It’s the end of an era. A brief era, but an era nonetheless. The inimitable Chevis Preston announces his retirement from service as /r/eve Moderator. From the moment of his elevation to mod just over one year ago, there was little doubt that Chevis Preston was going to make a difference.

Who else had the gumption to ascend to moderator status by sheer force of meme?

Who else wrote for EVE Onion before EVE Onion even existed, with such gems as CCP is a Money Laundering Service: Here’s How?

Who else could generate “gud fites” on /r/eve with such skill and sheer disregard for good taste, courtesy, and kindness?

Who would continue to moderate a notorious forum even after being purged from his own alliance for objectionable behavior and/or inactivity?

Who else used his own alts to petition for his removal?

Chevis Explains World War Bee
http://i.imgur.com/klWrk01.png

Chevis made a difference.

The subreddit sits quiet for entire seconds, waiting for the punchline as Chevis announces his retirement with one last stab at EVE Celebrity, culture, and community:

But there is no punchline. Chevis simply fires a final volley, then ejects in time to rob anyone else of the killmail and loot.

Within a day of his departure, a fresh breeze blows in. Suddenly, /r/eve is filled with gud posts. Two, in the space of a single day! A hard core nerd blows our minds with How Much Ore Did Blood Raiders Need To Mine To Replace Their Losses in October (you want to read this), then CCP_Rise sheds light on the state of Medium Autocannons in PvP (surprisingly strong).

Say what you will about his moderation and his memes. Argue among yourselves as to whether he is an enormous jerk, or a content creator. Is he a memelord, or a racist hate monger? Debate whether this salute is offered with hand upon heart, or a single digit.

But one thing is certain:

Chevis made a difference.

By stepping up? By stepping down? Does it matter? Chevis made a difference.

Mr. Preston was kind enough to respond to a request for a quote on his departure, included here in its entirety:

If you can’t laugh at even the most edgy of remarks, humor is lost on you; life needs to be taken less seriously by so many people. I’ve said a great many stupid things, and then followed them with a great many well cultivated, genuine opinions. The general consensus is that your opinions are invalidated if you have a flaw in character. Nobody keeps an open mind anymore in the world.

Likewise, if you can’t show respect at the most important of times, humanity is lost on you. Everybody is somebody, and that code of respect really does exist in most people.

I’m not a racist. I don’t believe any race to be greater than another. Instead, I believe in individuality, whereby all people are different. No two black people are the same, nor two white men. Ethnicity is nothing but another trait to bullshit about because, at the end of the day, we are all human. All different, yes, but united under the flag of humanity.

I stepped down from /r/eve because the game, my game, was being killed for me. Can another individual find it fun? Yes. But I’m not willing to play something that isn’t fun for me anymore, or post in a subreddit that isn’t as fun as it used to be. Integrity drove me to step down after making that realization. Other mods stay for e-fame and power. I didn’t want that. I genuinely wanted to help create the best sub possible, fueled by individuality rather than us vs them mentality. Unfortunately, as the content creators slowly quit, I felt like I had failed in that.

I’m an asshole. I’m a great guy. I’m a mixture of both. That doesn’t label me as a racist or a great human. It just makes me individual, and that’s something today’s society of labelers (sic) forget.

FUM8 & o7 from your friend(s?) on /r/eve and from trolls and content creators across the interwebs.

J115405 “Rage” – The crunching of boots on sand add to the motorized hum of vehicles ponderously traversing the dunes leading away from The Initiative’s beachhead in J115405. Wave after wave of the The Initative’s J-Space Expeditionary Force passes by the press pool, the faces of the invaders resolute as they begin their climb to assault “Fort Knocks.” A surreal calm in the air contrasts against an unspoken tension as they make their way towards the frozen interior within which “Fort Knocks” resides. Unbeknownst to many of these men and women however, is that the entire invasion was dreamt up by CSM Representative Brisc Rubal.  

The CSM is widely-regarded to possess a “Nullsec” bias. Many CSM representatives give into exasperation when they are painted with such a wide brush, but Brisc Rubal saw an opportunity. “Many players think that CCP will listen to the CSM, but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, you need to make a giant splash that will force CCP to give you their attention. So, I brought the idea to Pandoralica. The epic fights, videos, propaganda, and news articles will shine a spotlight on wormhole space so bright, that CCP will have no choice but to dedicate an entire year to iterations.”    

