Political Structures: The Great Fall
Published on 14. Feb, 2009 ... written by Securitas Protector, Tags: Articles, Columns
Band of Brothers disbands. Just weeks ago, this expression would have been met with laughs and disbelief. And now, because of the actions of one rogue director, it has come to pass. But I’m not here to give you the news and juicy details, I’m sure you all already know them. If you don’t, go look it up, it’s a very engaging read. No, I’m here to tell you that from my point of view, this is overall a good thing, and why.
Now, before you all begin to yell at me that BoB was a great alliance(or not) and this was foul play by the Goons and a rogue director, I’m not disagreeing with you. In fact, it was foul play, and that is the exact reason it was a good thing. Events like this are uncommon in most other games, if not in the intelligence/counter-intelligence area then in the pure scale. Much like the actions of the Guiding Hand Social Club or the massive scam that was the Eve Investment Bank hooked new players who had never seen this kind of thing in gaming before, an entire massive, very powerful alliance laid low by one rogue operative makes for an intriguing story, with plenty of room for head-shaking, dropped jaws, or cheering. Very few other games support metagaming of this scale, and thus this is one of the many selling points of Eve.
Even now I shake my head in amazement as I look back on these past weeks, and I recall my mouth hanging completely open the first time I heard the news. Whoever’s fault it was, whatever the reason this happened, it is weirdly compelling and brings an entire new side of EVE to light: the value of intelligence, counter-intelligence, and contacts. It embodies the fact that EVE embraces warfare on all fronts, from fleet engagements with capitals by the hundreds, to small gang warfare, to POS warfare, to economic warfare, to forum warfare(CAOD) and morale warfare, to intelligence and counter-intelligence, to scamming. A careless or unsuspecting enemy can be attacked on multiple fronts, and not even be aware of it until after it happens.
In conclusion, whether you are for or against metagaming, the fascination at so many hours of work demolished in a few minutes is just as profound. It is moments like this that EVE’s players will always remember, and eventually look back upon fondly while saying “What other game could that even happen in?” This is how massive scams, theft, spying, impersonation, market manipulations, and metagaming transcend the simple action of the event itself, and become something else, and that something else is what sets EVE apart. Thus, in terms of new players joining because of yet another famous event, the fall of one alliance could potentially bring many others into existence.
Imagine the headlines on MMOG sites: “EVE’s Most Powerful Alliance Destroyed by Lone Defector.”
That’s why whenever I think of the disbanding (sorry) of Band of Brothers, a smile comes to my face.
What do you think of the whole incident?
21 Responses to “Political Structures: The Great Fall”
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Pocket Pair
14. Feb, 2009
I started Eve after reading about Guiding Hand Social Club and the the Eve Investment Bank and haven’t looked back since. So I agree this should bring new players into the game. You only need to google ‘BoB disbanded’ to see how much this event has already been talked/written about.
Leird
14. Feb, 2009
Personally i think it was a brilliant, it’s something i’ll always remember, and something almost everyone else will too!
But BoB might be gone, but Band Of Brothers is just a name, and there’s alot of fighting still to be done if they want to break x-BoB.
Apart from that, i think it’s one of the turning points in EVE history, if Goons, NC, TCF and all the others fail to kill off BoB in Delve this time around, well, i think they’ll stay there for a long time!
Alesk Remo
14. Feb, 2009
In many ways it was brilliant, cruel but brilliant. Typical EVE 100% without a doubt, although it did leave many a doubt in many minds across the board.
It’s a turning point for sure but nothing which is going to dynamically alter the outlook of the known universe in any major way.
Yes BOB is/was a major player. They’re still there though just flying under a new banner. The movement of power is one that will be thrown back and forth around null sec for many a year to come. We’ll all be on the losing end at some point but also on the winning side too.
Personally, I don’t like the dirty play style but it does happen. It’s like war gone wrong in my honest opinion.
Honestly BOB, GOONS and all the other major alliance are all friends to EVE. The real enemies out there are those who are playing the exploits, cashing in with real money on the economies in EVE and all in all destroying aspects of EVE for the rest of the honest players out there.
There’s been some scepticism about this whole winning of EVE by a few major groups out there and I’m sure the rumours will go on for many a month.
But at the bottom line. It’s happened before – now it’s happened again and I can bet my bottom dollor that at sometime in the future we’ll see something like this again.
