Spies, Lies and EVE Online

By John Bedford Published 15 July, 2010

How the Eurogamer readers' EVE Corp turned bad.

Lollipops for Rancors is the Eurogamer readers' Corporation in EVE Online. This is the story of how a relative safe, "carebear" Corp came to embrace the espionage, theft, treachery and revenge of the world's most merciless online sandbox.

It could almost have ended before it had even started. We'd moved ourselves into position, settled into our base camp for the operation ahead of us and waited patiently. Just one small detail had been overlooked and now threatened to undo everything.

Having arrived at the space station 20 minutes before the server's daily downtime, we'd found ourselves all alone, killing the remaining time chatting nervously about the hours ahead of us. Without warning, a solitary member of our target Corporation appeared on the list of station guests, someone who could see us as clearly as we could see them. We were a long way from our home but very close to theirs and, while there was no good reason for us to be out in this region of space, there was one very bad one. Revenge.

As the cry went up, we logged off hurriedly to begin the anxious wait for the server to complete its daily maintenance and restart.

'Spies, Lies and EVE Online' Screenshot 1

Staring now at a login screen that slowly counted down one second to the next, a combination of tension, disbelief and hurried soul-searching filled our conversation. Could we even pull this off? Were we actually going to inflict this level of destruction and theft onto another Corporation? A Corporation with dreams and aspirations just like our own?

Yes, yes we were. Two dozen nervous hands logged in and prepared for war.

Lollipops for Rancors is an EVE Corporation created in February 2009. As a one-size-fits-all Corporation formed on the basis of mutual association through Eurogamer, we have always had a fair mix of new players, veterans and the somewhere-in-betweens. Nevertheless, with some happy to focus on the PVE side of EVE and others itching for fights and explosions in space, we had come to find ourselves in something of a rut.

CCP's Butterfly Effect trailer explains the game's unique sandbox - but not how it corrupts your morals.

We were all aware that there was an infamously fearsome sandbox to be discovered out there, but the question was how best to expose ourselves to the right opportunities and experience this so-called real side of EVE.

The natural progression for a Corporation in this situation is towards an Alliance, a collection of Corporations with similar aims and, above all, a desire to claim for their own the lawless areas of space where the NPC police don't just turn a blind eye - they don't turn up at all. In the right Alliance, the fighters would get their fights and the more industrially-inclined players would gain access to greater opportunities to advance both themselves and their wallets.

In many ways we had chosen the right Alliance, almost an expanded version of ourselves. However, with a leadership learning on the fly and no firm structure in place, the Alliance had simply become too big, too soon. Shortly before we joined, a declaration of war had been placed against the group by an experienced mercenary Corporation, leaving us vulnerable across all of New Eden and unable to group and gather stock for our venture.

In a scenario like this you do one of two things. You either form fleets capable of taking on the enemy at hand, or wait it out in the station until such a fleet can be made. The end goal is the same - deny the enemy cheap kills for their killboard, bore them to tears and so remove their desire to renew the war. Losses, on the other hand, would only encourage a continuation of the war into the following weeks.

One particular Corporation disagreed. Industrial to the bone, they continued to undock in expensive, defenceless mining barges and freighters, losing a sizeable number of them in the process. They didn't mind the losses, they said - they made so much money that they could easily afford them. All attempts at reason failed and our pleas to consider the bigger picture fell on deaf ears.

Here, then, was a Corporation committed not towards working with others, but to using them in order to advance its own profits. To the surprise of no-one, the war rolled on. While the Alliance leadership now took belated action by removing the Corporation in question it was a case of too little, too late. The rot had set in, too many insults had been traded and bad feeling was rife. With the Alliance falling apart, we went home.

So here we were, back at square one with nothing to show for the last month but lighter wallets and wasted time. We returned to our normal activities as best we could but a sense of frustration and a desire for payback grew heavier amongst us. The problem was, we had never considered ourselves to be "that sort of Corp", preferring instead to adopt a live-and-let-live approach to EVE. What could we do?

The obvious answer was to simply declare war on our former industrial allies ourselves, get some easy kills to plump up our killboard, and disrupt their activities as much as possible for a week. That might be fun, but didn't seem particularly satisfying. After all, the reason we'd found ourselves in this situation in the first place was their attitude towards losing ships.

'Spies, Lies and EVE Online' Screenshot 2

No, what you really need for this kind of operation is a spy.

Having made the decision to take revenge, we were approached by a friend who had experience of infiltrating Corporations in order to gain their trust and then disappearing into the night with everything they owned. Before we declared war, he would make an application to our target and, if accepted, act as our man on the inside.

At best we hoped to have access to the kind of information you'd expect from a spy - tactical intelligence, state of morale and so on. As it turned out, we got a whole lot more. Within days of being accepted into their fold he was not only given access to their assets but control of the very security mechanisms designed to protect them. This included both of their Player Owned Structures (POS), huge player-made edifices representing the backbone of their industrial operations and packed accordingly with their most precious assets.

The more valuable of the two was hidden in a pocket of wormhole space disconnected from the usual game area. The odds of scanning its particular entrance point from any random point in space were thousands to one but, with someone inside it, they had only to point the way for us. The second, less profitable POS was more accessible in regular space and could be left until later in the week.

