Highsec Miner Grab Bag #154

Uh-oh, you know what that means... It's time for another edition of the Highsec Miner Grab Bag!

That got dark in a hurry, even for the Grab Bag. On the bright side, Maken111 will probably clarify his remarks by saying he was referring to in-game activities only.

...Or not. In case you were curious, the ship Maken111 lost was a 34 million isk Tayra.

I was wondering when you'd show up.

Instead of pretending they're all helpless newbies, the carebears who want a risk-free highsec now refer to themselves as "new and returning players", as if that should be a protected class. The line between a regular player and a "returning player" is particularly fuzzy. Regardless, if EVE is a dying game, why do they want to grind money in it?

I suppose Delaron Eraborn was one of those returning players who should get gank immunity. He was (auto-)piloting a 9.8 billion isk freighter. At least he took the loss better than the guy hauling 34 million isk.

Agents of the New Order are advised to periodically review their contact notifications. They're a commonly untapped source of miner tears.

Svipull and his fellow Anti-Gankers have been reduced to writing manifestos in local chat. Don't worry, the New Order will never allow the rebels' nightmarish vision of highsec to become a reality.

From profanity to confession in three EVEmails. Our Agents are exceedingly efficient at getting to the truth.

Not every carebear is as forthcoming, though. This one was piloting a freighter with a collection of plastic-wrapped packages. Very secretive.

Oh good, another returning player. Maybe CCP could send players a link to the Code whenever they reactivate an old account?

Between my Agents and these filthy miners, I'm pretty sure I know who's doing things the right way.

The Revolutionary Act, Part 1

Thee Deliverator was an ordinary EVE player. But that was about to change.

One fateful day, Deliverator watched a Twitch stream hosted by Zaenis Desef, who was demonstrating the art of miner bumping. Something stirred inside of Deliverator, something he could not explain--or ignore. He went to Jita and purchased a Stabber.

EVE System > Channel changed to Local : Ahtulaima
Thee Deliverator > Narzelath Stark Mining without a permit eh?
Narzelath Stark > permit from whom? you?
Narzelath Stark > bwahahahahahhahahaaa
Narzelath Stark > good one

Deliverator found a miner in a random system, closed his eyes, breathed a deep sigh, and let fate take over. There was no turning back now. Deliverator had just committed a revolutionary act in the name of the Code.

Thee Deliverator > maybe if you guys would follow the code, you wouldn't have a problem mining. Read more here http://www.minerbumping.com/p/the-code.html
Ritsuku Lycrosis > Freedom comes from a lack of rules not extorsion
Thee Deliverator > It's not extorsion, it's the law. Set forth by James 315
Ritsuku Lycrosis > If bumping gets you high then go ahead. Part of the game and my enjoyment of it is getting to ignore rules made by people who think they own something they don't

The Ahtulaima system witnessed a transformation in Thee Deliverator. He was a bumper now, and an Agent of the New Order. The way he was viewed by the rest of highsec immediately changed.

Only a few minutes after Deliverator first activated the Stabber's microwarpdrive, he received his first piece of correspondence. It was evidence that he'd taken a side in the battle of good versus evil in highsec.

Ritsuku Lycrosis > I am a proud Goofus because I can be. Your rules can't change that.
Alecia Reaver > lol the bumpenator has arrived
Ritsuku Lycrosis > do you buy into this "code" too Alecia?
Alecia Reaver > they never even talk to me, they just shoot.
Alecia Reaver > yall just jump people. you dont even give warning

Deliverator was surprised by how quickly his decision to bump miners was making an impact on the world around him. He'd never seen anything like it. And though he didn't expect it, the newly minted Agent was about to cross paths with a veteran Code enforcer.

Out of nowhere, Agent Ilithyia Borgia entered the system and ganked Alecia Reaver's Covetor. The gank occurred just moments after Alecia complained in local about Agents not warning miners. Instant karma.

Deliverator received another EVEmail, which was quickly followed by an invitation to join a private convo with its author.

Thee Deliverator > Hey
Quintas Maon > hello
Quintas Maon > you trying to extort my miners?
Thee Deliverator > Well it is the law
Quintas Maon > what law?
Thee Deliverator > http://www.minerbumping.com/p/the-code.html

The miner in question was Quintas Maon. He belonged to a corporation known as Guardia del Dragon. He'd been watching Deliverator's bumping antics, and he didn't like what he saw.

