We can talk for an endless time of the most impressive in-game moment in our history, but for me, it’s the activities we do outside the game that really impress me.
Beyond the year-long display of EVE Online in the New York Museum of Modern Art (2013-2014) and even the standing monument outside of CCP headquarters (a monument which is considered a nationally protected landmark by the government of Iceland), it is the players’ capacity to come together in the face of tragedy that really makes us shine and stand out amongst every other videogame.
Two things come to mind: PLEX For Good and Sean Smith.
PLEX For Good is a charity drive wherein CCP partners up with the Icelandic Red Cross and other relief organizations to help raise money for their choice organizations whenever a major international disaster strikes. The drive focuses on players donating timecards and PLEX back to CCP, and in return, CCP donates the equivalent amount of real-world money following conversion to the Icelandic Red Cross or other relief program. The initiative first began in 2005 following the tsunami in Southeast Asia, raising over $25,000. The contributions for almost every PLEX For Good drive have increased in amount, with well over $700,000 donated up until 2022. That year, PLEX For Good was held to raise money to support relief efforts in the Ukraine following the Russian invasion. In 2022, over $500,000 was raised, smashing apart every other record set during the PLEX For Good drive. The initiative continued into 2023, and continues to reward contributing capsuleers with apparel for their avatars.
Sean Smith was Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. State Department. He was one of the four individuals killed on September 11, 2012, during the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya. He was also a major diplomat (and some consider the number-two-man) to the Goonswarm alliance. Stories of Sean Smith speak of his tenacity at establishing the equivalent of the Central Intelligence Agency in Goonswarm, as a major espionage and spy network which monitored rival alliances. There has even been talk that Sean Smith as “Vilerat” was responsible for engineering the dissolution of the former Band Of Brothers. Sean Smith was a friend to developers and even made an appearance at Fanfest on the Council of Stellar Management.
Upon news of his death circulating amongst the EVE Online community, tributes from friends, fellow pilots, and developers poured in. CCP at Fanfest the following year held a tribute to Sean Smith during their presentations. The iconic lighting-of-the-cynos memorial ceremony was held by capsuleers. Outposts throughout null-sec were renamed in Vilerat’s honor. Likewise, the EVE Online and Something Awful communities came together to raise money and provide donations for Sean Smith’s family, to the tunes of $127,000. Some of these pilots had never met Sean Smith/Vilerat in person, but had merely flown with him during his time in EVE Online.
In both of these cases, all of this money and these contributions were brought forth over the community coming together in the course of a videogame. I know of only one other gaming platform that has ever come close to this kind of charitable activity, and it is us as the player base who are centrally responsible for setting EVE Online apart from its counterparts.
We as the EVE Online community are what is truly impressive. Remember this always, and fly safe!