After weighing the strategic and logistical challenges of such an undertaking, The Initiative’s leadership was in agreement that it was necessary if nothing more than for public relations and for Brisc to win even more brownie points as a CSM Representative among the player population, the other CSM members, and especially with CCP. The culmination of weeks of debate and deliberation resulted in a daring plan to invade Hard Knocks Citizens’ J115405 C5-class wormhole, otherwise known as “Rage.”

Representative Rubal was ecstatic when news arrived from the front. “One of the biggest complaints from the wormhole community is how little attention is given to J-Space as a whole. This military campaign spearheaded by The Initiative will not only generate mountains of Reddit propaganda, but will also give CCP a reason to look at a neglected area of space. Basically, by attacking Hard Knocks, we are doing all wormholers a favor.”

Once early defensive structures were neutralized and secured by The Intitiative, journalists of the free press were allowed to tour the sites of some of the wreckage. The sheer firepower of the invasion force is at the very least impressive. From our vantage point, we were able to observe Initiative Mercenaries’ sappers laying lines of contravallation to prevent wormholers friendly to Hard Knocks riding to the assistance of the beleaguered defenders. As we made our way down from the hill, the sky darkened as hundreds of Stealth Bombers passed overhead.

With The Initiative’s beachhead established, there are rumors that other CSM members are pushing their own alliances to commit to military maneuvers in order to draw CCP’s attention to neglected areas of space and game development. Whether they meet the same success as Brisc Rubal will be up to their alliances and the audacity of their plans.

Are you fighting in the trenches in J115405? We would love to hear your story! Tweet us @Eve OnionNews

Taking a cue from Manic Velocity’s now-defunct FLEETR (don’t go to http://fleetr.space, you’ll be disappointed), CCP decides Rixx Javix’s 2014 collectable trading cards series is still “NOT HOT,” rolling out their own deck of playing cards adorned with the Space Famous for EVE Vegas 2018. Responses to the roster were…bewildered, and largely paraphrased as “Hey that’s me!…uhhh!?!” and simply “uhhh?!”

Manic Velocity, of…Savage Moon Society? Who doesn’t love Lulu Lunette, but…Manic is hardly known for the five months he spent in J-Space back in 2017.

Sindel Pellion, on the other hand, raised a glass to her card, and didn’t care much about what corporation she has, as long as she stays space famous. Most importantly, though, retaining her title: “Queen of Clubs.”

Mynxee, of Signal Cartel Fame, pointed out that she hasn’t been in Hellcats for a long, long time. She flew as a member of this women-only pirate corp from 2008 to 2010, stepped away, then stepped up to serve as Signal Cartel CEO when Johnny Splunk and G8keeper (of EvE-Scout) came looking for a leader for the new Corp. Signal Cartel opened for business 2015.01.31. And yet, oddly, Mynxee’s playing card has her in Hellcats.

Hellcats…now where have I seen something about Mynxee and Hellcats? Oh, yeah!

Mynxee, from Rixx Javix’s EVE Pirate Series One

Well now…isn’t that interesting. Is it an olive branch? Is CCP ready to bury the hatchet with Rixx Javix, after years of snubs?

It appears so…

Well now…look at that Astero, isn’t that sweet? Wait…I’ve seen that ship before. On my desktop. Isn’t that the Christmas Astero Rixx did a few  years ago?

Why yes, it is, and with attribution!

https://www.eveonline.com/article/piwvir/the-annual-santa-spirit-event-is-gearing-up

And what does Rixx have to say about the whole thing?

Pretty sweet for a salty old pirate, and a nice gesture by CCP.

What’s the world coming to? Will there be peace in New Eden?

I sure hope not!

Yulai–An exhaustive two year study of universities and centers of knowledge in the Empires of New Eden released today reveals Amarrians are no longer the most religious people in the galaxy. The results shocked the scientist conducting the year long survey. Fearing the study results were a fluke, they requested funding to continue the survey for a second year. The once deeply religious people of the Amarr Empire are now ranked 2nd behind Gallente as a people with the most belief in something greater than themselves in the known universe.