Quintas Maon > ive looked at your bs website.
Quintas Maon > just seems a way to extort new players for your dumbass benefit
Thee Deliverator > Please convo a CODE. Member and purchase a mining permit if you wish to mine in High-sec
Quintas Maon > you should think long and hard about messing with these players...
Quintas Maon > fuck your permit

Deliverator hadn't been keeping track of the corp affiliations of all the miners; he simply bumped anyone who didn't have a permit. Clearly, though, one of the bump-hurt miners must've belonged to Guardia del Dragon.

Thee Deliverator > Why should I think long and hard? What kind of consequences could I incur?
Quintas Maon > these are open areas and we will not bow to your demands.
Quintas Maon > im just one that isnt willing to put up with bullshit taxes, and will protect corp mates no matter the cost
Quintas Maon > it also helps to have friends in high places

Quintas hinted at the existence of some higher power pulling strings in his favor. However, when Deliverator watched Agent Ilithyia gank an unlicensed Covetor, he realized an important truth: As an Agent of the New Order, he was the one with friends in high places.

Behind the scenes, Deliverator contacted Ilithyia and requested an air strike. She happily complied, dropping a gank on a Retriever pilot who belonged to the Guardia del Dragon corporation. Quintas Maon had only succeeded in drawing extra attention to the miners in his own corp.

An hour after bumping his first miner, Thee Deliverator found himself in the middle of a war. The battle lines were drawn.

To be continued...

The Quotable GM

Horse Zalupa > Super Perforator miners beat the last thing
Super Perforator > Horse Zalupa Praise James!
gumPis Duuzene > Super Perforator what language are you speaking?
Super Perforator > English at the moment.
gumPis Duuzene > why we should pay to you ant explain word - Praise.. I don't know such word :D

It was a day like any other. Agent Super Perforator was patrolling the Poinen system and enforcing the Code. Suddenly, she was hailed by Horse Zalupa. Before long, a friendly discussion blossomed in local chat.

Super Perforator > what language would you like?
gumPis Duuzene > Russian or Latvian
Super Perforator > Russian http://minerbumping.41656.x6.nabble.com/-td5955.html
gumPis Duuzene > no I changed my mind please in Latvian

Though Horse Zalupa initiated things, his friend gumPis Duuzene took the lead. Agent Super provided him with a Russian translation of the Code to ensure that the conversation would be a productive one.

gumPis Duuzene > Do you realise the fact - You sound shit with youre demandings!?
Super Perforator > there arent enough latvian people to make a translation economical.
gumPis Duuzene > Fuck you peace of fucking shit
gumPis Duuzene > you can suck my villie

If any Latvian speakers want to produce a translation of the Code, I'd be happy to host it along with our English, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Chinese, and Turkish versions.

Horse Zalupa > Kill: Horse Zalupa (Venture*)
Super Perforator > ah, I see you have already met The New Order.
Super Perforator > Would you like to buy a permit now?
Horse Zalupa > a fool or what?? The Russian did not pay
Super Perforator > Horse Zalupa no permit, no ship... at our discretion.

The destruction of Horse Zalupa's Venture, which took place earlier in the month, turned out to be the impetus for the chat. Our Agent wondered if the two miners held a grudge against her.

Super Perforator > www.minerbumping.com
gumPis Duuzene > I don't open shitty web sites like that!
Super Perforator > that's why you keep losing ships.
gumPis Duuzene > junk head
gumPis Duuzene > you look like shit to me

A regular, thorough reading of MinerBumping is absolutely essential for anyone who spends any time in highsec. It's also required reading for anyone who wants to enjoy the best that EVE has to offer. gumPis didn't understand this--yet.

gumPis Duuzene > I will alow to suck my dick for free
Super Perforator > unfortunately there are no game mechanics relating to that... CCP stopped developing "walking in stations" too soon.
Horse Zalupa > Super Perforator I'll pay you 10 million if you guard me all year while I mine.))))
gumPis Duuzene > where is your ass..

The Code speaks of Goofus and Gallant, but it seemed that Horse and gumPis were more like Goofus and Other Goofus.

Super Perforator > Kill: gumPis Duuzene (Retriever) another illegal miner down.
gumPis Duuzene > who gives a fuck
Super Perforator > gumPis Duuzene the main thing is that you are not mining in James 315's territory
Super Perforator > www.minerbumping.com shows the borders.
Liva Hinken > Super Perforator is it official eve online web site?
Super Perforator > Liva Hinken it is the most important website for High Sec miners.

