Driving-Fun Forum

tual crimePiracy (in the ship-to-ship sense) is part of the game, as is protection racketeering, theft, and ransom.[81][82][83][84] Eve Online periodically has arisen for discussion within the wider gaming community as players of the game find various ingenious methods of scamming, deceiving, or attacking each other. One infamous example was a corporate infiltration and heist where one corporation infiltrated a target corporation over the course of nearly a year. They then performed a virtual assassination on the target's CEO and proceeded to steal corporate property to which they had gained access. The target corporation lost billions of ISK worth of property (amounting to about $16,500 USD) and a great deal of prestige; the CEO's expensive ship and cybernetic implants were destroyed in the attack.[85] Events of this nature are debated both inside the game world and in the media.[86]

In 2009, a player alliance known as Goonswarm was contacted by a disgruntled director of rival alliance Band of Brothers, one of the largest alliances in the game at that time. The disgruntled director then stripped Band of Brothers of a large quantity of assets including ships, money and territory, and disbanded the alliance.[87]

Such dangers are an inherent part of Eve Online's virtual economy and thus are purposely not dealt with by the developers.[88] Players are expected to make financial decisions based (among other factors) on the possibility of other players' fiduciary malfeasance, much as in real-life economics.