It was done. It just wasn’t pure good old war. GOONS didn’t win this. They just got it by default.
Even so espionage is a real threat and if that’s the game that your enemies are playing at just make sure you’ve got all your bases covered.
Ahnog
15. Feb, 2009
As a player I agree with your view. What I want to know is CCP’s view. Did they really intend to put the power to dissolve an alliance into the director’s role? So many other things require votes to accomplish. Shouldn’t this one be one of those?
Craterius
15. Feb, 2009
It is not a good thing for Eve, or any game, that the work of thousands of players over several years time could be destroyed by a single rogue player in a few minutes.
This could never happen in RL, never mind a game. No one in RL would have such authority. There are checks and balances on everyone, which keeps society humming.
Eve, a game, does not have the basic protections any large military organization would have. No polygraphs. No serious background investigations. No true sanctions for getting caught (like, major prison time or RL Execution).
Some people turn suicidal for reasons of treason, anger, boredom, or insanity. That’s what (some) people do. To make everyone’s game play vulnerable to such people without restraints is not, IMHO, good gaming.
Alesk Remo
16. Feb, 2009
Craterius, I agree (somewhat) with your point of view however one must remember that EVE is NOT real life. It never was and it never will be. Granted there are a few things that we’d all change about EVE and this could definitely be one of them. A rogue director should never be able to disband an entire alliance without a formal vote of the shareholders.
With that said, I would like to propose some alternate thinking on what you have said:
In order for the rogue director to have disbanded the entire alliance that person had to firstly become a member of the alliance, then work their way up through the alliance until someone with power in the alliance decided that the person in question should be allowed into the alliances holding corporation. And even then they would still have to be given directorship inside the holding corp as well. An extremely difficult feat. It all boils down to trust at the bottom line. Someone in BoB decided to trust this guy and he betrayed them. This happens in real life all the time. You can go about comparing real life all you like but it still happens.
Take a country for example which has been run as a democracy for 100 years. Then one day someone small comes onto the scene. He lays low for many a year gaining the trust of his peers and his people. Time goes past until finally he realises he’s in a position to take all this power for himself and so he declares himself as the ruler of the land. He’s a dictator. He’s taken all the power and he’s got all the control. There was no shareholders meeting, no checking of the people if they loved him or not. He just did it and no one stopped him. They all wished they had seen it sooner but they didn’t and now there is nothing they can do about it.
You also talk about the basic protections of any large military organisation – which granted their are few but that in mind there are consequences to actions. BoB were blind and they’re paying the price. Goons were on the winning side (or are they?). The bottom line of this is – it’s a game. If you want it to be a replica of real life then now is a good time to quit playing.
Adam
16. Feb, 2009
Truly a wonderful moment in Eve History, and one I will always remember. This event reminds me why I love Eve so much – the best sandbox game you can find.
Craterius
17. Feb, 2009
Alesko,
My point is it is not good GAMING to a have a mechanic whereby one rogue player (which is all he/she is) can ruin the game play of thousands of other players.
Never mind RL. It is just bad gaming.
Druur
18. Feb, 2009
If I am not mistaken, this could have been avoided if the corp had given out enough shares that no single director could wield this much power. But what do I know…
Personally, I think that the game mechanics worked out to everybodies benefit in this case, even if unintended: 0.0 has become interesting again.
spliff
18. Feb, 2009
this is good gaming… actually, i think i agree with the OP, this is why EVE is always going to be one of the best MMO’s there is. The fact of the matter is it is almost essential for things like this to be possible in EVE in order to make sure we all still have targets to shoot at and not some big nap fest with everyone holding hands and singing kumbaya.
Kenny needed to get killed, and really, with all the years of building (cyno jammers, jump bridges, etc) in the regions they held this was one of the only ways it was ever going to happen
lets not forget the original war in delve and why it started, bob was cheating and getting help from GM’s…. is that your idea of good gaming ? its not mine, and now its payback time, kenny is getting murdered.
Diametrix
18. Feb, 2009
Craterius said: “This could never happen in RL, never mind a game. No one in RL would have such authority. There are checks and balances on everyone, which keeps society humming. ”
One Name: Bernard Madoff
WAKE UP!
Alesk Remo
19. Feb, 2009
In both cases I’m in agreement with Druur and spliff.
Bruno
20. Feb, 2009
I think thats what makes EvE interesting, I would never do such an act of traison but I believe this is true gaming, it has been made using the mechanics of game and expionage taken to a real issue.
