Monday, June 24, 2013

The New Order Turns One


It's time to put on your party hats--I know you've got them--because today is a day of celebration. Today, the New Order of Highsec is officially one year old! It was June 24, 2012 when I went to EVE-O to announce the creation of the New Halaima Code of Conduct and declare my intention to enforce it by bumping miners.

My unusual announcement provoked a wide variety of reactions. Some were thrilled. Some were horrified. As for the EVE-O moderators, they attempted to bury the announcement by breaking their own rules and moving the thread to the "Sell Orders" subforum, which only permits threads about the sale of in-game items. They told me that this was a response to the fact that my thread also included an announcement about my upcoming IPO, in which people could become shareholders at a cost of 1 million isk per share. They conceded that my proposal did not include the sale of in-game items, so I was permitted to open another thread. They would not admit their mistake, however, and my announcement thread remains in Sell Orders to this day.

I copy-pasta'ed the old thread, removing all references to the IPO, and posted it once again in the "EVE General Discussion" subforum, the only subforum on EVE-O that gets any real traffic. But once more, the EVE-O moderators attempted to strangle the New Order in its cradle by breaking their own rules and moving it to a less-frequented subforum. This time, it was relocated to the "Intergalactic Summit" subforum, which only allows in-character roleplaying posts. My post had several references to the fact that EVE is a game, and the roleplayers who actually posted in the subforum demanded the thread be moved. Finally, the thread landed in the "Crime & Punishment" subforum. I prefer to believe that this is because Code violators are officially considered criminals.

Although the EVE-O moderators tried to stop it before it could begin, word about the New Order got out. It was an exciting development in the otherwise barren, desolate world of highsec. I opened up my IPO, which was only for the sale of 100 million isk worth of shares. I had not yet begun to enforce the Code, but the IPO sold out within 24 hours. The people had spoken. I allowed everyone who wished to participate to buy as many shares as they liked. So far, over 93 billion isk worth of shares have been sold.

It all started with one man bumping miners in a lonely ice field in Halaima. There were skeptics, of course. Following in the footsteps of the EVE-O moderators, a would-be assassin attmpted to prevent the creation of the Order by trying to suicide gank me with a tech II fitted Tempest on the first day. My Invincible Stabber emerged unscathed. I continued to bump. Some said it was pointless, a waste of time. "As long as you're bumping me, you can't bump anyone else," they said. "You'll never make a difference." I disagreed. I felt it was the best possible way to make a difference. One man standing on principle for something he believes in--it's the only way a difference has ever been made in the world.

I was right.

Word of the New Halaima Code of Conduct spread like wildfire. It could not be contained. Others became interested in learning about this "Code" that they heard was causing such a stir in Halaima. Slowly, very slow at first, other residents of highsec expressed a desire to enforce the Code. They became the first Agents of the New Order of Highsec.

After a time, the threads about my IPO in the Market Discussions subforum were no longer sufficient to report on all of the New Order-related activity. I created this blog, MinerBumping, which instantly became a sensation. Agents began recruiting other Agents. What began in Halaima spread across The Citadel and other regions of highsec.

Armed with the isk contributed by our shareholders, I was able to reimburse suicide ganking ships. The Knights of the Order were born. CCP's recent nerfs had brought miner ganking to the brink of extinction. The New Order brought it back. Before long, the New Order was the most feared and loved organization in highsec. Miners were forced to choose sides. Some chose wisely, and they joined the New Order family. Others chose poorly, and they suffered for it.

Since most EVE players live in highsec, and since the New Order was the biggest shock highsec had received since the end of Hulkageddon, EVE-O was constantly lit up with posts about the New Order. The forum moderators did their best to lock these topics and suppress information about what was happening in highsec. For a period of months, the topic was officially off-limits outside of a single thread CCP dedicated to "community feedback"--which was posted in Crime & Punishment rather than EVE General Discussion, to keep it out of the sight of most forum users. They sought support for the idea of banning miner bumping and classifying it as harassment. But this time, the EVE community struck back. They mocked the idea and logically tore the carebears' arguments to bits. CCP was forced to relent, and they officially recognized the legitimacy of miner bumping. Cultural victory was achieved.