'Spies, Lies and EVE Online' Screenshot 3

With this information, we now found ourselves with a very different opportunity on our hands, but one tied up in moral implications. We'd started out wanting to bloody their noses, but this might be tantamount to ripping their head off. Whatever our feelings towards them might be, these were real people, with real time and effort invested in the game just like us.

On the other hand, this was the real EVE. This is what we'd been looking for all along. Wasn't it?

Perhaps inevitably, temptation won over, and so we found ourselves logging back into the game that morning. With the target based predominantly in the US, the starting time had been deliberately chosen to minimise interference on their part. Only time would tell if we'd been too late to log out and prevent a call-to-arms being issued.

As we moved from the station to the wormhole entrance, our spy began his most pressing work. First, he changed the password to the force field surrounding the POS. This would allow us to sit within its area of protection while denying the same to our enemy. Only those targets who had logged out beside the POS would be able to log back in and attack us.

Next, he began the process of off-lining the various modules attached to the POS. This carried risks in itself - as certain sections became inactive, in-game warning mails would be automatically generated and circulated to the Corporation. Anyone coming online at this strange hour in the US would be alerted.

Once we'd arrived, our spy began to empty the ships from the POS hangars. Like sparks from a slow-moving catherine-wheel, their precious ships were dispensed, tumbling into space. What we couldn't steal for ourselves, we targeted and destroyed.

There was one other prize parked outside: a Rorqual. Valued at over one billion ISK, this industrial beast was restricted by game mechanics to movement through low security space only. With the current wormhole exit leading to high security space, we took the only course of action available to us at the time: hid it deep within the wormhole system and sent a ransom note to the owner.

While our industrial pilots ferried the rest of the loot out and our guards covered the entrance, we moved onto the main target - the POS itself. We had woefully underestimated the strength of the unit and the force required to take it down. This would be nothing like an assault. The shield didn't so much inch as sliver towards depletion as the first few hours wore on. Was it actually going down? Maybe it was recharging. Can they recharge?

More on EVE Online

As the shield continued its slow demise, the enemy began to log in. Reports from our spy told us that confusion, accusations and in-fighting were already filling the Corp chatter. When a new target suddenly appeared next to us, we were ready, targeting and destroying his industrial ship in seconds. A voice spoke one word in the local channel then vanished: "Assholes."

Despite the monotony, it was essential that we remained alert throughout the evening. Anyone managing to escape in a probing ship might be able to find a new entrance and bring in reinforcements. When the inevitable happened, disaster was only narrowly averted by some quick work within our own fleet. Giving chase, we bought him down and returned to the job at hand.

By the time the POS eventually exploded into a beautiful nuclear rainbow, the operation had passed its ninth hour. Wearily, the majority of the fleet docked up for the evening while a few others continued to haul our ill-gotten gains to the local market hub.

The second POS takedown two days later was a mercifully briefer affair. The unit itself was smaller, with less defensive units, but by now of course the enemy was alert. We knew that they suspected a spy in their ranks yet incredibly - and despite the character names differing by just one letter - the connection was never made between the infiltrator and the aggressor who appeared on their losses.

With our agent feeding us tactical information and planting false intelligence, their initial fleet was soon dispatched. They waited too long to reinforce their numbers and stage a new defence. Moments before their arrival, the second POS was destroyed and its contents hauled away.

There were occasional skirmishes as the war continued that week, but the damage had already been done. Our targets had now lost not only their assets but the ability to regenerate them. As the days passed we watched as their registered numbers dropped from over 80 to 50, then 30. Finally a tag was added to their Corporation name: [Closed]. For better or worse, we'd achieved our aim, but at a price that shocked us all.

Perhaps understandably, we never did receive a ransom on the Rorqual. In the final act of war, we took out a new insurance policy on it, blew it to pieces and pocketed the payout. It seemed like a fitting end.

Lollipops for Rancors is recruiting. Cautiously.

Picture of John.

About John Bedford

John is an MMO specialist with a particular passion for Eve Online. He once nearly went paragliding.

Read more articles from John by visiting the John Bedford archive page.

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Comments (110) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • Red-Moose #1 2 years ago

    My god! What have you become :) !

  • eiocreative #2 2 years ago

    Assholes!

  • Lord_Roke #3 2 years ago

    Great read

  • ryn.x #4 2 years ago

    Superb :)

  • SClaw #5 2 years ago

    Ah. Eve can make a dick out of a saint.

    While I personally hate the game for its petty internet-ness (exactly as in an a forum, where people are anonymous its like a license to be a jerk) you have to admire its ability to create stories. I mean really… you see this sort of tale all the time from Eve but I’ve never heard of any other game creating something like that. It’s a pretty incredible.

    I look upon it with awe. And disgust.