The study cites many reason for the decline of the Amarrian beliefs, the most profound being the death of the Empress and the rise of Max Singularity as a major religious leader in the empire. Amarrians are torn on who or what to believe in. The study says a sharp decline of deep seeded faith in the current school age population will most likely hint to a continued downward trend.

Why are the Gallente flocking toward religion? “The Prosperity Tomes”. Many poor Gallente youth want the riches of the elite 1% of the Gallente and the Amarr, but without screwing their fellow citizens or the dark stain of slavery. So, what better than to believe in a God who will give you what your heart desires as long as you believe in him and do good for other people. You want that Titan? Just give that hologram preacher all your liquid ISK and boom: you get that Titan you’ve always wanted. The harder you believe, the quicker your wealth will come.

A side effect of the sudden explosion of religious conscious has laid waste to many Gallente society norms. Legal brothels, sex shops, and fedo cuddling bars have been closed in the name of religious morality, leading many business owners down a path of uncertain financial times.

CONCORD concluded their report by saying, “Amarrians should be ashamed at how their current belief pales in comparison to these money hungry Gallente do-gooders.”

Yulai – CCP Peligro has taken to the Internet and in-game airwaves, hunting for an elusive pilot of an Aeon-class supercarrier that ganked a freighter in the High security system of Kahah in the Khanid region. CCP Peligro has released the name of the pilot as “Arraz Nomarya,” which, according to the in-game biography is a pilot character that predates the launch of EVE Online.

In the words of CCP Peligro, “At over 54 years old, Arraz Nomarya is an extremely dangerous player who could destabilize the game.”

CCP Peligro added that before EVE Online was ever coded into the game we know today, there were several iterations that stretched back to the late 1960s. Legacy players from that time period were able to retain their characters as EVE Online’s data moved from project to project, gaining new abilities and privileges as original and early backers. Although CCP continues to allow the existence of some capital ships for notable members of the EVE community such as Chribba’s “Veldnaut” Revelation and Max Singularity’s Apostle, the use of those ships in a way that would provide combat advantages would immediately see those vessels transported to Lowsec. Importantly, however, the owners of these ships are not “legacy pilots.”

Arraz Nomarya, as a legacy pilot, can evade the current detection systems as they were developed to police accounts created after 2003. Not only was he able to conduct the gank in high security space without CONCORD intervention, according to eyewitness reports, he was then able to teleport the Aeon away completely with no jump animation. These game-breaking abilities provide Arraz Nomarya with almost unprecedented dominance in Highsec.

CCP Peligro attempted to provide assurances that such instances of legacy pilots popping up in EVE Online were rare, though that did little to assuage the concerns of gathered pilots. Red Frog Freight and PushX issued a joint statement demanding that CCP immediately locate and eliminate Arraz Nomarya or else they would cease providing their crucial freighter logistics services to New Eden. In a different vein, CODE. demanded that all players be able to access supercarriers for combat purposes in Highsec. TEST and the Imperium were equally displeased that a pilot could operate with near immunity and without reliance on Keepstar networks.

When asked why Arraz Nomarya could not simply be banned, CCP Peligro stated, “There are some characters that are so old in the game, that they are literally tied to the game’s infrastructure. In addition to improving structure gameplay, the Upwell line of structures was intended to reduce the influence of legacy pilots by creating a new code base governing structures in EVE Online.”

CCP Peligro speculated that the announcement of navigation structures prompted Arraz Nomarya to act. “Whenever a privileged group begins to lose their advantage, sometimes they decide to exercise that advantage to the detriment of others.”

Do you have any information on the whereabouts of Arraz Nomarya? If so, contact us through our special hotline on Twitter @EVEOnionNews

Players’ scam alarms activated immediately upon CCP’s announcement of free skillpoints over the 16-19 November weekend, but the community struggled to pin down the scam until one intrepid investigator uncovered the plot. Players were suspicious that the intent goes beyond exploring whether skillpoint bonuses are incentive to boost logged in user rates and to convert Alpha accounts to Omega status, but struggled to find the hook.