Other Goofus joined his friend in the "ganked by Super Perforator" club. Maybe now they could pool their resources and buy a couple permits?

Liva Hinken > Super Perforator 3y ago code was asking for the same shit...
Super Perforator > Liva Hinken since 2012... so coming up to 6 years since the light came to high sec.
Liva Hinken > you are idiot... show me one fcuking eve online rule where where is mentioned that I have to pay something to CODE, Or that James??
Super Perforator > The New Halaima Code of Conduct covers that. www.minerbumping.com

A third miner was drawn into the vortex. Agent Super wasted no time in educating this carebear, as well.

Super Perforator > and if you read the blog, you would discover...
Super Perforator > That The New Order only requires people to buy permits, because CCP required The New Order to require people to buy permits.
Super Perforator > If CCP had not forced us to sell permits, it is possible that we could be doing this without trying to persuade you to spend 10 Million ISK for one year.
Super Perforator > It would then maybe have been enough to have you just adhere to The New Halaima Code of Conduct.

Our Agent relayed an interesting bit of EVE history. But as we will see, Super's interpretation of that history--or perhaps her choice of words in relating it--would eventually come under an extraordinary amount of scrutiny.

gumPis Duuzene > this is ISK spaming
gumPis Duuzene > You are reported as ISK spamer
Super Perforator > Selling mining permits is not ISK spamming.
Super Perforator > ISK spamming is trying to get you to buy ISK... as in RMT... which I am not doing.
Liva Hinken > how much James are paying for this shit?

Other Goofus filed a petition against Agent Super for "ISK Spamming". Though our Agent was completely innocent of that charge, it appears that GMs have the ability to broaden the scope of their investigations to look into other potential crimes--not unlike a special prosecutor. Before long, our Agent received an official warning. Super reports:

I got a warning from a GM for 'making false claims about CCP'. I asked for clarification and got the following response from a senior GM. I was worried for a second that the junior GM was warning me for claiming that CCP had stopped developing "Walking in Stations" too soon!

What follows is the full text of Senior GM Archduke's petition response explaining why Super Perforator received a warning.

"But James 315," you interject. "Isn't it against the rules to publish CCP communications, including petition responses? In fact, didn't you write an essay on that very subject not too long ago?"

Good questions, dear reader. As it turns out, GM Archduke read that particular MinerBumping post, and he granted special permission to publish his petition response in this case. This is an exceptionally rare treat, so here we go, hot off the press:

*****Senior GM

Senior GM Archduke (EVE Online)

Mar 28, 12:56 UTC

Hello Capsuleer, Archduke here.

Thank you for contacting the Player Experience Team. Your character 'Super Perforator' was reported for making false allegations involving CCP in an in-game chat channel and our review of the logs has confirmed this. This is a breach of the EULA section 6.C, pertaining to our Terms of Service item 1. Please visit the links provided below for more details on the relevant policies:

EVE Online - End User License Agreement

EVE Online - Terms of Service

You may not abuse, harass or threaten another player or authorized representative of CCP, including customer service personnel and volunteers. This includes, but is not limited to: filing support tickets with false information in an attempt to gain from it or have someone else suffer from it; sending excessive e-mails, EVE-mails or support tickets; obstructing CCP Employees from doing their jobs; refusal to follow the instructions of a CCP Employee; or implying favoritism by a CCP Employee.

Please see the comments in question below:

"That The New Order only requires people to buy permits, because CCP required The New Order to require people to buy permits.
If CCP had not forced us to sell permits, it is possible that we could be doing this without trying to persuade you to spend 10 Million ISK for one year."

I have carefully reviewed the background of the matter, including the complete ticket history between James 315 and GM Banana from 2012. that you're referring to as 'GM Intervention', a number of other related tickets and warnings, and the articles 'The Secret Origins of the New Order' and 'CCP Breaks Silence on Its Notorious Rule Against Quoting GMs' on minerbumping.com.

While I understand that you chose to interpret the conversation between James 315 and GM Banana as a request to sell mining permits, this is simply not the case. To clarify the situation, as you know due to the sandbox nature of EVE Online and as a game designed around player-created conflict, acts of extortion, non-consensual player-vs-player combat, ganking, scamming and theft are not seen as exploits or harassment by the developers of EVE Online. These are part of the game as the opportunity to do so is built into the current intended game mechanics - GM Banana was essentially confirming this in the correspondence. However, while the practice of selling mining permits to players is - at the time being - not a violation of our rules, stating that this was in any way suggested, required or forced by CCP is simply not correct, and will not be tolerated.

