Eve Online Political Betrayal Results In Record-Breaking Theft (about $20,000) - Sensationalist Headlines

[IMG]http://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/evehellcampb-860x280.png[/IMG] [QUOTE]The EVE Online twitterverse exploded late last night with the news of a political twist so enormous that it’s become the largest recorded theft of in-game assets in the game’s history. In the middle of the night and without warning, major EVE military alliance Circle of Two (or CO2 for short) was betrayed by its diplomatic officer, a player with the ominous name of The Judge. In addition to cleaning out the alliance war funds and assets to the tune of over a trillion ISK, The Judge also transferred ownership of CO2’s 300 billion ISK keepstar citadel in its capital star system of 68FT-6 to a holding corporation, effectively stealing the alliance’s home space station. News of The Judge’s betrayal trickled out of EVE all through the night, and it wasn’t long before the full extent of the incident was known. The 68FT-6 keepstar was sold to enemy alliance Goonswarm Federation, while CO2’s smaller citadels throughout Impass are now in the hands of TEST Alliance. The theft combined with the value of the citadels is estimated at over 1.5 trillion ISK, easily beating the 2011 trillion ISK Phaser Inc scam to become the highest-value theft in EVE‘s history. The actual damage done is even more extensive, injecting a huge dose of chaos into CO2 alliance and throwing fuel on the fire of the southern war. On the other side of the incident, gigX (The leader of CO2) himself went into something of a rage when he logged in to find the theft had taken place. He was permanently banned today for trying to find The Judge’s real life home address and threatening to seriously harm him in real life. Before being banned, gigX removed the Balkan Mafia corp that both he and The Judge were members of from the CO2 alliance. This was probably a response to The Judge streaming the alliance chat live to twitch, but some of the threats made against him had already been seen by hundreds of players and reported to CCP. This betrayal came as a surprise to most of EVE, but it may actually have had its roots in the massive World War Bee conflict we reported on last year. Circle of Two severed ties with The Imperium quite early in the war with accusations that ally Goonswarm Federation was just using CO2 as a meatshield. The Judge claims that several key leadership members left after the war and others went inactive, but also admits that he himself has been spending more time on CSM duties lately. It’s quite messy then that this theft was reportedly planned with assistance from Goonswarm. Goonswarm has now joined forces with TEST Alliance, who severed diplomatic ties with CO2 last month, to take advantage of the situation. The group has set up a hell camp with warp disruption bubbles around the 68FT-6 keepstar and is killing any members of CO2 who undock. While stories of political intrigue are a big part of what makes EVE special, many nullsec players are actually furious with this situation. The war in the south was shaping up to be some great PvP content and a real conclusive test of citadel warfare in the absence of serious metagaming, and the fight over the 68FT-6 keepstar could have been amazing. Circle of Two is still currently one of the largest military alliances in the game, with just under 4,000 members and sizeable territory in the Impass region in the south of EVE. Membership dropped a little this morning when several corporations left following the theft and could fall further as individual corporations react. This betrayal could be either the start of a death spiral for the alliance or the rallying cry that gets the remaining line members to pull together, but it certainly spells disaster for the alliance’s immediate war ambitions. It now seems certain that CO2 will lose its territory in Impass and Catch and will have to rebuild even if it survives as an alliance. Not only is the alliance’s war fund gone, but alliance members’ own assets are now locked down in stations they can’t access any more. Their choices are to conduct a firesale of their assets to the station’s new owners or manually activate the citadel’s Asset Safety system to automatically evacuate their stuff.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://massivelyop.com/2017/09/12/eve-online-political-betrayal-results-in-record-breaking-theft/"]http://massivelyop.com/2017/09/12/eve-online-political-betrayal-results-in-record-breaking-theft/[/URL] I know you guys love your crazy EVE stories so here's one of the most intriguing events in quite some time, thankfully this article is pretty well researched. On top of being the biggest single theft in EVE history (a total value of about $20,000 across assets and in-game currency), it was a major strategic attack as well which crippled and effectively killed one of the biggest alliances in the game. Just today, CO2's leader gigX who was permabanned and likely won't get unbanned [URL="https://soundcloud.com/user-188668589/co2-alliance-meeting-13-09-2017"]announced the effective disbanding of the alliance[/URL]. [video=youtube;gEO-Gc-VKV4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEO-Gc-VKV4[/video] This is actually a pretty decently researched video covering the basics of all of it, some of the terminology is off but to someone unfamiliar with EVE it works.

