Massively

Much of what's written about EVE Online focuses on the darker aspects of the game. It's not surprising, as those topics are often the ones most interesting to players and non-players alike, but EVE has a very deep industrial side to it as well. It's a side that gets much less fanfare; R&D (invention), manufacturing, trading, and investment are all possible within the game and occur in tandem with EVE's more violent pursuits. Most every ship, after all, has been manufactured and sold (or re-sold) by another player. Those who engage in EVE's industry on a serious level often come into conflict with rival corporations and alliances in wars played out on the market, which sometimes spill into formal war declarations and combat. But if you're not interested in or inept at PvP, what are EVE's industrialists to do?

While an industrialist may not be well-versed in the art of war, he or she can play to their own strength: financial influence. EVE has a number of merc corps who are willing to solve problems, be it through armed escorts in hostile space or simply obliterating your opposition... assuming you can meet their price. Benilopax, of Warp Drive Active: Industry podcast fame and an E-ON contributor, relates his experience with contracting mercenaries to solve such problems, in what he refers to as 'the dark side of industrialism'. "There is a growing use of mercenaries by industrial entities to either take out the competition or keep them from easily making a profit," Benilopax writes for EVE Tribune. If you're interested in knowing a bit more about this side of the game, start with Benilopax's article (and A-Team reference) to see what it's like to deal with mercenaries in EVE Online.