CCP clears up after huge EVE exploit

By Oli Welsh Published 16 December, 2008

Starbases destroyed, 70 accounts banned.

EVE Online is a serious business. You can tell this by the fact that developer CCP has an internal affairs division. Also by the way the uncovering of an exploit leads to calls for "transparency", concerns for the economy, and a summit between developers and elected player leaders, rather than just whining on forums.

All of this happened last week, after it came to light that a bug relating to a combination of several player-owned starbases with a moon mining operation was yielding materials used in the game's crafting system out of all proportion. Seven player corporations were found to be gaining "unfair advantages" from the exploit, virtual assets have been frozen, and over 70 game accounts have been banned as a result, the developer said last week.

"Working with the Research & Statistics team we have established that the effects on the markets have been considerable and far reaching," read the announcement. Just how far reaching came to light at a meeting between CCP and the elected Council of Stellar Management that represents the interests of players at the weekend.

You can read the details in the full minutes of the CSM meeting, or in Massively's slightly more digestible precis.

In even briefer form, the exploit was said to have generated "a few trillion" ISK - the game's currency. This is a lot of virtual money, although according to CCP's in-house economist, it's only equivalent to a day's trading in EVE - serious, but not catastrophic. Still, the overall impact in terms of distortion to the game's pricing and commodity markets is hard to gauge.

Claims that the exploit had first been reported four years ago are still being investigated by CCP, but the developer reckons the exploit wasn't being used on a significant scale until March this year at the earliest. CCP won't name the players and corporations involved, and is still trying to determine how far to take recriminations, since many players and some corporations may have profited unknowingly from the exploit.

Thought videogames were an escapist retreat from the financial misdeeds of the few affecting the prosperity of the many? Think again.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (20) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • oxymoron #1 3 years ago

    very, very interesting, news like this is fascinating to me, thanks eurogamer you have supplied me with a nerdy nugget to share later down the boozer.

    also 1st! :p
    Edited by 1 at 16/12/08 @ 12:44

  • IneptPercy #2 3 years ago

    Geek Fight, Geek Fight.....

  • ZuluHero #3 3 years ago

    i wonder if they just remove the offending starbases from the game with a code alteration or something or do they fly in with CCP owned ships and blow the bases to hell in real time? (like they do in my head when i read EvE related stories)

    That would surely be a spectacle to behold :)

  • phatb0y #4 3 years ago

    Bring back the megacyte dupe bug, or the bug that let you sell placeholder items at auction.

    If the GMs are the same guys of old I can imagine this incident being handled with the usual tact and decorum (ie. Paul and Barry Chuckle with a full blown 'roid rage).

  • agparrot #5 3 years ago

    @ZuluHero

    i wonder if they just remove the offending starbases from the game with a code alteration or something or do they fly in with CCP owned ships and blow the bases to hell in real time? (like they do in my head when i read EvE related stories)

    That would surely be a spectacle to behold :)

    That would be the recrimination to end recriminations, and would surely garner a server-lagging number of onlookers.

    Perhaps they could do it while the servers are down, and put it on Youtube.

    Pretty please?

  • dirk_aircool #6 3 years ago

    Almost as tragic as the assasination of Lord British and the ensuing show-trials .

  • kingdumpalot #7 3 years ago

    Woah, looks like art really does reflect life!

  • PearOfAnguish #8 3 years ago

    "This is a lot of virtual money, although according to CCP's in-house economist, it's only equivalent to a day's trading in EVE - serious, but not catastrophic."

    You can use EVE's currency to pay for the game subscription, seen a few comments from people saying they haven't paid an EVE sub in years because of this exploit.

  • Sonic_D #9 3 years ago

    I bet the guys who got really involved in the sorting out of this have no idea how the same concepts work in real life.

    Officer: Are you exploiting a bug in real life for financial gain?
    Me: Yes and I'd do it again.
    Officer: You are banned from real life and must exist fully in an MMO environment.
    Me: Bugger.

  • hoster #10 3 years ago

    "The nerds that are to other nerds what nerds are to normal people" ;)

  • Silvervein #11 3 years ago

    At least it makes more interesting read than boob reduction bug in age of conan...

  • Vistrix #12 3 years ago

    @PearOfAnguish

    Actually, anyone can pay for game time with in game currency - without this exploit.

    I havent paid for time for 5-6 months now.

  • j1m.ch053n #13 3 years ago

    erm just a small point but its a game, it isnt real, they're only cheating themselves yadda yadda yadda

  • gremly #14 3 years ago

    @ do they fly in with CCP owned ships and blow the bases to hell in real time?

    They should make it a public spectical and have CCP Flagship blow the hell out of it :p

  • PearOfAnguish #15 3 years ago

    "Actually, anyone can pay for game time with in game currency - without this exploit."

    Yeah, I know, but the point is they did without having to play the game as it was intended. Rather than piracy or mining or whatever they just used the exploit.

  • paulf #16 3 years ago

    mmm, large corporations using a loophole in the system to make huge profit at the expense of the honest - who says games dont reflect society

  • TriggerHippie #17 3 years ago

    I'm confused. How come the Daily Mail isn't up in arms about computer games being the cause of corporate accounting fraud? :p

  • Grybeard #18 3 years ago

    I would like to know if any of the alliances rhyme with Moon or Rob.. We have already seen a dev giving items not readilly available to players to one of them in the past.

  • clockworkzombie #19 3 years ago

    Game exploits are nothing new, I remember reading about a play by mail conquer the universe game where ships could buy shields and each shield gave a 5% chance of reducing damage.

    In one game right near the end one faction put 21 shields in each of their ships, the ships were rendered immune to damage then they destroyed everything else in one turn.

    EDIT
    I forgot to mention the game was computer moderated, so you mailed in your turn which was added to the computer and the turn was then processed.
    Edited by 1 at 16/12/08 @ 22:12

  • levitate #20 3 years ago

    It's a shame really, I wanted to give this another whirl. Not worth it with these kind of exploits popping up.