Espionage, EON #19 and Eve
The latest issue of EON is out now, number 19 published 2nd April 2010 and what a great issue it is. If you want it, click the big banner at the top of the page to buy!
We have the press release which I will feature below but one article that caught my eye was the Espionage article. Rather than just list the contents, with each issue now I'll take an article from the magazine and blog a little.
We all know spying happens in Eve. For good or for bad it's an intrinsic part of the game, especially amongst the bigger power blocs. Or is it just limited to them? Spies have to cut their teeth like anyone else and it can start anywhere!
It was also enlightening to understand how the spying actually worked during the great war between the original Band of Brothers against Ascendant Frontier, however I found there was little in the article coming from the ASCN side. Maybe that was just the way it was. I was only very new at the time and certainly not in the upper echelons.
I remember being drafted into this war with very little in the way of checks being done on me and ended up being the recruiter for a feeder corp. I was not a spy by the way I'm just noting the lack of checks – I could have theoretically allowed any spies in I wanted. In fact I got so stressed and paranoid about people I did recruit according to the guidelines I had to work toward that I left.
In retrospect I could have capitalised on this, grown a pair, approached BoB and asked for a ton of ISK to place their spies into the corp. But that's not me and I suppose anyone who really knows me will know that. Personal knowledge being the key here and in a game full of strangers, difficult to gain unless you go to many of the various meets making real life friends valuable assets.
You might also ask if it's right that people are garnering celebrity through espionage or if it is ruining the game? Is that the wrong perspective to view this from though? Doesn't espionage add to the richness of Eve Online by making play available in another dimension?
Personally, I think it adds to the game. I don't necessarily like it but without it we would have had much longer and protracted wars with less in the way of spectacular events to talk about and you can imagine how boring that would be. On the other hand, it would be a fluffy game of Cuddles Online and paranoia could take a back seat.
Take the recent events with the original Band of Brothers and the turncoat director. That generated acres of print and had such a huge impact on New Edens political map it's hard to find anything of it's equal. It probably drew in a couple of hundred subscribers (subscription figure out of ass by the way). It's not as if he was the first person to turn against his own and you can bet he won't be the last. The question you can ask is, what effect will the next one have?
The article goes a little into prevention however it doesn't explicitly go into many of the methods available simply because there are only a few in reality. Damage limitation being one notable one but there are also some great ideas about scale of access.
So if you've been in a corp and always had the suspicious feeling you were being watched, then after reading this you'll understand why. It's endemic and they really are out to get you.
ESPIONAGE IN EVE
Like it or loathe it, spying in games has been around since dice were
invented. It will likely be around until computers attain god-like sentience
and do away with humans and their videogames altogether. But why do we sneak
and snoop on each other in order to have fun, and why especially are such
practises so endemic in EVE? Trapping three of New Eden's most renowned users
of intelligence in an elaborate web of probing questions, we ask to what
extent does espionage pervade our beloved universe and try to ascertain what
acts of spiteful vengeance are committed. Finally, as they shriek for mercy
under the heat of an Ikea desk lamp, we draw from our captive trio a few ideas
about how spies and saboteurs might be kept locked out.
WAR ON TERRITORY
In part two of our look at Sovereignty, we turn from the distant past to the
recent, looking at how Dominion has changed the way alliances look at and
utilize their territory. In GoonSwarm's dramatic self-immolation, and CVA’s
overly ambitious urge to expand, two of New Eden’s most robust alliances have
withered in Dominion’s shadow. Is EVE’s most recent expansion to blame, or was
it just another day in the universe we call New Eden? Between Nyphur’s
examination and our all-new-and-improved 0.0 Report, we try to find out.
BRAVE NEW WORLDS
Planetary Interaction is coming and with it will be a lot of stuff. We brave
Singularity to look at how EVE’s summer expansion is shaping up (round,
mostly) and ask CCP Manifest and CCP Hammerhead to reveal what kind of stuff
we can expect to see in Tyrannis and beyond.
BATTLECLINIC
More than just a repository for some of EVE’s most useful tools, Battleclinic
has proved itself to be one of the most respected and trusted gaming websites.
It’s been around for longer than most games; we chart its rise from the early
days of paper play to its new-found status of must-have bookmark.
PLUS
200M ISK Celebrity Testflight Challenge
Serenity Steele remembers the ISS
CCP Ginger on being CCP Ginger
CCP Dr.EyjoG gets economical
New Chronicle: 'Breathless'
Guides to targeting and the overview
The Community Team choses its favourite websites
All the latest news, and more...
Twittered under #eveonline
Authored by @MaxTorps
