EVE Online has long been defined by its player's exploits. From massive player wars to cold-war era novel stories coming to life, EVE players run the gamut. However, one story has taken the community by storm, and it all has to do with using the game rules themselves to their favor.
The largest heist in EVE Online's history took place without a single shot being fired, and it's all thanks to exploiting mechanics in the corporation system, specifically how corporation shares work.
In a lengthy Reddit post (via PC Gamer), user Flam_Hill detailed how the heist committed this time could b done without any bloodshed. Flam_Hill instead of using betrayal or subterfuge took advantage of shares he owned in a corporation called Event Horizon Expeditionaries, a 299-member corporation that had been in existence for quite a while now.
"I was in possession of 1000 shares belonging to a 299-member Corporation known as Event Horizon Expeditionaires a member of Pandemic Horde," Flam_Hill states on Reddit. "The question was can I take advantage of this situation? The answer was Yes! Or more a maybe.
"So began the journey to attempt to heist the assets of this Corporation. Thus, I paired up with another player and together we began to research the shares mechanic and how if at all this would be possible."
From there, Flam states that he and the co-conspirator researched and watched the activity on zKillboard and more, seeing how active the corporation itself was. And to their delight, it didn't seem all that active - especially, crucially, as it pertains to the actual CEO and board of directors in the corporation.
Flam lays out the details of the plan, effectively explaining how he got on the side of players in the corporation in order to infiltrate the 12-year-old corp, as well as the excitement that this all created - as if "robbing a bank in broad daylight."
"Secondly, to achieve an overt takeover, like robbing a bank in broad daylight we had to get inside their corporation, the security checks, recruiting chats and even fly with them. After all, we wanted to be part of this great AUTZ Corporation formed on 23rd July 2011. A 12-year-old corporation with a large membership made this all the more exciting, as there was a high probability of serious assets.
Thirdly, we need to infiltrate the corporation to actually call a vote and then have all share holders vote ‘Yes’."
Using a "clean account with a character with a little history," Flam_Hill put in an application to join the corporation. The character was accepted after a week or so of security checks by the corporation. After about three days in the corporation - where Flam met and went on a combat roam with Chi Aki, the CEO of Event Horizon Expeditionaires, from there the plan was set in motion.
Moving enough shares from his personal wallet to the infiltrator character, Flam was able to force a vote for CEO within the corporation. Flam and the co-conspirator voted "Yes" to effectively transfer the CEO-ship and all its powers within the corporation to the agent he had in place.
"Then I received a ping in discord! I jump on, logging in my character, it was game on! We had control over the entire Corporation. The new CEO accepted my application and gave me Director roles, then we systemically removed all their roles. Nine EHEXP were online and a few even said 0/ in chat, little did they know what was happening."
From there, Flam_Hill and the co-conspirator set about emptying the offices and hangars in null and hisec of their assests. Contracts flowed across New Eden, haulers began moving assets out of the hangars into new ones and the Corporation bank was drained to the tune of 130 Billion ISK.
All told, with the assets moved, including the drained ISK, the heist got away with a value of 2.230 Trillion ISK, or effectively when converted into the cost of PLEX, EVE Online's premium currency, over $22K in real world value. While there is no (legal) way to convert that PLEX back into real world currency, it's a hefty, hefty price to extract from the corporation that likely found itself spiraling after the heist was completed.
To add even more intrigue, the PC Gamer report spoke with the mastermind of the heist, who admitted what many speculated on Reddit after the story was posted to the site: the heist was pulled off by a former CEO of the corporation. To take that even a step further, Dave, which is Flam_Hill's real name according to PC Gamer, was the founder of the corporation. Having left EVE Online in 2018, he came back last year to "find EHEXP 'a shell of its former self.'"
It's a wild read, especially as Flam took a bit of flair for the dramatic and both wrote the "real-world" version but also a dramatized account from the perspective of the EVE capsuleer. Check out the whole story on Reddit.