Ahhh So now we know what happened to those former STASI agents...

I love how EVE is basically a functioning digital world with high-stakes backstabbing and intrigue.

I love (the idea of) Eve but it is also terrifying when this much "real" value is getting stolen. I wonder if anyone has died because of beef in Eve. Imagine $20,000 of stuff being stolen from your company by someone you trusted, and you know exactly who did it. You have legal and law enforcement options in the real world as well as insurance, what do you have in Eve? Not remotely defending the gigX guy's response which is pretty moronic and somewhat psychotic, but it is a difficult situation to comprehend from the outside I'm sure.

Do remember that there's no way to turn isk into real money without going into RMT grey areas. I don't recall anyone getting killed for ingame stuff, but I do remember some russian dudes getting their power cables to their houses cut mid fight :v:

[QUOTE=Socram;52679089]I love (the idea of) Eve but it is also terrifying when this much "real" value is getting stolen. I wonder if anyone has died because of beef in Eve. Imagine $20,000 of stuff being stolen from your company by someone you trusted, and you know exactly who did it. You have legal and law enforcement options in the real world as well as insurance, what do you have in Eve? Not remotely defending the gigX guy's response which is pretty moronic and somewhat psychotic, but it is a difficult situation to comprehend from the outside I'm sure.[/QUOTE] It isn't REALLY $20,000 worth of stuff. But because you can buy your online subscription in-game with in-game currency, people give the in-game currency real money value. It isn't like $20,000 went into all the stuff that was stolen So don't be too terrified of it

these things are always cool but based on previous betrayals the Judge is gonna join an enemy corp, realise nobody trusts them with any amount of power, slowly stop playing and fade into obscurity [B]Edit:[/B] Yeah the guy joined goonwaffe like an hour ago :v: at least he has a lot of isk to retire on, doesn't need to pay/work for gametime ever

[QUOTE=Jammymanrock;52679184]these things are always cool but based on previous betrayals the Judge is gonna join an enemy corp, realise nobody trusts them with any amount of power, slowly stop playing and fade into obscurity[/QUOTE] I gotta admit, if I decided to stop playing the game all together, this would probably be my favorite way of having one last giggle before I dropped it. [QUOTE=Socram;52679089]I love (the idea of) Eve but it is also terrifying when this much "real" value is getting stolen. I wonder if anyone has died because of beef in Eve. Imagine $20,000 of stuff being stolen from your company by someone you trusted, and you know exactly who did it. You have legal and law enforcement options in the real world as well as insurance, what do you have in Eve? Not remotely defending the gigX guy's response which is pretty moronic and somewhat psychotic, but it is a difficult situation to comprehend from the outside I'm sure.[/QUOTE] The armchair lawyer in me wonders if there could be any precedent for a civil lawsuit under the pretense that the owner of the corp owned the assets as "digital property," considering that everything they owned can, and has, been financially appraised. Probably not, considering it's a game and you know the risks going into it, but it would make for a fun case study.

[QUOTE=Fhenexx;52679205] The armchair lawyer in me wonders if there could be any precedent for a civil lawsuit under the pretense that the owner of the corp owned the assets as "digital property," considering that everything they owned can, and has, been financially appraised. Probably not, considering it's a game and you know the risks going into it, but it would make for a fun case study.[/QUOTE] If I remember right, ingame currency is legally owned by the company that made the game, not the person playing.

these kinds of stories seem more like examples of extreme stupidity than anything intriguing. why would you spend that much fucking money on a video game

[QUOTE=portalcrazy;52679220]these kinds of stories seem more like examples of extreme stupidity than anything intriguing. why would you spend that much fucking money on a video game[/QUOTE] They didn't actually spend 20k, they lost 20k in isk at the current rate that plex(tradable subscription items) is selling

now tell me, why those assets don't have multi-layered approvals for transfers and control ? not just two-factor, three-factor ... but also multi-person approval (like board of directors) overally it feels like EvE is just another MMO with security nightmare to control/own/lead anything

[QUOTE=Dwarden;52679723]now tell me, why those assets don't have multi-layered approvals for transfers and control ? not just two-factor, three-factor ... but also multi-person approval (like board of directors) overally it feels like EvE is just another MMO with security nightmare to control/own/lead anything[/QUOTE] Doesnt eve have a lot of technical problems in general? I believe there was a billboard ingame that advertised some event many years ago and was put in by a programmer who since left the studio. Every time the devs try to remove the billboard, the whole service crashes, so they just leave it there. I may be thinking of another game though

