Betrayals and EVE Online are almost synonymous with each other twenty years into the MMO's operation, but a heist pulled off at the expense of one of the MMO's most powerful alliances hit a bit differently yesterday as Havoc launched.
EVE Online's history is riddled with heists, betrayals, and revenge, its capsuleers sometimes going down in the annals of legend within the game universe as a result. Heists have been pulled off before - one we reported on earlier this year saw a former Corporation leader use a corporate takeover scheme to rob his former group blind - and this is just the tip of the iceberg. The fabric of New Eden is written by the exploits of its player capsuleers, whether on the battlefield or with the old cloak and dagger.
As EVE Online's latest expansion, Havoc, was launching yesterday, another such story that will likely feature in the annals of the MMO's history was written, and it was perpetrated against one of the MMO's historic power blocs: Goonswarm.
It seems long-time Fleet Commander for Goonswarm, Jay Amazingness, decided to turn on his former Alliance in one of the most spectacular ways possible. Jay, who had been part of Goonswarm for nearly a decade, had just recently returned to EVE Online after a hiatus from the MMO. Having been given his Director roles within the corp back by Alliance leader Asher Elias, nothing seemed amiss to those closest to him.
It should be noted, as Asher told me via a Discord chat, that usually this doesn't happen, as was evidenced by the very public and very costly split between Goonswarm and former member turned TEST Alliance war leader Vily, which sparked World War Bee 2.
"He recently came back to EVE and I gave him director roles because I trust him," Asher wrote in an official response to the heist. "I would say he's the person I trust the most in EVE."
However, it seems that trust, for whatever reason, was misplaced.
So What Happened?
Yesterday, in a post on the EVE Online subreddit, a screenshot from user Grarr_Dexx showed Jay removing the jump clone service from a Goonswarm structure, which would effectively kill all the jump clones positioned there. Jump clones are a way to effectively fast travel in EVE Online, and the jump clones in a nullsec station, such as the Imperial Palace where the heist took place, could be used to mobilize Goonswarm's fleets at a moment's notice.
.jpg)
As a result, 52,670 jump clones were slated for destruction, which is by any metric a huge loss. This could devastate Goonswarm and create an opening for their historic adversary, PanFam, to move in with minimal pushback.
While the destruction of the Jump Clones is a big hit, it wasn't the only thing Jay did before peacing out. Not only did Jay initiate the destruction of the clones, but he also stole assets from Goonswarm, including money from various wallets in the Goonswarm ISK hoard, some Capital ships, and more. Asher also confirms that some blueprint originals - which are not cheap - were stolen but didn't specify in his post which ones.
While the material heist hurts, it can be replaced by Goonswarm's incredibly numerous and wealthy player base. However, the destruction of the clones would hurt incredibly if they were all destroyed, especially if this action is the precursor to an attack.
However, Goonswarm was saved by the unlikeliest hero imaginable: server downtime.
Thanks to CCP Games doing daily downtime, the servers are scheduled to go down at 11:00 EVE Time, which happened like clockwork yesterday morning. As a result, the downtime saved most of the clones from being destroyed. According to Asher's estimation, about 70% of the clones were saved by the downtime, and the corporation quickly replaced the clone bay before more damage could be done.
"That could have been a lot worse," Asher tells me.
How Could This Even Happen? Why Did It Happen?
Remember when I said that Asher had restored the director roles to Jay Amazingness since returning? Well, there was a reason they didn't normally do this upon the return of a pilot. It's why Vily left Goonswarm and launched a war against them - not all those roles were restored when he returned to the corp.
By restoring the director roles to Jay, it basically gave him all the access he needed to pull off the heist. However, Asher tells me there was no indication anything was amiss, even on the day of the betrayal.
"Sill, I had no suspicion Jay would do anything, he never addressed any grievance or problem that he had with anything. We had been chatting the day of the betrayal and on many days before that about normal stuff, movies, memes, how ya been, etc"
As to the why, Asher, as well as other Goonswarm members and other pilots on the outside looking in I spoke to for this story, seem confused as to why this happened. Jay, who we've been unable to reach for comment on this story to tell his side of things (But if you're reading this, you've got an in-game EVE Mail waiting!), has on his character bio an interesting tidbit that might shed some light into motivations.
"We need the villain sometimes. It makes for an interesting story."
One major point of speculation has been that this is the opening salvo fired by Pandemic Legion, the group Jay Amazingness is now a member of. And it's not an unsound theory. However, the members within Goonswarm that I spoke to don't quite think Jay was working as a double agent - instead, Asher simply called Jay "opportunistic."
This could also have been a player trying to solidify his place in EVE Online history, eager for his own chapter in Andrew Groen's next Empires of EVE book.
According to Asher, this "came out of nowhere."
"We are friends one day chatting and then I wake up to phone calls saying Jay has stolen everything not nailed down."
There has been some speculation that Jay even stole Titan-class ships from Goonswarm as part of the heist, though Asher disputes this claim, saying that the Goons "don't store Titans in fleet hangars like that." Regardless, it will take some time to see how the heist fully impacts the balance of power in New Eden.
Update 10:44am PT 11/16/2023: Asher reached out, confirming that Titans were indeed part of the heist after a few retiring Goons donated them to the alliance, leaving them in the fleet hangars Jay stole from.
Banding Together
While the losses will take Goonswarm around "3 months" to replenish, according to Asher's estimates, it seems the broader Goonswarm community is helping out by donating to the alliance. One pilot in Karmafleet tells me that their corporation has brought in at least 300 billion ISK in donations in the last twenty-four hours, with Karmafleet CEO (and former CSM member) Merkelchen matching the first 250b ISK donated out of his own personal wallet - bringing KF's total to nearly half a trillion ISK alone.
Asher tells me something similar, stating that Goonswarm's former finance director, Weaslior, has donated all but 100b of his own assets (a rainy day fund just in case) since he "realized he probably wasn't going to play again" to Goonswarm to help make up the losses.
Yesterday, while I was roaming as part of Angel Cartel near the Turnur and Zarzakh systems, word was being spoken in the new Angel Cartel militia chat of a large Goon fleet trolling for Faction Warfare players to fight, so the shared frustration was likely being taken out on Empire aligned capsuleers who got in their way.
Betrayals happen in EVE. It's really a defining feature of the MMO, something that has been reported on, praised, and even laughed about over drinks at EVE Online player gatherings. However, this one has seemingly hurt those involved with Goonswarm, as it completely came out of nowhere from a pilot many considered a pillar within Goonswarm - Asher going so far as to call him the person in EVE he trusted most.
"I know those are the "This is EVE" stories," Asher says about the conversation sparked by the betrayal. "But I've never really liked them, and I still don't. My side has benefitted from them before, so I would never call it unfair, but I'm sad about the loss of trust and a friend. I've been pretty bummed over the last 24 hours, and it wasn't because my spaceship guild lost money."
One Goon pilot I spoke to put it another way, channeling that feeling of betrayal in the most EVE way possible: sharing a meme (via u/Mind1OFFICIAL). Referencing the ISK fundraising drive going on within The Imperium, he told me that they are doing what they can to make themselves whole, financially at least.
Via u/Mind1OFFICAL on Reddit
