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EVE Online developer honours players
Sun, 16th Feb 2014
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Former EVE Online Capsuleers are being invited to renew their subscriptions in order to take part in a piece of gaming history. The cult game’s developer, CCP, is planning to construct a special monument in their home town of Reykavik, Iceland.

The monument will pay tribute to the players, community, developers and partners of Eve Online. A sculpture will rest on a half-metre tall, metal-plated platform inscribed with the names of the main characters of each EVE Online account with an active subscription on March 1st 2014. In addition, CCP will be honouring players who have passed away by adding their names to the monument as well.

Designed by renowned Icelandic artist Sigurður Guðmundsson in conjunction with CCP art directors Börkur Eiríksson and Ásgeir Jón Ásgeirsson the sculpture, entitled "Worlds within a World", will stand at over five metres tall and consist of two main elements facing each other.

The left side of the structure will be in dark aluminium and inscribed with a quote from the EVE Universe, whilst the right side is a stylised granite face representing the players. In the centre a polished steel monolith will reflect both the elements and the surrounding landscape.

A dedication ceremony will be held on 30th April 2014, the day before Fanfest 2014 - the annual EVE fan gathering held at Harpa Concert and Convention Centre in downtown Reykjavik. Thousands of EVE Online, DUST 514 and EVE: Valkyrie players will witness the ceremony attended by CCP staff, city officials, friends, and family at the unveiling of the monument.

EVE Online is a massively-multiplayer online science fiction trading and combat game. Launched in 2003, the game has half a million active subscribers and player numbers continue to rise.

Players pilot starships ranging from small scouts and mining craft all the way up to huge capital ships, working their way from mining asteroids and salvaging junk to becoming the CEO of their own in-game mega-corporation. With a universe of over five thousand star systems, EVE Online provides plenty of opportunities for players to earn their fortune and loose it all.

Considered to be more cerebral than many other MMOs, players are given the freedom to do pretty much as they please. The result is a game where treachery, thievery and other activities are actively encouraged. Behavior that would be considered griefing elsewhere and result in a ban is part daily life for a denizen of the EVE Universe.

The game has witnessed sophisticated corporate embezzlement scams claiming thousands of man hours of effort. A recent battle, started as a result of one player simply missing a protection payment, resulted in a conflict that destroyed the equivalent of several hundred thousand dollars of players in-game assets.

It’s not a game for the feint-hearten, but at the same time EVE Online is probably the most immersive online sci-fi game environment available today.