Home Gaming The EVE online war is huge! $250k+ lost

The EVE online war is huge! $250k+ lost

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War in EVE Online

There is a war raging as we speak, an online war with real consequences. EVE Online, for those who don’t know, is a MMORPG set in space and focused on resource mining, trading, and of course battles between fleets of ships. A rather large war has been going on for two days between two of the major factions in the game. Big deal right? It’s just an online game, how could this possibly be interesting?

EVE has a currency system called ISK. ISK can be used to buy an item called PLEX, which can be used to pay your $20 a month subscription. This is what most people do to keep their subscription. You notice in the headline that I said $250,000 lost? I wasn’t kidding, that’s real money we’re talking here. There has been many accounts of the war and losses via the gaming subreddit. Twitch user dobbb also live streamed part of the war.

I think this screenshot gives better justice to the sheer size of wars in Eve. Each orange and red square is a player owned ship. In previous screenshots you could only see the large ships that very few players actually

When I say that $250,000 has been lost in this war where almost 2000 ships are involved, that figure is the value of those lost subscriptions and the monetary value of the ships destroyed. Trillions of ISK lost, and the biggest war in EVE Online’s ten year history. See that picture above? Every red and Orange square is a player owned ship. You can find a larger version of the image here.

This, is a Titan

To put it into perspective; Titans, the biggest and arguably most powerful ship you can own in EVE (see the big ships in the photo above that aren’t covered by an orange or red square? Yeah they are huge!), cost an estimated 70 to 100 billion ISK to produce, and an estimated $7600 to buy outright.  Over 70 have been destroyed in the war, some have reported over 100. There’s a lot of conflicting information because all of these figures are estimates and the overall size of the war makes it difficult to actually put a conclusive number to it. All you need to know is that this is a huge event and people are losing a tonne of both real and virtual money, almost as much virtual currency as the entire U.S military budget. Almost.

So if you wanted to try out EVE Online (you fool!) perhaps you should wait until this cataclysmic economy collapsing event is over. When will it be over? Nobody has any idea. But if you want to try your hand at EVE, I recommend /r/Bravenewbies  as they are a fantastic resource to get started.

Last Updated: January 29, 2014

86 Comments

  1. What started this war?

    Reply

    • Mike

      January 29, 2014 at 10:08

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        January 29, 2014 at 10:14

        Heh, a butterfly flapped its wings. The last one happened because someone fell asleep at the wheel.

        Reply

      • HvR

        January 29, 2014 at 10:28

        The guy is probably with ABSA’s EVE branch.

        Reply

      • David Muller

        January 29, 2014 at 10:32

        One of the theories is CFC managed to infiltrate the corp holding the system and emptied the corp wallet just before payment was due.

        Reply

    • El Capitan del Blade

      January 29, 2014 at 10:10

      I’m gonna go with space-racism….

      Reply

      • Mossel

        January 29, 2014 at 10:34

        You mean…Spacism?

        Reply

    • Andre116

      January 29, 2014 at 10:11

      Someone said they are rather going to play COD.

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        January 29, 2014 at 10:12

        That explains it, you should never talk about someones mom that way 😉

        Reply

        • RinceThis2014

          January 29, 2014 at 10:19

          You mum’s as big as a Titan! Oh shit, not THAT Titan!

          Reply

          • Eric

            January 29, 2014 at 10:44

            Eren’s mom got herself eaten by a Titan 🙁

    • Stephen Snook

      January 29, 2014 at 10:26

      Yeah, there’s a lot of crime on EVE within the universe, it’s nuts.

      Reply

    • Robert Hart

      January 29, 2014 at 10:38

      Money, power & greed.

      Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      January 29, 2014 at 10:39

      A pretty lady called Helen… oops.. wrong war! Uhm… carry on lads.

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief in Vegas

        January 29, 2014 at 10:44

        lol you troll 😛

        Reply

  2. Dean

    January 29, 2014 at 10:09

    ISK. Otherwise known as the icelandic krona.

