Slashdot Mirror


EVE Player Loses $1,200 Worth of Game Time In-Game

An anonymous reader writes "Massively.com has reported that an EVE Online player recently lost over $1,200 worth of in-game items during a pirate attack. The player in question was carrying 74 PLEX in their ship's cargo hold — in-game 'Pilot's License Extensions' that award 30 days of EVE Online time when used on your account. When the ship was blown up by another player, all 74 PLEX were destroyed in the resulting blast, costing $1,200 worth of damage, or over 6 years of EVE subscription time, however you prefer to count it. Ow."

12 of 620 comments (clear)

  1. ok i'll say it by pezpunk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...and nothing of value was lost.

    --
    i could live a little longer in this prison
    1. Re:ok i'll say it by Ephemeriis · · Score: 5, Informative

      Exactly. Digital information can be destroyed with a click of a button. It's called backups, don't put all your eggs in one basket and backups.

      That has basically no relevance to this story.

      The ship was carrying PLEXes. They're in-game items representing a one month subscription. You purchase them with real money, and get an in-game item, that you can then sell for in-game money.

      This allows people to fund their EVE addition without having to pay real money.

      It allows people with lots of real money to burn to get lots of in-game money to burn.

      And there is absolutely no way to make a backup of a PLEX.

      No, it isn't very smart to carry all 74 of them with you at one time. You certainly shouldn't put all of your eggs in one basket. But you cannot create a backup.

      --
      "Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
    2. Re:ok i'll say it by Yvan256 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I "beat" EVE Online on day zero.

      My goal was to never play that game.

    3. Re:ok i'll say it by X0563511 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      However there is also no need to ever undock with one PLEX never mind 74.

      You've made one error here - prices can vary by location, and buying/selling is location sensitive.

      I'm not arguing about anything else, he definitely acted the fool - but still.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
  2. Re:This stuff matters by MBGMorden · · Score: 5, Informative

    This wasn't a hack. This was a legitimate in game activity (essentially just an in-game PvP attack) which caused the destruction of cargo worth real world money.

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
  3. So in other words... by morikahnx · · Score: 5, Funny

    6 years of someones life has just been gained?

  4. Piracy in space! by Abstrackt · · Score: 5, Funny

    This must be what developers mean when they say pirates ruin gaming.

    --
    They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
  5. Meme over by spun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is one of the more condescending and snotty memes out there, like "FTFY" it exists only to mock. Basically it is saying "I militantly don't care about this, and neither should you." Value is a funny thing, by definition it means whatever you want it to mean. There is no 'value' outside of the human mind. In your own mind, you are the absolute master of value, you can place whatever valuation you like on anything you like. So, when you say "Nothing of value was lost" All you are saying is that nothing you value was lost. Which is likely just as true of, oh say, those floods in Pakistan, nothing you value was lost.

    But obviously, these PLEX were valuable to quite a few people, not to mention a gaming company.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    1. Re:Meme over by genner · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not any more than usual. I don't play EVE or other online games, so it's not personal in that sense. It's just that overvaluing goofy things that other people don't is pretty much the definition of being a geek. I'd hazard a guess that most people here are pretty obsessively into something that most normal people would consider "nothing of value."

      The meme is basically a slight against all geek-kind.

      Not all geek kind. Just those specific geeks that are slightly different from us.
      I play Warcraft so I'm NOTHING like them :P

  6. He was an IDIOT! by Fallen+Kell · · Score: 5, Informative

    Seriously, he is an idiot for taking them out of station. EVE only a few weeks ago made the change to allow players to physically move the PLEX between stations, because previously they were treated as a special item, where-in you could only convert a ETC (Extended Time Card), into PLEX (extended pilot license or something like that) in permanent station (i.e. not player controlled, or destroyable by players or other actions), and you could not leave the station if you had the PLEX in your cargo hold. But, EVE really didn't want to have to have all that extra checks to inforce these things, and let everyone know they were taking away the checks against moving of PLEX between stations, but it was at the players own risk.

    No one even needs to move the PLEX, you can use them from ANYWHERE (i.e. you do not have to be in the same station as the item, or even in the same region of space, to convert the PLEX into play time on your account). The person moving them was an idiot for doing so. The only reason to move them is so that they are closer to you so you can more easily sell them in the game for in-game money (which is also the main reason to convert them from an ETC to PLEX in the first place).

    --
    We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
  7. Re:They should made so the only way to lose it was by frist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is not a game for pussies.

    This is not a game for you to play so don't try to change it so it is.

    People keep writing this. Let me get this straight. EVE is not a game for pussies. So it's a game for toughguys? Given the choice between categorizing players of a sci-fi MMO as toughguys or pussies, I'm forced to go with pussies. You're playing an MMO for crying out loud, you're not engaging in street fighting.

    I think the term you EVE toughguys are looking for is "casual player" not "pussy". But whatever makes you feel tough about playing a SCI-FI MMO. From what I hear, EVE is for pussies and UO or Lineage are for toughguys. You see what I did there?

  8. Re:EVE is the dickhead MMO by vux984 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We like a challenge. When I take my favorite ship into combat there's a substantial risk of losing it. Higher risks make the rewards of victory that much sweeter.

    Yawn. If you really thought there was a 'substantial risk of losing it' you wouldn't take it out, unless you already had a backup that was nearly as good, if not better, or enough isks lying around that you could afford to lose it.

    Higher risks make the rewards of victory that much sweeter.

    Indeed. I'm no stranger to risk, I've played EVE, I played Diablo2 online "Hardcore" (permadeath) with level 85+ characters in Hell (and not just safe hillz runs) and I lost them time and again, along with piles of difficult/impossible to replace sets, uniques, and rares.

    I played Everquest on Rallos Zek - with open PVP and the ability to loot opponents. I played Asheron's call on DarkTide with open PVP and opponent looting. I'm certainly no 'pussy' when it comes to risk.

    In all of these games, when there is conflict, its almost always extremely one-sided. Few combats are between remotely balanced forces. And most of the time group-A knows it can't lose, while group-B knows it can't win and just wants to escape... and if its stuck around to fight its because it CAN'T escape. Nearly all combat in EVE falls into this category.

    The trouble with EVE is that despite this potential adrenalin shot... EVE is still 99% tediously and drearily dull spreadsheet reading with a terrible UI and a lousying colour scheme and font. Interesting combat is rare.

    Real competition is hard to find... if you want to go get blown up, that's easy, just wander off alone. But if you want to have a good fight? Good luck finding it in eve... anybody worth fighting will run if you outmatch them, or your group will flee from a group that outmatches you. Close-fights? Sure they happen... but its rare.

    All the EVE advcotes will boast about how they aren't pussies, and how they love risk and a challenge. But they only love risk and challenge when they are heavily favored to win. What do they do when a stronger force shows up? They run away. God forbid they actually fight something that might beat them. Of course, this is the 'intelligent' thing to do in EVE, so you can't fault them.

    IF anything it just shows how stupid eve is. Its called a greifer paradise because that's what the mechanics have dictated it must be. The game rewards preying on the weak, and brutally punishes standing up for yourself when outmatched. And a fair fight? Best to avoid those as much as possible too, as the risk of losing is great.

    Get involved in 4 or 5 fair fights and there is an overwhelming chance you'll lose at least once. And you only need to lose once to wipe out any profit you might have made from the other 4.

    Eve is a tediously slow game, punctuated by the occasional one-sided combat. Now and again you'll come away victorious from a difficult fight... or perhaps just escape a fight you shouldn't have, and this 'victory' will sustain you through the next patch of tedium.

    I normally love games with risk and consequence. I still think eve is a waste of time.