Attention, cheaters: Cheating is not allowed! | EVE Online

Attention, cheaters: Cheating is not allowed!

2006-01-25 - By CCP Arkanon

GM Arkanon here, screaming incoherently, although somewhat muffled by an ever growing mountain of petitions.

Although we're generally so busy these days that we hardly have time to play our usual 18 holes of Jovian minigolf at lunchtime, I would like to take a moment to address the issue of online trading of ingame items, as many users seem to be unaware of our policy in these matters.

As most of you probably know all trading of ingame items using real currency is forbidden, as detailed in our EULA. This goes for buying and selling and even attempted trading, advertising or otherwise publicising this activity.

Recently, we have noticed that the trend seems to be that ISK buyers are investing even more heavily than before, sometimes up to one, or over a billion ISK at a time. Needless to say, by illegally obtaining such amounts of ISK, the offending players are not only cheating, but their actions can severely affect other players, who are put at an unfair disadvantage in many vital areas of the game, such as in PVP and in the market. We do not intend to allow people to ruin the gaming experience for other players through this most lazy and underhanded way of achieving your goals in EVE. In other words, THIS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!

Here's a brief rundown of the horrors in store for those evildoers foolhardy enough to think they can get away with breaking our rules:

Anyone found selling items through Ebay or other similar auction sites faces an instant and permanent ban from the game. This ban will apply to all accounts traced to that user. Users supplying ISK to salesmen will also receive permanent bans.

Users who buy ISK or other items from auction sites will receive a warning or a temporary ban, depending on the severity of the offense and the user's previous record. The ISK will be confiscated, even if that means we have to put the offender's wallet into a negative state. Severe or repeated offenses will be met with instant and permanent bans.

This issue is not up for discussion. Buying your way ahead in EVE is cheating, pure and simple. There are many examples of games ruined by online merchants and their customers, and for good reason. Who wants to play a game where no one plays by the rules? Where's the fun in obtaining your goals through normal gameplay, only to have them wiped out by someone who bought his advantage on Ebay?

If you engage in such activity, do not be surprised if action is taken against you. We do not care if you bought your ISK yesterday or last month, what you did constitutes an unfair advantage against other players and we will take action regardless. You stand to lose your accounts, your Ebay investment and the ability to enjoy the best MMORPG there is (hey, we won!), all in one fell swoop.

All the best,

GM Arkanon