The Holistic Review, Part 1

You know, people often complain about various aspects of EVE and CCP (and I guess Pearl Abyss, now). To be sure, there's plenty of room for improvement. But it's important that we don't lose sight of EVE's many positive features. Chief among them:

The Code. Ah yes, the Code. Of course. As a CCP dev once said, the best content in the game is that which is created by the players themselves. That certainly rings true when it comes to the Code.

So let's talk about it--the Code, I mean. And today, I'd like to shine a spotlight on one of the more underrated provisions: The excessive mining provision.

"No excessive mining. Miners should not fall into a routine of mining all day. I want well-rounded people in my system, not ice-mining machines."

If you believe the rebels and skeptics, the excessive mining provision is an infernal clause that burns down the rest of the Code. "They put that in the Code so they can gank you even if you buy a permit and follow all the other rules."

Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, the excessive mining provision is of vital importance to the health and safety of highsec. For example, consider a case from a couple years ago, when a miner was ganked by our Agents despite being at his keyboard and fully tanking his ship. He even owned a permit! The only problem? He was hosting a Twitch stream where he mined for 11 hours straight.

A little excessive, no?

"But James 315," you say. "Maybe he enjoys mining. Other people have spent 11 hours playing EVE. Like nullsec line members participating in an important time-dilated fleet battle, or Bonus Room contestants. Who are you to say that someone can't spend 11 hours mining, if that's what they want to do?"

I'm the Saviour of Highsec. Take a seat.

There are good reasons, of course, for the Code's prohibition against excessive mining. Think about the toll it takes on someone to spend that much time mining. I'm not just talking about the mind-numbing effects, either. Eleven hours of mining has got to be a real drag. If you spend that much time mining, you might start to realize the futility of it all. Maybe you quit EVE, causing CCP's profit margins to decline. Maybe CCP gets less money from Pearl Abyss as a result. But there are other implications, too.

You see, after you spend enough time engaged in the nearly automated task of highsec mining, you might start to envy the mining bots. They have inhuman endurance. They can mine for 11 hours or more, day after day, week after week. Mining bots pull in yields that most miners can't even fathom. However, someone who mines excessively might start to narrow the gap enough to make them think, "Why shouldn't I get those yields? If they can bot, why can't I?"

Before you know it, our marathon miner is a bot-aspirant. He reflects upon all the benefits of a life where he doesn't have to spend 11 hours in front of his keyboard mining. Yet he craves the ore. He wants it all, and the only way he can see to get it is to download a macro mining program.

Only our Agents can stop him.

You see, the Agents of the New Order are the only people you can trust to actually do something about the bot menace. Our Agents are trained to hunt them down. The rebel scoffs, "How can you tell the difference between a botter and a human miner?" Exactly, friend. When some misguided fellow goes on an 11-hour mining bender, he starts to look a lot like a bot. The more miners who mine excessively, the easier it is for the botters to blend in.

In comes the report: "An Orca pilot has been spotted mining all day without taking a break." The locals chime in to defend him, "He's not a bot. I've spent 11 hours mining while watching him mine for 11 hours on Twitch."

What a mess.

Which brings us to another provision of the Code,

"Miners should strive not only to avoid botting, but to avoid even the appearance of botting."

You see how it all ties together? There's a flow to the Code, one powered by logic and reason. The Anti-Ganker says, "It's just an excuse for griefing." The Anti-Gankers were never big fans of logic or reason.

So we know that a miner shouldn't engage in excessive mining. There's more to it, though. Let's read that Code provision again:

"No excessive mining. Miners should not fall into a routine of mining all day. I want well-rounded people in my system, not ice-mining machines."

Say, what's this business about "well-rounded people"?

To be continued...