Welcome to Fabulous Jita Local

This is an odd post to pen, but last night I found myself in the notorious capital of New Eden, the rogue system of Jita. Shopping on an alt is one of those tedious things we all have to do at some point in our immortal adventurings. Now, nothing out of the ordinary so far, but then I remembered about the Great Cleanup of Jita Local earlier in the week. The removal and banning of bots, scripted chat clients or whatever they are called, and this can only be a good thing, right?



I found myself slightly disappointed with the entire experience if I am being honest. So, no, it is not a good thing.

What? You're crazy!

No, let me explain.

In the first few weeks of playing this great game I can vividly recall the tales and warnings about Jita local. Don't click this, don't do that, never do this, never do that, block this, block that. It was an odd feeling of excitement the first time I entered Jita local as a wide-eyed rookie with all those warnings ringing around in my head and the flash of the Sobaseki gate behind me. I remember the flashing local chat, the myriad of scams and opportunists, the beggars and the thieves.

Over time I actually began to quite enjoy reading the fast paced scrolling. I would have my local chat span the screen from top to bottom and as I shopped I kept up to date with the goings on in the carnival. I never once blocked anyone. Why would I remove myself from the experience?

And that's what Jita local was and is to me. Jita local WAS EVE Online.

A carnival, a circus, the Las Vegas Strip of New Eden and local chat was the thrill ride, the number one slot machine that everyone played. A place where you could go and spin that wheel of fortune. An intoxicating blur of words, of artists at work. You had the geniuses peddling their latest trick and the fools trying to point out the obvious scams, and the idiots who would try to ruin the experience with their walls of blank message 'spam filters'.

Every day was a school day in Jita local.

The cry of someone who just lost his last Interstellar Kredit, splashing silently, lost to the chatter like tears in the rain.

It was bright lights, it was a casino, it was free PLEX, it was golf courses, box lotteries, high rollers, fireworks, hotels, cheap Hulks, gift shops, wads of cash, brothels, tritanium, water parks, double your ISK, theme parks, Raven Navy Issues, overpriced Quafe .... Jita local was a gamble and it was glorious.

Now it has slowed to a crawl.

What have they done to my Jita thrill ride?!

I hope it soon recovers or I might just have to cancel my reservation at the Jita Rock Hotel. So come on put it all on black and bring those Jita bots back!


MB.