Rock, Paper, Shotgun

One of the most fascinating and enduring things about EVE Online is the depth of its economics. The player-driven economy has got a full decade of history behind it, operating on its own strange breed of anarcho-capitalism. In Free Market economics, there is an idea called the ‘invisible hand’. This is the idea that the marketplace ultimately regulates itself, whether it wants to or not. But in EVE’s case, there are two such invisible hands. One guided by the players and the other hand – one which players barely ever notice – guided by CCP’s in-house economist, Dr Eyjólfur Guðmundsson (or Eyjó for short).
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I went to EVE Fanfest, where I mostly walked around pretending to be a real journalist. A lot of my time was devoted to finding one person: a space captain called Chribba. Talking to various EVE players, I soon discovered that this man was something of a celebrity in New Eden. Not only is he one of the most well-known players, but he is also possibly the most well-liked. Which is a strange thing to be in an MMO for which all the advertising focuses on being a treacherous dog and where most of the in-game celebrities are not famous but infamous. What made Chribba different? Was he really a philanthropist, like everyone kept telling me? Or was he simply a cunning master of interstellar diplomacy? I talked to him to find out.

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“I’m looking for a guy called Chribba,” I said, and watched as the eyebrows of the other poker players rose. By all accounts, these were Bad People I was dealing with. Scoundrels, backstabbers, the lowest of the low. That’s right – EVE players. Everything I had learned about this incorrigible species of interstellar riff-raff had taught me not to trust a single one of them. EVE was the kind of game where you spent three years making a new best friend, only to steal all his money and crash his favourite space-Porsche into a moon. EVE is a game for villains. Which is why I needed to find Chribba so badly.

“Who did you say?” asked a well-dressed American to my left. He toyed gently with his poker chips and glanced at my press badge.

“Chribba,” I said, “Do you know him?” The three players in earshot began to chortle.

“Oh, yeah. Everybody knows him.”
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Brendan has been playing sandbox MMORPG, Mortal Online.

So this is how it ends. Trapped between two hissing lizard men and a fatally high, geographically unremarkable, cliff edge. The lizard men take another step and poke their razor sharp tridents at the air in front of me. The prongs of the weapon are barbed, and the barbs themselves are also barbed, which I consider to be unnecessary. I step back toward the cliff, completely unable to see the bottom. So this is how it ends. Lost in a hellish Congolese nightmare world, wearing nothing but rags and facing down two of the world’s most brutally rendered reptilians. Mortal Online, it’s been good. We had some good times, made some good memories. I would recite a few of them from the records in my leather-bound book but I lost it in that ravine, remember? Oh, Mortal. I wonder if someone found that book, would they think me a great adventurer? Or would they just throw it away and plunder my rucksack for the 500 gherkins you always said were weighing me down.
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When Man In Suit came on stage and said that Ubisoft were the best possible company to tackle piracy, I roared with laughter. But the other two billion journalists sitting in the ornate hall stayed deadly quiet. I didn’t understand. Then six black flags (six black plastic posters) were dramatically unravelled over the balconies to either side of us and Man In Suit announced the making of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. ‘Ohh,’ I said loudly to my neighbour. ‘He means the THEME of piracy.’ I nodded knowledgably and took some notes for you.
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Heroes & Generals isn’t a game. It’s two games. At least, that’s what the developers at Reto-Moto are aiming for. In one game you enter a battle as an FPS ‘hero’ while in the other you direct resources and army divisions as a strategy game ‘general’. Although it all comes in one package, the idea is that what happens in one world will ultimately affect the other. For example, moving a division of light armour to a nearby battle on the general’s map will cause tanks to appear for the players fighting on the ground. It’s not quite as simple as that, obviously, and there are a lot of requirements for things to go the way you want them when playing as a general but that’s the central idea.
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Brendan is playing Mortal Online for some reason.

Previously on This Mortal Toil…

“What do you know about work!?”

“When you play the game of Mortal, you win… or you DIE.” – “And then you respawn.” – “Oh yes and then of course you respawn.”

Now, on This Mortal Toil…

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I am Vegi Roll. Son of the Oghmir clan. My blood is Blainn, my blood is Huergar. Though my skin be pale, my back is strong. I have dwelt on the mountain; I have dwelt in the cave. My form is righteous. My logic is unmatched.

Eat springbok carcass.

Your tummy begins to ache.

I am Vegi Roll. I do not feel very well.
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“It’s like Left 4 Dead,” said the journo playing beside me to the Sega man.

“Yes,” said Sega.
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