  • jellyhead #6 2 years ago

    \0/ Hurrah for the Space Assholes! I love you guys :)

  • mingster #7 2 years ago

    I resurrected my character in Eve recently after 6 years away.
    It really has matured into an awesome and truly great MMO.
    Probably the best that there is.
    I feel like Buck Rogers waking up in the future and everything is new and shiny and different.
    But comfortingly similiar at the same time.
    I wish i had never given up Eve it was the best game i had ever played and the only game to be able to create true stories and it's own proud history out of its openworld nature.
    No other game comes close.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 08:35

  • DanWhitehead #8 2 years ago

    I have neither the time, money nor inclination to invest myself in this sort of game, but that write up does make it sound pretty awesome.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 08:51

  • mingster #9 2 years ago

    Even 7 years ago when it was all new stories of spies and corporation theft and political backstabbing which were all created by the players not the developers was the norm.
    Even EG in its day had it's share of people stealing from the Corporation fund.
    BTW i still have the very first Eurogamer Corporation running it is 7years and 24days old and it's the only corp i've ever belonged to. INCOM. i'm too proud to leave it and join anyone else so i will continue running it by myself for now.
    James Caldari come back all is forgiven. I even forgive Errol for deleting our old original Eve thread that was at the time the biggest thread in the Forum. (Apart from Otto's Animal Crossing thread).

  • Tyronne #10 2 years ago

    Everytime I think I can fight off the urge to not play a mmo after my brief (and dull) go on star wars galaxies, eve just keeps cropping up and getting me interested.I keep asking myself, do I have the time to invest in this game (no)? would my girlfriend understand it (no again)

    yet I still keep thinking about giving it a go.

  • jiveguy #11 2 years ago

    Wow, you guys have come a long way since accidently* blowing each other up in fleet practice :)


    (*hopes it was an accident, but after reading this...)
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 08:57

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #12 2 years ago

    Absolute villainous scum. This is obviously because of my lack of calming influence for the past however long it's been since I last logged in and annoyed everyone by trying to shoot things that were well above my skill range.

  • Metalfish #13 2 years ago

    I imagine the EG corp to be like the forum -a pack of insane jackals who'll tear into you without mercy. Or possibly correct your spelling and offer you a jaffa cake before blubing about some real life disaster. As Much as I'd love to join the crew, I'm allergic to MMOs.

  • Kelduum #14 2 years ago

    This is why I still play Eve four years later, and probably why I've ended up in charge of Eve University, biggest corp in the game.

    The potential for pretty much anything to happen is incredible, and while you may not know it initially, anything you do can have massive repercussions later down the line.

  • Gl3n #15 2 years ago

    Awesome :)

    I r proud.

  • Cherub007 #16 2 years ago

    Wonderful read, good stuff.

  • CaptainTrips #17 2 years ago

    I tried EVE Online, and promptly uninstalled it as I found the game too complicated and slow for my liking. As I work in the games industry I have easily 50 friends who play and love this game. I have decided that it's not for me, but every time I am told or read a story like this, it just makes me want to try it all over again.

    Great read, you bastards!

  • shadowmind #18 2 years ago

    Wow, that sounds epic, makes me wish I had a PC.

    read like a proper retelling of a grand war story, brilliant.

  • Kilroy #19 2 years ago

    I actually have a copy of EVE lying on my shelf, waiting for me to install it. And I have played it before, but never got too invovled. Perhaps I should re-activate it and join this corp...?

  • technotica #20 2 years ago

    Damn now I want to play eve again, if the game was as entertaining as the stories coming from it it would be great but usually its not even half as thrilling. Its mostly mining boredom and chatting with people. Real excitement is far too rare in the game.. and still now I am thinking of reactivating my account! ;)

    Also killing of a corp like that seems pretty dishonorable to me :) (not that the enemy corp sounded honorble, but still)
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 09:24

  • magicpanda #21 2 years ago

    /wipes tear
    /proud
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 09:24

  • Cosquae #22 2 years ago

    Great read.

    You and your dirty SPAI!

  • 3william56 #23 2 years ago

    Yeah, uh, guys... probably taking this a bit seriously, no? How about you open the curtains, take a shower and go outside for some vitamin D, a beer and try to get laid.

    9 effing hours? To shoot someone's in-game stuff when they're not actually playing and not able to shoot back? Are you kidding? Apart from being pretty gutless (at least spawn campers can actually get shot at), it sounds... well... so terribly boring. Why not plug in a second controller, play Street Fighter against no-one and tell yourselves how tough you are winning all those games?

    To geekfinity... and beyond!

  • Spekingur #24 2 years ago

    I wonder how many of that industrial corp decided to just stop playing?

  • AphoticCosmos #25 2 years ago

    Oh EVE . . . how I miss you.

    No time, no money, but it's an amazing game. I'll be playing Dust when it rolls into town as some kind of compensation for being EVE-less.

  • thegamesthething #26 2 years ago

    @Spekingur
    Any that quit playing may have been the same players that continued to lose ships to the war, thus endangering fellow corps and maybe causing them to quit playing. This was of less concern to them than making more ISK. That's EVE - they made a bloody minded decision to ignore the consensus, which in most other games with their lack of consequences would have cost them nothing. In EVE, actions often do have consequences.

    @CaptainTrips
    Then try it all over again, with EG and LFR this time. Once you see past the fiddlly GUI and 'fuck you noob' attitude (of EVE itself, not other players :) ), you get to actual events. Possibilities. War. Peace. Fun.

    I've played, and loved, a variety of MMOs (from Planetside to WoW), but EVE stands alone, in offering the player an open world in which, if you think it should be possible, it probably is. Except windows in space stations.