Community Speculation ranged far and wide. Many suggested the bonus skillpoint weekend marks the return of “dailies” and the end of EVE Online. Some dismissed the entire offer as “pathetic,” or designed to disenfranchise and alienate veteran players by reducing the gap between a 15 year veteran and a new player by an absolutely crushing 0.018%. The vast majority struggled to find the hook in the bait, other than a general sense of unease that CCP might be attempting to boost active account numbers or trial a pay-to-win system.

The entire debate rabidly degenerated into a meta war, as focus shifted from the announcement itself, to attacking one another over responses to the announcement. Thankfully, Buoytender Bob saved the day, by gaining pre-release access to the new feature, and sharing his experience with the community.

OMG!

“I just tried to get my first 50,000 SP, hit the accept box, and found out that CCP Falcon actually switched it at the last second and just took 50,000 OFF my character.

That’s the EVE Online I’ve come to love.”

That’s right, Bob discovered the “Free SP” button actually deducts skillpoints, in a scam reminiscent of trade hub “Trade Window Scams!” CCP, in a dastardly move to drive Injector sales, has come up with a scam to reduce the total skillpoint pool in New Eden by some 4 BILLION POINTS if 40,000 accounts claim 100,000SP each. That’s 8,000 injectors, equivalent to approximately 40,000 USD!

Whatever you do, don’t log in 16-19 November: IT’S A TRAP!

JITA – Fed up with the abusive nature of the Highsec war deccers on small corporations in Highsec and Lowsec, Brisc Rubal has taken it upon himself to be the driving force ridding New Eden of the cancer that is killing EVE Online from the inside.

Outside the Jita 4-4 station floats a container with a letter to abusive Highsec war declaration corps inside. The letter is Brisc Rubal’s 95 theses against what he believes is the biggest threat to the existence of EVE Online since The Guiding Hand Socialist Club incident in 2004.

Brisc knows this will paint a target on his back; but since he has all of Initiative behind him, these cowards that continually pick on the weak will leave him and his fleet of capitals alone.

Brisc sent us a copy of the letter—we have published the first five of his protests against war declarations to newbro corporations in Highsec:

1. EVE Online’s learning curve is already a mountain to climb. Having people shooting at you while you climb without any real way to defend yourself is just cruel.
2. The power of these war-deccing corporations/alliances have over a large part of the player base is destructive.
3. Calling High Security space secure is just wrong when CCP has a broken mechanic that allows for you to turn this space into a “shooting fish in a barrel” scenario.
4. The initial experiences of any player shapes their view of the whole game. If the new players/corporations think this game is all about the big picking on the little, then that is killing the game.
5. Abusive war declaration mechanics give power to a select few who wield it as a cruel weapon that only CCP can remove.

Rumor has it that Brisc Rubal will don a brown robe and shaved head to further protest the abuses of these war deccers.

Project Nova was finally shown in its pre-alpha state to great applause at Eve Vegas 2018. CCP didn’t stop there however, as they allowed attendees to sample the fps goodness by destroying horrible Sansha AI on an early level gameplay demo. The reaction must not have been what CCP was looking for as only one day after the end of the Eve Vegas event, CCP announced plans to release microtransactions in time for all the Vegas attendees to enjoy in the upcoming alpha.

Many will be happy to hear it was free of Pearl Abyss influence, and for the moment didn’t feature any kitten ears or pay to win camouflage. In fact, most of the five items were the usual CCP affair of horribly designed clothes that nobody wants to wear in game—let alone real life—but one item in particular stood out amongst the rest. For the low price of $420 USD, you can buy a gold monocle which when equipped allows you to use a system very similar to the Fallout VATS system in Nova.

In addition to this, if you buy the monocle chain you can get a 2x modifier to see how much the monocle will slow down time. CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson released a statement saying, “We feel that one of the best ways to ensure a good reception of the Nova project is to look to what we and others have done well. We really want to make the game feel likes it’s part of the EVE universe and thought there was no better way to do that than to find a way to add TIDI, but couldn’t figure out a way to implement it into Project Nova. So we looked for inspiration elsewhere, and found it in the Fallout series and its VATS system. The price is a bargain if you think about it. $420 USD for a monocle that slows down time. Such an item would be vastly more expensive in real life.”  

All EVE Vegas attendees will be able to test Nova and purchase the monocle in the alpha while the rest of us will have to wait until the full game is released sometime in 2019.