Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Alliance Level Diplomacy

One of the great tragedies of EVE over the last few years has been the exodus of PvE'ers out of nullsec and into highsec. Nullsec real estate, once the prize of hard-won victories or costly and demeaning renter arrangements, has been scorned in favor of the AFK, risk-free delights of highsec. Agent Amyclas Lacedaemon found a member of a nullsec alliance mining in a Covetor in highsec. The Covetor was destroyed, and the miner was chastened for not mining where he belonged. Amyclas received the following reply:


"vice ececutor" Zettia took issue and demanded reimbursement. But Amyclas' position never changed: Nullsec alliances should mine in nullsec. Highsec belongs to the followers of the Code.


Zettia employed the classic carebear tactic of trying to redirect attention toward highsec traders. Yeah, if traders didn't take any risks, we'd deal with them only after the Code-violating miners are annihilated. Zettia concluded his EVEmail by saying it would be the last one that he or any of his alliance members would send. You know what that means.


A few hours later, the Executor himself(!) of the alliance sent an EVEmail. But LEGIO ASTARTES ARCANUM is not the only alliance that has engaged in high-level diplomacy with the New Order. I myself was contacted by an alliance representative:


Rollaz, the official diplomat of Zulu People alliance, sent me an EVEmail requesting that I cease aggression. I found the EVEmail interesting, because I had never had any contact with Zulu People before. Someone in my corp must have shot someone. It was then that I realized how easy it is to perform diplomatic oversight for a corp in which everyone is allowed to shoot people without permission. No doubt I am the envy of nullsec diplomats everywhere. At any rate, Rollaz warned me that if I didn't set them blue, they would take up "aggressive negotiations". That sounded more like a favor than a threat, because I was curious what aggressive negotiations would look like.


I sent Rollaz a nice note letting him know that I would offer his alliance special treatment, as a show of appreciation for their diplomatic efforts. The terms, of course, were identical to the terms I give everyone else. That's because in my view, I provide everyone in highsec with special treatment. The Code is so much more than the carebears deserve.


Rollaz responded in a frosty tone, which I did not appreciate one bit. On the other hand, someone I had never heard of, acting on behalf of an alliance I had never heard of, was making an offer out of nowhere to give me a quarter of a billion isk. So that's what aggressive negotiations look like.


The rest was just paperwork. They realized Currin Trading was an alt of James 315, and wanted confirmation that I received the money.


Another victory for the New Order! Of course, blue standings or not, all miners in highsec are required to follow the Code. It's kind of like having a birth certificate. You may be a citizen, but if you murder people, you're going to jail. Likewise, Zulu People forfeited their blue standings simultaneously with the purchase of them; it came to light, based on the earlier EVEmail, that they had no intention of following the Code.

In investigating Zulu People, I was heartbroken by their backwardness and primitive culture--no doubt a direct result of their lack of exposure to civilizing influence of the Code. They are the rarest of creatures, an alliance with a red killboard on eve-kill.net. The month of April has been unkind to them; their killboard efficiency is currently 3%. Crime doesn't pay.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Highsec Miner Grab Bag #29


When carebears start wishing cancer on other EVE players, that can only mean one thing: It's time for yet another edition of the Highsec Miner Grab Bag!


I have said on many occasions that if someone doesn't appear to speak English, they usually do, if you just ask. No guarantees that you'll like what they say, though.


Most people don't make a big deal about my CSPA charge of 315 isk, but I get the occasional complaint. Hig Hurtenflursts was willing to give me a pass, at least on that point.


You know the drill by now. Syn Winter has already changed his profile since I took this screenshot, so we're safe.


Stay vigilant, guardians of emergent gameplay. One day the carebears will come for our awoxing rights.


You've probably heard the expression "the adult in the room". I was the inspiration for it.


Now that I'm a rock star, I can have a positive impact on people just by being in the same system with them. No one can deny that I've kept my promise to only use my celebrity for good.


The christin backs of the world need to hear about the Code over and over before it has an impact. It's like chopping down a tree by repeatedly hitting it with an axe in the same place.


