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

One of the most effective and long-serving agents in the GIA, Vile Rat, has done double-duty as both an agent and a diplomat in Goonswarm. Often, the lines between diplomacy and espionage blur. I've taken some of his time to interview him, dragging him away from his current assignment where he amuses himself ferrying fleet after fleet of Sc0rched Earth to their doom.

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What made you decide to get into the spy game?

After flying for a little less than a year in Goonfleet while being heavily active in both our Outer Ring invasion and our failed Cloud Ring escapades I was provided a unique opportunity. A friend who was in a now closed corp called Contraband Inc. had invited me to join up with him and fly with his group which had just recently joined the Mercenary Coalition. I had been putting that option on the back burner while informing Mittani and Remedial as a possible espionage move but to do so would mean that I had to move my primary character over and really sever from the corp instead of using a secondary agent like most do. It was a really tough decision because I'd have to cut myself off from the social side of Goonfleet which really is where the fun happens. It was determined that I didn't have enough skill points to join directly so a decision was made by my ConInc friend to put me in a 3rd corp to get some distance between Goonfleet and the MC since they weren't great friends at the time.

Where have you served your time?

The decision was made to put me in Shinra which was a member of the Lotka Volterra alliance and he used his connection with Nebba Knezzer who led Shinra at the time to ease the hiring process a bit. The timing was exceptional because shortly after moving over hostilities began between Goonfleet and LV which resulted in abandoning the MC mission for the LV one. It was all a big accident but somehow things just worked out. Currently I'm doing the spy thing with Sc0rched Earth but that's hardly an accomplishment. Having a spy in Sc0rched Earth requires you have a pulse and little else.

For you, what was most difficult part of being an agent?

Initially I retained GF.com access due to the good relations between our corps but once things broke down I was booted. This signaled the severing of my ability to play space ship video games with goons and really sucked the fun out of the game but I was still able to follow along on the forums with a parachute account set up by Mittani for my use. The new culture I had to learn to live with in LV was, to borrow a rather unfortunate term, "Alien and Ungoony". Everybody was interested in only themselves and there was no sense of community at all. Ironically enough the only community I could call a home away from home while performing this mission was a group of exiled goons inside of LV and it at least gave me some people to chat with while doing my work there.

What surprised you the most about espionage itself, or about your target?

Easily the culture difference. The pure arrogance that people displayed on a regular basis not only against their enemies but against their friends shocked me. We have a reputation as complete bastards in the EVE community but ironically we are extremely loyal and dedicated to those we consider our friends and this simply didn't exist in that alliance. They really believed they were god's gift to EVE and acted superior in everything they did and any dissent was squished pretty quickly. There is a reason the term "going lotka.org" is used, they would delete any post or thread that questioned the version of reality being spewed by leadership. I think this all hurt their ability to form a cohesive bond in the end and aside from being counterproductive (telling people things are great when your own lying eyes tell you otherwise doesn't help morale) it just makes you not give a shit about your alliance 'buddies'.