In EVE Online, players have wanted a massive battle for months, where they can unleash everything they can muster. This mega-battle happened on the night of August 1st, and everyone is pretty happy that the servers held up. The battle of X47L-Q will likely go down in history as the “Largest Battle in EVE.”
The last great MMORPG: EVE Online is considered by many to be the “last great MMORPG” because more than 40 people can interact simultaneously.
EVE operates on a single massive server, where thousands of pilots are always on the move. Players trade, fight, and intrigue with and against each other. This is basically what MMORPG used to mean before WoW pretty much abolished it with the idea of “instancing.”
Titans are the most valuable ships
The preparation for war is the daily routine: Most of the time, players in EVE spend gathering resources, building bigger and stronger ships, and preparing for “the war.”
The largest ships are called “Titans.” Building one of these is incredibly expensive and labor-intensive. Player alliances work together on this. And once a Titan is destroyed, it is gone.
Of course, players handle Titans with care, pulling them back and protecting them in times of danger.
In EVE, massive power blocks are in conflict. People are furious that they lost two years ago, seeking revenge, wanting to destroy enemies, and become even more powerful. These power blocks have been building their Titans for years, growing stronger and larger until something eventually gives.
Server issues delayed the mega-battle
Last battle canceled: At the beginning of January, it seemed like the “largest battle” in EVE Online history was about to occur. However, due to server issues, this battle failed. The servers could not handle the mass of players. The game mechanics of EVE made it impossible for the battle to take place, and the parties withdrew.
Players were terribly disappointed: Why had they built up their fleets for years if there would never be a showdown?
Developer CCP explained the flop as a result of the dimensions still getting larger, but promised improvement.
Both sides go all-in
Finally, it happened yesterday: On the night of August 1st, the largest battle in history occurred. In the X47L-Q system, 3500 players gathered and fought over the Keepstar of the “Northern Coalition.” They defended their death star with everything they had. The attackers from the “Imperium” wanted to destroy it.
What is special about the battle? The special thing is not the number of pilots – it was 3500 – but the quality of the ships they brought. As PC Gamer knows, the previously most famous battle in EVE only had 200 Titans.
This battle had about 400 Titans on each side.
By the way: This was the most famous battle in EVE so far. In 2014, the “Bloodbath of B-R5RB” occurred:
“Never seen anything like this:”: PC Gamer quotes observers of the battle. They say they have never seen in 15 years of EVE that everyone went “all-in.” There had been fights before, but that two sides entered a battle with such force had never happened before.
Usually, in battles, it quickly becomes clear who is losing, and the losing side tries to minimize their losses. This time, no one withdrew, but they all went full throttle.
How much money was at stake? Real money can be used to buy the in-game currency ISK. When making this calculation, Titan losses of about $700,000 were incurred in the battle, calculated by a reddit user. About 10% of that was destroyed, so approximately $70,000.
Super fleets clash in mega-battle
How did the battle go? The attackers have a specific time window in which they can deal damage to the Keepstar, while the defenders must bridge that time. If the attackers deal enough damage, they will get the opportunity to completely destroy the Keepstar about a week later. The attackers succeeded in inflicting this damage.
The attackers, the Imperium, thus achieved their primary goal.
After that, both super fleets shot down each other’s Titans. In the end, the Imperium lost 29 Titans and the North also lost 29, depending on which battle report one believes, this varies by a few Titans for one side or the other.
But overall, the losses were balanced in terms of both sides.
What happens next? This is now the beginning of a war that will determine how well each side can compensate for its massive losses. Both sides have so many resources and pilots that the war could drag on for weeks or months.
How are the players reacting? They are first thanking for the fight (via reddit) and are relieved that CCP’s servers held up.
Note: We have supplemented the article with some information; it was originally published on 2.8.
Much smaller dimension, but also exciting:
