Tuesday, June 25, 2013

The Secret Origins of the New Order

Most people who have played EVE within the last year have heard of the New Order. We don't hide what we're about, and we tend to make a splash wherever we go. Yet the origins of the New Order are not so well known. On occasion, I have alluded to what occurred in the days immediately preceding the now-famous June 24th declaration. As we continue this week's celebration of the first anniversary of the New Order, I present to you a special treat. For the first time, I will reveal the GM petition responses that led to the creation of our beloved Order.

UPDATE: After making this post, I was contacted by our friendly neighborhood GMs, who requested that the screenshots of the petition responses not be published here. Because I love and respect CCP--especially the GMs--I have deleted these screenshots. I have also officially petitioned for authorization to use the screenshots. Should my petition be granted, I will restore them.

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In the week prior to the creation of the New Order, I purchased a Stabber Fleet Issue and went looking for some miners to bump. I traveled to Halaima, an ice field system near Jita. I told the miners that I would not tolerate botting, and I proved it by bumping the miners whom I suspected of being bots. After a couple days, I received a warning for harassment. I filed a petition in which I requested an explanation for how my good deeds could be so unjustly categorized. This is what I received.

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GM Banana gave me a lengthy explanation of the rules. As it turned out, bumping gets a more complicated treatment under the EULA than just about anything else. According to his interpretation, bumping in combat was considered okay, but miner bumping was not.

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Banana quoted me a provision of the EULA that you might still see space lawyers citing from time to time. Personally, I was unimpressed. What does bumping have to do with dumping cargo containers? And how can someone interfere with the ability of a bot-aspirant to enjoy the game? The whole reason they do what they do is to make money while not playing the game, because they don't enjoy it.

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Though Banana was aware of the fact that I was accusing miners of being bots, he wasn't convinced that my suspicions had any merit. My bumping targets were chosen according to my finely-honed detective skills, but this was dismissed as griefing "random players". I was a loose cannon. At the time, it was common knowledge that CCP wasn't doing enough to combat the botter problem, precisely because they were incapable of distinguishing between human miners and bots. I stepped into the gap and was being punished for it. Ominously, Banana informed me that I was a marked man, a known miner bumper. I had to watch my back.

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Of course my efforts seemed random to the CCP folk who couldn't detect bots. For someone who doesn't understand what DNA or fingerprints are, it would seem that the police randomly arrest people. Significantly, this was also the first evidence that my actions were generating a lot of petitions from the whiny carebears. I knew I was making an impact. The source was unimpeachable--it was coming directly from a member of the GM staff! If you want to get some idea of how many petitions we've caused over the last year, take note: This was before the New Order even began. It wasn't even day one yet.

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GM Banana concluded by telling me that the rules were foggy. Because they were judged on a case-by-case basis, there was no way for me to anticipate whether or not I would get in trouble for bumping miners again. I wouldn't know I had ended up on the wrong side of the EULA until after I was banned. Worse, I couldn't avoid punishment by limited myself to a few bumpers per miner: Even short periods of bumping could be judged illegal.

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The rules were clear as mud, but the result was clear as crystal: If I continued my career of bumping miners, I would probably be banned from playing EVE. The EULA was just too blurry on the issue, and it was too easy for a GM to come by on a case-by-case basis and determine that I was performing "random griefing", even if I only bumped miners for a short time. I was marked as a known bumper, so my actions would be subject to heavier scrutiny. I already knew that even my few days of bumping had resulted in enough petitions to make the GMs take notice. Besides, I had already received a warning, so I wouldn't have an excuse. So that was it, then. No more bumping.


And yet... The true visionary is one who sees opportunity where others do not. I read GM Banana's message again, this time--dare I say it?--through the eyes of a Saviour of Highsec.

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Did you see it, dear reader? Among the examples of an acceptable use of bumping, Banana suggested that a fleet might bump miners away for competitive reasons, to protect their asteroids or ice blocks. (At the time, all ice blocks were infinite, so I don't know why someone would do this, but hey, it's EVE.) I thought about this idea of Banana's. Then it occurred to me that it might be possible to create a "business" in which miners pay for the privilege of mining in my system. Of course, it would go far beyond that, because someone would need to pay me money and follow a Code of conduct. But when I did bump miners, it wouldn't be at random. Not at all.

I pitched the idea to GM Banana and asked whether he could tell me if I would fall on the right side of the EULA.

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Banana reacted positively to my idea. However, since there was no precedent, he was careful to say that he could not give me any guarantee that I would be allowed to do this. There was still risk involved. It might be permitted, or I might be banned. But you all know me--I'm a big believer in having risk in highsec.