I would love to play a game flexible like this that also wasn't a spreadsheet simulator Like imagine if Elite Dangerous had this level of complexity where ships or stations could be stolen and sold. The worst you can do is buy goods and attempt to sell them to a black market in a station where they are illegal

Fun to read about from a distance, but i'd be a bit miffed if I could get fucked over to that extend by some other bloke in-game. If I wanted to experience robbery like that, i'd tape euros all over my body and wander into the grimiest ghetto I can find.

[QUOTE=Karmah;52679779]I would love to play a game flexible like this that also wasn't a spreadsheet simulator Like imagine if Elite Dangerous had this level of complexity where ships or stations could be stolen and sold. The worst you can do is buy goods and attempt to sell them to a black market in a station where they are illegal[/QUOTE] The spreadsheet simulator meme is more of a self-deprecating joke EVE players came up with more than anything else. There are a few professions where yes they do help, but the way I play the game doesn't involve them at all. For a lot of people, the real enjoyment from EVE comes from the community aspect. Being a part of an or corp or alliance such as the ones mentioned in the article and making friends and fighting alongside them, etc.

In EvE are factions usually just set up where one person can withdraw from a shared pool of assets without any authorization from someone else? Is it not possible to compartmentalize things a little more? Im not really much of an EvE player but what if you had a set of funds that each unit of a faction could withdraw from at will so that if an officer needs to use a lot of ISK for whatever reason they can but they cant drain the entire corp dry because all the other pools are under the jurisdiction of other officers.

[QUOTE=Dwarden;52679723]now tell me, why those assets don't have multi-layered approvals for transfers and control ? not just two-factor, three-factor ... but also multi-person approval (like board of directors) overally it feels like EvE is just another MMO with security nightmare to control/own/lead anything[/QUOTE] It's tricky, first of all a lot of the things (including the CEO's personal titan) shouldn't have even been in the corporate hangers to begin with but there ya go. Secondly there's an argument that could be made that the certain hangers that directors only have access to don't require additional approval from peers because what if a certain item or ship was needed in an emergency and the rest of the board wasn't online? It's a pretty debatable topic.

[QUOTE=da space core;52679747]Doesnt eve have a lot of technical problems in general? I believe there was a billboard ingame that advertised some event many years ago and was put in by a programmer who since left the studio. Every time the devs try to remove the billboard, the whole service crashes, so they just leave it there. I may be thinking of another game though[/QUOTE] Eve's code is [url=https://www.engadget.com/2010/09/17/new-eve-exploit-gives-wormhole-corp-incredible-advantage/]fucking incredible[/url] for the bugs it has. Pretty sure there's a big issue with the POS code where it's hooked into so many things that the game just dies if you remove it.

And for once it wasn't for some stupid "xd trolled" reason, it was a dick move to everyone in Co2 but damned if judge didn't make a strong statement to em. One less enemy of provi residents I guess...? Props to the article writers for actually doing some research though, gaming journalists love to jump on eve stuff, usually because of how little they actually know about the context and just assume that because you can tie a $ value to stuff ingame that somehow translates to actual physical money being lost.

[QUOTE=Moreto;52679850]Eve's code is [url=https://www.engadget.com/2010/09/17/new-eve-exploit-gives-wormhole-corp-incredible-advantage/]fucking incredible[/url] for the bugs it has. Pretty sure there's a big issue with the POS code where it's hooked into so many things that the game just dies if you remove it.[/QUOTE] Oh please, that bug was barely a blip on the shitstack code radar :v: [url]https://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/about-the-boot.ini-issue/[/url] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msXRFJ2ar_E[/media]

[QUOTE=Crimor;52681327]Oh please, that bug was barely a blip on the shitstack code radar :v: [url]https://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/about-the-boot.ini-issue/[/url] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msXRFJ2ar_E[/media][/QUOTE] I was affected by boot.ini many years ago. RIP that XP install.

