EVE PvP Tournament assassination: Machiavellian or bad form?
by James Egan 
Feb 1st 2009 at 8:00PM
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, in-game, Guilds, PvP, Opinion
Struggle between player alliances in EVE Online is very much at the heart of the game. While most conflicts play out in sweeping alliance warfare, with its requisite fleet battles involving hundreds of players, some alliances also choose to face one another in arena combat with the rapt attention of many thousands of their fellow pilots: the Alliance PvP Tournament.
The Alliance Tournament in EVE Online provides a way for players to demonstrate what they're capable of under controlled conditions, and offers a shot at fame or notoriety among the playerbase. In some cases, alliances may face off in the PvP tournament to settle a score in a very public way. The rules of engagement in place ensure that all alliance teams are on equal ground with one another. EVE players can be devious though, if nothing else... as one match this past weekend proved: one alliance competitor assassinated his team's captain once the match had begun, and then self-destructed his own ship. The would-be saboteur, ironically named "Happy Joymaker", later announced he had infiltrated the alliance for the express purpose of a public execution of his target.
Happy Joymaker was acting on behalf of the player corporation "The Dead Parrot Shoppe, Inc." and took to the forums to explain the motivation to do this. Following the act itself, Happy Joymaker announced during the match, "Never forget who you insult. Our list is long, our memory is longer, and our patience endless... I am a spy sent to kill Issler in a nice and public way. That is the reason I hit self destruct and tuned [sic] off my hardeners once Denze (aka Issler) was dead. Have a nice day."
The motivation here was vendetta against an individual, not "The Honda Accord" alliance team that both the victim and assassin flew with, and ostensibly not about the ISK betting that goes hand in hand with the tournament. Regardless of why he was targeted, Issler Dainze -- the victim in this case (aka "Denze Ezzle") -- doesn't appear overly concerned about the incident, particularly as The Honda Accord team still emerged victorious despite the sabotage. Also some argue that the assassination itself was only partially successful -- Dainze lost his ship, but was not podkilled.
Referring to the corporation who arranged the hit, Dainze says, "Thanks Dead Bruce Shop for making our first attempt at the EVE PvP tournament something that will stand out in the history of EVE! This is one CEO that is all smiles!"
We should mention, however, that this incident goes a bit beyond what some players would consider 'acceptable' in this situation, judging from the fact that this is the first time (I am aware of) that someone betrayed their own team in the PvP tournament. CCP Games, the developers of EVE Online who preside over the Alliance Tournament, may feel the same way given that they obliterated Happy Joymaker for his infractions during the match.
The EVE Online players we spoke to about the incident have some opposing views about what happened. Some think it was Machiavellian to assassinate another player in so public a venue. Others feel it was bad form to do something like this during the Alliance Tournament.
What's your own view on turning a live in-game event into a chance at retribution -- was it a clever play or poor sportsmanship?
This video footage of the match can also be seen in fullscreen HD, on the CCP Games YouTube page.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Holgar said on 9:12PM 2-01-2009
Anywhere else bad sportsmanship, in EVE however just business as usual.
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Blue Kae said on 12:54PM 2-03-2009
Exactly right. This kind of stuff, along with the fact that there even is a tournament is why I play.
Athzar said on 10:15PM 2-01-2009
That's *awesome*. It's stuff like that that makes me with I had a computer that could play EVE. The craziest thing you see in WoW is somebody saying something legitimately funny in trade chat . . .
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obo said on 10:56PM 2-01-2009
If Trade is the craziest thing you see in WoW, you probably aren't going to put the time commitment into EVE to see this stuff live, either.
SgtBaker said on 11:48PM 2-01-2009
It was funny first, but if you follow the thread in the forums, it gets pathetic quite fast as Happy is whining about getting podded by GM and wanting reimbursement for his lost implants... *that* is bad sportsmanship (assassinship?)
http://myeve.eve-online.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=986848&page=2#41
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droid said on 5:06AM 2-02-2009
Bad form but kind of cool.