At first, the carebear will only accept the anti-bot agenda. Before long, they will adopt the anti-bot-aspirant agenda, as well.


I'm not sure why people compare the Code to a religion or a cult. Does doing good deeds necessarily require a supernatural motivation? Many Agents simply enforce the Code because it feels good to help others.


Too often, people get fixated on the idea of EVE as a sandbox. To me, it's more of a meta-sandbox, in which I construct the boundaries of everyone else's sandboxes. Luckily I'm not a tyrant, so people can mostly do whatever they want.


Mergon Mallidaxian is a perfect example of a guy who doesn't "get" the meta-sandbox. What's the point of a multiplayer game in which the players don't influence each other?


By this point, I wouldn't blame the GMs if they made it a policy to just automatically close any petition that refers to James 315 or the New Order.


Until next time, stay classy, highsec!

Seventy-Eight Billion in Shares Sold

On the heels of Erotica 1's record-shattering purchase of 6,000 shares a few days ago, I received this stunning EVEmail:


Out of control. Erotica has earned a second Sextuple Supreme Protector's Tip of the Hat™ for her purchase of an additional 6,000 shares, sending us over the 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, and 78 billion marks. Not satisfied, Erotica has laid down the gauntlet: In this thread on EVE-O, she has challenged anyone in EVE to attempt to exceed her investment in the New Order. With 12,000 shares in her name, that's no small task. Can it be done? Time will tell...

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Kills of the Week

Hear ye, hear ye! Let's look at some suicide gankings that took place from April 21st @ 00:00 EVEtime through April 27th @ 23:59 EVEtime.


OK, what's the deal with people mining in expensive battleships? This is starting to get creepy. Ron Krawallo provides the creepiness this week with a mining Navy Megathron. Thankfully, Agents Ziaeon, Fawn Tailor, Dante Lobos, Lenda Shinhwa, Galaxy Pig, Selina Dyle, and Galaxy Chicken arrived and put an end to the madness. As a bonus, they popped the 1.2 billion isk pod that the Navy Mega spat out.



I'm not sure what to say about this one. Amli was assisting an illegal mining op by protecting an Orca with this 840 million isk shield-repping Vargur. Then Agents Ziaeon, Capt Starfox, and Dante Lobos came by and killed her.



No, they didn't kill Amli in a second shield-repping Vargur. This is the same kill. I just enjoyed looking at it so much the first time I decided to post it again. This is a message to anyone who would protect an 800 million isk Orca with an 800 million isk repping-marauder: Don't be a hero. At least, not that kind of hero.



This 3.8 billion isk pod belonged to rebel miner Argus Tuffed, who was made to pay the antimatter price. Karbox Delacroix popped the pod, while the Hulk was smashed by Karbox Delacroix, Tara Read, Isotempo, and ZFK Hunter. Yes, this podkill took place a few weeks ago, but I missed it when it came up, and I'd rather correct that mistake than bury it.

(If you prefer fresher pod fare, you can enjoy Rob Creer's 1.9 billion isk pod with Crystal implants, which surely aided his Mackinaw with 3 Civilian Shield Boosters. Thanks be to Capt Starfox, Ziaeon, avea Kan, elina Dyle, and Dante Lobos.)



Ah, the Orcas. Joshua Kane Zirud lost this 1.3 billion isk Orca, along with a billion isk pod, because he thought he was too good for the Code. Friend, no one is too good for the Code. The Orca's cost was inflated by the more than 600 million isk worth of tech II shield-extending rigs. Ziaeon left the following note in the eve-kill.net comments: "Didn't even need a Brutix for this one. Zero fucks given about your attempt at tank."

So here's the thing. Over the past month, the New Order has suicide ganked 36 Orcas. 28 of those Orcas were killed during the week in question. You can see the list here, because I'm not going to link all of them separately.

You know, Orcas are historically not a very common target for suicide ganks. Even during the entirety of the Gallente Ice Interdiction of 2011, pre-insurance nerf, only around 20 Orcas were ganked. The New Order's ganking spree last week represents the largest slaughter of Orcas in EVE's history. I am at a loss for words. My heart is bursting.