I decided to take his "most likely" as a "yes". From that point forward, I always claimed that I had been given a green light by the GMs, and that the New Order was acting entirely within the rules. This was completely true; the Saviour of Highsec tells no lies. It's just that the GM staff wouldn't conclusively determine that I was telling the truth until several months later, when they issued an official ruling on the matter. By then, countless Agents had bumped countless Code-violating miners. You can't fault me for being ahead of my time.

I certainly did turn a profit on my business. Disregarding the isk sent to me in donations or for the purchase of shares, I have made billions of isk by selling hundreds of mining permits. My expenses were minimal. The Stabber Fleet Issue that I purchased in June 2012 has never needed ammo, nor has it needed to be replaced, for it is Invincible. As for highsec, it would never be the same again.

59 comments:

  1. I need a tissue. There are few things more emotionally-touching than a birth - and the New Order is no exception.

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  2. Have CCP ever looked making your idea and successful NO become illegal, to make the carebears happy ( and by that I mean botters etc not true miners)

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    Replies
    1. Even if they made bumping illegal (which they're not going to), non compliants would still be subject to being ganked, and I predict they'd get ganked more than ever in protest to banning bumping.

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  3. The GM suggested an acceptable use of bumping miners... And a business was born!

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  4. Well James I understand now. Once I was against you, now even if I don't care for all the pseudo religious stuff, I get it. Expect a new shareholder soon.

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    1. One more thing I did move to null sec to mine, but what the hell I'll buy a permit just in case I ever happen to do any highsec mining.

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    2. You're a man of reason!

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    3. A miner should buy a permit wherever he mines, be it high, low or null sec. Mining without a permit makes you non compliant.

      -Universe Hog.

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  5. keeping your ship for more than a year isn't really something to be proud of. what it means is you lack an impact to generate serious enemies. what? no merc contact to kill or pod?? as everybody knows heroes are weighted against their villians. and you have been at it for a whole year now? oh look he made a splash- but nobody got wet.

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    1. James brought a new aspect to the game play. Made friends and foes at the same time. How many others can you name that have done that. And yes this is mainly an indy based player saying this to you. I HAVE REPSECT FOR HIM FOR THIS. Even if we play differnet roles in the eve sandbox

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    2. I am leia jadesol in eve. And I am glad james 315 decided to do what ccp wouldn't do, that's a simple answer go for botters.

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    3. Yeah, nobody got wet. That's why no miner ever filled a petition.

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    4. I bet you also think that Police have no impact cause nobody destroy their cars...

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    5. "as everybody knows heroes are weighted against their villians"

      What kind of bizarre comic-book world did you come from?

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    6. maybe the same comic-book which has a protector and savior?

      ok try then: a couple of weeks ago; the great lament was that the change to Ice Belts was a direct attack by CCP on New Order and a nerf to their game play. But wait, this week - no this CCP's listening to New Order and nerfing bots.

      has the chocolate ration been reduced to 20grams per week?

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    7. You speak in strange riddles, Anon. Agents of the New Order have never been allotted chocolate rations.

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    8. Yes confirming we've never been allotted chocolate rations and that these chocolate rations we have never been issued have not been cut back to only 20 grams.

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    9. Kanyenda "James brought a new aspect to the game play"

      No he didn't. This was going on way before James copied it. I was doing this in Teonusude at least 2 years ago.

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    10. There have been attempts to kill James' SFI, but they've failed. Most bots and bot aspirants are too lazy or cheap to hire mercs to gank him.

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    11. Lol MF, "he copied me!!"

      That's why you are now famous and James 315 isn't. That's also why CCP never had to official state their stance on the matter before now.

      Please...

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    12. James Copies many people. Rarely an innovator himself, just a loud mouthed self publicist.

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    13. Look at the bad-mouthers, all here to read and comment! And yet they think they're not under the influence of the Saviour!

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  6. I anxiously await Star Citizen. That way, Eve players who enjoy the griefing, bullying, emergent gameplay paradise can have their game, and more casual PVE players can have there game, where they can control how much they interact with other players.

    It is also the highest crowdfunded game of all time.

    I can't help but wonder how much of it is from disgruntled Eve players who want the game to finally have some worthy competition.

    CCP needs to stop flaunting their game growth. Because it comes as no surprise when they have no competition.

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    1. Can I have your stuff?

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    2. Absolutely not. My stuff will forever remain in limbo. Why the fuck would I give MY virtual stuff to someone I do not want to have them.

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    3. I am a kickstarter backer of Star Citizen. Never heard of Eve until I started reading about Star Citizen. But the more I read about it, the more I wonder what will happen. The carebears might well flock to Star Citizen because its like a spaceship paradise to them. But when they go, I think they will also loose what they liked about Eve, but just won't admit it. The sense of fear and excitement knowing that every time they undock they could be engaged in a struggle for their very lives.

