betrayal was heard once again.
Slowly, the buffer alliances began to collapse and to pathway to Delve was once again clear. Knowing full well that there is no change to stand against NC them selves IT Alliance finally acted but it was too late the enemy had reached Delve. PL will accompany the northern alliances in their conquest of Delve to exact their revenge on those who evicted them from Fountain.
IT Alliance had collapsed yet again and their home forever turned in to a wasteland. But the heart of the beast kept beating on as their goal was still there and as long as Goonswarm was alive they will never have won.
The mighty IT Alliance had finally been defeated...or so it seemed.
Word of the day: hubris: overwhelming pride that leads to one's downfall.
Music to accompany this post:
Gallente Federation
A melting-pot of various peoples federated under one banner, the biggest population group being the Gallenteans themselves, Descendents of Frenchmen; Gallente was founded as a state on their home planet in the 23rd millennium About 500 years after the first jump gate was built by the Amarr, and didn't become the Federation we know today until in the 24th Millennium by which time they had made contact with several nations. Most notably the Intaki, Mannar and Caldari; the latter seceding from the federation shortly after its formation.
Half a century later, they met the Amarr for the first time, and a cold but cordial relationship is established between them, with only a couple galaxy-wide wars. One famous inter-imperial dispute was even settled by the Quafe company, makers of soft drinks.
The Gallente Federation is a hedonistic democracy, and therefore lives to entertain, and typically strives to expand not by military conquest, but by offering a better life to its citizens. This leads to a very high and welcome immigration rate. Being a culture of luxury and enjoyment, the rich are extremely rich, and the poor are similarly poor, but all live in relative harmony within the borders of the second largest Empire in the galaxy.
Gallente tl;dr: What the present-day USA want you to believe they are
Minmatar Republic
Settled on their home planet of Matar, and becoming a united people in the early 21th Millennium all was fine and dandy for the Minmatar for a while, building their first spaceships in the mid 22nd Millennium and populating three adjacent systems through ancient stargates, with technological advances rivalling any other major culture.
Then one day, the Amarr showed up and claimed ownership of the land and its people. The Minmatar spent thousands of years as slaves under their evil overlords, but as the Amarr hegemony started to crumble due to hostile encounters with the Jovians and Gallente, they took their chances and escaped the clutches of their captors to found a newly independent nation in 23216 AD.
The Minmatar people, calling themselves the Matari, are by far the largest population group in New Eden, however their political power is limited. Not all Matari live within the confines of the republic. Indeed three quarters of their people are scattered around the galaxy, as former or even current slaves. This leads their culture to focus on tribesmanship and personal achievement. Although the tribes do not hesitate to unite in times of need, most planet-dwelling Matari live lives of farming and industry in small communities, and space-farers are typically lone traders and/or pirates.
Minmatar tl;dr: Former slaves and current gypsies
Jove Directorate
The Jovians are by a wide margin the most elusive and technologically advanced society in this fictional videogame universe, and are the only major faction unavailable to players.
It only took then a couple of centuries to recover from the closure of the EVE gate, and therefore their starting level of technology in New Eden was close to that of the Milky Way while all other settlements wallowed in the Dark Ages. Continuing their technological progression in many directions but especially their own human biology, Jove became a society of genetically engineered mutants, with powers of the mind and body unfathomable to puny naturally-born people.
This led them to millennia of successive and successful golden ages, but as expected, their hubris came to bite them in the ass when their strict governmental control on these practices momentarily lapsed. The very foundation of their society started breaking down as a genetic disease with a 100% fatality rate emerged from their reckless manipulations.
Today, the Jovians are but a faded memory of their glory days, but their technological feats still place them unfathomably far beyond the capabilities of all the other Empires in Eve combined.
Although they mostly keep to themselves, they have been known to mingle from time to time. They first made contact with the Gallente Federation the same year that the Caldari splintered off, but broke diplomatic relations only 7 years later, then introduced themselves to the rest of the Empires within a few decades.
Although their interactions with the Empires have been very limited, they have born grave consequences: dealing the Amarr Empire a crushing defeat which profoundly changed the very history of the Galaxy, and giving the Caldari pod technology just a decade later.