  • captain_Lolwut #27 2 years ago

    The only important thing about this game at the current time is the blatant disregard the company has for it's player base :
    Click below for the latest minuets of the CCP meeting.

    http://ww w.eveonline.com/council/transcr...
    Edited by 4 at 16/07/10 @ 09:50

  • ResidentKnievel #28 2 years ago

    U R ALL SPAIS!

  • Psi #29 2 years ago

    oh god how long until they flame this thred lol

  • Eraysor #30 2 years ago

    The sad thing is no matter how many times I have subscribed to EVE I've never had anything as interesting as this occur. Every corp I've joined has taken the "bore the enemy to death" approach. Perhaps when Dust 514 arrives I'll go back to it, but for now I find WoW far superior, particularly in a guild of real-life friends.

  • Halo.Jones #31 2 years ago

    @ Von.

    It depends on how well the corp is run. If you say you are a starbase technician and you can help with the refueling etc then you have the power to do things that most people in EVE cannot do.

    Everyone hates POS refueling, it's even more tedious than onlining POS modules :)

  • ResidentKnievel #32 2 years ago

    Does anyone actually use Eve-gate (Eve's version of facebook) or does it look like being a huge waste of resources?

  • Stickman #33 2 years ago

    Reading that was the most fun I've ever had relating to EVE. Thanks!
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 09:57

  • Halo.Jones #34 2 years ago

    Resi, I've used it a few times but not on the level that CCP would like us to use it.

    All those resources used to create something that no one wants and it could have been used to fix some of the issues that have been outstanding for many years.

    @ Captain. We hear you and we do agree. EVE is our hobby, a part of our life. CCP's disregard for it's playerbase will be it's undoing. If a space based MMO came to the market that came close to EVE but offered more then a large percentage of the playerbase would leave.

  • duthieboy #35 2 years ago

    Eve in a nutshell. Proof that we are more lord of the flies than lost.

  • ResidentKnievel #36 2 years ago

    It's very easy to infiltrate Corporations that's why it happens so regularly. If we were out to get any Corp and not just the ones that have annoyed us we would be doing the whole spying thing a lot more often.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 10:02

  • TomSwift #37 2 years ago

    Sounds like you did the Eve equivalent of bombing a special needs school.

  • Halo.Jones #38 2 years ago

    @ von.

    The screening level is dependant on the person who runs the corp.

    It's like any job. You can lie on your CV and hope you get in to that dream job but in the end it's the person at the end of the process who says yes or no.

    The application process in EVE is very simple, you can say, I have these skills and I wish to join your corporation. If it's a skill that someone actually needs, POS technician, POS gunner etc then it's possible someone will just accept the application without thinking.

    Also, the management tools for corporations are hideous, once you start messing with them and you allow your corp membership to rise, it becomes too easy for someone who has the ability to assign the wrong rights to a person they know nothing about.

  • RedSparrows #39 2 years ago

    One day I will be doing this. As it is I am still a space baby floating in womb-safety-space.

  • magicpanda #40 2 years ago

    How so?

    Patience. Buckets of patience.

    A prerequisite for playing eve.

  • mingster #41 2 years ago

    I wonder what happened to JumpGate?
    Is anyone in the beta of it?
    Why has it all gone quiet.

  • Halo.Jones #42 2 years ago

    @ von.

    It's all down to how each corporation runs it's own recruitment process.

    EVE University asks for the EVE API so they can check for any info that may link that person to a corporation that may have declared war on them in the past to any other dastardly deed.

    Lollipops may ask for a users EVE API to also verify them, this will allow them to see if they have any other characters on the account or even transfered money from one account to another.

  • Halo.Jones #43 2 years ago

    As Magic Panda said.. Patience and lots of it.

    You also have to work at gaining their trust. Become one with them.

  • MikeP #44 2 years ago

    @TomSwift

    Not really. It was more like we took the Porsches of a bunch of Trustafarians. Then set fire to their house in Notting Hill.

  • Dylbot #45 2 years ago

    I haven't got anything near the kind of patience required to play this game, and it makes me sad, because stuff like this is what really makes it special. The only problem with it is that solo players hit a massive wall before ever getting to this kind of stage, so it doesn't really allow for cruising round space like Han Solo, kicking arse, taking names and stealing cargo. Which would be fucking brilliant.

    Just a thought, devs that are looking for a decent idea to make a shit-ton of money from. You know all those players that rage-quit EVE before the end of the two-week trial? They want to be Firefly. Make it happen.

  • Halo.Jones #46 2 years ago

    @ von,

    You'll have several patches to download depending on how old that copy you have is.

    You might be better off downloading the all in one client which is current.

    [link url=http://content.eveonline.com/EVE_Premium_Setup_167296.e xe
    ]http://co ntent.eveonline.com/EVE_Premium...[/link]

    Also, you will want to join the eurogamer.net in-game channel (little speech bubble on the top right corner of the chat windows)

  • Halo.Jones #47 2 years ago

    Oh, before I forget (again) There is an EVE buddy system for those who wish to download the client and try out the 14day trial.

    Post here if you are interested and some of us will send you a trial link so people can get some free time from CCP.

  • superdelphinus #48 2 years ago

    what the cunt was the point in this?

  • telboy007 #49 2 years ago

    Excellent use of the c word there.

