Three days ago I had the opportunity to be exposed to a part of this great game I’ve always tried to steer clear from; the mental abuse some players intend to inflict upon other players.
Of course, I am referring to the exposé of the Bonus Round. In a nutshell the “Bonus Round” could be resumed as one of the sickest mind games ever performed against players at the amusement of the sick individuals who happen to be running the hazings.
Let me get this straight, I don’t care if what I am about to state has a positive or negative effect on my CSM votes but I promised myself to run a campaign which would give me a piece of mind after Fanfest regardless of what happens. For this reason I feel no regret in openly stating my position in all this.
It is easy to forget that, just like real life, EVE Online is an ecosystem filled with all kinds of mentalities, sadly; some of which are really fucked up. I felt appalled to see that during all the fallout following the Bonus Round there were players who tried to somehow justify Erotica 1’s actions and others even attempting to throw blame upon the victims.
Over the years I have been the target of any attempt of mental abuse you could possibly imagine by certain in game parties I can attest that the stress felt in response from these attempts are real just as any other emotional backlash. Some of these attacks are simply opportunistic jabs taken by players toward me, other are vastly structured attempts of doing a real and lasting harm. I try to see them as byproduct of a moderate space fame – something which is somewhat expected but never justified. I run a large site, or a player runs a large alliance, run for CSM or performs huge scams and heists – there are always liabilities for trying to think big and a player must be aware of that and consider that both good and bad things come with the territory. But for the regular player, this sort of behavior is even more uncalled for.
The reason I have to dedicate an editorial article to this is that because contrary to popular belief, it have come to my attention that an incident like the “Bonus Round” is not a opportunistic hazing performed by drunk out capsuleers.
A few days ago, I was sent a point by point manual on how to run the damn thing, here is the opening paragraph:
I intended for this to only be released with the entirety of the Psychopaths’ Guide to the Galaxy, but, with all the talk that has come up recently about the Bonus Room on Miner Bumping and EN24, I’ve decided to release this now, albeit in more of a LITE version. This article will cover the basics of the bonus room, as well as a basic breakdown of the two primary sides on this matter.
The Bonus Room is a player run event put on by Erotica 1. The participant is usually the 100th ISK doubling client to Erotica’s prosperous ISK doubling business in Jita. Participants that choose to show full faith in the Bonus Room, have the chance to win five times their total value.
The Bonus Room as a “scam” is not significantly different than many other pirate activities that happen in New Eden. The big difference is that the Bonus Room takes them all to the end of their natural progression.
As the Bonus Room progresses, it goes through a rather specific set of stages. These stages rarely change significantly. The pacing all depends on the client.
After this “enticing” introduction, what follows is a five point summary on how to corner the victim and squeeze him and the final point of which, being titled “The Payout”, pretty much explaining what sort of “kicks” you can expect from running one of these “Events”. What goes beyond any conceivable justification, is the apologist tone given by the author at the closing paragraph of the guide:
Some argue the line is at the point when the goal becomes to illicit a reaction.. Now, assuming the goal is to get a reaction, how does the Bonus Room compare to simply egging on a miner after you’ve ganked him? Or sticking around a corporation after you’ve awoxed them just to tell them how bad they are in corp chat? I can’t seem to find the difference. “Tear-farming” is already a major thing in EVE, and nobody seems to have a problem with that, except in this case.
In the end the Bonus Room is the natural progression of all scams. It isn’t objectively worse than any scam, as it just combined clearly recognizable parts of other scams.
Naturally, I’m inclined towards the latter argument. If the Bonus Room is horrible, then all scams must be horrible. If all scams are fine, then the Bonus Room is fine. Now, admittedly, I had some issues with the Bonus Room when I first discovered it. I made me a little uneasy that something like it was happening in EVE. I chose not to let emotions rule me and began to apply logic to my feelings. I was unable to find any reason why it was worse than the multitude of scams out there. I couldn’t find a reason to be okay with other scams and not okay with the Bonus Room.
I can’t know how CCP will handle this situation, or what, in the long run, is better for EVE, but intelligent discussion is what needs to happen instead of sensationalist accusations. Stop treating the agents while vile scum, and stop treating the contestants like defenseless victims.
I won’t be posting the rest of this “guide” on EN24, and I would encourage any player to report any attempt to further disseminate what is a living disgrace for the game. The mere existence of a guide like this one degrades the game we all love, throws a negative light in all the gamers involved and in the end undermines EVE Online’s long term success.
Nor I will be posting the names of the players involved. In fact, any attempt to post said guide in the comments area will be met harshly.
To the sick minds who took the time to write and distribute a step by step guide on how and why to mentally abuse other persons across the internet, I would advise to take a break and rethink your life, everything comes back, and this is no exception.
CCP Games have been sent the “guide” in question and I trust their best judgement to take necessary actions in order to prevent and punish this deplorable player behavior.
And to the rest of the players, I wish them to be aware of the existence of players out there actively preaching other players on how depraved behavior should be “considered normal, part of the game and fun to do”. I would encourage them to be alert, to be united as a living game community that we are and to take the necessary actions to protect the game and the playerbase from the few others whose only purpose in in this game is to smear unsuspecting victims with the filth ruling their lives.
Have a good day.
– Riverini | EN24
