Another month, another crazy thing to report from the insane realm that is EVE Online. We’ve talked about this startlingly player-directed space MMO on a couple of other occasions, and each time I hear these things I get a renewed interest in the game. Sure, the actual playing of it sounds boring, but it feels like it would almost be worth it to experience these epic scenarios.
If you’re unaware, the thing that makes EVE Online so unique is that developer CCP basically lets anything go down, as long as it doesn’t break the game’s terms of service. This means that some huge fluid narratives have taken place, from the take down of major in-game corporations to the loss of actual, real dollars in the form of ISK, which can be renewed for subscriptions or even other products.
The latest insane in-game caper? A player-organized movement to crash the whole game’s economy, which works just like an actual economy. This movement was called Burn Jita, with Jita being the major trading system, full of companies and frigates carrying anything from equipment to other ships or billions’ worth of ISK. The goal was to organize thousands of players in a huge ransack mission that would destroy/burn all these assets in order to upend the entire economy.
And apparently, the battle was glorious. Not only has CCP posted some crazy behind-the-scenes stats about the time dilation effect that they had to employ during the battle, but there’s also an enormous Freighter List of Shame, which details all the stuff that was obliterated during the raid, and all the supplies/money lost as a result. It was actually a crazy amount of real-world money that went down the tubes, which begs the question: if these people planned this thing openly for months, what were these ships doing carrying this kind of cargo on this particular day?
Anyway, I definitely suggest that you guys do some more reading about Burn Jita. It’s just one of those crazy instances that I wish happened in more video games as of late. There’s something about emergent gameplay that is truly fascinating, and I’m surprised we don’t have more games that present this kind of play.
What do you guys think of Burn Jita? Go!
Source – Eurogamer, EVENews, EVE Online
Oh my effing insanity. I feel like there is going to be an amazing documentary about this game years down the road that showcases all of the dynamic mayhem that takes place. It’s the kind of thing you have to be a part of to truly appreciate.
The closest comparison for me I can think of would be being a regular in a Counter-Strike (or other FPS) server for many years and watching the Admins change/take over, well known players being banned, mocked, tormented, people coming and going, etc. It doesn’t measure up to full blown space-rape, but over a career it can be a little dramatic.
I love the concept of that game so much, but it sounds too hard to play. I’ll be an onlooker and be happy about it.
Man this stuff is awesome. I know someone at work who spent two years undercover with a rival guild. He went to conventions and hung out with this rival guild in REAL LIFE. The day they gave him access to the guild’s money, boom he was gone. He snagged all of it, had his buddies cover his retreat, and just like that, the rival guild ceased to exist. Crazyness.
[quote comment=”19265″]Man this stuff is awesome. I know someone at work who spent two years undercover with a rival guild. He went to conventions and hung out with this rival guild in REAL LIFE. The day they gave him access to the guild’s money, boom he was gone. He snagged all of it, had his buddies cover his retreat, and just like that, the rival guild ceased to exist. Crazyness.[/quote]
:O That’s awesome, man oh man, I want that game, I mean, that is coolest thing ever I think, so, how’s the state of the in-game market now? Has another trade center started up on some other planet? I mean, damn, the stories you hear, someone has to write down all of the epic stories and dynamic events that happen in this game and write it up as an epic space opera, Dune level space opera.