Over the course of its first year, the New Order transcended EVE-O, CCP, and the other entrenched powers of EVE. No one could silence news of the New Order or discussions of its Code, because it was everywhere. The rebels and skeptics were powerless to resist its daily advance across empire space. Throughout all highsec, there isn't a system that can be found which has not been touched by the New Order in some way. Indeed, the New Order's criticisms of AFK ice mining resulted in CCP doing away with the practice, which had so long been rooted in EVE's game mechanics. And though not every miner has read the Code and pledged loyalty to me, yet, you cannot go anywhere in highsec without meeting someone in local who, when asked, will tell you what they have heard or experienced from the New Order.

One year ago, a solitary cruiser bumped into miners in a highsec ice field.

52 comments:

  1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

    Long live the New Order!

    High Sec says thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Birthday New Order. Keep up the good fight.

    - Guybertini

    ReplyDelete
  3. James you are the definition of emergent gameplay (whatever that means).
    Keep up the good job.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It wouldn't be a party without a fun hater!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think every good EVE player should take some time today to say thanks to James 315 for what he did.

    EVE would be nothing without brilliant players who create content for everyone else. Players like James 315.

    Thank you, and thanks to all the other EVE players who instead of egoistically playing a single player experience ignoring others, devote their time to shaping New Eden with their actions and ideas and to provide fun for others without worrying about their "ISK/Hour" ratio.

    CCP should thank those players: it's because of them that EVE is best player driven MMORPG ever!

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes because if you didnt worry about making isk, james and his cult following monkeys, wouldnt be able to fund their madness!!! So you really haven't thought out your comment, instead of being the miner (isk-hour) you gank the poor miner thats making a NOBLE living or making them pay 10M, your all just a pack of pirates! And where do you think all the money comes from donations etc? Just because James has put a sugar coating on a piece of chocolate, still just makes it a piece of chocolate with a sugar coating.. James and his cult following monkeys will always be pirates too scared to live in low sec.. I would most likely say, 'They couldn't cut it in low sec, so they pick on carebears who can not fight back in mining barges' How mighty Jamies 315 and his followers are!! (Roll eyes)

      You could pay the 10M and get ganked the next day by his followers?

      x Ash x

      Delete
    2. xxBLACK SKULLxx 929June 25, 2013 at 7:51 AM

      I love chocolate ans I can roll my eyes too ASH

      Black
      929

      Delete
    3. Anon 7:33...take a long breath, relax and use paragraph. You're not making sense.

      This is a game about players who create content with their creativity.

      James 315 had creativity and ambition, so he started something that provided gameplay and fun for a lot of old and new players (you see them commenting here, in large majority). Very noble.

      Non-compliant miners go to a rock and activate lasers. They just accumulate ISK, without even responding to other players. They don't make any difference for other players, apart from lowering profit for good miners thanks to their 24/7 ISK leeching. That's the opposite of noble, that's disgusting.

      Delete
  6. I recently bought four mining permits, even though I rarely ever mine.

    Just in case, you know? =D

    ~Korvus

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy birthday to the New Order!

    PRAISE JAMES!

    - John E Normus

    ReplyDelete
  8. It happens to be my actuall birthday too.. win win!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Keyboard miner here, who will not buy a permit, but who respects the new order and what James 315 added to eve and made it a more fun game. If you guys manage to gank me you'll get a gf from me. So NO please keep making the game fun

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. May I ask you why you don't want your permit if you support the New Order?

      Delete
    2. I like the challenge of having my tank tested. But my main alts do have shares in NO and buy mods ships etc when they can for the NO.

      Delete
    3. Hehe that's a nice take on it, thanks for answering.

      Mine long and prosper :D

      Delete
  10. Glorious, simply glorious. On this 1 year anniversary I think it would be nice if everyone posted a note if James 315 and the New Order saved you from a life of carebearism or worse yet, like me, unsubscribing.

