EVE player runs off with ISK 80 billion

By Ellie Gibson Published 22 January, 2009

Tells theft victims, 'Thanks for all the fish.'

Stupidly complicated sci-fi MMO EVE Online is experiencing its very own financial crisis this week after a player ran of with ISK 80 billion.

The player in question, who goes by the name of Xabier, had been employed as an investments manager by player-run Dynasty Banking. His job gave him access to funds invested in the bank by other players.

As reported by Massively.com, Xabier has admitted to running off with ISK 86 billion worth of assets.

The bank's chairman, Manalapan, has issued a statement trying to clear things up.

"I would like to point out that it is still not known for certain whether Xabier has, for lack of a better word, scammed," said Manalapan.

"What we DO know is that he has missed a dividend payment on a personal bond." Oh. "And his bio now states, 'Thanks for all the fish.'" Ah.

Manalapan went on to promise investors that Dynasty Banking will cover the cost of any misdemeanours. "We assure you that we have enough ISK in reserves and, if the situation arises, assets to cover this loss and continue moving forward for the future."

Another player-run firm, EBANK, has offered to help out if things get really tough. "From what I have seen after talking to Manalapan it's quite likely EBANK won't need to assist at all but it can't hurt to have that extra backup just in case," said managing director Ricdic.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (67) 3 years ago

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

  • Lexx87 #1 3 years ago

    That's kind of brilliant in a...terrible way.

  • Bobrek #2 3 years ago

    Credit Crunch extends to EVE?

  • iokthemonkey #3 3 years ago

    Stupidly complicated sci-fi MMO EVE Online

    ----

    My name is Ellie and I like kittens and flowers.

  • myiagros #4 3 years ago

    sounds like the EVE banks are a lot better managed than the real ones.

    Let's start a campaign, Manalapan for CEO of HBOS!!

  • Lutz #5 3 years ago

    Could do with a full Eve article write up thingy, like they did with the story of the 1year sleeper assassin.

  • myiagros #6 3 years ago

    Not convinced Douglas Adams would be overly pleased with this use of his phrase, especially in an incomplete form.

  • Benno #7 3 years ago

    haha amazing

  • Gargant #8 3 years ago

    i don't know how to take that first line. what is stupid, the "in-game financial crisis" or the complicated game?

  • shotgun44 #9 3 years ago

    This game sounds friggin awesome! Wish I had played this years ago...

  • ThePope #10 3 years ago

    Just had a glance around the web and calculated that his 80 billion is worth around $4000. Nice paycheque!

    Showing my ignorance of Eve is there not a way to help safeguard against internal theft. (Multiple signees for large withdrawals for instance)

  • Wolfman #11 3 years ago

    ... and in other news Mario has rescued Princess Peach again, Gordon Freeman was spotted fleeing City 17 just as a massive explosion rocks the city, and Russian ultranationalist Imran Zakhaev was gunned down by an unknown party, possibly believed to be a member of the British SAS.

    -wolfman

  • hiddenranbir #12 3 years ago

    Player banks?!
    Edited by 1 at 22/01/09 @ 12:39

  • actionfitz #13 3 years ago

    "Stupidly complicated sci-fi MMO EVE Online"

    priceless :D

  • quantumsheep #14 3 years ago

    What was the sleeper Assassin story Lutz? Any links? Sounds very cool!

    Eve, for me at the mo', is a game based around constant fear of losing something valuable! I'm going for a stealth ship at the mo', so I can 'relax' a little and have a bit more fun.

  • robg #15 3 years ago

    "Not convinced Douglas Adams would be overly pleased with this use of his phrase, especially in an incomplete form."

    lol yeah he was definitely as pissy as this quotation sounds.

  • Gargant #16 3 years ago

    stupidly simple fantasy mmo WoW.
    I'll take the more complicated everyday

  • Domovoi #17 3 years ago

    I don't get what the problem is. It sounds like he just did what was possible (and thus allowed) within the game world. If they want their money back, can't they put some sort of in-game bounty hunter on his character and get the money back? Or did he just delete his account, vaporising the ISK 80 billion? I have no idea how this game works.

    I don't know. Isn't what he did the equivalent of creating a Thief character in an RPG and picking somebody's pockets?

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #18 3 years ago

    for interests sake thats assuming 30 day gtc is 350 million isk - thats 228 months of gametime or £2628-ish

  • dryden555 #19 3 years ago

    "Stupidly complicated sci-fi MMO EVE Online"

    a perfect description of the game -- bravo Elie!

  • Gargant #20 3 years ago

    Err... it means exactly what it says. It's a very complicated game. But said in a humorous fashion.
    EG: She is stupidly fit, he is stupidly good.

    You're stupidly stupid.

    Well now, I'm sorry it sounded like I was asking for a rude comment.
    I understood THAT, I've just not brushed up on my english grammar.
    By the way, do you play WoW? You must play WoW, you sound just like those guys.

