Highsec Fact Check

A lot of misinformation and propaganda floats around highsec. In a sense, this is surprising; the New Order, which rules highsec, is legendary for its transparency. And our Agents, of course, are notoriously straight shooters (pun very much intended!). What accounts for all of the nonsense, then? Simple: Some bad people have a lot of time on their hands and like to run their mouths.

When it comes to sorting out the mess and separating truth from fiction, the burden falls upon the humble fact checker. His is a quietly dignified profession. A valuable one, too.

Several of the most common claims about highsec were submitted to an esteemed fact-checking committee. These are the uncensored results.

Claim: New Order Agents don't honour the permits they sell.
Status: FALSE

Carebears frequently advise one another--including new players--not to buy New Order mining permits. Rebels say the permits are a scam because Agents routinely violate the permits or even go out of their way to shoot permit-holders. Carebears even spread rumors about anti-Code gankers who roam highsec in search of permit-holders to target. However, none of these claims are supported by the evidence. [1]

Though tens of thousands of permits have been sold over a period of more than five years, critics have yet to find even one instance a permit not being honoured. [2] It's not for lack of trying, either; the resistance has made feverish attempts to find a case of New Order misconduct, but they've always come up empty-handed. [3] Granted, a permit-holder may be ganked if he violates the Code, but miners are always advised of this when they buy a permit: "A mining permit is not a license to violate the Code."

If Agents routinely targeted permit-holders--or even occasionally did so--we would have seen plenty of evidence by now. But there isn't any. [4] As for the claims of independent organizations of gankers that specifically target permit-holders? Only one such group has ever been confirmed to exist. In 2013, a corporation called the NEW ORDER DEATH DEALERS started out trying to hunt permit-holders, but then decided to join the mighty CODE. alliance and kill permit-less miners instead. [5]

The lesson to be learned here is obvious: Trust the Agent and buy the mining permit.

Claim: Miners shouldn't bother buying permits. Just tank up and you'll be fine.
Status: FALSE

It's true that miners should tank their ships. It's also true that they should favor inherently tankable hulls like Procurers and Skiffs rather than Hulks. Indeed, the Code requires miners to do so. [6] Even so, there is no evidence to support the notion that tanked miners are immune from New Order ganks. Quite the opposite, in fact. Highsec is littered with the wrecks of miners whose superior tanks were useless in the face of determined Code enforcers. [7]

Not long after the mighty CODE. alliance was formed, groups of Agents proved themselves more than capable of taking down even the tankiest Skiffs. [8] Even as early as February 2013, CODE. gank fleets were successfully suicide ganking Orcas. [9] Eventually, freighters followed. [10] Unless you happen to borrow Chribba's highsec dreadnought, trusting in EHP is a dicey proposition.

Ironically, some miners trust in EHP so much that they buy blingy tank modules. In some cases a miner may spend hundreds of millions of isk to tank his ship, which only has the effect of attracting gankers. Better to get a 10 million isk permit instead.

Claim: New Order Agents engage in harassment, bullying, and other EULA violations.
Status: FALSE

One of the most astonishing qualities of the New Order is its integrity, a quality the organization demonstrates at every level. The New Order is great, but it's also good. From the Saviour of Highsec right down to the most inexperienced Agent, the essential goodness, decency, and humanity of the New Order is on full display.

Goofuses who don't understand EVE's game mechanics or rules accuse the New Order of bullying, harassment, and all manner of other evils. Incredibly, though, not one of the New Order's hundreds of Agents has ever been caught committing such an act. [11] And while a number of Agents have been martyred for the Code when CCP gave them erroneous permabans, there are no documented cases of Agents being permabanned for violating the EULA. [12] That's quite a record.

The carebears, by contrast, don't have such a great track record. It's safe to conclude that when a carebear accuses an Agent of misbehaving, it's merely a matter of projection.

Claim: Someone will eventually find a way to stop the New Order.
Status: FALSE

Since the earliest days of the Code, rebels have uttered some variation of the following: "You're making too many enemies. Eventually you'll piss off the wrong person. Someone will find a way to stop you." Despite these dire warnings, the New Order has only grown stronger over the years, and its enemies--to the extent they're willing to crawl out of their holes and show themselves--have only grown weaker and more intimidated by the New Order's power. [13]

Smart, reasonable people who have looked at this question have all come to the same conclusion: There is no feasible way to stop the New Order. [14] The conventional wisdom isn't always right, but in this case it is. The CODE always wins. Always. [15]

Claim: Obeying the Code is the only way to survive in highsec.
Status: TRUE

Of all the ways highsec dwellers have tried to deal with the New Order, only one has ever worked in the long run: 100% compliance with the Code. [16] Other methods, including counter-bumping, counter-ganking, counter-blogging, remote-repping, jamming, wreck-sniping, wardecs, anti-Code propaganda, orbiting rocks, faking permits, station-camping, gate-camping, begging CCP for nerfs, filing frivolous petitions, hiring mercs, real-life threats, and dumping countless gallons of carebear tears... all have failed to do anything but increase the New Order's already seemingly infinite resolve. [17]

Obeying the Code is the smart choice. It works every time it's tried. [18]

[1] Source: MinerBumping
[2] Source: MinerBumping
[3] Source: MinerBumping
[4] Source: MinerBumping
[5] Source: MinerBumping
[6] Source: MinerBumping
[7] Source: MinerBumping
[8] Source: MinerBumping
[9] Source: MinerBumping
[10] Source: MinerBumping
[11] Source: MinerBumping
[12] Source: MinerBumping
[13] Source: MinerBumping
[14] Source: MinerBumping
[15] Source: MinerBumping
[16] Source: MinerBumping
[17] Source: MinerBumping
[18] Source: MinerBumping