Today is June 24th, the most important day of the EVE calendar: Code Day. On Code Day, we celebrate the birth of the Code, which was first published eight years ago on a fateful EVE forum thread, all the way back on June 24, 2012. Since then, every June 24th has been a day of great celebration--even over and above the regular celebrations of the New Order's daily victories. And it is a day of thoughtful reflection and remembrance.
I share it with you again today, dear reader.
*
EVE's history divides neatly into two eras: The pre-Code era (i.e., the time during which all EVE awaited the Code's arrival) and the Code era (i.e., the good part). In a sense, every day is Code Day, but the 24th of June is especially Code Day. It's a great time to think about how awesome the Code is and how lucky we all are to be experiencing it.
- The Seventh Anniversary of the Code
*
But this particular Code Day, though it draws upon the power of all of the previous Code Days, is different, and special--as we shall see. As the Code era dawned, I projected that the New Order's war to conquer highsec would take approximately eight years. From time to time over the years, I have considered the state of highsec in light of that projection, and each time I have been startled by its accuracy--always right on target. Now, after the completion of the eight years, it is clear that the prediction couldn't have been more prescient.
We have indeed been victorious. We have overcome ever obstacle, whether from a CCP developer or a misguided rebel "leader". Highsec is conquered. The carebears have been cowed and forced into compliance. And although there are naturally intermittent pockets of resistance--bot-aspirants who act out of desperation more than any hope of ridding EVE of the Code--the conquest of our great empire consists of mopping-up operations and policing. Highsec unquestionably belongs to our Agents now.
This result, which was unthinkable to the general population at the dawn of the Code, is today accepted as obvious, inevitable.
*
It all started with one man bumping miners in a lonely ice field in Halaima. There were skeptics, of course. Following in the footsteps of the EVE-O moderators, a would-be assassin attempted to prevent the creation of the Order by trying to suicide gank me with a tech II fitted Tempest on the first day. My Invincible Stabber emerged unscathed. I continued to bump. Some said it was pointless, a waste of time. "As long as you're bumping me, you can't bump anyone else," they said. "You'll never make a difference." I disagreed. I felt it was the best possible way to make a difference. One man standing on principle for something he believes in--it's the only way a difference has ever been made in the world.
I was right.
- The First Anniversary of the Code
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In order to absorb the full weight of the Code's achievement--to appreciate its full power--one must consider the state of EVE when the Code first arrived. In the halls of CCP HQ and in the private chats of CSM members, carebearism and theme parkism was all the rage. None doubted for a moment that EVE could ascend to new heights and attract the subscription fees of millions of new players, if only highsec were a kinder, gentler place. If only... If only EVE weren't EVE anymore.
They lied.
*
At the time of the drafting of the Code, there were still more nerf "expansions" to come. Despite having already rolled out the summer 2012 expansion (a nerf to wardecs), August saw an "emergency" expansion to massively buff the EHP of mining ships and end Hulkageddon Infinity. For the next expansion, scheduled for December 2012, CCP planned to nerf can-flipping and aggression baiting. Not exactly the stuff of which video game legends are made.
And yet, almost entirely hidden beneath the thick darkness, there was a point of light. In spite of everything, in defiance of the vast, surrounding blackness, it still shone. It represented hope, the possibility that the spirit of EVE was alive, somewhere.
Obviously I'm referring to myself.
- The Second Anniversary of the Code
*
MinerBumping very quickly became a necessary companion to the Code and to the Order it inspired. The concept behind MinerBumping was actually quite simple. In a game known for lies, treachery, and deceit, I chose to do something radical: I told people the truth. This proved to be highly controversial.
They told you that EVE could be improved only by removing sources of spaceship combat from a spaceship combat game.
But I told you the truth.
They told you that miners and other highsec carebears were peaceful, happy, innocent people, and that anyone who dared to shoot a spaceship in a 0.5+ security system was a despicable sociopath.
But I told you the truth.
They told you that if CCP got more revenue, the money would be spent on fixing EVE's bugs and adding new features, as opposed to it being wasted by CCP on a series of laughably flawed side projects and vaporware.
But I told you the truth.
They told you that EVE could be transformed into a theme park that could successfully compete with all of the countless other theme park games in the market, despite CCP's perpetual failure to create engaging PvE and its use of a UI team that made decisions like "every type of ship should be represented by a square bracket" and "all of our icons should be monochrome because colorblind people will like it".
But I told you the truth.
Just like the name of its author, MinerBumping became a litmus test: Good people instinctively liked it, and bad people recoiled from it. Which made sense, because MinerBumping told the truth. That made some people very angry, even if they couldn't quite explain why.
*
When carebears first learned of the Code, they assumed that it would necessarily be temporary. "They'll get bored and go away," the miners assured each other. "Someone will stop them," said the rebels. Then, as their anxieties grew to alarming levels: "CCP will get rid of them once they see that they're ruining the game."
But the Code didn't go away. The Code became a fact of highsec life. The fact of highsec life.
- The Fifth Anniversary of the Code
*
Despite the anger of the anti-Code, anti-truth faction of EVE, the New Order only grew stronger and more powerful; MinerBumping became more widely read and influential. At its core, the war for highsec was a war of ideas. In this war, our enemies were unarmed and seemed to have little interest in arming themselves. They moaned and whined and begged CCP to help them. But CCP couldn't fix its own game; how could it fix carebears? How could anyone even begin to work on solving the myriad problems of the bot-aspirant mind and personality?
Ironically enough, the only thing that could save all those anti-Code Goofuses was the Code itself.