Since I can't go through and list each of the 28 Orca ganks of this week, I'll simply list the Agents who participated in at least one of these kills, in alphabetical order. With all these bold tags, the internet is going to run out of ink, but here we go:

Capt Starfox, Carnyx, crusnic arcoli, cryonicw00t, Dante Lobos, Favea Kan, Guybertini, Isotempo, John E Normus, Karbox Delacroix, Lady Geesica Marstolt, Lenda Shinhwa, Maiki Dresin, Nu'adu, Pestario Vargas, PinkOboe, Selina Dyle, Stonecold Deathdealer, Talia Andrade, Tasa Vox Nova, Till Riedell, Wescro2, xxBLACK SKULLxx 929, xXBlackShinigamiXx 777, xxFEAR MONGERxx, xxLADY DEATHxx626, and last, but certainly not least, Ziaeon--I think he was on every single one of these Orca kills.

The New Order is a beacon of hope to all. I even noticed some of the kills had assists from NEW ORDER DEATH DEALERS, a corp with a bunch of people with "xx" names who originally planned to undermine the New Order, but who decided it would be more fun to help kill Orcas.

That's all for this week. Keep your Orcas safe, and let the Code light your way.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

CSM8 Results Announced

CCP has just announced the results of the CSM8 election! You can view the names of the winning candidates here, but why go to the trouble? I'll just copy-paste them on this post for you. The members of CSM8 will be (in alphabetical order):

Ali Aras, Chitsa Jason, James Arget, Kesper North, Korvin, Malcanis, Mangala Solaris, Mike Azariah, mynnna, progodlegend, Ripard Teg, Sala Cameron, Sort Dragon, and Trebor Daehdoow.

If you want to look up more information on the candidates, the page I linked lists the winners' names, corp/alliance membership, and links their EVEgate profiles. Now let's take a closer look at the CSM8 results. How did the election go?

Long story short, it was a knockout win for organized voting, especially nullsec bloc voting. Nullsec bloc candidates took the lion's share of the seats. The highly-organized wormhole community took an additional two seats. Of the few "independent" candidates who won, Mangala Solaris of RvB was also included on the nullsec bloc lists.

I wouldn't be surprised if these results trigger another overhaul of the voting system prior to the CSM9 elections. Carebears have already begun the waterworks on EVE-O. Many observers predicted nullsec dominance, but CCP had other ideas. Remember CCP Dolan's analysis of the STV system?
"One of the things that's wonderful about Wright-STV is that it greatly, greatly lessens the advantage of being organized... It greatly decreases the power of 0.0 blocs."
What was a bit of a surprise to CSM-watchers was the sharp decrease in turnout. Voter turnout had risen over the past few CSM elections, but CSM8 suffered a drop of about 16% in raw numbers. Since EVE subscriptions have risen quite a bit since the last election, the turnout drop as a percentage was even more severe. You might recall that Xander Phoena of CrossingZebras frequently debated CCP reps on this point, warning that the complicated voting system would depress an already-low turnout. This election's drop seems to vindicate Xander, as well as other CSM skeptics, such as The Mittani.

What else can we glean about the character of CSM8? A lot of good candidates won, including mynnna, Malcanis, and Chitsa Jason, among many others. But not all of them did. Psychotic Monk, a MinerBumping favorite for his highsec shenanigans, didn't prevail. Though nullsec bloc voting was overwhelmingly powerful, it was not omnipotent; candidates like Kaleb Rysode and Banlish didn't make it on, either.

Though much less carebear-friendly than previous CSMs, the bears weren't entirely shut out. Mike Azariah, perhaps the only true "wildcard" candidate who defied the conventional wisdom with his win, is a proponent of nerfing suicide ganking. Meanwhile, notorious carebear champion Trebor Daehdoow won reelection, as expected. And popular blogger Ripard Teg, of course, had no trouble winning a seat of his own. He has described himself as undecided as to whether "unfair" wardecs should be removed from the game. Now he'll have the opportunity to make up his mind--to see reason or to become a "+1" for all of Trebor's bad ideas.

