At last week's Fanfest event, CCP and the mayor of Reykjavik unveiled a giant monument to EVE Online. At the base of the sculpture are thousands of names—a tribute to the pilots that make EVE what it is. Unfortunately, four days after its reveal, one of those names was vandalised —a tribute to the fact that some EVE players really don't like each other. CCP have now found those responsible, and, in addition to any criminal charges that may be issued in the real world, have also taken steps to remove them from the game.
"Firstly, I'll say that the fact that the monument was vandalized is an insult to the entire community, not just to the individual who's name was directly targeted by the vandalism," writes community manager "CCP Falcon" in the EVE forum . "Thankfully with the assistance of a number of members of the community, including some of those who were involved with the incident and other members of their own alliance, we've been able to make headway in identifying those responsible.
"Secondly, we would like to reiterate that we do not tolerate this kind of behavior and will continue to operate a zero tolerance approach to dealing with harassment and victimization in the EVE Universe."
As a result of this zero tolerance stance, the three players identified as having taken part in the vandalism have been "permanently removed" from the EVE universe. According to CCP Falcon, seven EVE Online accounts and one Dust 514 account have been perma-banned. In addition, one player "indirectly involved" has received a six-month ban on their sole EVE Online account. All four players are barred from attending future Fanfests.
Despite their actions, CCP won't be leaving the vandals at the mercy of the EVE community. "While the community has been justifiably outraged and a number of people have requested that we release the ingame identities of those who carried out the act, we feel that this would be contrary to our privacy policies," writes CCP Falcon. "As such we will deal with this incident in line with our current policies, and the identities of those responsible will remain confidential."
CCP now consider the issue closed in regards to the EVE universe. "Any further action taken outside the virtual world relating to criminal damage or recovery of costs for repairs to the EVE Universe Monument will remain confidential between CCP Games, the authorities, and those involved," Falcon concludes.
