I’ve played games on stream many times. I’ve never played a game that has changed my career, or potentially changed my life. I’ve never played a game that has changed how I behave in my broadcast, or what I’m doing in my off time. I damn sure never considered myself as a journalist.

My name is Ashley, but I much more commonly go by Crasskitty. I’m a partnered broadcaster on Twitch. If that’s all gibberish to you, I play video games and interact with the people who watch me on a live broadcasted stream. For the past year and a half I’ve been streaming, either bingeing on or bouncing from game to game, constantly searching for the next one that would suck me in and allow me to lose myself completely. In the past nine months I’ve focused primarily on space games, which led me to Eve Online.

Last October I was curious enough that I posted to r/Eve asking if I should give it a shot on a friends account that had been offered to me. I was met with a mix of support and discouragement. People told me I’d have to stream with a delay, which is absolute murder on chat engagement; one of my key features. I was discouraged to say the least.

So I continued playing my current game of choice, and let the thought fade from my mind. A few months later, no longer so enraptured in what I was playing, I began hunting for “the game”. Eve caught my eye once more. I’m a space streamer, and this seemed to be the only space game I hadn’t tried.

I asked a few streamer friends about Eve, trying to do research on what to expect. I was told with absolute certainty and unanimity that Eve was the worst game to stream.

I was told the community was absolutely toxic. I was told I’d end my first stream in tears, and never want to touch video games again. I was told that I’d get stream sniped over and over again, and that I’d ‘lose my shit’. Discouraged once more, I let the thought go to the back of my mind, where it sat there for another month, teasing me.

One night, around 2am, I was aimlessly browsing Twitch, looking for something new to play, and I saw Eve again. I clicked, and came across ZarvoxToral’s stream. I engaged with him, asking questions about the game, the community and streaming it.

He was inviting, positive and realistic. He told me I’d get ganked, but that it wasn’t a big deal and to not let it get to me. He told me that I should absolutely give it a try. I had one positive piece of information, and fountains of people telling me not to try it, but, desperate to find a game, any game that I could play and enjoy again, I decided to fuck it all and go for it.

I knew nothing about the game except a few key points. It was a space game. It’d been around since 2003. The economy was the most stable in the world. There were, essentially, no rules. Not a whole lot to go on, but enough to make me interested. Hell, I’d been thinking about the game in the back of my mind for months, but resisted the urge to do research for fear of falling into a game that had a toxic community that could ruin my desire to stream.

I started the game in early March.

I fell in love.

This game was everything I’d been looking for. Everything I had tried and failed to create with my Elite: Dangerous roleplay server. Everything I’d been dreaming that Star Citizen would become. It was all already there.

This game was everything I’d been looking for. Everything I had tried and failed to create with my Elite: Dangerous roleplay server. Everything I’d been dreaming that Star Citizen would become. It was all already there.

Even better than the game, was the community. I’d never had such a supportive chat from a new game or been given so many pointers, in-game items and in-game currency on my first day playing. I’m not going to say that the streamers I asked about the game were liars. But maybe, just maybe, they weren’t the right type of streamer for Eve.

As many of you know, on Monday, there was a huge battle in Eve. People are calling it World War Bee. I started my stream, semi-aware, but not really caring too much. In my mind, I had no affiliation with either side, and I sure as hell was still too much of a newbro to go pledging myself to one faction or another.

This was disappointing. The night before I’d read a comment on r/Eve talking about how they wished there was a stream or broadcast that covered the events in a clear and concise way for players and non players alike. They were curious, but there really wasn’t any information available. That comment had stuck in my mind, festering with the frustration that I still didn’t know enough about Eve to provide this. As a streamer trying to make a name for herself, and all too aware of what a great opportunity it would have been to be that stream, I was to be frank, salty as hell.

So I started my stream, intending exploration as a salve for this salt. (I’d recently discovered exploration and I’m incredibly addicted to it.) One of my viewers told me to go to M-OEE8. He said the battle was there and that I should at least check it out. So I did.

Somehow I wasn’t ganked immediately. I was actually there on the outskirts of hundreds of ships when the words “CO2 left CFC!!” Was spammed in local. I had no idea what this meant. I had no idea that I was witnessing history.

I was ganked shortly after, and again, frustrated at the fact that I didn’t know enough about what was going on to produce a quality stream on what I was seeing, found myself struggling with what to do next. How could I make this entertaining?

Then, inspiration struck – I didn’t know enough but literally everyone else in the game did. So, on my journey back to M-O from Jita, I spammed in every local chat I came across (yes, including Jita), looking to interview someone about the battle that just happened, live. Please send me a PM.

At first, no one hit. Then I got a message. Thinning Ice told me he’d like to talk about it. So I pulled him into my discord, and started firing away.

Within the next hour my stream had doubled in size. Suddenly I was getting in game mail and people in my twitch chat begging to be interviewed. I had no idea who the hell I was talking to most of the time, their scale, their importance, why they mattered. We even had a few people come on the show who probably had no right to be there, but I interviewed away. I was hooked.

Some of the interviews were incredibly informative, some of them, drunken Subaru ads

Some of the interviews were incredibly informative, some of them, drunken Subaru ads, but all them came together to tell the story of what had actually happened that day, from both sides. It was hard as hell to get any of the Imperium to talk, but we did have two people come on the show. We had a ton of TEST Alliance.

Suddenly, I became the person that people were watching. My chat was incredible. My viewer count was at the highest I’d ever had organically. Even better though, was the fact that I was learning about the game in a brand new way, and that I had managed do what every streamer dreams of doing; finding their little niche on Twitch, and producing brand new content.

I’ve had people angry frustrated and astounded that I got some of the interviews I did. Apparently, I chatted to some of the biggest names in Eve. I had no idea. I still really don’t have a grasp on it. In my mind, these are people that I’m interviewing because they can give a perspective to myself, and to anyone watching who has never played Eve, that has never been shared.

I asked dumb questions, simple ones, complex ones, things I didn’t know were memes. I asked whatever Twitch wanted me to ask, and whatever floated into my head. I was hungry – I still am. My goal has become very simple; I want to share news about Eve for everyone.

I clarify and explain and try to make the information that’s coming out on my stream easy to digest, easy to follow.

I am a newbro. I am someone that loves the game, but isn’t informed enough to give all of this information on their own. Instead of letting this hold me back, I’ve decided to embrace it. I ask the questions veterans wouldn’t think to ask. I clarify and explain and try to make the information that’s coming out on my stream easy to digest, easy to follow. I would not be able to do this as a veteran, or long time player. I wouldn’t think to explain what something as simple as a gate is, or ask what an ihub is.

I’m incredibly blown away by how this has grown and developed. I’ve had CCP contact me about interviews. I’ve already done one with them at the time of writing this. I’ve interviewed some of the top people in the game, and I’m incredibly excited for when I truly realize who these people are and why this is so important. Somehow I’ve managed to get anonymous informants on both sides of the war to alert me any time anything goes down. I’ve been invited to fly with both TEST and The Imperium during their battles as a neutral source. I don’t know why, but people seem to have latched onto this and are begging for more.

I will deliver.