*
When a newbie goes to a forum and asks for advice on mining in highsec, what do people say to him? "Tank up your ship," they say. They caution, "Whatever you do, don't mine AFK." And, "Use your D-scanner. Watch local." Buried beneath the downvotes, more sage advice: "Buy a permit." Ah, but what the rebels and skeptics on Reddit and elsewhere don't realize is, buying a permit is only one provision of the Code. The rest of it? Exactly the things they told the miner to do. They were instructing the miner to obey the Code, and they didn't even know it! That's how much we've changed the culture, how deeply the Code's roots are planted.
- The Fourth Anniversary of the Code
*
Despite the righteousness of our cause--or because of it, I should say--many tried to stop us. All of them failed. To be sure, most of the rebels were very lazy about it. And they spent the vast majority of their time sniping at one another and engaging in self-destructive behaviors. But they did try, so their attempts--feeble as they were--must be condemned as failures. Their motives were ignoble, too, so they do not even get credit for making an effort.
There was a bright side to their opposition, though: It attracted the attention of good people who then invariably joined our cause. Countless EVE players wandered into a system, witnessed the outpourings of a whiny miner in local, and stuck around to investigate what was going on. They discovered the Code. They observed its supporters and its opponents. And they came to the conclusion that yes, it was in fact a very good thing that the miner had been ganked.
As a consequence, more good things happened in highsec.
*
The Agents of the New Order are truly the center of the EVE galaxy. No other group affects so many players or to such a great extent. No one else in EVE is talked about, written about, raged about, or applauded as much as we are. Most players are in highsec, and we command highsec. For the vast majority of EVE players today, the New Order is the only group that occupies their thoughts. They must adapt themselves to us, and our Code--or they must die. And they know it. Or, again, they die.
- The Third Anniversary of the Code
*
So it was that the Code won. We won everything: We won the in-game fights by prevailing in spaceship combat. We won the meta-game fights by adapting to every change that CCP made to try to save the carebears from themselves. We won the battle of ideas which, being frank, proved to be a rather one-sided affair. Our philosophy and our culture triumphed.
We also won the battle of history.
*
For all time, EVE will be remembered as the place where it all started. We are, in a word, the game's legacy. Thus, we can tie it all together by saying that the New Halaima Code of Conduct is EVE's Legacy Code. No pun intended.
Now, some people would tell you that legacy code is a bad thing. It's the thing that developers wish they could get rid of so they could update the program with wonderful new features. But in this case, the Legacy Code--the New Order, its Agents, all of it--is the only thing worth keeping. We're the indispensable element of EVE. We keep the game firmly planted in its roots, and thank goodness.
- The Sixth Anniversary of the Code
*
It is often said that history is written by the victors. We are the victors, so it is only fitting that we have won the battle of EVE's history. Then again, a whiny highsec miner is hardly capable of writing history; his participation is limited to having his profanity-laced tears collected and published in a coherent narrative on MinerBumping.
Regardless, the victory won over these past eight years is complete. And, therefore, the mission of MinerBumping is also complete. This is the final MinerBumping post.
Some loyal, long-time readers have known this was coming. Among those reading today's post are Agents who moved on from EVE many years ago; they have returned here to read what the eighth Code Day post would bring. Hello, old friends. We won.
For many others, the completion of MinerBumping comes as something of a shock. Gasps and double-takes were had. Eyes widened. Jaws dropped. Why? Because they have grown accustomed to a world in which the consistency of MinerBumping's daily posts over an eight-year period was like the rising of the sun each morning. Better, though.
In this moment, the reader wonders what a world without new MinerBumping posts looks like. There are the concerns of the moment: Will aiva naali ever succeed in conquering nullsec on the Imperium's behalf? And what of the crisis in Nakugard? Or even VictorStark Stark's "siege", only just recently declared by that mad miner? These MinerBumping series were still ongoing, not wrapped up in a neat little bow. And what about all of the countless other reports sent in by our Agents?
I discovered early on, in the first few weeks of MinerBumping, that there was far more material in my possession than could ever be published. If MinerBumping ran for a hundred years, I would still have folders filled with the tears of carebears and the victories of our Agents. That's how whiny the miners are--and how glorious our Agents are.
In the time that remains to us, I wish to say a few more things and answer a few more questions.
I want to thank our Agents for being glorious. That includes the elite few who have been permabanned (apparently by mistake, otherwise CCP wouldn't have left the reason blank).
In addition, I wish to acknowledge the New Order's shareholders. Thanks to their generous contributions to the cause, I was able to hand out over two trillion isk to fund suicide gankers. Some shareholders went above and beyond. Henceforth, the side panel of MinerBumping, which normally displays the month's top contributors, will list the all-time top shareholders.
I hereby give all of the shareholders--even those who own but a single share--one final Supreme Protector's Tip of the Hat™.
Although MinerBumping's posts have come to an end, I will continue to fund the gankers for as long as there is isk in my wallet. It is my pleasure to accept isk for that purpose indefinitely. I will also continue to hold the reins of the mighty CODE. alliance. But the truth is that Code enforcers don't need anyone to tell them what to do. They have the Code. It is written in their hearts, and they have burned its wisdom across highsec.
Which brings me to those who still have questions about a world in which there are no new MinerBumping posts. For one thing, there is great prestige to be had in going back and reading everything again from the beginning. There are over three thousand posts, all of which are worth rereading (yes, even the shareholder updates).
For another thing: MinerBumping hasn't truly ended. Like the Code itself, it is still there to be found, everywhere in highsec. Our Agents are still creating the content each and every day. Find them. Join them. Kill a miner. He deserves it. He is probably AFK. And he needs to buy a permit. They're still only 10 million isk.
Now then, dear reader. You have the Code. Go forth and use it.
...What's that?
Ah. Of course.
One last time.
The face that saved highsec.
And always will.
Always!
- 315
