EVE Online at Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMOG Gamers to the Next Level!

In February 2008, much of the coalition was exhausted from the attrition warfare of the first invasion of Delve. A bored goon found himself in Empire and marveled at the profusion of untouchable Hulk and Mackinaw exhumers peacefully gorging themselves on rock and ice in the asteroid belts.

Empire mining is a financial paradox. The usual considerations of 0.0 ship fitting such as loss-to-income ratios do not apply. In 0.0, ships are flown with the expectation of violent loss, and pilots suffer little loss relative to their income when these combat vessels get turned into scrap. By contrast, the empire-dwelling Hulk pilot uses a fantastically expensive ship (by Empire standards) to secure a paltry and tedious but 'absolutely safe' income.  Each of the Hulks used by the miners cost at least 100 million isk. Adding modules and rigs into the equation, a single Hulk would require many hours of intensely boring Empire mining to replace. If somehow these Hulks could be destroyed, the personal impact for each kill would be catastrophic.

That bored goon was Karttoon. He began to experiment in Misneden, an Empire system with an ice belt full of oblivious, ruminating Hulks. Fitting out an Armageddon with disposable modules and insuring it, he put a mere fifteen million isk at risk. Eyeing a likely target through his Covops alt, Karttoon warped his battleship to one of the Hulks, locked it, lit it up with his lasers, and was rewarded with a fiery explosion. Moments too late for the luckless Hulk pilot, Concord spawned and destroyed Karttoon's Armageddon. The disbelieving victim began to spew incoherent rage in the local channel about what happened. The Jihad was born.

Word spread like wildfire through Goonswarm. This relaxing pasttime was financially self-sustaining, too.  Fearing no risk, the Empire dwellers often decked their Hulks out with reckless abandon, while the suicide ships of the mujahideen cost practically nothing to sacrifice after insurance. Once the wreck of the victim was looted, aspiring mujahideen often found they had the funds for many more attacks. But profit was not the primary motive. The Empire miners reacted to the mujahideen with a level of raw, impotent outrage not often encountered in the more worldly areas of 0.0.

wicked01 > a goonswarm dude blew my hulk up in high sec yesterday
Ser Shondi > O_O
wicked01 > pissed me right off
wicked01 > concord didnt get there on time
Ser Shondi > i thought killing someone in high sec was pretty much insta-smite from concorde
Gaiscioch Nova > we have it down to a t
wicked01 > he killed me in seconds i dieed and then concord showed up just as i popped
wicked01 > you pride yourself on that shit
wicked01 > ?
Gaiscioch Nova > why yes
wicked01 > man i had respect for goons till that moment
Ser Shondi > it is pretty cynical
wicked01 > wheres the skill in that
Ser Shondi > no skill, no honour, just "the lulz"
Gaiscioch Nova > sorry for our lack of e-honour
wicked01 > no your not
wicked01 > you just agreed you take pride in it
Gaiscioch Nova > :v