The MMORPG EVE Online is the original metaverse, explains Michael Pusateri, a businessman in real life and space tyrant in his free time. He played the MMORPG EVE Online for 15 years, enjoyed his growing fame and influence, but then it was over.
Where does the information come from? Michael Pusateri, who is the CEO of an IT company in real life, published an article on Medium describing his relationship with the MMORPG EVE Online.
The article is aimed at readers from the business world who have no idea what is going on in the game. He strives to explain the fascination of EVE and how rewarding he found his time as the leader of an organization with thousands of players.
In the game, Pusateri was called “Dunk Dinkle” and was the CEO of “Brave.”
Space democracy simply does not work – leaders have absolute power
What is remarkable: The author recounts his journey in the game, which sounds like a pure success story for a long time:
- He starts playing in 2008, slowly makes a name for himself in an organization and learns about the game
- In 2013, he builds a group of players and dives deeper into EVE Online. He writes about his gameplay, publishes videos, participates in talks with other players
- Eventually, he becomes the CEO of his organization. As a leader, he has unlimited power, as he explains:
The group of leaders in EVE consists almost entirely of (mostly) well-meaning dictators. Groups have tried space democracy, but that has consistently failed. What ultimately works is a leader with total control who makes decisions in the game. In EVE, they are called CEOs, but they are actually warlords who rule their territories and command their troops to attack or defend.
How did he perceive it? The author describes that EVE Online was very relaxing for him at the beginning and provided a counterbalance to his stressful “business life” in the real world. The complexity and steady rhythm of the game felt relaxing to him.
However, as he became CEO, that slowly changed. He explains:
- Through Discord, he was now constantly in contact with other CEOs, had to be available at all times to manage crises
- Contracts were drawn up, often reviewed by real lawyers, to find loopholes that could be exploited later
- He enjoyed the “nano-fame” he had as an extroverted space lord, with whom everyone wanted to talk and that so many knew. He even always had trinkets like bottle openers with him, featuring his guild’s logo, to give away as gifts
EVE Online becomes a second job and that is one job too many
What was the problem? During the pandemic, stress in real life increased and he started getting worse headaches:
Every morning I woke up and had problems solving things in EVE: I spent long days in the office and then had to take care of EVE in the evenings. It was a lot of work. My fun per hour was low and EVE felt like a job on many days. I still found it rewarding, but it took its toll, my second job in the metaverse. Even when I had time off from work, I was still on duty in EVE, having to manage things from the hotel room or the beach, instead of relaxing.
Ultimately, the headaches became unbearable. He took anti-migraine medication and underwent surgery to fix issues with his jaw, but as he slowly recovered, doctors advised him that stress was a major trigger and that he urgently needed to reduce it.
So six months ago, he did what he never thought was possible: he quit EVE Online and handed over the keys to his part of the galaxy to a NASA researcher he had chosen as his successor.
Now he says:
I miss the people terribly, but I enjoy the freedom to do other things. The freedom of not having to turn on my computer to do space work.
His wife is also “thrilled” that he has closed this chapter of his life.
If we’re already writing about space tyrants in EVE Online on MeinMMO, we must also refer to THE space tyrant:
The title image is the thumbnail of a YouTube video by Pusateri. He used it to apply for the player council in EVE “CSM”.
