If you could own one Eve Online spaceship in real life..

..which one would it be?

It's something I think about every now and then, usually when I'm bored commuting from/to work. "Oh man", I'm thinking, "I'd rather be in a spaceship than on this train. But which one would I choose, if I could?"

Now that mankind may be a theoretical step closer to an actual warp drive, the question on how a warp capable space ship might look and work is more interesting than ever. And Eve Online's extensive range of vessels is an inspiring source of ideas in this regard! Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks along those lines:

TianCity is responsible for all marketing activities in China [...] They have done some really innovative things to make EVE more visible in China, including [...] having EVE featured in a CCTV (Chinese national television) program about militaries of the future, which included some high-ranking Chinese military officers talking about EVE spaceships.

..although, to be honest, I have no idea what these officers actually said about Eve's space ships!

Back the the question at hand: what Eve Online spaceship would you choose? The first warp driven space ships mankind builds (..if we ever succeed, of course) would probably be little more than an Eve Online shuttle: very limited in size and scope. But let's dream bolder dreams and look a bit further in the future..

It might be tempting to take some military vessel such as a Battleship or Battlecruiser, but I think I'd go with a cloaky Helios. Traditionally, our existing space vessels so far have primarily (but not exclusively) served peaceful purposes. The Voyagers, Mariners and Pioneers carried cameras, not guns, and neither did the Space Shuttle or the MIR space station for example. Thinking along those lines, it makes sense to look for an exploratory vessel first. And given that we have no idea what we might encounter once we drop out of warp, it would also make sense to make it a cloaky, stealthy ship. The scan capabilities of the Helios would help us do our research, while a single mining drone might help us acquire precious samples of asteroids. So, there's my daydream.. explore the wonders of the universe in a Helios.

What's your ship of choice?