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UltimateQ said on 5:34AM 2-02-2009
That is pretty awesome. AWESOME. It really makes me want to play eve. I thought I had the attention span for it but, I just couldn't stay focused.
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jamielikesyou said on 6:08AM 2-02-2009
Really awesome form tbh. Getting revenge is half the motivation of this game; when you don't take it on yourself, you hire mercs to do the dirty work. This is the one thing people will remember about Alliance Tournament 6. Player driven intrigue and ambition are what make his game one of the best around imo.
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mandrill said on 6:12AM 2-02-2009
This is what EVE is all about. Remember: nowhere can be considered safe space, and trust is a valuable commodity that should not be given lightly.
Good show.
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Iokthemonkey said on 7:06AM 2-02-2009
It just sounds like a bunch of snivelling, bullied little kids all getting their "revenge" on each other in the most "who fricking cares?" ways possible.
I'm sure EVE has some great players too and some brilliant mechanics, but this stuff is just deeply sad.
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rokknroll said on 9:28AM 2-03-2009
"It's stuff like that that makes me with I had a computer that could play EVE" Shader Model 2.0 or greater card can, so you may be able to run the premium lite client ok.
"I'm sure EVE has some great players too and some brilliant mechanics, but this stuff is just deeply sad."
Or exactly the kind of roleplaying and politics that makes Eve a game.
Eve is a game that plays mostly in your head, not onscreen.
Darkdust said on 11:54AM 2-02-2009
Don't know why it's sad, as people who play EVE know what they're getting into and what makes it fun. Hint: this is it.
And frankly, most EVE players believe that the average age is higher among us than that of most other MMOGs.
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Iokthemonkey said on 12:10PM 2-02-2009
Don't know why it's sad, as people who play EVE know what they're getting into and what makes it fun. Hint: this is it.
And frankly, most EVE players believe that the average age is higher among us than that of most other MMOGs.
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I just find it sad that somebody would
(A) spend so much of their supposed "fun/game" time on this (instead of actually, I dunno, having fun)
(B) let the actions of somebody on Teh Internets piss them off to the degree that they had to invest so much time into getting "revenge" on them for some virtual slight.
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Graill said on 6:33PM 2-02-2009
The totally SAD part are the ignorant devs. The devs in EVE are the worst in terms of gameplay mechanics and double standards that i have ever seen.
Something happens that for one little moment is the glimmer of consequence that EVE so desperately needs and the ignorant devs intervene. You want to talk about a "virtual slight?" . Grats EVE devs you fail again.
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CrazyKinux said on 8:56PM 2-02-2009
Wonder what the end call by CCP will be on this one!
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Tambler said on 10:46PM 2-02-2009
This needs to happen because it would in a real tournament in some intergalactic hell. Not really dramatic stuff though, compared to some eve things you hear about
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eve_privateer said on 1:07AM 2-03-2009
That would have been much more exciting if the commentators actually figured out that it was an assassination. They should have realized when the raven initiated the self destruct countdown.
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Blackmylar said on 5:50PM 2-03-2009
I think it is actions like these that keep my resubbing to Eve-Online. This adds to the immersive quality of the experience. I despise e-sport events in MMORPGS, but when political actions take place during "tournaments", it adds the RPG back into the MMO.
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Arekaine said on 6:02AM 2-08-2009
Public executions like these, mixed with the BoB incident. Is probably why the "spy" profession is going to get nerfed sometime in the near future. Probably having the ability of having alts taken away. But I am just used to the all powerful nerf hammer that CCP owns
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TrevHead said on 10:09PM 3-15-2009
CCP will never nerf the evil proffessions spying,thievery etc. It gives them so much publicity. Infact it was the articals in UKs PC Gamer magazine about all the various heists that made me 1st notice eve and want to play it.
Even though im not a scammer i think it still enriches my gameplay to know that some1 may try to scam me.