The fact that a game can be such a huge deal is still beyond me (I've only just begun to delve into why sports-style tournaments are so big too). But clearly there are some smart people investing their time in it, making it into the phenomenon it is.

I've never played EVE. I never want to play EVE. I don't freaking understand EVE.

But damnit, this article was FASCINATING! Great job, Patrick!

Amazing article! This makes me miss EvE.

I played Eve on and off between 2003 and 2009 and only scratched the surface. Moments like these sound awesome but when playing 99,9% of the time is grinding credits doing the same missions over and over, mining astroids or other tedious tasks. These cool moments are not enough to make up for that. But it is so cool to read about it.

Fantastic article.

I will never stop being entertained by the stories coming out of this game. Amazing stuff.

Awesome write up Patrick. Contacted all the right people and explained it in a way that is incredibly hard to do; understandable to people who don't play.

Not to pile onto the Kite Co. talk but if anyone's interested please join us. We've got care packages for new members that has key skill books and ships for you to fly. Also a part of the second largest alliance, The Brave Collective founded by corporation Brave Newbies Inc. Just turned one year old recently and filled with inexperienced pilots who just want to blow shit up and have a good time. You always have someone to fly with.

This makes me want to play (and not play) EVE, nicely written.

Awesome write up Patrick! Being in that battle was pretty dope, but reading all the articles that have been written about it and yours especially shows me I play a truly crazy and ridiculous game. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Those stories are great, but this game has close to no gameplay at all and is the most boring game on the market by miles. Like many said before, it's nothing more than a spreadsheet with graphics.

I don't think you can read something like this and say that's true. Is every turn-based game a "spreadsheet with graphics," too?

Try listening to this interview before you go about making too many character accusations.

That was a great story.

but B-R5RB was controlled by the alliance Pandemic Legion, and Manny leads Pandemic Legion.

My understanding is that Manny is a capital FC (Fleet Commander), a very important, crucial role, but not the actual leader of Pandemic Legion - which would be Grath.

The gameplay is what you make of it.

Do you want to stay docked in station and simply play the market game? You can.

Do you want to run missions and just deal with PvE? You can.

Do you want to just mine minerals and build things? You can.

Do you want to join giant battles that are very slow paced (like the one described in this article)? You can.

And if you would rather ignore all of the above and instead do solo/small gang roams with small fast ships that result in heart pounding dog fights, you can definitely do those as well.

Great read. Unfortunately without Patrick on the Bombcast anymore I doubt we'll hear any discussion about it there, unless Drew brings it up. Maybe on Friday's Bombin' the AM?

Absolutely loved the feature Patrick! I'm glad I was able to contribute :)

None of the people that do this are involved with these fights, you don't get to the good parts of EVE by doing the boring parts, you get to the good parts by doing the good parts.

MUCH better article than all the click-bait crap from the other gaming sites with 200 words. Thanks Patrick!

Amazing article Kleptok!

I have no idea what I read, but it sounded awesome.

Stories about EVE Online always make me think of the "American Dream." Amazing, exciting to follow, at times even inspiring, speaking of this incredible, weird, promised-land tale. And for the average person you'll be nothing but a grunt. It is something that a video game world can grow to be such a fascinating beast, though.

@zeekthegeek: Others would call him a sociopath, but I suppose that goes with the fame.

I wonder if it was talked about on this weeks bombcast. From what Vinny tweeted it seems like Patrick was on it and I'm sure he brought it up.

Great article Patrick!

Sounds like you fell for the high security space trap. Try joining a wormhole corp, a nullsec alliance, do faction warfare in a militia, or even join a mercenary/ganking corp in highsec. All of those things are not only more fun and interesting, but will also earn you far, far, far more isk than running high sec missions or mining (WHICH IS THE WORST ISK/HR ACTIVITY IN THE GAME).

I'm not interested in playing EVE and I'm not quite sure I know what it's all about, but I really enjoyed this article! I appreciate the passion and dedication these players have.

Fantastic article. I've only played a bit of EVE so far (gotten deep into mining but haven't looked into joining a corp or anything yet), so I'm not familiar with the REAL EVE as such yet. Shit's crazy!

Awesome! Can we expect a interview dumptruck with the people you interviewed?

It's a video game dude, and he's really just playing into his persona as the Mittani, leader of the CFC. The "They put their dick on the table, and we chopped it off" quote is hilarious smack talk, IMO. If you listen to the Vile Rat podcast that the other guy posted, he's really nice and articulate when he isn't playing into that persona.

But what's the damage assessment when converted to Bitcoin?

This article has numerous in-accuracies about quite a few things in eve online. You really should have had an eve consultant for writing the article patrick.

Feel free to PM me with what you think is in accurate. I had several EVE players look over the story before it was published.

I'm not playing EVE, but this was a great read. Thank you Patrick!

Edit: I actually liked reading this article so much that after a three month break I just renewed my subscription. Again thanks for a great write up.

Edit2: I just received the $15 store coupon code but I don't need it. If anyone has use for it be my guest:

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Just a friendly message from the duders at Giant Bomb & Comic Vine.

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I came to this site waiting on this article. Well done. Hope to Zeus that it was talked about at length in the bombcast. "... just roll up the windows."

Windjammin' Eve of the Dota Souls 2 Online.

I really don't mind that they play/show some games more instead of just a lot of different games.

By the way, great article and what an epic event! Probably the first article here I've read word for word in a year or two.

this article is fucking thrilling.

thank you based Patrick.

@patrickklepek: What is the relationship between the Pandemic Legion and N3? In the beginning of the article it is talking about Manny and the Pandemic Legion but then it switches over to talking about Manny and N3. And the Pandemic Legion is not one of the corps that the article said was in N3.

Lazarus Motherfucking Telraven

Mental, absolutely mental. Great article Patrick.

@mc_hify: Manny controlled the corp in Nulli that was responsible for the sov bill. He put that corp there so he could control the Station and the Jammer since PL was staging there

I'm with you. No interest in playing, but I looooooove keeping up with stuff like this.

I am ~85% sure that has already happened, if not in Law and Order then on CSI or NCIS.

Insanity. That's what EVE is. I don't even understand the game, but it just sounds insane.

When i heard about the fight, it made me resub EVE. It's just amazing how much attention this game gets after 11 years when stuff like this happens.

Hands down the best piece @patrickklepek has written on the site, well done.

Well done Patrick. Its really cool to see coverage for niche things like EVE: Online.

Also, I have pictures of when I was with TEST during the CFC invasion of Fountain. They make great wallpapers.

As the trailer says, "I was there"

Fascinating stuff, although that Gianturco guy sounds like a demented dude-bro.

“They put their dick on the table, and we chopped it off" Seriously?

More articles like this pls.

Eve always makes me so excited, I love the concept and I actually love the game as well.. or I did in 2004 when I played it for three months before realising that I didn't really have time for it (despite still going to high school at the time.. can't imagine how anyone would fit it in when getting older..)

"I was there."