    If not for what James started, I wouldn't still be in New Eden at all. Huzzah!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank James your still here then

      Delete
    2. EVE is made of players, like Malcolm Shinhwa. James 315 is literally saving EVE! Rejoice.

      Delete
  11. Happy birthday, New Order! I've already sent James 315 a present.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I sent James a gift. I can't wait 'til he opens it!

    Happy Birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Happy Birthday to the New Order

    I would also like to thank the Saviour for this blog, and the effort he puts into posting new articles daily for our enjoyment.

    Party in Halaima tonight?

    ReplyDelete
  14. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE NEW ORDER!!!

    Thanks to all our wonderful Agents and Knights, both past and present, for all the great stories! And of course, thanks to our Supreme Protector for being totally awesome!

    *puts on party hat*

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yikes, looks like someone wasn't invited to the festivities!

    ReplyDelete
  16. LOOK UPON THIS CAREBEARS AND DESPAIR!

    1 YEAR DOWN, 999 TO GO!

    LONG LIVE THE NEW ORDER!

    ...brings a tear to my eye...


    -Galaxy Pig

    ReplyDelete
  17. minions are so much cheaper than alts...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Says the bot!

      This is why New Order members look minions to people like you: you can't get the concept of being part of something bigger (or even corporations where members know each other and talk)

      Delete
  18. xxBLACK SKULLxx 929June 25, 2013 at 6:34 AM

    HAPPY B-DAY New Order on behalf of The NODD Thank You James for making EVE the best game i have ever played.Some of the most fun i have ever had in a game has been with my brothers & sisters of the New Order.May we continue to grow & have many many more years of fun in New Eden.

    Hail James315 & The New Order

    Black
    929

    ReplyDelete
  19. If it wasn't for this blog (and www.belligerentundesirables.com) I doubt I would have resubbed, so thank you, and happy birthday NO!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for the laughs NO, people like you guys are what makes Eve great.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Happy birthday to the New Order. Minerbumping is one of my favourite sites, and the New Order is what convinced me not to start mining (and in turn I found out that trading is far less boring and more profitable). Always entertained by this site, and thank you James for the laughs.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Non-compliant miners and NO haters, take a look at the comments here: you're the bad guys.

    Long live the rightful New Order!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Woe to you, oh earth and sea
    For the Devil sends the beast with wrath
    Because he knows the time is short
    Let him who hath understanding
    Reckon the number of the beast
    For it is a human number
    Its number is six hundred and sixty six

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I left alone
      My mind was blank
      I needed time to think to get
      The memories from my mind

      What did I see
      Can I believe
      That what I saw that night was real
      And not just fantasy

      Just what I saw
      In my own dreams
      Were they reflections of my warped mind
      Staring back at me

      'Cause in my dreams
      They're always there
      Bot aspirants that A F K
      And bring me to despair

      Delete
    2. My Haiku:

      Stabber bumps miner
      Many angry words spoken
      Haters gonna hate

      Delete
    3. Not an Haiku but...

      Ice depletes
      Patience depletes
      Miner is bumped
      and cries

      Delete
  24. So, after a year... has anything changed?
    I went mining today and saw a 20 ship fleet botting in Osmon taking the ice like locusts. There were about 20+ other miners there and looking at each and every profile, including mine, there were none with the requisite James 315 info in the Bios.
    So, after a year... I ask again, has anything changed?

    ~TEC

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TEC takes the time to look through 40 profiles, doesn't notice that ice depletes now. This change in game mechanics is due solely to the pressure brought to bear on CCP by James 315. Pay attention now TEC, more to come buddy.

      HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEW ORDER!!!

      Delete
    2. Fawn:

      Maybe you should pay attention and learn to read what is written and not put your own bias or subtext into your reading?

      Why is it when a straight forward question is asked, New Order agents get their panties in a twist, seeing sarcasm or fake tears as the only reason the question is being asked?

