EVE Online Pirates Destroy In-Game Time Cards

EVE ONLINEEvery time I read about a bad-ass heist job in EVE Online, a space-bound MMO focused on corporate back-stabbing, I find myself gripped with the insatiable urge to try the game. I’ve heard that for the most part it’s pretty dull and is kind of like having a second job, but these stories just scratch some odd gaming itch I never knew that I had.

Take this most recent tale, for example. To combat the online sale of ISK (EVE’s currency) by gold farmers, publisher CCP decided to create in-game time cards which can be sold for ISK, thus cutting gold farmers out of the loop by allowing players to trade time extension cards for cash. These cards, called PLEX, or Pilot License Extensions, recently became actual items inside of EVE’s servers so they could be carried around by cargo ships. While this sounds like a recipe for disaster, I don’t think anyone was prepared for what happened next.

A cargo ship owned by Method of Destruction, a player run guild, was carrying 74 PLEX cards while making its way through a sector of space that’s apparently rife with pirate activity when it was beset upon by a couple of enterprising raiders. Unfortunately for the pair, they were a little over-zealous and destroyed the cargo ship along with all 74 cards. You may be asking yourself what this amount of cards is worth, and the answer is a staggering $1,295.00 in actual US funds. In game, that would be 22 billion ISK, or six years and two months of play time. Since the licenses were blown up they can never be claimed, so CCP just made themselves a cool profit thanks to two trigger-happy bandits.

What do you guys think of this news? Pretty awesome that there’s a game out there that allows, nay encourages, this type of tomfoolery. What do you think CCP should do with the $1,295.00? People are calling for them to donate it to charity, so do you agree? Tell us in the comments. To read about the previous EVE Online raid, click here.

Source: Kotaku via Massively

Written by

mitch@gamersushi.com Twitter: @mi7ch Gamertag: Lubeius PSN ID: Lubeius SteamID: Mister_L Origin/EA:Lube182 Currently Playing: PUBG, Rainbow 6: Siege, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Total War: Warhammer 2

20 thoughts on “EVE Online Pirates Destroy In-Game Time Cards”

  1. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! If only EVE wasn’t boring!!!

    lol But seriously, cool story, bro. This is sooo cool. Moar corporate war games plox!

  2. So Im a little confused.

    To stop Gold Farming they initiated in game cards that are worth play time, ISK, and real US dollars (because they = play time)

    Whats confusing me is HOW they earn/receive these cards. I dont get it. Do you buy the time card with real $, then you can sell it for ISK since its in game. Or do you earn time on the card for playing? Im just confused on how these cards ELIMINATED or tried to eliminate gold farming. An explanation would be nice.

    Now onto EVE again, I like hearing there stories. I find that to be entertaining. Its pretty sweet to see that a game can go so deep and have such an economy. So much fun

    BTW, they should donate to charity IF they do anything.
    If two players caused its loss, well…..their own fault? Thats the risk of it isnt it? They dont really have to do anything

  3. Yeah, the PLEX cards are a little confusing. They’re bought from CCP with real world funds, and are sold in game for ISK. This enable people who aren’t good at gaining ISK to make a profit and people who have a lot of ISK but can’t afford time cards to keep playing.

  4. So, was the ship carrying the 74 cards an NPC ship controlled by CCP (I’m guessing, by the way, that this isn’t a Soviet reference?) or was it a ship controlled by another player?

    Because this story stops becoming funny if a player is out almost 1300 bucks because two guys decided to screw with him.

    Then again, if someone’s dropping 1300 bucks to get currency in an online game when I’m counting pennies to make sure I have enough gas and food for the week, I’m not terribly sympathetic and that person obviously needs a life.

    By the way, has anyone accused CCP employees of being the ones who destroyed the ship?

  5. See, as much as they have in-game value, this kind of stuff goes on in EVE all the time. If you have cargo that valuable, you should protect it, especially when flying through some of these areas. I mean, I feel kinda bad for him, but that’s the way EVE in particular is played.

    This game sounds awesome, by the way, but I hear the actual playing of it is pretty boring.

  6. Thanks Mitch! Makes sense now. Aaaaand yea, now knowing that, if that happens….well…..darn? The company shouldnt do diddly

  7. @zayven,

    The ship was owned by a player corporation, so it was $1,295 of player money. I’ve updated the post to clarify that.

  8. I love the idea of player corporations and player made economies and storylines. I went to one of their wikis and they had a whole history and timeline of major events that have happened. I would play but heard that actually gameplay sucks if you are not the one calling the shots.

  9. Thanks, Mitch. Yeah, that sucks for them. I think Eddy hit the nail on the head, though. I’ve never played this game before, but everything I’ve heard about it says that it’s pretty much the wild, wild west of MMORPGs. If a player corp. was going to transport valuable stuff through a dangerous sector of space…well, they should have anticipated that their ship might get waylaid and planned accordingly.

    This is part of the reason why I’ve been afraid to try this game. The concept sounds incredibly awesome, but I just have visions of getting about 6 hours into the game before some predatory bastard swoops in to amuse himself by tormenting me. An exaggerated fear, I’m sure, but then you read about stuff like this…

    I don’t see why CCP should have to give up that money, though. I’m all for altruism, but it doesn’t seem like they did anything wrong here (well, aside from making it POSSIBLE for these PLEX cards to be destroyed).

  10. Reading that article, near the end for a second I thought I was going to hear about Winnie the Pooh. EVE’s a semi-difficult game to get into, but once you are, it’s a ride. It’s like trying to get into the door of a corporation, but once you’re in, the access to power and fun at the expense of others is criminal (A sensitive example for our times, but it’s the best example).

  11. [quote comment=”12592″]Reading that article, near the end for a second I thought I was going to hear about Winnie the Pooh. [/quote]

    And this means…?

  12. I really want to get back into EVE after reading that. The fact that almost $1300 got vaped kinda might have been on-turning. That’s just AWESOME. I’d be pretty pissed if I was on the losing side of that engagement.

    But this begs the question; If such precious cargo was being transported through null-sec, where was the tooled-up escort!?

    But hey, this is EVE, it’s like the real-world. CCP doesn’t have to do anything (but a charity donation would be a GREAT move). I mean, EVE is a persistent world, shit happens, get over it.

    +1 Awesome.

  13. [quote comment=”12593″][quote comment=”12592″]Reading that article, near the end for a second I thought I was going to hear about Winnie the Pooh. [/quote]

    And this means…?[/quote]

    “so CCP just made themselves a cool profit thanks to two –tigger-happy– bandits.”

  14. [quote comment=”12600″]Ah, thanks. That’s what happens when you’re your own editor. :)[/quote]

    Ah, man. No problem.

    I wonder how much more of a disgrace it would have been if that cargo ship from “Method of Destruction” had been taken over by a group of raiders called the “Tigger-Happy Bandits”.

  15. [quote comment=”12587″]I love the idea of player corporations and player made economies and storylines. I went to one of their wikis and they had a whole history and timeline of major events that have happened. I would play but heard that actually gameplay sucks if you are not the one calling the shots.[/quote]

    Yes! I wish more MMOs were like this in the sense that the players crafted the story and experience and made their own little universe. WoW seems almost too controlled in contrast. I’d love to see players be able to take over an epic fantasy world and see what happens organically.

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