The way a player leaves a game says a lot about them. Some players have left the game in a blaze of glory and expensive ships, others have departed after selling all their assets, and most just leave the game slowly and quietly. Every once in a while, though, a player leaves the game in a way that gives back to the community that gave so much to them. This has never been more true than in the case of the infamous Eve Online scammer and former TMC contributor Scooter McCabe.
After more than five years in the game, Scooter McCabe has amassed the better part of a rather impressive 2 trillion ISK by taking advantage of other players’ faith, generosity, and naivety. Scamming is such a part of what players think of Scooter McCabe, that the Google suggestion on searching his name is “Scooter McCabe Scammer”. Despite having a sordid history with the majority of the player base, Scooter McCabe wants to give it all back (and then some) to those players willing to make the community a better place. On the TMC stream feature “Open Comms” hosted by DJ BigCountry, Scooter announced his plan to give his total amassed fortune of over two trillion ISK (2,000,000,000,000 ISK and change) to the player that submits the best idea to help the Eve community as a whole.
FOLLOW THE DREAM, NOT THE GREEN
The premise is rather straightforward, but challenging in its own right. Players will submit their ideas that benefit Eve Online in a “Shark Tank”-style competition, with the strongest entrant taking home the prize. Two trillion ISK represents a lot of PLEX or other resources that could be used in paying developers to produce the next Eve Fitting Tool, form a strong corporation or small alliance to take on the established order, and hopefully many other uses.
If this sounds like something you might be interested in, there are a few stipulations, along with a few assurances.
- First and most important, the competition is open to anyone that is not in the Imperium. According to Scooter, this is both because the Imperium is getting its own parting gift, and because the Imperium already encourages development on its own.
- Judging will take place on January 21, so make sure to submit your ideas before that.
- Third, to ensure that the candidates submitting ideas are serious about seeing them to fruition instead of just gaming the system, an entry fee of 500 million ISK is required.The entry fees given by the players who aren’t selected will be donated to the player who wins, adding to the initial two trillion ISK prize pool.
Now when the most famous of Eve Online scammers asks for 500 million ISK, a healthy amount of skepticism is not only expected, but encouraged. To that end, Scooter has elected for BigCountry to receive and manage the ISK. If a pillar of the community holding the funds isn’t enough, Scooter had this to say: “If there is one thing EVE has taught me, no matter what you do, there will never be an ‘assurance’ that is good enough. Either I go out doing something good for the community, or if that community is just to paranoid about this, I get a great laugh because of the irony.”
SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH
Whether leaving because of boredom, real life complications, controversy, or any other reason, all players must eventually say farewell to a game. Whether that departure is with a whimper or a bang, the legacy we leave can have a lasting impact on the community that rises above many of the actions performed in the game itself. Despite the Eve community losing one of its most infamous players, it has the opportunity to gain a new, valuable contribution with the friendly crucible of competition. If for some reason no serious value is to be gained, well, Scooter McCabe has said that he will unsubscribe asleep on top of the ISK like Smaug.
While that would be the fitting end to a strong legacy, I hope the money finds a productive and inspiring home that builds a stronger game.
Questions concerning the contest should be directed to BigCountry. Submissions are due by January 21.