    Proud to have played my little part in this war, good to see this on EG - kudos for publishing.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 10:34

  • superdelphinus #50 2 years ago

    was an interesting read and all that but seemed more like the sort of thing written by some psychotically eve-obsessed society dodger, one might read on the forum

  • Hunam #51 2 years ago

    You guys make me sick!

    Good work!

  • President_Weasel #52 2 years ago

    Those guys were really, really annoying and deserved everything they got. More importantly, those guys had really, really bad security and deserved everything they got.

  • superdelphinus #53 2 years ago

    i don't think anyone comes out of this looking good

  • geeza2020 #54 2 years ago

    superdelphinus:

    Shouldnt you be at a keg party or something brah?

    You're obviously too cool for all this.

  • superdelphinus #55 2 years ago

    "superdelphinus:

    Shouldnt you be at a keg party or something brah? "

    no

  • James-Caldari #56 2 years ago

    Mingster! It's me, James :) Can't believe you've brought INCOM back to life; good on yer. How many member's are in it? Any of the original crew still around? I'd consider joining you, but WoW is taking up all my free time - a Kingslayer never sleeps you know ;) If you see that Nicholas Marshall, tell him I want my isk back (he's always taking the isk).

  • President_Weasel #57 2 years ago

    EVE's UI is famously clunky.
    The flying your spaceship around stuff is fine, as long as you don't mind a lot of right clicking, and double clicking on points in space.

    The corporation management stuff is heinously clunky and difficult. There are roles, titles, and access levels. Roles (like starbase fuel techincian) have pre-definied access levels. Player created titles can be assigned roles and access levels, and it takes some drilling down to work out what title does what. If player A created a "newbie" title and didn't realise it was a bad idea to give it the "starbase fuel technician" role, player B could accept a new applicant and give it the "newbie" title because that sounds nice and safe.

    It's not even immediately obvious that "starbase fuel technician" is such a terribly unsafe role to give someone - although a little bit of thought should tell you that someone who can put fuel into and out of the starbase fuel bay can take all of the fuel out. No fuel, no shield.
    No shield, bad guys get to shoot up your POS tower and steal your stuff.


    We actually thought that had happened to us one time; turned out that our starbase director (Hi Vandron!) had been "tidying up" when drunk, and had forgotten to put one particular type of fuel back when rearranging. Shame really, the witchhunt was just getting into high gear.

  • DodgyPast #58 2 years ago

    Protecting against this kind of thing is possible, as said and ever since my first week or so when Lolli was subject to it's own thieving experience the corps I've been in have been organised enough to protect themselves from this kind of thing.

    Of course the more PvP orientated groups are more likely to have done a bit thieving / spying themselves and therefore be able to defend against it. Unfortunately for the PvErs it is a bit harder as reputation is a lot less important outside of the high end industry / market groups, whereas PvPers live and die by their killboards so are far easier to keep track of.

  • agparrot #59 2 years ago

    I am also proud to have played my little part in this. It really was a bit of a storm in a teacup, but it was our teacup, and we were happily sipping on our space tea before we all started spitting it out at the sheer stupidity of our allies-turned-enemies.

    Anyway, great write-up Sev, and it just makes me feel even more guilty that I haven't been dedicating more of my gametime to Eve.

  • MrChuckles #60 2 years ago

    The only game i've played that came close to this was an evening in the NWN online server - City of Arabel. I could write a whole thread about that here too.. Needless to say i got killed, but true roleplaying and the only time any game has ever made me go 'omg, i didn't see that coming!'..Splat...

  • agparrot #61 2 years ago

    We actually thought that had happened to us one time; turned out that our starbase director (Hi Vandron!) had been "tidying up" when drunk, and had forgotten to put one particular type of fuel back when rearranging. Shame really, the witchhunt was just getting into high gear.

    I never saw it as a witchhunt really - it was another of those moments where Eve comes into its own. I logged in, just after the problem had been noticed, and realised that nobody else with the right kind of access was anywhere near our starbase to do anything about it. Cue a frantic chase over known space, through some dangerous little backwaters in a super-fast ship, dodging a couple of lock-ons on the way, to find that our base was essentially floating unprotected next to our homely little moon. Like leaving the windows and doors all open and going out for the night!

    I was glad to take advice as I hurriedly got the defences back online from people with more POS knowledge than me, and by the time the drunken sailor logged back, in, it was like nothing had happened. Had anybody turned up during our little power outage, however, the story might have ended very differently.

    Most other games just don't give you those kind of stories.

  • Xeaon #62 2 years ago

    Great article :D

    Shame we can't talk about all the epic drama going on ingame right now, maybe another time.

  • dagas #63 2 years ago

    South Park should do an episode out of EVE. It would be even better than the WoW episode.

  • mingster #64 2 years ago

    Wow James hello. It's been a looong time.
    Glad your still around. Hope your well.
    I unfortunately had to go through and expel all the old members from the corp as i couldn't risk someone logging back in and robbing me blind! I was a bit ashamed to have to do that but thought it was the safest option. Any old INCOM members are welcome to reapply obviously.
    It's so freaky going back to Eve these days there are so many different ships and player owned stations and so many more people playing in busy areas i've seen 150+ people on the Local channel.
    Theres about 40K people logged on and always people about in the EG channel.
    With a lot of the old EG style humour being bandied about.
    It's also ridiculously dangerous these days in 0.4 - 0.0 space.
    Remember when we used to fly around in Reblier without a care in the world?
    I'm in fear of my life every time i leave the station.
    I've yet to go rat hunting in Reblier without getting podded.
    And i get hunted down every time i go next door to 0.0.
    But it makes it fun to be honest. I'm anoob again and even had to do the tutorial missions just to get re-aquanted.
    (I can fly a battleship goddammit just can't remember how to undock!)
    Anyway i have just invested in a cloaking device that should help a bit.
    Anyway James hope your enjoying WOW as much as i enjoyed playing EVE with you guys all those years ago.
    Edited by 2 at 16/07/10 @ 11:49

  • darkmorgado #65 2 years ago

    I've had this sitting on my shelf for ages, been toying with installing it for a while now but this article just made my mind up.

    Installing tonight, going to spend all weekend playing I think. Will have to apply for Lollipops :-)

  • thegamesthething #66 2 years ago

    Then post in the EG thread first, get a buddy, free play time for you and him if you subscribe. And ISK, and advice, and possibly Exotic Dancers.

    Incidentally, anyone ducking EVE on a cost basis - once you have played for 3 months or so, you can grind enough ISK in about 10-20 hours to pay for a months gaming (or less time than that to save up and play free every month or so), so the cost can be significantly reduced.

    Or, going the other way, you could buy a 5 year old character and billions of ISK, and head straight for 0.0 and go bonkers. That would also be cool.
    Edited by 2 at 16/07/10 @ 12:10

  • lucky_jim #67 2 years ago

    Even though I've never played EVE Online, and probably never will, I love the idea just because it does generate some great stories. There was a similiarly action-packed one on The Escapist a few years ago, unfortunately I've just looked for it in order to link it and couldn't find it.

  • darkmorgado #68 2 years ago

    Nice to know that it's not too hard to get enough ISK for free playtime - I always assumed that the cost would be so high as to make it very difficult.

    Any advice on what basic skills to start off with? I'm more interested in the business/politics of the game than going around killing everything in sight (though obviously some combat skills will be needed!)

  • Waffleaber #69 2 years ago

    I had a hard time reading the article and comments without reading POS as "piece of shit." Rather distracting.

  • Antaios #70 2 years ago

    I absolutely love EVE. Got a trial last year, played an additional month, unsubbed, got intrigued again, resubbed, played for a month, unsubbed, was awed by one of their ever marvellous trailers, resubbed, played for a month and unsubbed again. I haven't the time for this but the game keeps tugging at me and I don't seem able to completely forget it. There's something amazing and special about this game. Will resub this weekend.

  • WrongShui #71 2 years ago

    1 hour of awesome space bastardry for the 8 hours of pos shooting and nine or so months of usual MMO boredom.

    It was worth it.

  • El_MUERkO #72 2 years ago

    telling people what they did wrong is a great way of insuring they and others don't repeat that mistake

    suggestion: don't tell them what they did wrong

  • hardtech #73 2 years ago

    I have always been interested in play this game, and have installed it a number of times but more often I've not had the time, or any kind of guidance beyond reading a few things and the in game tutorials. For those who have played it, does it require a big timesink to even become interesting or is it something that can be played in brief (a few hours at a time) stints?

    Plus, when i've gone in game I've been completely alone without knowning anyone which probably doesn't help me

  • Purehalibut #74 2 years ago

    SPAI reporting in!

    Congrats on the article again John it is always fun to read about the (in)famous work of your loins.

    I do especially like the negative and angry comments from some people. Their corporation had around 90 players in it against only 10 or so of us. I wouldn't call being outnumbered 9 to 1 cowardly at all.

    What we did was entirely avoidable with only a little understanding on their side, think about the perpetual wars going on between alliances, the amount of money lost in a battle can dwarf what we stole.

    Their wormhole station was located in the most lawless of space, their players completely uncommitted to defending any of their assets whatsoever. If you take the risk of putting expensive equipment in an area designed to allow player interaction and conflict you have to be willing to defend it.

    In the end it was a lot of fun, a lot of stress and I bought a spiffy new top hat for my internet spaceship.

  • mingster #75 2 years ago

    I have yet to see a wormhole..
    God knows how they managed to get a POS established in one.
    They should have been defending it with their lives.

  • DodgyPast #76 2 years ago

    As an idea of time sink I'm currently flying with a fairly high end PvP corp, we have fairly frequent alliance ops that tend to run from some time after dinner for 2-3 hours. They aren't mandatory, other than the sinking feeling of knowing you missed out on an awesome fight.

    Other than that people log on and do what they feel like, go for small roams or do some activities to top up their isk. There are more srs business groups out there who can get quite anal about attendance, so you just avoid those.

    It's more a case of whether you think you'll play enough to make those 15 euros a month worthwhile.

    Took me about 9 months to get out to null sec and into a decent corp and from there I ended reasonably space rich and started to have a whale of a time shooting people in the face. Having said that people with far less time can get out there to play with the right friends.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 13:51

  • Sonic_D #77 2 years ago

    I don’t have time to play MMO’s but EVE does sound like it would be fun if I had the time to play.

    Having said that I have an issue about this kind of thing, no not the moral issue (it’s a game) but the ‘real’ aspect. First off I assume that your spy used out of game communications to send you info. If this was ‘real’ your spy would have to send you messages and data from your enemies stronghold, giving more chance of detection and being unmasking. Secondly, how real is it if no one is there to defend your attack, simply because they are not logged on.

    Again, great story, sound fun, but the ‘real’ aspect doesn’t really stand up.

    And yes I am aware this is a game set in space and is not real at all, but hey I’m not the one calling it real-EVE.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 13:50

  • DodgyPast #78 2 years ago

    It's a sci-fi mmo with real time communication throughout the Eve Universe, so spying isn't exactly limited to sneak a carrier pigeon out of their castle.

  • InfiniteFury #79 2 years ago

    @ Sonic
    Thanks for your feedback. There are so many esoteric aspects to Eve that it's hard to put something like this together and make it clear and understandable (specifically with people who don't play in mind) without ending up with some 5000 word mega-essay that's either incredibly boring for those who already play the game or tedious and uninteresting to those who don't.

    By "real", I'm talking about the two different sides to Eve. There's the PVE content similar to what you'll find in most MMOs (go see this agent/NPC, get this mission, kill this enemy, collect rewards) and then there's the game that CCP have in mind. What separates this game from most MMOs is the ability to use mechanics freely and engage in social interaction with other players in a non-linear way that's not been programmed by the developers.

    That's the sandbox part of the game and the "real" Eve I'm referring to. Perhaps I could have made that clearer in the article.

  • androidave #80 2 years ago

    Well done John! You've suckered me back into Eve online!! I played it for a Yr when it first came out but not since.. Will join up to the EG corp as soon as I've figured everything back out again :)

    Edit:.. 6hrs to download the client on my shitty internet, better be worth it :p
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 14:13

  • Purehalibut #81 2 years ago


    I was going to post a message outlining the inefficiencies of carrier pidgeons in a vacuum but Dodgy beat me to it.

    We mainly used in game chat and mails for planning although it was all copied on our forums. We did use vent during the raid but you can do that in game too. The opposition also had a teamspeak server and forums which they (and we) used to good effect.

    For all but 10 minutes or so we were outnumbered by them in terms of people who were online, they just could never be bothered to fight. When they did make a fleet larger than us they ran away and left us alone to take down more of their things.

  • Halo.Jones #82 2 years ago

    Sonic, we had several fleet battles with that corp and they couldn't figure out how we was warping to their current location so fast. It was all down to our uber spai.

    2 or 3 engagements later, they were so demoralised they docked up at the nearest station and then either logged off or sat there spinning their ships (A term we use when you cannot do anything else but spin your ship docked in the station)

  • Turrican #83 2 years ago

    Nice story guys, it may seem a little harsh from the outside but in the world of Eve this is what its all about. Its about making history, good or bad.

    I've made two serious attempts to get into Eve and have failed both times before joing a corp. Am currently in the 'log in each week to set skills' phase that lots of players end up at. The failure this time around has come because I can only see myself following this path:

    Solo Missions -> Eve Uni -> Uk independent Corp -> Alliance -> War

    ...and everytime I read about the endgame of Alliance warfare it fills me with despair. What is the point in a single universe that drives people towards mass conflict when the technology and code can't handle large scale fights without falling to pieces?
    Evey account I hear of Alliance warfare is just 'spent 20 minutes trying to sync, got a few shots off, died'. They need to fix this before anything else, especially the latest gimmick of planet mining.

    I think perhaps the level that you guys are operating at is the optimum one for having fun, I'm sure I will be lured once more, especially if CCP actually make it playable in numbers.

  • Halo.Jones #84 2 years ago

    Turrican,

    The numbers we have for our 0.0 roams is quite good, the only lag we've encountered is gate lag and that is usually down to a massive fleet battle somewhere else in the universe.

    We've had a minimum of 4 up to 30+ pilots in a fleet and we've not had any major problems with the lag.

  • cullnean #85 2 years ago

    Good Gods

    can we trust any of our blues these day?

    LD
    RPSH

  • Halo.Jones #86 2 years ago

    LD,

    We barely trust each other, let alone trusting our friends.. :)

    Jim
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 15:45

  • President_Weasel #87 2 years ago

    LD

    You can trust us - we're pretty sure you don't have anything we want to take.
    I hear you might have a hurricane BPO though...

  • WJF #88 2 years ago

    Hngg, musn't....be...tempted...back....

  • jungle_ninja Verified Code Monkey, Eurogamer Network #89 2 years ago

    Can I join LFR? I'm a qualified starbase technician well-versed in all aspects of pos operations, oh and I can fly caps too... :)

  • cullnean #90 2 years ago

    when did this happen and were we farting about at the time?

    Next time you ask for a cyno you aint landing on a station :)

    LD
    RPSH

  • Ginger #91 2 years ago

    Absolute gold fellas

  • Halo.Jones #92 2 years ago

    LD, this all happened last year. This is one of the reasons why we split off from Lolli's and became Moustache Twirling Space Cads.

  • Halo.Jones #93 2 years ago

    Jungle: Can we see your API? We would also need to personally check your most expensive ship to ensure the fittings are correct.

    :)
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 16:19

  • Halo.Jones #94 2 years ago

    Don't forget budding Internet Spaceship Pilots. EVE has a buddy system. How would you like 21 days instead of 14 days trial?