  • Azazel #21 3 years ago

    employed as an investments manager

    tee-hee

  • JonFE #22 3 years ago

    Xabier, the EVE equivalent of a "Golden Boy" :-D

  • mingster #23 3 years ago

    A bit like when Errol from Eurogamer ran off with our EG corps money in EVE about 5years ago.
    didn't you Errol!!
    /Has long memory and never forgets.

  • MoFo #24 3 years ago

    Well now if it's possible to sell these game credits online for real money would this not amount to real world theft? If he sells them on ebay for real money then that must surely complicate things a little? Not that I really care and won't be visiting this comments thread again anyway.

  • Nill #25 3 years ago

    iokthemonkey:

    My name is Ellie and I like kittens and flowers.

    ;-)

  • ThePope #26 3 years ago

    I like fish too!

  • ResidentKnievel #27 3 years ago

    Didn't a similar thing happen in EVE years ago? I seem to recall many times more ISK involved.

  • kangarootoo #28 3 years ago

    I don't know much about this area of gaming, and the thought entered my head that if game money can be exchanged for real money, did he commit an actual crime.

    However, I figure that if that was the case, in-game boffins would have said so by now. From what I've seen they haven't said tha, so I suspect he hasn't done anything actually illegal.

    Its an interesting test case for the game developers though. A game is a controlled world, where the worst case scenarios are less painfull than in real life (crashing a car in real life tends to be worse than crashing a car in a video game). And that is generally what players want. But EVE seems to hinge on the fact that it is a very player-operated and uncontrolled world. On that basis, might the devs say "all is fair in love and war"? The theft took place in the game using game mechanics, so there is probably nothing top answer for in real life.

  • crazyhorse174 #29 3 years ago

    "Stupidly complicated sci-fi MMO EVE Online

    ----

    My name is Ellie and I like kittens and flowers. "

    If a game includes a banking system that actually needs real bankers to run, then it is stupidly complicated.

  • Turrican #30 3 years ago

    Link to write up about the assasination by Guiding Hand Social Club:

    http://ww w.computerandvideogames.com/art...

  • NorfolkNClue #31 3 years ago

    This game rocks. Fraud, piracy, trading, merc-ing, freedom-fighting, terrorism, escrow, escort, smuggler...whatever you can envisage within the framework can be done. I'm only 3 months in, wished I'd started years ago when I heard about it, but it's great.

  • Tweakmonkey #32 3 years ago

    Funny story, but how does the in-game bank make a profit to pay dividends?

  • Velios #33 3 years ago

    He's a small-time crook.

    86 Billion ISK is nothing in EVE these days.

    For real wealth, look HERE

  • Benno #34 3 years ago

    by charging a higher interest on loans than deposits?

  • gmmonkey #35 3 years ago

    I don't play eve anymore, but I remember that guy. It's probably the same guy who was in my corp for a while. One of his few alts. It might not be, he might of sold it but I don't think he did. He stole a couple of carriers of us, when it was a big deal and we were a small corp. That was the way he was playing the game. You got to remember it's just a game. Didn't stop the ceo raging, though. Heh, somehow someone found out who he was in rl and worked out where he stayed to prove he could. It just happened he stayed about 15-20 mins walk from me and a couple of other guys. No one was going to do anything, but it just shows that you can find someone if you want to. Let that be a lesson! If you're going to rob someone blind make sure you do it like in rl and leave no evidence or trail to find you. Hah.

  • joff #36 3 years ago

    Minmatar ate my hamster!

  • TriggerHippie #37 3 years ago

    "Not convinced Douglas Adams would be overly pleased with this use of his phrase, especially in an incomplete form."

    Yeah I bet he's spinning in his grave. Thats just the sort of thing that pissed him off to no end i'm sure. And so are you apparently.

  • Benno #38 3 years ago

    If I found out where some of these wow kids lived (gankers, scammers, people who are pathetically rude to you) I would go round and smash their god damn skull in.

  • bigbadbeasty #39 3 years ago

    This kind of thing is what makes EVE, EVE.

    I would love to get involved into the game more, but after 2 or 3 attempts it just isn't for me. It is just a little bit too slow paced.

  • quantumsheep #40 3 years ago

    @ Turrican (great name!) - thanks for the link - a great read!

  • MikeN #41 3 years ago

    Wait, he's playing a sci-fi mmo where he works as an investment manager? What's his job in real-life? A starfighter pilot?

  • kangarootoo #42 3 years ago

    "If a game includes a banking system that actually needs real bankers to run, then it is stupidly complicated"

    Nonsense. A game can be as complicated or as a simple as the players want it to be. EVE players want a game this complex, so it is not TOO complex.


