If there is one thing that anyone familiar with EVE Online knows, it is to expect the unexpected and ridiculous when it comes to stories of mayhem and bizarre occurrences. However, it is probably safe to say that CCP Games, the developer of EVE Online, never thought it would have to deal with what is going on in the game right now.
For those not in the know, EVE Online is a spacefaring MMORPG that sees players exploring vast galaxies and banding together to mine resources and buy bigger, badder spaceships. What this has translated to over the years is a vast and complex in-game quasi-official economy that sees players forming corporations/war bands that compete over territory and put as much time and effort into the game as they do into a real job, with EVE Online's currency having an actual translation to real world value.
That complex economy has ground to a halt for players on U.S. Servers as EVE Online continues to undergo a massive DDoS attack. For those unfamiliar, a DDoS attack involves disrupting the services of a host server, in this case making it next to impossible for the host, EVE Online itself, to reach players in the US. As of the writing of this article, the attack has been ongoing for an unprecedented nine days. Not since thousands of players gathered to bring down EVE Online's Keepstar Citadel has there been this much service disruption in-game.
The DDoS attack seems to be concentrated on U.S. Servers at the moment, which has led to numerous problems for in-game player corporations in the United States. Without regular access to their accounts, U.S. Corporations are sitting ducks for invaders, enduring constant encroachment on territory, loss of revenue through mining and cooperation, and massive losses to raids and pirate attacks, despite attempted workarounds using foreign VPN addresses. For context of the kind of money at stake here, this is a game where one player pulled off the theft of $13,000 worth of in-game goods. There is a lot to lose.
The attack has left many players furious, and it is worth mentioning that EVE Online players are very dedicated to their game, and occasionally for the greater good. Evidence for this exists in a monument that was dedicated to famous players, or to the rare ship that sold for $30,000 to benefit the Australian Red Cross.
With all of this madness surrounding a game already famous for its backstabbing, trickery, and bizarre moneymaking schemes, it is not hard to imagine that the attacks may have originated from players from another country. This is, after all, a game where one player will destroy, not steal, $1,500 worth of another player's goods, just to hurt that player's finances. Make no mistake, EVE Online is a constant warzone.
EVE Online is available on PC.
Source: PC Gamer