I have a lot invested in that one character. A character I don't even own. Nope, it belongs to CCP because, in order to play EVE, I had to sign it over to them. It is their game. And, when the rubber meets the road, Rixx Javix is part of their game. It is a relationship built on a fundamental understanding of our specific purposes. I create dynamic content both in and out of game as part of a "hobby" and they provide an endlessly magnificent environment in which I can pursue that "hobby".
It is a win-win situation of the highest order.
So call me crazy. Call me names. Call me whatever you want when I tell you that I don't want some other person who hasn't written millions of words, drawn thousands of pictures, created player events, stood up for Frills on Vagabonds, created Twitter Hats, or any of the numerous other things I have worked hard to provide - I don't want some wet-behind-the-ears basement dweller pretending to be me sucking the life out of another player.
Is that crazy?
You see that picture up there in the graphic? It looks like me, but it isn't me. It is "kinda" me. Now that particular me was set-up as a joke by a player that is actually IN Stay Frosty now. But even still, he has managed to siphon off a few contracts intended for me over the past two years. There are quite a few other "Rixx" people floating around. Luckily the really nasty ones have been dealt with by CCP over the years.
Because, you see, it is important for them that someone doesn't ruin my character. That is the implicit two-way street of this healthy relationship we have together. I don't want to be ruined and they don't want me to be either.
Years ago I flew up from Null Space for a week or two in Piekura. My friend Angor and I thought it would be fun to fly over to a Newbie system and gank us some young players. Trick them into taking something from a can and blow them up. We did it. It was surprisingly easy. But it left a biter taste in our mouths. We quickly left that system and I have never been back since.
Today, some newb flies into Hev in his Venture? I'll blow him up and not think twice about it.
What's the difference? To me, the difference is rather profound and important to the long-term survivability of Eve. ( My apologies, I've never actually scammed anyone in Eve before, so I don't have a better example of doing it. ) (( It is pretty telling that I just apologized for never having scammed anyone, isn't it? ))
There is no joy for me in the so-called triumphs of Eve scamming. The long list that other writers have trotted out as examples of emergent game-play leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Maybe I've been on the receiving end of too many attempts, maybe I've seen too many good people burned, too many good Corps destroyed, too many bones along the road. Or maybe, just maybe, I truly believe an Eve without extra-game mechanic scams is an Eve worth celebrating?
Wouldn't it be great some day to fly to Jita and have local be an actual local? Where someone could share a link with you and you could actually click on it? Where I could invest a billion ISK and not have to be overly concerned if it was a scam or not?
A lot of people seem to be taking a rather strange stance about the recent changes to the Terms of Service. A stance I am struggling to understand. A pro-scam stance?
Have I lost my mind? I am pro-Eve, pro game mechanics ( if game mechanics can be exploited then you should exploit them, within the confines of the EULA! ) But I am not pro-scam. I find no joy in the telling of tales about successful scams that ruined another players game play. And I personally worry about those that do.
What kind of people are you?
EDITORS NOTE: In the context of this Eveotorial I am expressly concerned with scams involving "falsely impersonating another entity" or scams that, at least partially, involve out-of-game mechanics. AWOXing, Contract scams, and other types of in-game mechanic tom-foolery are part of what makes Eve great. And while I do not personally participate, I think they are part of the rich tapestry of our great game. But those types of "scams" are not at issue here.