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      January 29, 2014 at 10:16

      Oh Snap! 😛

      Reply

  3. Andre116

    January 29, 2014 at 10:10

    “There’s a lot of conflicting information …”
    The first casualty of war is always the truth.

    Reply

    • RinceThis2014

      January 29, 2014 at 10:11

      There you are!

      Reply

      • Andre116

        January 29, 2014 at 10:12

        I’m always lurking in the shadows.

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          January 29, 2014 at 10:15

          What evil lurks in the heart of man? The Shadow knows…

          Reply

          • Andre116

            January 29, 2014 at 10:17

            Sometimes I’m terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants. The way it stops and starts

        • RinceThis2014

          January 29, 2014 at 10:33

          Good man 🙂 No, wait, that doesn’t make me feel safe 0-O You keen for lunch on Sunday and a war movie?

          Reply

          • Andre116

            January 29, 2014 at 13:14

            Finally managing to ask me out on a date?

            What’s the plan and what’s the movie?

          • RinceThis2014

            January 29, 2014 at 13:17

            It’s not for want of trying, I am just usually more careful when Trevor is about 😛 Planning on going to Barrister’s on Sunday then back to mine to watch Lone Survivor. Let the Wern know, though he’s probably at some kiddies birthday party lol

          • Andre116

            January 29, 2014 at 13:21

            Haha. I’ll do that. Will let you know later on if I can make it.

  4. RinceThis2014

    January 29, 2014 at 10:11

    Holy crap this is mental. I used to play, for around 2 years. What an immense game. I wish there were portals that us civvies could use to watch battles unfold!

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      January 29, 2014 at 10:15

      There’s a twitch stream on the link Mike posted.

      Reply

  5. Admiral Chief in Vegas

    January 29, 2014 at 10:13

    O_O

    Reply

  6. David Muller

    January 29, 2014 at 10:16

    • Stephen Snook

      January 29, 2014 at 10:24

      I wish I had found that for my article. Thank you for posting it.

      Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      January 29, 2014 at 10:26

      Hectic!!!

      Reply

    • RinceThis2014

      January 29, 2014 at 10:32

      Odd, where is the Titan?

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        January 29, 2014 at 10:33

        At home? Oh wait, you said not that Titan.

        Reply

        • RinceThis2014

          January 29, 2014 at 10:35

          Rather harsh thing to call your sister bro?

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief in Vegas

            January 29, 2014 at 10:38

            HAHAHAHAHA

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            January 29, 2014 at 10:57

            I can call her whatever I like, she’s MY sister 😉

          • RinceThis2014

            January 29, 2014 at 11:00

            *backs away slowly* okay bro, you saw her first, you saw her first 0-O

          • Mark Treloar

            January 29, 2014 at 12:54

            Your real name isn’t perhaps Scooter?

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            January 29, 2014 at 13:09

            lol.

      • David Muller

        January 29, 2014 at 10:37

        Good point there are no titans on that, my bad. There are at least 2 classes of ships bigger than the Naglfar in game. Looking for a more complete chart now.

        Reply

        • RinceThis2014

          January 29, 2014 at 10:38

          It’s scary how deep this game is. Difficult to convey to people how deep. Just the levelling systems that can take a few years scares me thinking about it!

          Reply

        • David Muller

          January 29, 2014 at 10:41

          • RinceThis2014

            January 29, 2014 at 10:47

            I need to find a way to print this out and frame it .Very awesome.

          • Kromas

            January 29, 2014 at 10:55

            Don’t I used my companies A2 printer but the resolution on the pic is not too great it came out all blocky.

          • RinceThis2014

            January 29, 2014 at 10:59

            What size is this? I mean the dimensions are 4268×5152 so what size would one need to print in order to have a decent res? A-2?

          • Kromas

            January 29, 2014 at 11:08

            I don’t know but over the years I have found various versions of this file and I think the original was not high res enough. I can honestly say that you probably won’t find a decent version to blow up to Proper poster size. But then again last I checked was 2 years ago.

