Motivation and goals
Alrighty then, it's been awhile but i thought i can share some things about me and some goals of mine.
First off, i think that EU is a hard willed man's game. You gotta be patient and persistent to keep on going and moving towards the right way and not be frustrated by some results.
Personally i like setting some mini-goals. Like achieve the next level on some profession, do one mission, or earn the X amount of PEDs through various activities. This helps me motivate my own self and keep on going.
If i find myself bored again, or not really in the mood of playing EU anymore, i try to login and set a small goal just to keep me interested in the game. Whether it's checking the auction and setting my eye on something i'll love having in the near or distant future, or just exploring the vast EU world, i'll force myself to login and stay ingame.
If i have no PEDs or don't feel like spending anything, i'll just go sweat. It may be extremely boring at times, so i set the goal of reaching the next level in SG. What i do is check my standings after an hour or so and see how i've progressed towards that goal. Or check my latest Psyche/Intelligence gain and how closer i am towards that +1. You could do this with every single skill, it really does help.
Sweating is sometimes underestimated. It's a free activity through which one can only gain and never lose. The worst that could ever happen is you get some more skills that will contribute towards many different professions. As far as i'm concerned it's a vital activity, especially mentally, it makes you know that you progress in the game doing something that's easy, free and doesn't need a lot of attention or hard work. You could even browse through the web while checking every minute or so ingame. Not to mention that you could sell all the sweat gathered and recover some of the loss from your latest hunting/mining, or just use it yourself.
Another great part of sweating is the people involved in it. Except of just the sweating activity in groups, one usually meets people that are willing to heal everyone, share a story or debate about the latest loot, eco gear, or even Real Life. So it has a way of spicing things up.
My personal semi-longterm goal:
...is buying another CLD. I've deposited 40 EUR about 2 weeks ago to help me reach that goal. Through various activities on and off EU, i gotta say that i'm getting closer to that goal. I'd say i've accumulated about 70% of the PED needed. I rarely hunt(mostly punies and very low maturity daikis, exos and berys) and never mine or craft. The unfortunate part is that sweat is harder than ever to sell. Got around 25k sitting in my storage and can't see unloading it soon even though i'd be willing to sell it lower than market value, but i guess that's something all sweaters have to adapt to.
So whenever i seem to struggle to keep me interested i'll just use any or all of these methods to motivate myself and keep being a part of this great community.
Unfortunately EU needs a more professional approach by it's own developers and team, but what makes this virtual universe so unique and great is it's very own community. There is no way you'll ever come across such a mature, and unique group of players, that at times may be extremely generous and helping. A great example is this thread i came across Random guy returns heavy item found on the ground . It's amazing how some people will react this way when it involves quite an amount of real money.
Up till next time folks, thanks and take good care in both worlds.