Reykjavik – The “Burn Jita” riots have long been recognized as a triumph by EVE Online players against unpopular CCP practices. During the riots, players traveled to the Jita trade hub and continually bombarded an in-game structure until the lag was so unbearable that CCP had to reverse on a range of issues. Today, however, according to leaked CCP documents, and in light of player outrage over the October Balance Pass, CCP has been testing an innovative idea—cutting players off from Jita completely.
The leaked email, supposedly written by Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, titled “Greed is Good But Revenge is Better,” was confirmed through anonymous channels within CCP and independently verified with the CSM. This revelation indicates that CCP had communicated the new policy to the CSM at a prior date, though it was not confirmed if the memo had been drafted in a previous form at the time of the CSM summit in early September, or if a new draft had been issued following player outcry to the October Balance Pass.
The memo marks a shift in CCP’s policy when interacting with the player community.
“I want to begin by thanking everyone who had to handle the childish screams of our players after the announcement of the changes in October. At the same time, I want you to know that I have been working with our server technicians and executive producer to ensure that we will retain full control of our game. During the week of September 24, we will be testing out a new concept—shutting down Jita. This will send a message to the buffoons that we will not tolerate being forced to change our development plans and schedules. They are all about to become ‘unwilling collateral damage.’ Now, our first few tests may seem game-wide, but we’ll make some small iterative passes to limit loss of access to Jita.”
Responses to the e-mail from CCP and the CSM, represented through CCP employees quoting them, were largely positive.
“To be quite honest, I don’t know why we didn’t think of this in the first place,” wrote CCP Falcon, lead community organizer, “When the screeching gets so bad we have to change our patches, why don’t we just kick them where it hurts and shut down Jita?”
CCP Rise, who had amended the October changes in an attempt to ameliorate wormhole players, wrote, “Finally! Dealing with those idiots was a complete waste of time! Also, Jin’Taan wanted me to tell everyone he loves these new policies. Has everyone read his kickass INN article?”
Responding to CCP Rise, Hilmar wrote, “Yes I did! It’s good to see a CSM with some balls. Make sure he gets a position next year even if you have to fudge some numbers.”
Although the current tests were too successful in that the entire game was affected, according to CCP back channels, additional iterations will be made so that the only system affected will be Jita along with the wider Forge regional market. Nullsec alliances, already alerted to the policy through their CSM representatives, have created a bartering economy through the contract system to insulate them from reliance on Jita. A player coalition of wormholers, highsec carebears, and lowsec groups is allegedly forming to protest the changes, but without a Jita to “burn,” it is unlikely they will be able to sway CCP policy.
