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EVE Online

EVE Online
EVEIL's avatar
EVEIL

I convinced my then girlfriend (now wife) to try out Eve in around 2011. To get her accustomed to combat, we ran missions together out of the Dodixie trade hub.

My previous escapades messing with mission runners made me acutely aware that the ships undocking around us were worth billions. Being an Eve player, I wanted to enrich myself in the quickest way possible. I also wanted to corrupt my girlfriend and turn her to piracy. These two factors collided and a plan was formed.

She would request conversations with pilots in the more expensive ships, dropping not so subtle hints that she was (gasps) a female, and invite the targets to our "mission running" corp. Unsurprisingly, her success rate in recruiting thirsty capsuleers was quite high.

Once a member of our corp, friendly fire was now legal in the eyes of Concord. We would invite the target to join us on a mission, tell them exactly which resistances they should tank for, and know exactly what ship they were flying. Waiting for them outside the station, as soon as they undocked they would be fleet warped to a quiet spot away from prying eyes.

What followed was myself punching straight into their resist holes, and my girlfriend target jamming them, leaving them completely stranded. A ransom request then followed, usually with the target begging for their release. Unfortunately for them, paying would still result in their destruction (I have since grown as a person, you should totally still pay my ransoms).

My strongest memory from this, and the part I look back on most fondly, was our first success. My girlfriend was sat next to me on her laptop, completely juiced with adrenaline. She had jammed our victim, and asked with a shaky voice what she should do next. Seeing her get the shakes was both hilarious and a proud moment. I still brainstorm Eve schemes with her to this day.

Rixx Javix's avatar
Rixx Javix

https://youtu.be/esxrox_jxqU?si=qjqZ-lKz4Ba2QtEn

When I started playing Eve Online I was the CEO of a creative agency that I had founded in 2001 called Giant Ideas. We actually pitched CCP Games back in 2009 to run their social media campaigns. Back then my real life and Eve never mixed and I was concerned about keeping my identity, if not secret, at least from becoming public knowledge.

But as time went on I became less and less worried about it and could start to see places where my skills could be useful. And then the Alliance I belonged to at the time needed a new logo. And I volunteered to design one. It went over great and everyone loved it. The Alliance even threw some ISK at me for doing it. Wait a second? Was getting paid in ISK even legal?

Turns out it was ok to get ISK for an in-game service. From that moment until today I've designed somewhere around 2,000 Alliance, Blog, Twitch, YouTube, Charity, Community Service, Podcast, and other logos for the Eve community. I estimate that in the last 14 years I've earned somewhere around 4.8 TRILLION ISK from this service alone. And that is just from the in-game portion and doesn't account for the hundreds of real world commissions I've picked up from other players and CCP Games along the way. If you've ever read the Community Beat, for example, that is also my work.

And while this kind of story isn't as exciting as stealing or cheating other players - it has kept me from having to earn my ISK from PvE and it helps us run our annual FFA events and pays for our Alliance to participate in the Alliance Tournament.

PS: I don't charge for charity or certain types of community work. Just to be clear.

FUN INC's avatar
FUN INC
Rixx Javix

Definitely worth noting also that Rixx has also donated many a raffle poster over recent years for our NPSI meetups which we have run for the Reykjavik Childrens Hospital too! <3

FUN INC's avatar
FUN INC

Back in the day, and prior to corp bookmarks, I ran a fantastic little earner - Deep Space Recon.

I was in a semi-nomadic corporation and we moved around A LOT. Probably around every 3 months we would hit a new nullsec region, and what do you need when you move to a new area. Bookmarks.

I would create a regional bookmark set in advance of moving to the new region, and offered copies of these bookmarks for sale to the corporation. A region blitzed with 3 tactical bookmarks on every gate, through a whole region would take me approximately 2 or 3 days to do - i must admit it was really hectic planning routes, not dying, not getting camped, and not getting too bored, but youtube and music / spotify got me through it!

I used to charge (and this was around 7 or so years ago) 250m per bookmark set, and if memory serves me correctly, i made many, many, MANY billions copying these bookmarks and issuing them to corp members. The more we moved, the more money i would get, and the more bookmarks i would collect ,and the more i would advertise them. Moving somewhere live Pure Blind was fantastic, as you could raid into Tribute, Vale, Deklein, Venal - i would sell 5 sets, to one dude, and would make a cool 1.25bn. Super simple, super easy.

When the corp bookmark system arrived, i must admit, i was super sad, as In all honesty, for a long time it was my only source of revenue in game!

KAZO+AR's avatar
KAZO+AR

Hello there,

So i think the best first investment I’ve made in skills and money at the start was a Blockade Runner with Nomad implants, I’ve managed to fit a Prowler that was less than 2 second align time and around 3500m3 storage, the plan was the classic “buy low, sell high”

Being that fast gives you the opportunity to travel a lot and gather informations about the locals and the dangers in the different regions of the game.

In a week I’ve managed to refund the 2.5 billions investment in ship and implants then kept making profit, but 3 years later something unexpected happened..

I was rushing through Stain to buy some P4 Planetary ressources that’ve been put on the market at a ridiculously low price, 2 000 000 instead of 200 000 000 type, selling this to Jita would mean a very good income.

It was obviously a mistake but you know, Eve being Eve i buy the goods then drift burn my way back through Null Sec direction Jita, happy.

