'EVE Online': OSS Alliance Banned From In-Game Event After Destroying Citadel Construction Sites

EVE Online players have destroyed the construction sites for EVE Online’s new and yet-to-be-released space station structures, referred to in-game as a citadel. Developers had planned a major in-game event for the unveiling, where they would raffle off the blueprints needed to construct a citadel to EVE Online players who helped an NPC corporation gather the resources, or “research components,” to construct the first prototypes.

Despite the first and second Astrahus Citadel prototypes being destroyed, allegedly by the Omega Security Syndicate (OSS) according to the Upwell Consortium (i.e., CCP Games, EVE Online’s developers), EVE Online's citadel blueprint raffle event is continuing as planned and “rebuilding is happening,” according to a representative from CCP. The representative went on to relay a message from EVE Online Game Designer CCP Affinity stating that, “all the research components players submitted are still safe.”

In a lore-based press release, the Upwell Consortium stated that “a site was razed by the organized, collective action of members of a capsuleer alliance resident here in Syndicate [a NPC nullsec region]. The members of 'The OSS' alliance should be in no doubt that their actions will have consequences” and that “all current and future individual members of 'The OSS' are barred from participation in Upwell Consortium research and prototyping efforts, with immediate effect. If any members of those organizations have already contracted components to [Upwell Consortium] they may take this statement as notice that such materials are forfeit.”

The press release also included a warning for OSS regarding any further attacks on subsequent citadel prototype constructions, stating that, “while this alliance has been a valuable customer of Intaki Bank services, not least here on this station, we will be reviewing the relationship. No precipitate action will be taken but the Intaki Bank, and other Upwell Consortium members, reserve the right to cancel agreements, without notice or refund, if aggressive acts of the kind we have seen continue.”

OSS Spokeswoman Summer VonSturm released a statement expressing disappointment at Upwell Consortium’s ”hasty words” and offered to provide any assistance Upwell Consortium may need in their investigation, going on to suggest the possibility of negotiations with the consortium to provide a building permit and security for the area. The statement also stated that OSS forces had made every attempt to communicate with the consortium before the incidents occurred, but received no response.

“I can confirm we had no contact with these people,” OSS Diplomat Spring Heeledjack said online in the /r/EVE subreddit.

“We do not deny halting the building progress — if you are referring to the alleged hacking, I would suspect that Upwell simply failed to secure their systems properly,” VonSturm later said when privately asked about about the destruction of the citadels. According to VonSturm, “continued failure to file the correct permits will result in building work being prevented.”

While VonSturm would not confirm nor deny if the Upwell Consortium had been in touch since the incident, CCP Affinity — on the behalf of the consortium — did earlier state, “No comment, we're going to issue follow up news about this :),” when asked if the consortium was considering OSS’s offer.

Resources are still being collected for the construction of the third prototype of the Astrahus Citadel. A total of five prototypes are being built, with EVE Online players turning in resources to the Upwell Consortium for a chance to enter a raffle. The rewards of the raffle increase in value chronologically as the prototypes are constructed, with each raffle becoming unlocked only once the research components for the previous prototype have been collected.

First announced by CCP at EVE Vegas October 2015 , the Astrahus Citadel is the first, and smallest, of three new constructible structures that will become available to EVE Players in the upcoming EVE Online: Citadel expansion, set to be released in Spring 2016. The other two citadel types, called the Fortizar Citadel and the Keepstar Citadel, are visible below at 0:31 and 0:33 seconds respectively.

Originally called “Market and Office Hubs,” citadels will focus on acting as a center for trade and a gathering spot for social organizations. The Astrahus Citadel will be about 5-25 kilometers in diameter, and will be able to dock sub-capital ships inside itself, while the Fortizar Citadel will be about 25-50 kilometers in diameter and will be designed with facilities to support larger fleets. The Keepstar Citadel will be about 100 kilometers in diameter and will be tailored to support high-end alliance gameplay.