The chairman of CSM8 was not announced, since that will be determined by a vote among the CSM8 members themselves. When I was invited to be included on the CFC bloc lists, I was told that the bloc candidates who won CSM seats would also be organizing to maximize the chance of picking the chairman. It might be interesting to see who wins the chairman seat, though in the past it has generally been viewed as a figurehead position.

CCP did announce the winners of the two "permanent" Iceland seats: mynnna and Ripard Teg were the two top vote-getters. As the official Goonswarm candidate, mynnna was expected by all to get the most votes. Ripard's win shouldn't come as too much of a surprise either, since he has the most name recognition of any of the candidates. (Indeed, one might say he was the only candidate who carried a lot of name recognition among the EVE community at large--though I still think he would have gotten even more votes had he run on an alt named "Jester Trek".)

As a side note, Trebor has expressed his desire to be chairman. He would presumably hope that his friend Ripard, whom he has mentored throughout this process, would repay his loyalty by supporting him in that endeavor. But since Ripard got more votes than Trebor (probably a lot more votes), shouldn't Trebor be supporting Ripard for chairman instead? Especially since Trebor has already had several CSM terms to prove his worth by now? Actually, forget I asked. We don't need to be encouraging any infighting among the carebear contingent.

So there you have it! A hearty congratulations to those candidates who won seats on the CSM (aside from the carebears, who needn't be encouraged). For those who ran but didn't win, my condolences (again, unless you're pro-carebear). If, after observing the activities of CSM8, you are still eager for the job, your experience in running this time will have built a good foundation upon which to make a second attempt.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Is CCP Preparing to Eliminate Suicide Ganking?

TheMittani.com posted an article yesterday about the Fanfest presentation on Crimewatch and Tags4Sec. The idea of "Tags4Sec", having lowsec rats drop tags that can be sold or redeemed to raise security status, has been around for a long time now. According to CCP's presentation at Fanfest, the upcoming Odyssey expansion will introduce the Tags4Sec feature.

In addition, CCP announced that they will nerf players' ability to raise their security status by removing "cycle ratting". Basically, this means that players can't speed up security status gains by killing rats in multiple systems. This nerf will be partially offset by allowing a security status gain once every five minutes, regardless of system, instead of every fifteen minutes ("ticks" were twelve minutes when I used to rat, but everyone says fifteen, so whatevs).

The practical effect of these changes is actually somewhat unclear. In the comments section of the article, Powers Sa of Goonswarm's Miniluv estimated that the replacement of cycle ratting with a 5-minute limit will roughly double the amount of time it takes to raise sec status. But one must also add Tags4Sec into the mix. How rare/expensive will the tags be? Will buying tags add to the ever-increasing cost of suicide ganking, or will they be common/cheap enough to make raising sec status trivial? Adding to the complexity is the fact that there will be different tags for increasing sec status in different ranges. Will it become much more costly to raise sec status from -10 up to -8, as opposed to going from -2 to 0?

Based on CCP's historic pattern, one might guess that they'll initially go overboard with the new feature, putting tag-rats everywhere in lowsec, making them extremely cheap. Then, having seen the effect of a relatively small number of sec-grinders buying from the vast pool of tags, CCP will nerf the tags to make them more expensive. But this is all speculation.