      My prediction is that a lot of carebears will leave Eve for Star Citizen. That will be very bad for CCP. But I also predict that a bunch of those same bears will quit Star Citizen because it doesn't have that same Eve like fear and excitement. I'm guessing most of the bears won't come back to Eve either. Some look at that as a good thing. Not me though, those bears are pilots and I'll be sad to see them go. We will just have to see if CCP can whether it or not.

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    4. Judging from the screencaps James has provided us for a year, no, a lot of the carebears DON'T like that fear.

      And also according to James, he would prefer it if those bears DON'T come back.

      And yes, I want this to make CCP think. I've been over this before, hoping X game kills/hurts Y game and nothing ends up happening, but I hope it happens once again.

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    5. And what makes you think we won't follow the carebears into Star Citizen as well? That game will need a Saviour as well, just like every other game. By the time it comes out, EVE highsec will be code compliant, i assure you, so the New Order will have the resources to expand into other realms. The New Order is about ethics and fair play, and botters everywhere, be it EVE or other games need to be shown the light. All hail the New Order and the Code!

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    6. "and more casual PVE players can have there game, where they can control how much they interact with other players."

      Said like a true bot aspirant. I beg to differ, you can control how much you interact with other players in EVE as well. While you aqre logged in, you interact with players. when you don't want to interact, you leave your asteroid belt, dock up, log out, and you don't have to interact with anyone in EVE! It's easy! Try it! Take your first step to be a code compliant miner today!

      -Universe Hog

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    7. LOL Star Citizen isn't a real MMO...more like a "lobby" game.

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    8. Star Citizen is not competition for EVE...the reason why EVE has been succesful for ten years is because of its ambition, being a single shard sandbox where players shape their own world. In EVE you feel like you're part of something bigger, a working society where everyone has a influence.

      Star Citizen will be just a single player game where you can play with others if you want, like a space Call of Duty...there's no reason for a gamer who likes EVE for what it is to even consider trying Star Citizen.

      It will appeal to players who want that kind of game where a slider can filter how online the game has to be, but it's definitely not competition for a game like EVE, no more than WoW is.

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    9. OP read this:

      http://poeticstanziel.blogspot.it/2012/12/star-citizen-is-not-mmo.html

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    10. Anon@6:18
      Ah but we can filter you out. The casual players will finally have a weapon against you that you cannot beat. You'll have to stay in your griefing playground, lol!

      Anon@6:29
      But we don't have to let griefers and bullies change or affect the way we play. That is the real beauty of it. We can play the way we want, and no one can stop or alter that.

      Anon@1:16
      That remains to be seen. If it takes a decent amount of carebears from New Eden, I'm sure CCP will beg to differ, and see it as competition.

      Anon@1:29
      Creator has expressed his dislike of griefing? I'm sold already. I don't care if it's an MMO or not. Whatever takes away targets from people like you, and whatever takes away subscription revenue from CCP for supporting people like you.

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    11. You really have now idea. Using expressions like "people like you" instead of "players like you" clearly shows you have twisted morality.

      You know who are "people like us"? CCP. They were player killers in Ultima Online, and they created a game with that kind of competitive freedom in mind. You're playing the wrong game. Listen to what Soundwave says in his "balancing tears nad laughter" panel of fanfest. EVE will never cater to players like you. Its secret of success is not being a carebear MMO like the WoW clones.

      Your slider will only filter out other carebears, because no serious sandbox PVPer will be playing there.

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    12. Hell, even serious carebears will never touch Star Citizens...they will want to be part of a true economy, where fighting is sustained by harvesting and producing. Where you will be able to do meaningful trading. Star Citizen will never have the kind of economy EVE has, hardcore industrial players will not be interested in that instanced playstyle.

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    13. I'm not playing the wrong game. Not any longer.

      I just want games like Star Citizen to succeed so blogs like this will run out of tears to post.

      I don't have a problem with CCP running the type of game they want to run, but as long as it isn't at the expense of players who want something more casual and catered to them, that is also sci-fi.

      And Yes, I'd say anyone on this blog has a little bit of twisted morality. What of it, griefer?

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    14. If you no longer play, why commenting here? Just leave EVE behind and be happy. Don't worry for us, EVE will never lose industrial players. They like to play in a working virtual economy where their presence matters, they don't want instanced gameplay or they would be playing another game already.

      I really hope Star Citizen will take those kind of carebears away...EVE will be a better game after they leave. Eve needs good industrial players who undertsand what a sandbox is and contribute by creating content (example: Chribba, Tippia), not whiny, useless resources leeches.