    If you sign up after 21 days, the person who recommended you will get 30 days. You can then do the same with your friends so you gain 30 days free.

    Feel free to PM one of us with your e-mail address and we'll send you an invite.

    --
    Do you have friends that might be interested in exploring the universe of EVE? If you have an active subscription, you can offer them an exclusive 21-day trial. For each one that subscribes, you’ll earn 30 free days of game time! With the Buddy Program, you can help our community grow by giving your friends the gift of EVE for three full weeks. Take them under your wing and forge a new corporation, explore the cluster and immerse yourselves in all that EVE has to offer. All you need to get started is the email form below.

    You can send three invites per month - which, if all converted to subscriptions, equates to three free months of EVE for you!

    Everybody wins with the Buddy Program. Do your part to make EVE Online the best experience in gaming and recruit a friend today!

    ** I feel like a dirty Minmatar begging for scraps after posting that!
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 16:27

  • IMO #95 2 years ago

    This was the best bit of fun I've had in a video game so far. Even if it meant staying up all night.

  • cullnean #96 2 years ago

    @Halo Jones

    i see said the blind man.

    also pester zekk about the new forums.

  • TriggerHippie #97 2 years ago

    @Halo Jones

    Ah the classic "let me get in the ship and I'll tell you if its good" ploy :D

    Sounds like it'd never work doesn't it. The other day a 2 month old kid was flying around Youl bragging on his Phantasm and 1 bill ISK that someone had "donated" to him. He struck up conversation with one of the local regular ne'er-do-well's who eventually offered to help him get some awsome gun's and rigs fitted it to it. I logged to go out and when I got back in the kid was spamming local about how this guy has stolen his ship. Obviously he had let him "get in the ship so he could fit the mods".

    So, trust no-one Kids!.

    Also, don't fall asleep at a gate in a faction fitted navy issue ship during a war-dec. Hey it was late!

  • Halo.Jones #98 2 years ago

    Damn you Trigger, you've spoilt my fun :)

  • President_Weasel #99 2 years ago

    Turrican, there are corps and there are corps, and there are alliances and alliances. Not all will make you turn up for every call to arms, or train for a 200km battleship so you can experience "20-minutes-of-desynch-and-wake-up-in-a-new-clone Online".
    Some corps prefer to keep it small and hang around in loose assiciations of like-minded corps rather than formal regimented alliances.

    But yes, it would be great if CCP would allocate development time to fixing fleet fights and a couple of other current botch-jobs rather than making shinies to attract new players.

  • Sonic_D #100 2 years ago

    Thanks for sensible responses. To be clear I was not having a dig at the article or the game. Was just pointing out something that would make me not enjoy your accomplishment in game quite as much. Of course there is no way EVE could control out of game comms and I'm not saying that it was not a tough task to co-ordinate even with what you knew was guaranteed secure comms.

  • jungle_ninja Verified Code Monkey, Eurogamer Network #101 2 years ago

    @ Halo

    You don't need to see my API...
    /waves hand jedi-style

    My most expensive ship is a vexor with T2 mining lazorz, is that good?

  • FWB #102 2 years ago

    @Halo
    But surely there is some kind of screening/access allowing mechanic for new members?, it all just sounds way too easy to infiltrate and cause havoc.

    It's exactly the same as in real life. If you give someone you have known for 5mins access to your bank account, what do you expect? It's all about personal mechanics, although behind the internet lying is much easier. You need to implement a good screening process. Although there have been stories of spies that have infiltrated for years before striking However that deserves a lot of credit.

  • Jetset_UK #103 2 years ago

    I raise my space mug of space tea in your honour. Great read.

  • obscured021 #104 2 years ago

    have not played in 4 years but i got an email a few days ago to reactive my account for free for 5 days, which i did after reading this.. and low and behold all my skill and my battle ships where there! but my corp folded ;)

  • President_Weasel #105 2 years ago

    "with what you knew was guaranteed secure comms."

    Ah, but how can we be sure we don't have a spy or two in our own ranks?
    Who's that new guy in the eurogamer.net in-game channel? how long's he been there? Shit, have we been discussing top secret space plans in front of him?

  • overcorpse #106 2 years ago

    7 year vet here,still pay for my toon to train but very rarely log in.i miss the days when EvE was a harsh place to live,lose a BS back then and you knew about it.I also miss my torp spewing multispec jamming blackbird .

    XirtamVOTF,Lord Zap,Hupa,j909,Theclash,Miz Cenuij,Rangloff,Mursilis just a handful of names that has given me 7 years of pure gaming nirvana.

    F.E for life bitches

  • grizzly_hamster #107 2 years ago

    Well done. Will definitely consider joining if I ever get bored of null-sec.

  • guernican #108 2 years ago

    Good stuff.

  • Ezzekhiel #109 2 years ago

    Reminds me of a similar story that happened to our corp a couple of weeks back. A friend of ours got scammed by an industrial corp, so we infiltrated their corp and stole all their ships (over 6 billions ISK worth of loot).

    You can read that story here on the official EvE forums.

  • paganarh #110 2 years ago

    great read!

    my ca 30M SP pilot has been on ice for year and a half now. maybe will activate it soon again.
    and when I do, I may be in a need for relaxed group to fly around with :)