    "If I found out where some of these wow kids lived (gankers, scammers, people who are pathetically rude to you) I would go round and smash their god damn skull in.
    ignore poster"

    You need to learn to let go dude.

  • the_dudefather #43 3 years ago

    @Turrican

    that was an awesome read, shows how a complex community can really make an MMO special :)

  • miiiguel #44 3 years ago

    I don't understand MMO economy (or economy in genaral, anyway...).

    But... "Thanks for all the fish" is freakin priceless!

  • Benno #45 3 years ago

    "Wait, he's playing a sci-fi mmo where he works as an investment manager? What's his job in real-life? A starfighter pilot?"

    glol

  • sneetch #46 3 years ago

    Is there a way this money could be regained in game? I mean if the guy was tracked down could you regain the cash from him without ticketing some GM? (I ask as I never proceeded beyond the 2 week trial as I found this to be a stupidly complicated sci-fi MMO ;) ). If so this could be awesome rather than a pain in the ass as the Dynasty Banking CEO says, "we'll pay 2 billion for the return of the money."

    It'd be nice if money you stole was kept seperate from your legitimately earned money in the game and so was vulnerable to being stolen off you too.

    @Benno
    If I found out where some of these wow kids lived (gankers, scammers, people who are pathetically rude to you) I would go round and smash their god damn skull in.

    Good, physical violence is the appropriate way to tackle any lack of common courtesy. Enjoy the food in prison if you decide to apply this line of thought to other areas of life.

  • mingster #47 3 years ago

    CCP allow these things to happen its all part of the world.
    He didn't use a hack or exploit it was just social engineering its allowed.
    We used to rip people off all the time in EvE years ago and they would go crying to the devs and they hjust said it was the players own reponsibilty.
    No real life crime has occured you can't sue anyone or demand it back.
    We use to sell fake blueprints in EVE as real ones and once they clicked accept trade then realised it was dodgy they would cry but by then youd logged off with your alt and doone a runner.
    Also there was a cheap ship that looked similar to an expensive one and we used to rename it and palm it off onto newbies that didn't know better. EVE was great for rip offs.
    Errol ran off with all our many from our corp too ..

  • ISmoke #48 3 years ago

    hope he gets away with it

  • iokthemonkey #49 3 years ago

    "Stupidly complicated sci-fi MMO EVE Online

    ----

    My name is Ellie and I like kittens and flowers. "

    If a game includes a banking system that actually needs real bankers to run, then it is stupidly complicated.

    ----

    Like you'd be saying that if this was written by Eddie Gibson.

  • Slipstream #50 3 years ago

    What!? I don't know if this is the same incident but I heard a stroy EXACTLY like this early last year!?

    Now either Eve players are really retarded enough to trust another player with all their dosh or EG are reporting old news.
    Check MCV's article history for last year, you're bound to come across it. I would but I've just woken up /yawn
    Edited by 1 at 22/01/09 @ 15:10

  • Domovoi #51 3 years ago

    We use to sell fake blueprints in EVE as real ones and once they clicked accept trade then realised it was dodgy they would cry but by then youd logged off with your alt and doone a runner.

    Performing a scam with an alt is lame. If you're going to scam people, make your real character a scammer and run with it, don't use an alt and quickly log off to run away.

  • Benno #52 3 years ago

    yeah i agree

  • AhSoul #53 3 years ago

    "Wait, he's playing a sci-fi mmo where he works as an investment manager? What's his job in real-life? A starfighter pilot?"

    Genius :)

  • andywilkie35 #54 3 years ago

    hahahaha sounds absolutely brilliant! What a top effort, he'd clearly been planning it for ages as well!

  • steviepunk #55 3 years ago

    "It'd be nice if money you stole was kept seperate from your legitimately earned money in the game and so was vulnerable to being stolen off you too. "

    It doesn't really work like that, money is money regardless of how you got it. In fact, the game engine won't even know how you got it since all the money would have been sent to him by other players on the basis that they trusted he would pay dividends and use the money as he originally proposed.


    "Is there a way this money could be regained in game? I mean if the guy was tracked down could you regain the cash from him without ticketing some GM? (I ask as I never proceeded beyond the 2 week trial as I found this to be a stupidly complicated sci-fi MMO ;) ). If so this could be awesome rather than a pain in the ass as the Dynasty Banking CEO says, "we'll pay 2 billion for the return of the money.""

    The GMs won't get involved in this, since Eve isn't a game that protects people from their own stupidity ie. if you send a huge amount of in game cash to someone, you have to deal with the consequences of it. So you shouldn't give money to someone you don't trust.

    As for the bounty, it's probably a waste of time to do that. there is no way that anyone can force him to transfer the money back, and even killing his character would only serve as an annoyance anyway (if he even leaves a station anytime soon). Or, he could have a friend or alt make the kill and collect the reward for himself.