Your Corporation has already received a warning in 2014. from Senior GM Ninjapirate for a similar matter, where your website appeared to be implying that you are working with, or somehow are backed by CCP GMs. This was not the case then, and is not the case now - you are not endorsed by CCP and not supported in any way that other players aren't.

I do hope this clears things up, but please feel free to let me know if you have any further questions or require any further assistance with this. Please be aware however, that the Easter Holidays may cause a delay in getting back to you.

Seeing how there were issues and misconceptions about this (the practice of selling mining permits) and the "rule against quoting GMs", I'd like to point out that you have my full permission to share or publish this particular correspondence.

Best Regards,
Senior GM Archduke
CCP Player Experience | EVE Online | EVE Valkyrie

*****
A quick point of clarification is in order. The incident in 2014 that GM Archduke referred to was covered in a classic MinerBumping post, CCP Officially Requests Code Revision. Actually, GM Ninjapirate's request that I revise the Code didn't include the word "warning" and may not have been technically classified as a warning. Also, as a general rule, "corporations" don't receive warnings; characters (or players) do. If you want to call it a warning, it was received by James 315, who has never been in the same corporation as Super Perforator anyway.

As to the substance of GM Archduke's complaint, it's interesting to note how finely the hairs were split--more finely than the hairs I split in the preceding paragraph.

The origin of the New Order mining permit goes back to June 2012, when I received a warning from GM Banana for bumping miners. Because there was no apparent in-game benefit to said bumping activities, it was deemed random harassment. I developed the idea of charging miners for a permit to mine in my systems (or else they get bumped); since some miners might pay me, there was a theoretical in-game benefit to bumping them. I ran the idea by GM Banana, and while I'm not permitted to paste his response here, I can say that he did not reject it. From then on, I (and anyone else who sold mining permits) was able to bump miners freely.

That's what Super Perforator was referring to when she wrote those offending lines in local about the New Order being "required" to charge 10 million isk. I suppose you could argue that GM Banana didn't require me to charge money for permits, because I might have come up with some other way to bump miners within the rules. However, the more likely reason for GM Archduke's complaint would be that he doesn't want CCP to be invoked in any way that might sound like an official endorsement of the New Order or the Code. Alas, in our world of sound bites and 280-character limits, things like history, nuance, and context are among the first casualties.

Super's only crime was that she was too busy saving highsec to parse her extemporaneous remarks in a way that would pass muster with the space lawyers. If you ask me, GMs need to take that into account when second-guessing the actions of Code enforcers in the line of duty.

Nevertheless, Agents do have an invaluable resource at their fingertips: When addressing especially delicate subjects, Agents can link MinerBumping posts.

Gank the One You're With

You know what that red star means, don't you? War!

The Jollyroger CODE Killers corporation pledged itself to the goal of destroying the mighty CODE. alliance. Unlike most of the thousands of other carebear corps over the years that have made similar pledges, Jollyroger CODE Killers backed theirs up with a wardec.

The corp only had three members, but one of them was Redleg Lachle, and he seemed serious enough. At any rate, Agent Super Perforator actually managed to come across Redleg's name in local, so there was a Jollyroger CODE Killers presence somewhere.

The Poinen system, once a bustling hub of activity, was quiet. A lonely miner named Podpilot pinged local. An hour later, there was only silence.

Agent Super Perforator took pity on the solitary miner and struck up a conversation with him. She, too, was looking for someone. Since her war target was staying docked up, our Agent would have to find another way to get her kicks and enforce her Code.

Guess who?

In an ironic twist of fate, Super Perforator ended up killing Podpilot himself. He was at the helm of a rare Power Diagnostic System-tanked Hulk.

Why would you expect the miner to know any better? He's only been playing EVE for 12 years, and highsec mining has a steep learning curve.

The lonely Podpilot had finally found someone to play EVE with. He discovered that he didn't enjoy it. He was a bot-aspirant.

Even so, Super Perforator was the only player who cared enough about Podpilot to shoot him. If the miner learned how to PvP, maybe he could get some revenge and make his 12-year stint in EVE worth it.

Our Agent has heard enough threats over the years to know when they're empty. Generally speaking, when they come from people who tank their Hulks with Power Diagnostic Systems, they're empty. But Super saw an opportunity to do a little matchmaking. Maybe Podpilot could become the fourth member of Redleg's anti-Code corp.