At this point, you might be wondering what the big deal is. That's because I have committed not one, but two journalistic crimes in this post. The first crime was to have a headline that ends with a question mark. The second crime was to bury the lede. I feel justified in the committing the later crime because sometimes a bit of background information is helpful in effectively communicating the "important" part, which saves time in the long run. Besides, if you're reading blog posts about EVE (or indeed, playing EVE at all), you can't really be too pressed for time. Anyway, while most of the conversation in the EVE community has centered on the subjects I've just addressed, the far more significant announcement in the Fanfest presentation had to do with "Concord standings". Here's the brief mention from the TheMittani.com article:
"The first announced change was the splitting of security status from CONCORD standings. Currently CONCORD standing and security status are the same thing. After Odyssey CONCORD standings will be reset to 0 for all players and will function as standings, just like any other faction present in the game. It was stated that this will have relatively little effect for the moment, but offers CCP the freedom to program "interesting things" in future. Please note this is NOT a resetting of security status, which will remain consistent."
Before I delve into the significance of this, a brief diversion: Sec status affects players in two different ways. The first, near and dear to our hearts, relates to suicide ganking in highsec. Once your sec status drops below -2, you begin to be shut out from flying freely through highsec systems. You can still warp your pod around, but you are attackable by all players and, more significantly, faction police will tackle and destroy you if you remain in the same place for too long. This is the reason why some gankers (such as Miniluv) periodically restore their sec status. Others, like the Knights of the Order, design their operation around gank alts with permanent -10 sec status.

The second affect of sec status has to do with lowsec players. If you attack anyone in lowsec who isn't a wardec target, you'll lose sec status. The penalty isn't as great, but it still eventually shuts lowsec players out of operating freely in highsec. The difference is that Concord isn't present in lowsec. A lowsec player can reach -10 sec status without ever having suicide ganked a miner. Indeed, you can be a model citizen in highsec and still have a bad rap, simply by being an active lowsec player.

There isn't any good reason for this kind of treatment for lowsec players, and it's one of the reasons why lowsec became the red-headed stepchild of the EVE galaxy. Personally, I think they should remove all sec status penalties for lowsec actions. You might recall from my debate with Ripard Teg on my CSM platform that even he agreed with some of my opinions on sec status grinding, particularly where lowsec is concerned.

This brings us to CCP's plans to divide sec status from Concord status. According to my long-standing theory on the carebearization of EVE, CCP has been incrementally removing all risk from highsec, for the purpose of making EVE a more welcoming place for the mainstream, theme park MMO players who have made so many other computer companies rich. My theory further states that CCP knows from past experience that it cannot create a theme park in highsec in one fell swoop without risking the wrath of its existing playerbase, so they must do it step-by-step and disguise their intentions along the way.

In the past, we've discussed a lot of the changes to suicide ganking, can-flipping, and wardecs that have occurred along the way. More recently, we've talked about the debate that has already taken place among CCP and the CSM about whether to remove non-consensual wardecs entirely. My theory also predicts that despite suicide ganking of mining ships occurring at an all-time low, CCP will be tempted to take further steps toward eliminating suicide ganking altogether.

Based on that prediction, I and other like-minded individuals have paid special attention to anything that might diminish the ability of EVE players to perform suicide ganks while at -10 sec status. In particular, I have been watchful for any hints that CCP might buff faction police or make Concord response time variable according to sec status. (Incidentally, both of these changes have been proposed by carebear advocates of a risk-free highsec in whine threads on EVE-O.) Such changes would be especially harmful because most suicide gankers have been forced to operate at -10 sec status, thanks to all the previous nerfs to ganking.

CCP's announcement that they will be splitting sec status from Concord standings (without telling us anything about why they're doing it) is exactly the kind of thing I have been on the lookout for. The article on TheMittani.com quotes CCP as saying "this will have relatively little effect for the moment, but offers CCP the freedom to program 'interesting things' in future." Let's consider the kind of interesting things CCP might do with the new feature.

The most obvious use for the new Concord standings is to program variable Concord response time. For example, a player with a Concord standing of 0 might get the default amount of time to perform a suicide gank, but a player with -10 could be stopped by Concord within a few short seconds. This would effectively spell the end of DPS-based suicide ganking as we know it. Alpha-based suicide ganking could be eliminated if low Concord standings allow preexisting Concord squads (such as those milling around the Jita gate) to open fire on criminals before they commit a Concordable offense.

CCP could argue that it's not really a nerf to ganking, perhaps by allowing people with higher Concord standings to have more than the default time to commit a gank. But in practice, anyone who performs suicide ganks does more than one gank in the lifetime of a character. Before long, any ganker would find himself with low Concord standings and at the mercy of whatever new nerf is planned.