  • riz23 #56 3 years ago

    It's been said already but "Stupidly complicated sci-fi MMO EVE Online ". I lol'd. Nice story. Great MMO.

  • Dynamize #57 3 years ago

    /reviews playing cards
    I think it was Bernard Madoff, in the prison cell, with the laptop; up to his old tricks again, giggling.

  • Hardin #58 3 years ago

    Have played EVE now for 5 years. I earn ISK by creating alliances for people. Why can't they create them themselves you say? Well they can - except the way EVE skill system operates to reach the required skill level for alliance creation means that you would have to spend rl weeks waiting to obtain the skill - which has no other use in game. Rather than waste skill training time on this they come to me and for a payment of 200 million ISK I create an alliance for them. In order to do this I have to take control of their corporation - giving me massive 'scamming/griefing' opportunities in the process. However, I am successful at this because I have built a solid reputation creating alliances - I am trusted - and that gives me an advantage over anyone else who has trained the same skill as I have. Because it is on a single shard EVE is the only MMO where ingame reputations and histories actually mean something. If one day I did decide to rip off one of the corporations that had made me CEO in order to facilitate an alliance creation then I would never get another alliance creation job again - and unlike other games I couldn't simply go to another server or create another alt - beecause then I would have to spend another five years establishing an honest reputation all over again.

    Anyway, over the past year for various reasons I have not been as active in the game as I would like. Despite this I have billions of ISK sitting in my account. I also know people who are very dedicated and very clever at playing the markets to make a small amount of ISK become bigger amounts of ISK. Therefore based on their reputation I invest my ISK with these people and, in return for having access to extra funds, they pay interest on my investment (just like real banks). This means I can continue to earn ISK even when I am not playing - which means that when I do play I can spend more time doing pew pew and less time trying to grind ISK.

    Just as in the real world the key to investment is finding someone you can trust with your cash (which is actually a lot harder online as people do tend to be more annonymous and therefore less scupulous. My own EVE ''banker' is a Dutch chap I have known for 4 years. I have had rl drinkies with him and others in Amsterdam and similarly he has stayed over at mine for London pissups. In other words I know where he lives ;-) If only we all knew where our rl bankers lived - then maybe the global financial system wouldn't be in such a mess!

  • Nostrus #59 3 years ago

    Hah. I used to be in a corp with Istvaan. Good to see he managed to pull off a huge coup like that, it was always something he wanted to do.

    This comment is in relation to the 10 month hit, not the paltry 86 billion someone swiped.

  • shamblemonkee #60 3 years ago

    was actually a shock when i moved bakc to wow after eve andfound that theiving would be referred to GMs :(

  • agparrot #61 3 years ago

    Not that anybody cares now that this is off the front page, but this string of story, comments, and linked stories has made me d/l the Eve Client again.

    Nooooooooooo.

  • DFawkes #62 3 years ago

    Me too, agparrot. Now it's sitting there, taunting me. Do you here it? Just start it up, look at that lovely Login Menu. Did you see it? The bit of the ship flash? It's calling to you. It needs you.

    I don't agree this means it's a stupidly complicated game, but it certainly can be. I just ignore that kind of stuff. Like I do with politics in real-life.

  • Lutz #63 3 years ago

    nekotcha: same here. EVE really does interest me, despite me laughing and hating it way back when.

    If I didn't have a wife, I'd be playing this.

  • makememoo #64 3 years ago

    there's no grounds for a GM to get involved as no game rules where broken in stealing the ISK. I assume he will have a sizable bounty on his head for a long time to come, but that assumes he is around to get got.

    I guess the coolest move would be to keep the 80 bill and fly around in starting ships... it's not such a rewarding kill when it costs the dead person nothing.

  • ph101 #65 3 years ago

    heheh again tempted by this game but it is v expensive subscription I feel and I would lose my life which I am concerned by..

  • agparrot #66 3 years ago

    Well, I have had the trial running for the last three or four days, and sure enough, it is still like Digital Crack. The sense of getting my little Tristan (a small, versatile 'frigate' class ship) up to scratch for doing missions, and fleeting around asteroid belts fending rats (NPC controlled pirates, baddies and lowlife) off of other players who aren't expecting me to arrive, and are sometimes surprised, sometimes grateful, and sometimes pissed off because I've nabbed the bounty and loot from the kill, is just brilliant.

    Stupidly, I have work to do, so this is just dragging me away.

    Now I'm undecided what to do.. do I carry on with this new character? Should I ressurect the other character that I haven't played for the last three years, who had a sight more skills than this one? Or should I just play serial trial accounts, helping out rookies and keeping mining belts clear of pirates for other players?

    Also great with friends. I left without a goodbye three years ago, I wonder if any of my buddies are left, or would even remember me.

    Stupid Poverty.

  • Emth #67 3 years ago

    @iokthemonkey

    If you can name a popular game that is more complicated I'm all ears (or eyes in this case).