Yesterday I touched a nerve with my post about Eve is Alive! Sorta the antidote version of a negative mantra sweeping the community since dinosaurs walked the Earth - about how Eve is Dying. My point essentially is that yes, of course Eve is Dying, in the same way that you are. In the same way that all things must. Eventually. And that Prophets of Doom are the easiest prophets to be, because eventually (given enough time) they will always be right. It takes ZERO courage to be a prophet of doom and gloom. The real courage comes from taking a stand for what is right. That takes true courage.I want to expand on that thought and encourage my readers. Yes, Eve will eventually putter off to the great beyond. It will, someday, be pushing up daisies. This will happen sooner or later. As I've said before, I will most likely be there to turn out the lights when it finally does happen. Until then however, let us agree that the end is not nigh. That, in fact, Eve is actually thriving in ways that could not have been imagined only a few short years ago. Because this is a fact.It is all baggage. Us older players tend to carry around some serious baggage from the olden days. Days when CCP employees were cold, distant, and hidden behind walls of ice. When monster expansions fell from on high. When the search for "Jesus" features was the dominate theme of success. When server's lagged for hours. When the path was confusing, when communication was difficult, and when it seemed that the players lived on the far end of the development stick. Those were dark days. And it is only natural that the baggage we accumulated during those years would linger. It is hard to forget and forgive. It is challenging to let go.This is, after all, the biggest hurdle a game like Eve faces. As we speed towards the 13th year of Eve its own history becomes a weight around its ankle. A ball and chain that threatens to defeat it, just as it finally enters its own maturity. But the past is dead. The only thing that truly matters is today and the hopes and dreams of tomorrow. And I have to say, I'm impressed.If you can remove that baggage and clearly look at where we are today, it is rather amazing. There is a staggering amount of content inside this universe of ours, an amount unimagined only seven or eight years ago. A plethora of new spaceships, new activities, new adventures, and an incredible array of possibilities to pursue. Stuff that was only dreamed of before. Is now real. With more rolling out almost on a monthly basis. The machine churns on. If anything the faucet is open wide for the first time in Eve's history. A faucet that is open and willing to listen. To adapt. To change. A complete and utter change in direction from only a few short years ago.We should be cheering. This evolution is as much ours as anyone. We have player reps on the CSM, we have a vibrant community of bloggers, streamers, podcasters and dreamers. We have an engaged workforce that actually participates on Twitter, Slack and other places were we can engage in conversation. We are together in ways we could not have dreamed of before.I am a big fan. As a fan I do not always agree with the decisions my team makes, but despite that, I want nothing more than for them to win. To succeed. I may not always agree, and I can be very vocal about it sometimes, but I only do so out of love of the game. A game I actually play. Almost every single day.I don't have an axe to grind. I just want to encourage. I think you should let go of your baggage and see Eve with fresh eyes. Imagine for a moment that the past is truly gone and you are seeing Eve for the first time. She is a magnificent creation. A frustrating beast of open ended possibilities. A harsh and demanding mistress that will rip your heart out and stomp on it, over and over again. But she is glorious and she has never been better.For my part, I will be over here in my corner cheering her on. Always ready to defend her, argue with her, and willing to tell anyone that will listen - just how beautiful she can be.She won't be with us forever. But long may she live.