The still raging war “World War Bee 2” in the space MMO EVE Online is consuming vast amounts of in-game currency ISK. Participants are losing much of what they have worked hard for over the years.
What’s it about? For around 12 weeks, the so-called “World War Bee 2” in the space MMO EVE Online has been raging. The focus is on a conflict between the two major alliances Legacy and The Imperium. It is about the ownership of territories, the expansion of the alliance, and revenge.
How is this war going? In the 12th week, there were again many battles. These have consumed resources worth around 20 billion ISK, the in-game currency of EVE Online. That equates to about 300 US dollars. That doesn’t sound like much. However, this conflict has been ongoing for now 12 weeks.
In total, a loss of resources amounting to around 23 trillion ISK has accumulated. This corresponds to about 350,000 euros.
Is all this money really gone? The conversion of ISK into euros essentially serves to illustrate the value of resources such as ships and Keepstar stations. Most of this has been diligently earned by players and not bought with real money.
Nonetheless, it is of course a significant loss. It often takes years to accumulate resources worth billions and trillions of ISK.
What does this mean? Players of EVE Online accumulate resources over a long time and build fleets of ships or invest their earned currency in one of the expensive Keepstar stations – a kind of Death Star in the EVE universe. Then the saber-rattling begins. Often, it only results in threats or minor skirmishes. Occasionally, however, immense wars break out, as is the case with “World War Bee 2.”
Such wars quickly consume much of what participants have worked hard to accumulate over the years.
Therefore, such wars usually change the power dynamics of EVE Online. Entire alliances can disappear as they burn through all of their long-saved resources in the war.
This is how EVE Online is: EVE Online thrives on such stories and can always attract new players. Essentially, they anticipate that they can lose everything at any time. This risk constitutes a major part of the thrill. It can be compared to a casino. First, players accumulate money because things are going well, then they go all in and take the risk of losing everything. Or winning a lot.
These stories of gigantic wars, losses in the trillions, and the end of alliances excite not only EVE players but also gamers and especially MMO fans in general.
What do you think about the fact that EVE players are losing so much during the current war? Would that be exciting for you too?
If you want to learn more about this war in EVE Online, then read our interview with the EVE Online player Pandoralica.