[QUOTE=Fhenexx;52679205]I gotta admit, if I decided to stop playing the game all together, this would probably be my favorite way of having one last giggle before I dropped it. The armchair lawyer in me wonders if there could be any precedent for a civil lawsuit under the pretense that the owner of the corp owned the assets as "digital property," considering that everything they owned can, and has, been financially appraised. Probably not, considering it's a game and you know the risks going into it, but it would make for a fun case study.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Dwarden;52679723]now tell me, why those assets don't have multi-layered approvals for transfers and control ? not just two-factor, three-factor ... but also multi-person approval (like board of directors) overally it feels like EvE is just another MMO with security nightmare to control/own/lead anything[/QUOTE] I'm not an expert and I never played EvE, but isn't all this stuff just a part of the game? the fact that these massive thefts and betrayals are a thing seems like it was entirely intended behavior, because it's ultimately still just a game. I don't mean to belittle people who play it by saying "dude it's just a game lol," I'm just pointing out that I think the game was designed to work like this to begin with. If this is the case I couldn't ever see a civil suit happening because someone got outplayed at a video game, no matter what's at stake.

[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;52681358]I'm not an expert and I never played EvE, but isn't all this stuff just a part of the game? the fact that these massive thefts and betrayals are a thing seems like it was entirely intended behavior, because it's ultimately still just a game. I don't mean to belittle people who play it by saying "dude it's just a game lol," I'm just pointing out that I think the game was designed to work like this to begin with. If this is the case I couldn't ever see a civil suit happening because someone got outplayed at a video game, no matter what's at stake.[/QUOTE] A CCP dev sat with The Judge and the two dudes that ultimately flipped him. Dev loved the metagame and wanted to watch history in the making up close. As long as it doesn't exploit an unintended bug or extend beyond the game into RL, [I]anything goes.[/I]

I've always wanted to make an in game religion in eve and have my company hand out donations to players But that would require me to learn the game.

[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;52681412]A CCP dev sat with The Judge and the two dudes that ultimately flipped him. Dev loved the metagame and wanted to watch history in the making up close. As long as it doesn't exploit an unintended bug or extend beyond the game into RL, [I]anything goes.[/I][/QUOTE] It can also lead to great experiences. Like as a noob, I fell for can flipping and ended up losing a ship twice, but that consequently led to me getting some help from some friendly players and joining a corp that resulted in some really fun times. Hell, you even have shit like Hulkageddon, which is an entirely player driven meta event thats basically used to lower supply, increasing the profits of the corporations involved in the ship building and minerals industry, or, for some people to indulge their inner asshole. Quick overview of Hulkageddon (Though idk how often it happensnowadays, been years since I've been in the game) Hulkageddon is based around a simple idea: for nine days, players will compete to get the most high-sec suicide ganks. The players or corporations that get the most kills, or best kills in a particular category, are given prizes. There are also "achievements" with particular prizes. The prizes are donated by eager fans and even participants, in order to stoke interest in the event. Originally, the event focused chiefly on killing hulks, because they are the most efficient mining vessel in EVE Online. Over time, it has sort of sprawled out to include all manner of non-combat ships, with billions of ISK in prizes and thousands of successful ganks. Admittedly, as a former Hulk pilot, I had much fun during those events as my loadout for my hulk was survivability based, so it was rather satisfying seeing people attempt to gank me and completely and utterly fail. It's an extremely interesting world to be in and to observe, especially when economic shenannigans occur that have a real impact in the ingame economy. Plus the epic results of long term and slow burn plans of things like this, the factional wars, actual ponzi schemes that happened and, the most memorable for me, the assasination of Mirial that happened way back in 2005, backstabbing, betrayal, murder and thievery. ( [url]http://www.pcgamer.com/murder-incorporated-ten-months-of-deception-for-one-kill-in-eve-online/[/url] for the Mirial story) Events of this scale are somewhat rare, but extremely satisfying to hear about.

Co2's first mistake was trusting the goons to be good allies.

[QUOTE=benzinxrm;52681673]Co2's first mistake was trusting the goons to be good allies.[/QUOTE] We literally backstab each other, why would you think we wouldn't backstab you.

[QUOTE=benzinxrm;52681673]Co2's first mistake was trusting the goons to be good allies.[/QUOTE] Goons Ruin Everything

I'm pretty sure they engineer these events. They fly out a lot of the alliance leaders during the fanfest in iceland and hold a council meeting. It wouldn't surprise me that they'd organise these high profile events to keep them in media's spotlight every so often, you hear about these incidents what every 1 year or so? Still makes good reading mind.