To the extent that gankers could adapt to the change, they would need to do it by abandoning their -10 lifestyle. A determined ganker might respond by saying, "Welp, time to buy a bunch of tags or grind sec status." Depending on how the Tags4Sec system shakes out, this might be practical, or it might be effectively impossible. But that's where the splitting of Concord status and sec status really comes into play.

Remember, CCP announced said that sec status and Concord standings will be completely separate. They have not said anything about being able to increase one's Concord standings with the new tags--only sec status. They have not said anything about how Concord standings may be raised, or even whether they can be raised at all.

By splitting Concord standings from sec status, CCP will be able to treat suicide gankers very differently from the lowsec community. Recall, for example, the massive nerfs to suicide ganking that occurred after the Jihadswarm campaign of several years ago. In those days, CCP attempted to limit ganking by increasing the sec status penalties and making them more of a burden to grind. Suppose CCP wanted to do something like this again. It wouldn't merely affect the suicide gankers; it would also affect everyone in lowsec. But now, by dividing sec status from Concord standings, CCP could punish the gankers without touching the lowsec players.

We might imagine, for instance, cheaply-available tags that help lowseccers increase their sec status, and ultra-rare Concord tags that allow suicide gankers to increase their Concord standings only for a high price. CCP could allow ratting to raise sec status as normal, but make Concord standings unaffected by ratting. Alternatively, they could make ratting raise sec status at a decent rate, but make Concord standings creep up only in very small amounts. The result would be that gankers operating at a permanent -10 would be neutered by faster Concord reaction times, while gankers who grind standings would be subject to a more burdensome Concord standing grind. Meanwhile, the lowsec crowd would have no incentive to join the ganking community in opposing these changes, because they would have an easier time restoring sec status.

Of course, this is all speculation. On the other hand, speculation only ends when the official decision has already been made. By the time a new system has been announced, it will be too late. In the meantime, consider the following: Aside from creating a new way to nerf gankers and make highsec safer, are there any other possible reasons for the new system? And if there are potentially "good" uses for the system, why hasn't CCP said anything about them?

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Character Witness


Out of nowhere, I received a convo invitation from Erotica 1, and just like that, it was another interesting day in highsec.


A group chat? I had no idea who Constantine Achasse was, or what was going on.


I had to confess the truth: Erotica has never scammed me. It seemed that I had been pulled into an ongoing conversation, to serve as a character witness.


Erotica 1 is among the most prominent residents of Jita. She specializes in doubling isk. I first came across Erotica's work when she posted a thread in the Crime & Punishment subforum of EVE-O, warning of slanderous trolls who try to disrupt her isk doubling business.


I wasn't clear on the past transactions between Erotica and Constantine, so I decided we would need to start from the very beginning:


To begin with, a highsec resident needs to become fully aware of my website. If CCP wants to improve new player experience, they really ought to put a link in the tutorial. Or better yet, on the client download page. Maybe if MinerBumping had the word "University" somewhere in the title, we would qualify for special treatment.


As I was getting Constantine squared away, Erotica was able to fetch another character witness, CSM candidate Psychotic Monk. He had things to do, but was able to put in a good word for Erotica. I began to wonder how many people had already passed through this convo before I arrived.


But this wasn't all about me. I was there to help Constantine and Erotica sort out some problem. I leapt into action.


So far, so good. Both parties agreed that Erotica had indeed doubled a sizable amount of isk for Constantine--precisely what you would expect from an isk doubler.


...But there were complications. Constantine had sent Erotica an additional billion isk, requesting another doubling. The timing couldn't have been worse. Erotica had to leave, and at that very moment, her wallet came under attack from members of Brave Newbies Inc., who filled it with a stream of 0.10 isk contributions.


Because of the isk spam, Erotica could not verify Constantine's billion isk was received. But she was willing to send him 6 billion, if he sent an additional billion as a show of good faith. Otherwise, Erotica ran the risk of being scammed by Constantine.


