War Of The Nerds: In Eve Online, A Betrayal

Can you put a price on friendship? Eve Online player Samantha Myth did. On a whim, he spent 16 months working his way up the ranks of the Amamake Police—more or less the Dothraki of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game—gaining the trust and admiration of their leader just to steal their rare ships and a chunk of cash from under their noses. Hello Judas.

The heist

“I almost became emotionally attached to my victims. But this is EVE and this is the role I play.”

Samantha started his heist by working his way slowly into the inner circle of the Amamake, a feat he accomplished by providing it with information that led to the defeat of a rival group. Now in the gang, he did something quite cheeky, he lent Amamake’s leader, Tikktokk, an expensive ship without asking anything in return.

Weeks later, Tikktokk paid him back by lending Samantha an even nicer ship—that’s how much he trusted him. The ship, a Chremoas frigate, could only be acquired by winning the Alliance Tournament, Eve Online’s version of the Olympics, and it boasts an unprecedented 400 killmarks (the number of ships a ship has killed). To put it bluntly, the ship was basically a golden unicorn with heterochromia and perfect pitch. It was that rare.

Around the same time, Samantha asked two other members to borrow their rare ships. Now in possession of three nearly priceless ships, he took them, said peace, and left after 16 months of brotherhood.

Et tu, Brute?

After his heist, Samantha posted on the Eve Online subreddit. “This was a hard one to pull off and I have got to say I almost wish I didn’t,” he wrote at the end of the post. “I almost became emotionally attached to my victims. But this is EVE and this is the role I play.”

Classy as always, Tikktokk commented confirming that Samantha Myth had his ships. He commended the pirate on his heist, but then said that they were most sad to have lost their companionship in the game. “You have been one of the few people I actually enjoy playing with,” he wrote.

It was a tragic response, and as one Redditor, Svenviko, commented back. “Damn, this story is like stealing your big brother’s car, and he just replies saying, ‘I’m more sad about losing our friendship’ :’( “ We agree, Svenviko. We agree.

For another story of betrayal on Eve Online, click here.