In the science fiction MMORPG Eve Online, over 3000 players were involved in a space battle in the C-LTXS system. This time it had a pretty clear outcome.
Classic raid: On reddit, the EVE player RunawayJesus summarizes the battle in C-LTXS. It apparently involved a brutal territorial war in the MMORPG. The coalition “Unnamed Coalition” (UC) attacked the territory of the coalition “Drone Regions Federation” (DRF). The DRF then decided to retreat in an orderly convoy.
Fleeing pack everything of value into a trek: The fleeing troops from several alliances consisted of about 1100 pilots. They packed their belongings into their best ships, as they had no other choice. They fled from the enemies, who approached with about 1700 pilots. However, they would fly through no man’s land on their planned escape route – that was exactly where the opponents struck after spies learned about the route and could betray them.
Attackers catch fleeing brutally: An advance guard of the attacking coalition was able to intercept the slowly fleeing group of the DRF and prevent them from moving on. The DRF coalition chose to fight and called for help from their allies. They wanted to hold their position until their allies arrived, and they calculated good chances for the fight.
Conflict attracts fortune seekers: Such a large conflict in EVE Online becomes an event for the entire server. Many pilots and alliances form groups and look for ways to profit from such a large confrontation: fun for the whole family.
The hope for the allies
Battle is one-sided: The battle itself was clearly one-sided. The attackers quickly gained the upper hand and were able to deal severe blows to the opponent. First large ships were destroyed. The pilots of the DRF still hoped that their powerful allies would throw their largest ships into the battle to turn the tide.
Allies hesitate: However, the allied coalition took a long time to position their strong forces. When they were finally ready to deploy their fleet, the battle had progressed so one-sidedly that they decided against intervening. Because being on the losing side of such a battle is associated with great losses.
However, due to communication errors, the DRF learned about this too late and continued to try hopelessly to hold their position while suffering further heavy losses. Only late did they sound the retreat, in which the allies then helped.
More than 3000 pilots involved: More than 3000 pilots were involved in the battle. The defeated DRF coalition lost ships and items worth 3 trillion ISK, including 10 Titans and 23 Supercarriers. The attackers only lost items worth 600 billion ISK. Here is a detailed listing of the battle results (via Eve Kill Report).
Unique feature of EVE Online: These massive battles with so many participants are considered a unique feature of EVE Online. Critics note, however, that they read better than they can actually be experienced. In EVE Online, a time-delaying mechanic comes into play when many players are in one region. Such problems had recently prevented a huge stationary battle. But this one seems to have worked well.