          • RinceThis2014

            January 29, 2014 at 11:09

            Yeah, I saw this doing the rounds a year ago but have yet to see a decent, print-ready CMYK version.

          • Stephen Snook

            January 29, 2014 at 10:48

            That is insane.

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            January 29, 2014 at 10:58

            Wow, look how tiny Mass Effect’s Citadel is….

            PS: Awesome found the Enterprise! Whoop!

          • Hammersteyn

            January 29, 2014 at 11:42

            LOL even ships from Dune and Warhammer

          • Admiral Chief in Vegas

            January 29, 2014 at 12:12

            AHEM, that’s only the Crucible, the Citadel is MUCH larger

          • Xcalibersa

            January 29, 2014 at 11:54

            Awesome, thanks.

    • Devourer of Small Bunnies

      January 30, 2014 at 12:00

      I dont see the titans though? Or did I miss something?

      Reply

  7. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    January 29, 2014 at 10:16

    Years from now, historians will look at Eve Online and consider it to be one of the most ambitious games ever created, but also… one of the most genre defining. The amount of awesome and completely incidental user-controlled stuff generated by this game dwarves even real life. Any one remember the great Eve heist? Where a clan infiltrated another one and over the course of a year, got themselves into positions of power, and then… HOSTILE TAKEOVER!!! Holy smoke balls? And now this war? If I remember correctly there was another war a year or two ago, but this one seems to be taking the cake.

    I wish I had more time during the day, because I would have loved to get my Machiavelli on in Eve.

    Reply

    • RinceThis2014

      January 29, 2014 at 10:21

      Yeah, I loved playing Eve. Last year there was also a war. Someone was fooled into warping into enemy territory where they started to get attacked. He called in reinforcements thinking he could easily defend himself. What he didn’t know was it was a trap and as reinforcements arrived a huge ass battle erupted. He lost his Titan which all in all cost $10,000 to build over 3 years!

      Reply

      • Kromas

        January 29, 2014 at 10:57

        I was there when the burn Jita attack happened. Lost almost 12 billion isk that day. I have not logged on for a prolonged period since.

        Reply

        • RinceThis2014

          January 29, 2014 at 11:00

          Oh man, you have my sympathies. Not cool. That is the only issue I had with the game, the big boys rule it, and you are an ant to them.

          Reply

          • David Muller

            January 29, 2014 at 11:03

            It is possible to make a splash, you have to be prepared to fight for it. IT Took Brave Newbies 1 year to go from start to second biggest alliance in the game.

          • Kromas

            January 29, 2014 at 11:16

            That is why my Kronos stays in high sec.I just like showing it off and running (or rather lumbering at a snails pace) away when my spidey sense tingles. 😛

    • Willem Swanepoel

      January 29, 2014 at 10:31

      I actually enjoyed playing Eve Online. I just got annoyed that how the big corps totally annihilated the smaller corps in the 0 sec areas. Big corps got richer and the smaller ones could not do much down there.

      Might try it again but Eve Online is a 100% time leech MMO … so I dont know ;-(

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        January 29, 2014 at 10:35

        That’s what I’m worried about as well. WOW used to consume me, and I think Eve Online might leave me as a recluse with a hobo beard (while wearing nothing but week old underpants).

        Reply

      • Robert Hart

        January 29, 2014 at 10:37

        Its like that in real life as well though & in that way Eve-online is realistic. It is the reason we enjoy it.

        Reply

  8. UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy

    January 29, 2014 at 10:34

    Don’t start… Don’t do it. This game will steal all your time and your life will fade away! DON’T DO IT!

    Reply

    • RinceThis2014

      January 29, 2014 at 10:51

      Agreed! I only started as I was working in China and needed to forget that fact for a few hours a day 😉

      Reply

      • UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy

        January 29, 2014 at 10:53

        Tried it once. Just the trial. Played it for like 5 hours and when I got up I realized I hadn’t actually made any progress and that I was never going to see those 5 hours of my life again. Uninstalled, called friends and went out for a beer.

        Reply

  9. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    January 29, 2014 at 10:42

    So what happens if your ship is destroyed? Do you lose everything? So essentially, you can go from CEO to begging in front of the corner cafe?

    Reply

    • RinceThis2014

      January 29, 2014 at 10:45

      You lose your ship, which costs a fortune and you can die if you haven’t made other arrangements (clones)

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        January 29, 2014 at 10:47

        And is death permanent? Does it mean you lose all your upgrades and levels?

        Reply

        • Kromas

          January 29, 2014 at 10:48

          You lose your cybernetic implants. Clones keep your levels and you get a new basic (read crap) ship.Implants can be expensive.My main account has a 2 Billion isk implant set.

          Reply

        • David Muller

          January 29, 2014 at 10:49

          you always have a clone, so death isn’t permanent. But If your clone is not of high enough quality you will lose a skill. You do lose your implants though.

          Reply

        • RinceThis2014

          January 29, 2014 at 10:50

          I lost a shit load of money from my implants so gave up 🙁

          Reply

      • Kromas

        January 29, 2014 at 10:47

        And clones only hold a certain amount of skill points so you constantly upgrade.

        Reply

    • David Muller

      January 29, 2014 at 10:48

      you go and buy a new one. Rule 1 of eve don’t fly what you can’t afford to lose.

      Most players will have multiple ships for various purposes. Super Capitals and Titans are different because you are quite literally tied to the ship, you can’t dock it in station and while you can leave it that does open the possibility of it being jacked.

      When you get to flying that level of craft though you are an asset to the corp and the vast majority of them will have replacement plans in place.

      Reply

      • Kromas

        January 29, 2014 at 10:51

        I own 5 of every ship I fly with the exception of my capitol and tech 2 stuff. I did once lose an Obelisk with 3 hulks packed inside it to pirates.

        Reply

  10. Ultimo_Cleric N7

    January 29, 2014 at 11:19

    This is madness…….2.5 MILLION RAND lost. No words

    Reply

  11. Rags

    January 29, 2014 at 11:44

    I love the stories about the game, but after 3 attempts to get myself into the game I just simply can’t. Get bored instantly of the flight mechanic. Perhaps I am just expecting something from it that its not.

    Reply

  12. Anon A Mouse

    January 29, 2014 at 11:54

    I’m pretty sure who ever loses this war will go and lick their wounds and start planning another war. That’s the way they world works so why will EVE be any different? Expect to see another war in 6 to 12 months time.

    Reply

  13. VampyricSquirrel Monk

    January 29, 2014 at 12:12

    A couple years ago there was an EVE war between 3 factions… around 1500 ships joined that war… the war lasted a week and a half, the in game economy crashed, ISK became cheap to buy with real money, the economy only recently got back to where it was recently… and now this war.

    I have been hearing about this war from friends… it’s incredibly huge and they estimate it could last as long as 3 weeks to a month. Both of the corporates involved have a few thousand more ships in other regions and are apparently trying to keep them out of the fighting to lessen their losses.

    Reply

  14. That Tall Ork Norm

    January 29, 2014 at 15:33

    Eish…

    Reply

  15. War Thunder Golden Eagles Hack

    January 30, 2014 at 01:53

    Free Cheats and Hacks!

    http://www.undetectedhacks.eu/

    Reply

  16. Cannibal Kane

    January 30, 2014 at 07:37

    I love this game. I got a friend in PL raging at his losses. The size of that battle is also why I prefer my 1 man wardecs. I love the scope of that battle but I don’t have to deal with TDI.

    Reply

  17. UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy

    January 30, 2014 at 10:08

  18. CAE9872

    January 30, 2014 at 11:27

    Apparently the war started after one of the factions forgot to pay their subs or something. The other major faction saw this as their chance and attacked the galaxy. Apparently they won too!

    I would love to play EVE but not a PC gamer..and not about to become one! Perhaps one day I mortals (console gamers) will get this…of course I could play Dust…hmmmm

    Reply

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