In the end, Super's initial instincts would prove correct. Podpilot never did manage to get his revenge, or to make any serious effort at seeking it. They say there's someone for everyone. But the truth is, without the Code, there's nothing for a miner to look forward to but pain, emptiness, and regret.

Mining permits are currently on sale for 10 million isk.

You Can Take the Miner Out of Highsec

Highsec miners try to take heat off of themselves by encouraging our Agents to go and kill the miners out in nullsec. On occasion, our Agents do just that.

Agent hellyeaz enjoys shooting nullsec miners for target practice. It's casual and relaxing. Unlike the elite endgame PvP that is highsec ganking, there's no CONCORD or faction police to deal with. hellyeaz eliminated Nova Echerie212's Retriever, which was mining in a busy system controlled by Pandemic Horde.

Even though he lived in Geminate, Nova's highsec roots showed.

When Nova noticed that hellyeaz was still in local, he was no longer content with writing EVEmails. The miner didn't seem to care that local was also being monitored by a large number of his fellow alliance members. His rage flowed freely.

Oh, I get it. This is going to be a running joke.

Pandemic Horde miners don't like being used for target practice. Still, Nova's attitude stood out as particularly toxic. If he lived in highsec, he'd fit right in among the rebels.

Now the miner was faced with a dilemma. A highsec carebear in his position would invoke powerful friends in nullsec. He might threaten to call in a fleet from Geminate. But this miner was already in Geminate, along with the Agent who'd ganked him.

The solution was to invoke reinforcements, as it were, from outside EVE itself. "I make more money than you do" is the equivalent of a highsec miner claiming to have an important alt in nullsec.

Nova was an isk-grinder, through and through. Granted, it might not be very productive to spend one's day mining in a fail-fit Retriever. But what little money Nova did make, he would hoard.

hellyeaz practiced his mining permit sales technique. Nova balked at the 10 million isk price tag, though he claimed to be wealthy.

When questioned, Nova confirmed that he had plenty of money for PLEX. Indeed, he could comfortably buy trillions of isk. But he preferred to make his money by spending hours cycling a pair of tech I Strip Miners.

Still sore about the loss of his precious Retriever, Nova nevertheless declared himself a winner. Our Agent knew better. Though anyone can waste away the days, mining and imagining they'll own a beachfront mansion "someday", reality cannot be moved: There is no victory without the Code.

Code Ready Gelhan, Part 42

Previously, on MinerBumping... Mission Ready Mining was in a state of crisis. It had become clear that the New Order's Agents could not be removed from the system, no matter how many thousands of carebears belonged to MRM. Worse yet, each time the miners tried to argue with an Agent in local, the Code always won.

Though MRM corp was her enemy, Agent Georgia B Dixie demonstrated extraordinary compassion for the miners. She wanted them to enjoy EVE for once.

In fact, the miners--and their corp's "leaders"--were their own worst enemy. Agent Georgia offered them salvation.

Since Georgia could stop anyone from mining, and since nobody could stop her from bumping, she became the de facto authority figure in Gelhan. The miners directed their questions to Georgia, rather than MRM "leadership".

Georgia happily bumped industrialists across the Gelhan system. Our Agents are famous for their ability to multitask; Georgia deftly obliterated the arguments of MRM's brightest minds between bumps.

Still, the miners tried to debate Georgia. Since they were unable to mine, they felt they had nothing better to do.

MRM member Lonan Arikos considered himself a rising star in MRM. He had ambitions to climb his way up the massive corp's hierarchy. But he was troubled by the truth he found in some of Georgia's claims. For example, mining did suck.

Referring to MRM's alliance (Fly Fearless, or "FF"), Lonan tried to defend the leadership and its handling of the conflict. Georgia stuck up for the little guy. The Agents of the New Order were the miners' only true friends!

With the entire Gelhan system's attention focused solely on Georgia and her bumping activities, it was only a matter of time before MRM tried to assemble another fleet to deal with her.

Alas, it seemed that the days of giant (but useless) defense fleets were over. MRM could only muster a paltry few ships.

As usual, threats were made. But by this time, the rebels were only going through the motions. They all but admitted that their threats were merely for show.

MRM was losing faith in itself. Lonan Arikos saw no future in the corp. Shortly after his conversation with Georgia, he quit MRM and made his way to nullsec to join the Goons. Yes, MRM lacked faith. Could they be persuaded to put their faith in something new--the Code?

To be continued...