I was extremely confident of Erotica's honour, so I volunteered to put a billion isk of my own money on the line.


However, Constantine's head was swimming, and he needed to get some sleep. He couldn't think straight.


Constantine retired for the evening. At least he understood that isk doubling is best done after a good night's rest.


Before I left, Erotica volunteered to make a contribution to the New Order.


Like all responsible businessmen and businesswomen, Erotica wanted to give something back to the community from which she had benefited so much. The New Order was a natural choice. There's no better charitable organization in highsec.


Having become the New Order's new top shareholder, Erotica 1 bid me (and someone else she invited) adieu. An isk doubler's work is never done.

Seventy-Two Billion in Shares Sold

After ten months in the New Order business, it's not every day you get to say you've seen a "first". Today we have a first. Erotica 1 has earned the very first Sextuple Supreme Protector's Tip of the Hat™, for her purchase of 6,000 shares. Said purchase sent us over the 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, and 72 billion marks. Extraordinary! This is yet more proof that one person can make a positive difference. The EVE community is rallying around our effort, and Code violators are dying in droves. What could be finer?

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Rage of the Russian Renegade, Part 1

EVE isn't just a game for the English-speaking world; it attracts good players and bot-aspirants from all across the globe.


The New Order, too, is an international organization. We are famous throughout the EVE galaxy. Every community in highsec has been touched by us, irrespective of differences in language and custom. The Code is by far the most widely-read EVE-related document. It has been translated into a multitude of different languages--see here for a Russian example. No one has an excuse for not following the Code.


After bouncing Mirion Renegade from his illegal mining operation, I immediately received a convo request. A hint for future clients: Don't be like the people who only get chatty after I remove them from their space-rocks. Talk to me when I talk to you.


Renegade started off the convo in Russian. I've usually found that requesting English a few times results in the miner miraculously learning at least some English.


Renegade feigned ignorance of the Code. I played along and URL-dropped. This revealed his true colors. Renegade terminated the convo.


However, while I was going about my business telling other miners in the system what to do, Renegade decided to speak up in local. Hint #2: Don't try to take me on in local. It's my home turf.


They may all look alike and sound alike, but each carebear is slightly different. That's why I tailor my approach, depending on the unique defects of the miner in question. I was surprised to see that the Veldspar-mining Retriever pilot was actually a 2010 character. Strangely, he had nothing but a small URL in his bio, which led me to this:


The disadvantage of cartoons in foreign languages is that you can't drag & drop the text into Google Translate. I was therefore unable to learn anything new about the nature of Renegade's problems.


Mirion Renegade is what we in the business call a real "fixer-upper".


The locals of Osmon began to take an interest in Renegade. His fellow miners took his side--to varying degrees.


I continued to help other miners in the system follow the Code, but Renegade would not be silenced. From time to time, I pasted his comments into Google Translate, just in case he was turning over a new leaf and apologizing.

"James 315 and you Udot bumper cocks fucking - scum dumb cattle smelly - I will punish my family and you still punishing me - they have deprived me of ISOC and at home - and are you fucking drew Chmyr"

The reference to "ISOC" may be a Russian "Internet Society". If so, I can't imagine why they would kick him out.


"James 315 let me tell you zys fall off me or I ducat your Lyalka salt scum to Fuck"

Renegade attempted to draw in allies like Coran Sasen, who had also refused to abide by the Code. They were of little help.


Normally a bumped miner's temper dies down after awhile. But as time went on, it seemed Renegade only became more incensed.


Now, for the first time, Renegade claimed financial hardship. If he really lacked the isk to pay me my 10 million, you'd think he would've led with that argument instead of the whole "cattle smelly" thing. Following standard protocol, I instructed him to sell his mining ship to pay for his mining permit.


Renegade's emotions were getting the better of him. I did my best to calm his nerves, but I was running out of ideas. Most people would cut their losses at this point. Most people aren't the Saviour of Highsec. I was determined to bring Mirion Renegade into civilized society, no matter the cost.

To be continued...