Band of Brothers Disbands

Defecting has always been a common trope in spy fiction, but in 2009, that fiction became a reality when Band of Brothers, one of the largest alliances in EVE Online, was suddenly and violently dismantled.

Band of Brothers was already facing internal problems as members were dissatisfied with the way things were being run, and by the end of the Great War, one of the bloodiest wars in EVE Online, the stage was set for the alliance to vanish into oblivion. Haargoth Agamar, a senior director within Band of Brothers had placed an alternative character inside of Goonswarm, BoB’s sworn enemy and nemesis during the Great War. But, in the time he spent with Goonswarm, Haargoth realized that he was enjoying flying alongside them more than his own alliance, and decided to defect.

After revealing who he really was, Goonswarm’s leader, The Mittani, decided to put Haargoth to good use. What was initially intended as a smash and grab on assets within Band of Brothers became a full scale dismantling of one of the most powerful alliances in the game’s history. Haargoth, using his director powers, kicked every single corporation out of Band of Brothers, and initiated a series of heists stealing billions worth of assets across several stations in Brothers’ space. At every station he robbed, Haargoth left a visible beacon (called a bookmark) labelled “The Mittani sends his regards”. To add further insult to injury, the name Band of Brothers, now vacant without an alliance to claim it, was stolen by Goonswarm so that the name could never be reclaimed by its former members.

A former member of the Council of Stellar Management was killed in Benghazi

Sometimes, a video game world crosses over into the real world. That's what happened when Sean Smith, a member of the US diplomatic team in Benghazi and a member of EVE Online’s Goonswarm guild, died, along with three others, at the hands of a mob that stormed the consulate in Libya. His fellow goons were some of the first to know about it.Smith, known in EVE Online as Vile Rat, was communicating with the leader of Goonswarm as the mob gathered outside the building, messaging, "Assuming we don’t die tonight. We saw one of our 'police' that guard the compound taking pictures." Later, Smith typed “GUNFIRE” before disconnecting from chat for the last time.

Smith's death was a significant loss for the guild. As a member of Goonswarm’s old guard, Vile Rat was well known throughout EVE Online’s universe. He used his diplomatic skills in service of his guild and he even let his guildmates help design his tattoo.

As news of the attack spread, the community around Goonswarm came together to mourn Smith’s passing. Players re-named space stations after him, left tribute messages in forums, and launched a fundraiser to support Smith’s family.

Pushing the wrong button resulted in The Battle of Asakai

Early in Eve Online’s history, in a true Douglas Fargo moment, one of its biggest battles was started by accident because someone pushed the wrong button.

Titans are the apex predators of EVE Online. They carry devastating weapons capable of obscene amounts of damage, and they can use their massive jump drives to catapult entire fleets across light years space. But they also have a notoriously complex user interface. The button to “bridge” or teleport a friendly fleet across space, is right next to the “jump” button, which teleports your own ship.

It was because of this quirk of the UI that a Titan pilot from the Clusterf**k Coalition, DaBigRedBoat, hit the wrong button and instead of teleporting his entire fleet to him, he warped himself into the middle of a star system controlled by the enemy Pandemic Legion. Seeing an easy target, the Legion opened fire, and the Battle of Asakai began.

Since Titan’s are a tough nut to crack, even when alone, Pandemic Legion called in reinforcements to help take down the behemoth. DaBigRedBoat quickly called reinforcements of his own to avoid losing his ship. Individual pilots answered the call, then fleets, then entire corporations. Some of which simply joined because they had a grudge against one side or the other. In the end, one mis-click resulted in roughly $25,000 worth of damage to more than 3,000 players.