Farewell
Craterius
20. Feb, 2009
Diametrix:
Wake up to what?
Bernie Madoff is going to prison for the rest of his life.
You make my point. No one in EvE, or any other game, faces any such consequences, no matter what they do to the other players.
Craterius
20. Feb, 2009
Diametrix:
Wake up to what?
Bernie Madoff is going to prison for the rest of his life.
You make my point.
Noob
22. Feb, 2009
After reading about BoB and a few other metagame events I’ve signed up.
I had a quick look at EVE a few years ago but after 20 minutes stopped – like a few other mates. The horrendously bad UI and crap fonts hid what seems like a great game.
Alesk Remo
23. Feb, 2009
Craterius, your point is still moot.
Just because he is going to prison for life means that he was caught and tried by those under who authority and government he falls under.
The guy responsible for the disemination of BoB was (a) not caught until the act was done; (b) no longer fell under a specific authority so no authority exists to put him on trial.; (c) espionage is an act of war. In real life if country A commits an act of espionage against country B then country A would be defending the perpetrator. Yes, if the perpetrator is caught by country B then that person would be tried and convicted accordingly, but if not caught he is then able to hind behind the defenses of country A.
The main point is that this is actually functioning exactly the same as real life. The guy got away with it. I’m pretty sure if the BoB guys ever could catch him they would put him “on trial” using whatever means available to them within the game mechanics. But he got away.
This just goes to show how creative the game is in itself. War is war and duing war times pretty much anything goes.
Some times people get caught. Sometimes people get away with it. This guys (so far) has gotten away with it and he’s committed the (almost) perfect act of espionage.
There is just simply no argument left on this point.
Securitas Protector
25. Feb, 2009
Thank you all for your commentary. It’s been a rousing argument.
You all have good points, and, well, you know my perspective.
Thanks,
Securitas
CyberGh0st
11. Jun, 2009
Well I stumbled upon this by accident and wanted to voice my opinion, even tho it has been a while.
Basically I agree with Craterius.
I do agree with metagaming, but in this case it was actually a flaw in game mechanics that was exploited. A reasonably known flaw, but still a flaw.
I think the only reason why CCP did not declare it that way, and thus not fixed the alliance back, is because BoB got help from devs in the past ( bpo’s and stuff ), and this was probably the only way to finally show that CCP has cut all ties with BoB.
That is the only way I can justify this, if it were any other alliance that never got help from Devs, then I would have quit EVE, because metagaming is one thing, but abusing flaws in game mechanics is another.
sorrowseven
01. Jul, 2009
As far as I’m concerned, Goons are the new BoB. They have taken on the role of belligerent tyrant in the Eve universe. They have many other alliances in their hands, including Pandemic Legion, KIA, and Xdeath. These three main alliances have been sent to do the Goon’s bidding in order to destroy their greatest threat.
The main alliances taking the brunt of this attack are IRC, ED, and Atlas. How the war against these alliances is going varies. I’ve heard IRC and ED is doing poorly to stop the juggernaut. I’ve also heard Atlas has been very efficient in killing the Goon coalition.
But I don’t want to talk about political wars. I’ll leave that for the CAOD. The point i’m trying to get at is that even though BoB is dead and gone (a good thing), they have been replaced by Goons who have an even larger army. It’s really a battle for Delve.
BoB was killed by one man. A director who obviously grew to hate BoB. Although this may be disturbing to other alliances, this is just reality. The Eve universe is one filled with pirates and con artists. It does not have the ethical laws that RL countries have. The rules of Eve are centered around not abusing glitches, exploiting game mechanics, etc. In Eve, people steal, people kill, people spy, and people sabotage corporations and alliances. That is the reality of Eve and is what makes Eve the game the game that is it.
So, in my final words I will say this…Do I think it was wrong that the Dir. of BoB did what he did? No. Do I fear this happening in my Alliance or Corporation? Yes. Eve is a game, nothing more. If you die, you come back again. If you are pushed into empire from null sec, you fight to get back out there again. That is reality, that is Eve.
Oghma
01. Sep, 2009
This is definitely one of the worst aspects of EVE online. regardless of your political views, no single person should be able to kick every corp out of the alliance without a vote or stasis waiting period. You have a 24hour period for members, why not for corps. CCP seriously needs to fix this “feature”.