      ---------

      So, ok. The New Order made CCP change ice - if we accept that, then what?
      I still Ice Mine daily. I get more Ice daily now than I did before because, even though they are no longer static, I get the ice much quicker from the anomalies. So, the changes are better for me.

      But the question still has not been answered.
      What has changed?
      - There are still tons of bot.
      - There are still non-compliant miners. There are players never leaving high-sec.
      - There are players still avoiding PvP at all costs.

      ~TEC

      Delete
    3. Lol fake tears you say...how naive.

      By the way, a lot has changed. Many new players joined to follow the path of James, old bored players reactivated their account cause James' emergent gameplay organization gave hope to their bored hearts. A lot of people have fun by playing in high sec in the New Order and/or by reading this blog.

      This is what matters in a game, having fun. And this is the very unique kind of fun that only a sandbox like EVE can provide. In a game where content is made by players, this is very, very important.

      Just read the comments here. Fun made out of nothing, without the need of a game designer making it for you to consume.

      Delete
    4. Also read what Galaxy Pig wrote down here. You call that nothing? Don't be biased.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous 7:31

      Yeah, a lot has changed. Many players joined because of James. Many players quit for the same reason. However, my point is still valid. After 12 months of this, things are actually better for miners and bots than it was months ago.

      If that was the objective of James and the New Order, then you succeeded.... however I cannot see anything like that in the Code.

      ~TEC

      Delete
  25. Hmmm, let's see. 1 click/hour ice mining is dead (you're welcome), after starting as a lone hero and his Fleet Stabber, and growing into a Highsec-wide network of logistic personel, gankers, bumbers, awoxers and more who were officially acknowledged and legitimized by the GM team, I would say yes, we've affected change, not only in the game and it's mechanics, but in the core culture of EVE Online.

    Your tears stand as testimony.

    More agents are born each day and more Code-violators die each day, chuggin' right along.


    -Galaxy Pig

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hey GP:

      I ice mine and you are correct, 1-click / hour mining is gone. If James is responsible for the ice changes I am grateful. I now get twice as much ice at a much higher selling price in about 1/3 the time I did before.

      Then I get to asteroid belts and make even more money, since the belts are empty of scared miners.

      It is even better when an agent (or 3) pop a barge and CONCORD chills there the next few hours making mining even safer for the next few hours

      Thanks James & New Order

      Delete
    2. "More agents are born each day and more Code-violators die each day, chuggin' right along. "

      May it ever be so.

      Delete
    3. Danny, then you should buy some shares or you're an ungrateful prick.

      Delete
  26. https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=125025&p=5 That last comment made me laugh.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh who came up with idea of posting anonymously to hype myself up cuz I'm an attention whore.. Oh wait it was me James 315 Suckers! (wish you had thought of it?? I'm such a genius!)

    ReplyDelete
  28. xxBLACK SKULLxx 929June 25, 2013 at 7:31 PM

    1)To TEC, Our work is never done.There will always be non-compliant/BOT/AFK Pilots in EVE.We can't fix stupid.All we can do is try to teach & enforce the CODE.
    PS. The changes are better for me too cause all you dumbies are grouped up together.In a very small Ice Anom.
    2)To Danny C,You should be grateful to James315 & The New Order for the positive changes in EVE we have made for you.
    PS. If gankers left concord in the belt,then they weren't New Order cause we clean up after our ganks.

    Black
    929

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CCP should thank you for the positive play the New order as added to eve

      Delete
    2. xxBLACK SKULLxx 929

      First, this is how you reply to someone, you hit REPLY instead of ADD COMMENT. (you're welcome for the tip.)

      Second, I do not know what "dumbies" are but trying to say I am one means what? I may be grouped with other miners, closer now, but you still have done nothing to me.

      Third, I know you cannot fix stupid. But if saying that players doing something within the game rules is stupid just because you disagree with their play style is correct, then "you" and the New Order as just as stupid as miners/botters/AFK players.

      ~TEC

      Delete
  29. Yes, Bots can now mine ICE at twice the speed. For half the price, so how's that an improvement? :)

    ReplyDelete

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