      And you're wrong about morality. The ones with twisted morality are the people who use real life morality in a context like a videogame, where losing and killing are part of the game. Killing in the real world is horrible. Killing in a game is often required and part of the fun.

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    15. I have left Eve. I have not left the Internet. Getting reactions out of people is all too fun, which is why I imagine this blog exists.

      Yes, I do hope that Star Citizen and Eve can make its two kinds of players happy. Because I can tell what kind of player you are, by your badmouthing of our playstyle.

      And no, it is twisted. The way people act online is reflective, at least partly, of a persons actual mindset.

      Take James. He has a superiority complex who has to dictate how others play. He likes combat so he demands that everyone else like combat as well.

      Eve is a niche game, and it needs to stay a niche game. There needs to be other options for sci-fi fans who care for their experience alone, and could care less about others in the same game, especially others who would do them harm for the lulz.

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    16. Anon @ 3:58 PM wants to label EVE as a 'niche game', hoping that label will diminish the title. Meanwhile, it will continue to outperform RIFT, Aion, SW:TOR, Planetside, STO, or any other number of 'mainstream' MMOs.

      Delete
    17. @anon 3:58PM:

      So, are you a bad person because you like to troll a blog, or doesn't that rule about the way people acting online at least partly being their actual mindset apply to you?

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    18. You troll carebears. Why shouldn't I be allowed to troll you griefers?

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    19. @ Anon 11:14pm

      Your trolling is weak.

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    20. Lol Anon 3:58, I bet you also think that guys who play female characters are gay...

      The point of playing a role playing game is playing a ROLE in a world with no real consequences, not being the exact same guy you're in real life. Are people who play GTA mass murderers? Are Call of Duty players soldiers who rub their crotch on dead enemies faces?

      Also, If you follow your idea of "internet behavior equals real life", you have to assume that the carebears depicted on Miner Bumping are all terrible persons! They say horrible, horrible things, and over a videogame.

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    21. Also, getting angry at players who play the game by the rules and fighting them with petitions is not a "playstyle".

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    22. Eh. I will be here until Star Citizen releases, at which point I will attempt to show as many carebears as possible where their money is better spent.

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    23. You're talking about a game that doesn't exist yet, you will probably have to wait till 2015. It's not wise to be a knight for games you never even tried yet.

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  7. This is a wonderful origin story but I am more amazed the logs actually showed something.

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  8. May the glory of the New Order and the Code continue on for the next 10 years!

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  9. Holy Jeebus a bunch of new shares have been sold since yesterday, including another 12B worth to Erotica. My math says 12B = 800 T2 Catalysts funded by her alone!

    Looks like many non compliants will be asploding for the foreseeable future!

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  10. dont you Oo to me madafaka!

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  11. If you get trolled to death and buttfucked by afk miners/bot miners, then perhaps EVE online isn't the game for you. I understand that being trolled by bots and buttfucked by afk miners was very traumatizing for you, and so you've come here for help. Unfortunately for you, I think most people here would rather laugh at someone so blindingly stupid that he can't outwit a bot, or outfight someone sitting afk in space in a mining ship.

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  12. Are fukin lost dude? How da fuk Im in the wrong spot here asking help in raping some fucking miner bots? As I said.. I can't fuck them just because Im a new player and also the motherfuckers are boting in a goon system. If you a goon, I give a flying fuck about your opinion.

    Max

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  13. Yes, you're quite lost. Let me redirect you to your proper destination: farmvilleforidiots.yesthatmeansyou.com

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  14. You seem to misunderstand the simplest concepts. You can't redirect me anywhere, because I wasn't going anywhere in the first place.

    I'm not a goon, but I think the goons are pretty banging, so thanks for the compliment. It's refreshing to have my gentlemanly behavior mirrored by someone who seemed so rude before.

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  15. I'm not rude, you hurt my feelings. :( I'm here to help. If you think that eatshit.com is not for your own benefit then try suckmydick.com

    But if you positive about not being goon, then I have to pass all my medical knowledge to my colleague Mr. Give A. Fuck and apologize of all the bad medication given so far. I'm a fucking gentleman and I really care for all of my patients suffering of the goon disease.

    In the case that our verbal dispute had a negative resolution on the readers, I might remind all our readers some letters and numbers just to cheer them up: GY5-26 VPLL-N

    Thank You,
    Max (the fucking doctor)

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  16. Your continued efforts to imitate me are quite flattering, thank you for this kindness. However, talking to someone who has nothing interesting to add other than such imitation is not productive, so I'll leave you to carry my torch alone here. I'm sure you will make me proud.

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  17. I think he might have found our secret base.

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