On the way back my Mailbox is blinking, “you owe me 198 000 000”, i don’t usually answer the phone while driving in the dark but i check who’s asking for the records, that man was 6 months in game, let’s talk.

We chat by mail for a little bit and it appears that he was an industrial Planetary interaction oriented player and that I’ve bought his first P4 products - I know what you’re thinking, he could’ve told me anything and just being another alt of a wealthy character, but i choose to trust him - so i make a deal with him, i’m reaching my goal of 1B that week and gives him his money back. I have one word, at the end of the week i send him the money, now we’re both happy.

10 days ago I was moving some old mining material in a freighter, as i’m flying my slow Charon through the gates my wallet amount change, + 3Billions.. “Merry Christmas” i’m looking for the reason and why in the universe someone would have sent me that much money, it takes me time but the name rings a bell, i check the Mailbox and recognize the guy “The Industry is going great this days, thank you for not letting me down when i started. fly safe may our path cross again”.

There’s the worst and the good of humanity in EVE, but sometimes also the best.

Merry Christmas to you all.

FirestormGamingTeam's avatar
FirestormGamingTeam

So, back in 2005, I was playing with a fellow from the US Named Nirat and another guy called BioNeb from Norway, at that point had been playing since beta and we had this scam, where we would essentially rob corporations blind.

So the scam was we would always pose as three "new players", survivors of "World of Warcraft" and spin this tale about how we were looking for a new home. We would then join corporations with brand new characters and train them up, be super active, and pretend we picked the game up "quickly" and become invaluable, at this time we all had about 4-5 accounts each, so we would do this across three characters, so we could do this multiple times at once.

We would then over time, gain access to the corporation wallets and hangars, we targetted EU based corporations so that we could wait up "playing" and when the time to strike was there, we would be online and ready to go, emptying corporation wallets and hangars in one fail swoop. Often if the CEO was not too smart, we could pull this two or three times in the same corporation.

We took Eve's "dark universe" and "be who you want to be" seriously. We made BILLIONS of ISK, Nirat still has three of the original Tier II blueprints which are worth a fortune.

One such corporation was United Players Syndicate, this was our hardest one and took us 7 months to gain access, but what we walked away with, was just amazing, they specialized in T2 Fitted Destroyer production, We made a fortune off that.

So yeh, that was us for about three or four years, recycling characters and robbing corporations blind non stop, I do sometimes feel guilty about it, especially the corporations that imploded because of it, but it's Eve Online, being evil is part of the game :)

Alex Sinclair's avatar
Alex SinclairMod
FirestormGamingTeam

"Survivors of World of Warcraft" 🤣 That's such a good angle.

FirestormGamingTeam's avatar
FirestormGamingTeam
Alex Sinclair

I know right, it worked wonders xD

Sturmer's avatar
Sturmer

The Shadow Trader

In the vast cosmos of New Eden, among the myriad stars of EVE Online, a saga unfolded that speaks to the heart of capitalism, cloaked in the anonymity of the digital abyss. There was an unknown capsuleer, a merchant of shadows whose real name remains unspoken, known in this tale simply as "John Doe."

John Doe was not a warrior nor a miner but a visionary of the market, a ghost in the galactic exchange. His armory was composed of analytics and market trends, his tactics steeped in the shadows of supply and demand.

Starting in the periphery of space commerce, John Doe meddled with the market on the smallest scale, turning over profits from the least of items. Yet, his gaze was set afar, on a scheme that would solidify his place as a specter of economic machination.

He summoned a network of silent accomplices, each unknowingly playing a part in a grander design. With calculated precision, John Doe orchestrated a drought of resources, quietly amassing an arsenal of Faction frigate blueprints copy (BPC) and the ship hull they produced. When the market ached with need, it was he who provided, though at a price steeped in desperation.

The climax of his stratagem came to be known as the Faction Frigate Feint. As owner of the market's entirety on these vessels, he had the power to set the stage for a dance of supply and demand. And when he raised whispers of a "balance patch" to elevate that Faction frigate’s prowess spread, John Doe was there, his coffers brimming with the fruits of foresight.

While others might boast or bask in the fleeting glory of their conquests, John Doe remained a phantom, his mind already navigating the stars toward his next venture. There, in the silence of his cloaked existence, he plotted. With the markets of New Eden just one plaything among many, the scope of his next scheme loomed on the horizon, its scale dwarfing his past machinations. In the unforgiving expanse of EVE, John Doe had carved a niche of prosperity, his anonymity the unsung ballad of the ultimate capitalist.

Alex Sinclair's avatar
Alex SinclairMod
Sturmer

I really enjoyed reading this. Could you confirm that this is an anonymised true story (as opposed to a fictional one)?

Sturmer's avatar
Sturmer
Alex Sinclair

Thanks! The boundaries between reality and fiction are often as intangible as the whisper of the wind through the leaves. The essence of storytelling lies in weaving a tapestry that resonates with the heart, whether it mirrors the world as it is, or as it could be. Thus, the question isn't whether the story is true or not, but rather, does it echo a truth within you?

Alex Sinclair's avatar
Alex SinclairMod
Sturmer

An elusive but excellent answer. It did indeed echo a truth within me. If there was another prize available for this bounty, then we would have awarded it to you. Please do resubmit this story in a fiction-focused bounty (we have some scheduled for the new year)

Mŷs Tæ Rae's avatar
Mŷs Tæ Rae
Sturmer

I like the cut of your jib, Sturmer.

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