JITA, New Eden — Operation Avalon, the first cross-universe event linking EVE Online with its new FPS spinoff EVE Vanguard, took an unexpected turn Tuesday when Vanguard alpha testers discovered that the enemy mercenaries they had been enthusiastically headshotting for three days were, in fact, real EVE Online players attempting to participate from their spaceships.
The confusion stemmed from Vanguard’s ground-combat integration, which allows FPS players to board and destroy capital ship subsystems while EVE Online players attempt to repel boarders via a new mini-game best described as Space Invaders, but your mortgage is on the line.
We saw these guys in ratty armor running around our Avatar’s engine room, said veteran EVE player and wormhole hermit Arcturus Vex, speaking from his Rorqual. I thought they were NPCs. Then one teabagged my corpse and yelled something about my mother on proximity chat. Turns out that’s just what fourteen-year-olds with WASD controls do.
The revelation caused widespread panic in the Vanguard community, where players had been celebrating their amazing K/D ratio against the AI. Streamer and self-described tactical operative xX_DarkShadow_69420_Xx broke down live on Twitch upon learning his 47 confirmed kills included a 52-year-old Icelandic fisherman who had been playing EVE since 2003.
I thought those were bots, the streamer sobbed, wiping Cheeto dust on a sweat-stained RGB mousepad. They just stood there. One guy tried to fight back by right-clicking on me. I thought it was broken AI.
Fenris Creations issued a brief statement Wednesday morning clarifying that Operation Avalon is a living, breathing crossover experience where consequences are real and lawsuits are pending. The company also confirmed that the 5,000 accounts banned earlier this month for RMT and botting were unrelated, but honestly, given the confusion, we understand why you’d ask.
Operation Avalon runs through July 20. Fenris Creations representatives reminded all participants that friendly fire is enabled, cross-platform communication is mandatory, and legal guardians of Vanguard players under 18 should be aware that the spaceship they just vaporized may have belonged to someone’s actual dad.
