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GM Lelouch Incident
On November 1st, 2010 just before the launch of Tyrannis 1.2 the TEST logistics team decided to have some fun in Delve. IT Alliance held a large majority of Delve at the time, but fourteen adjacent systems were left unclaimed. These fourteen systems were the target of a downtime on-lining of troll Territorial Control Units. The systems were: here.
Downtime
Three minutes after downtime hit, Tez jumped into The Bacon Bar on Teamspeak and announced that fourteen TCUs were currently on-lining in Delve. A Kugutsumen thread was launched which initially contained no information in order to build anticipation.
- The Eve API went down with the server for downtime at 5:00 UTC (1:00 AM EST).
- Eve API came back up while the Tranquility server was in VIP mode for testing at 11:30 UTC (7:30 AM EST).
- First TCU in 1-SMEB onlines while server is in VIP mode at 12:22 UTC (8:22 AM EST).
- Last TCU in T-JGHT onlines while server is in VIP mode at 12:55 UTC (8:55 AM EST).
- Sov changes are updated to Dotlan at about 13:30 UTC (9:30 AM EST).
- The first TCU is destroyed in 1-SMEB by GM Lelouch at 17:19 UTC (1:19 PM EST).
- The last TCU is destroyed in 1B-VKF by GM Lelouch at 17:27 UTC (1:27 PM EST).
- Server is opened to the public at 17:30 UTC (1:30 PM EST).
GM Correspondence
Initial mails from Senior GM Lelouch:
First message:
Hi there,
I am writing you in regards to a number of TCUs which were anchored by your alliance a few minutes prior to Tranquility being taken down for an extended patch deployment downtime today. This rather ingenious timing on your part did give you an unfair advantage of sorts as any potential player entities which could've disputed these sovereignty claims were unable to do so due to the onlining period of the TCUs almost exclusively coinciding with the server downtime.
In light of this we will be offlining the TCUs in question and your alliance will need to re-online them should you wish to obtain sovereignty in the systems affected. Thank you for your attention.
Best regards,
Senior GM Lelouch
EVE Online Customer Support
Second message:
A small update:
Due to technical difficulties, the TCUs had to be destroyed instead of offlined. The process has been finished now and I will place 14 replacement TCUs in your hangar at a station of your choosing to replace the ones which were destroyed. Please get back to me once you've decided where you want the replacements to be put.
Best regards,
Senior GM Lelouch
EVE Online Customer Support
Test Response:
Hello CCP Game Masters,
Test Alliance Please Ignore deployed 14 TCUs before scheduled downtime, and has had all 14 and sovereignty in all systems removed.
We are petitioning the removal of these TCUs and request that they be replaced and sovereignty restored. I've listed the details here in this screenshot:
*http://i.imgur.com/I23zU.png
*http://i.imgur.com/I23zU. png
As you can see, Initiative Mercenaries, Razor Alliance, and Flying Dangerous also deployed TCUs before downtime and have still retained their TCUs and Sovereignty in their systems.
IT Alliance, as well as almost every other major 0.0 alliance in game have obeyed game rules and used existing game mechanics to time towers coming out of reinforced during downtime, to online SBUs, TCUs, drop station eggs, and basically do anything that requires an online timer or stront timer. While we personally feel that these tactics reek of unfairness, we've had to deal with them along with everyone else.
The rest of the GMs have set a solid precedent that these tactics are valid. We used these tactics during downtime to online these TCUs, and now we have had them taken away.
In light of months of precedent, we summarize by requesting the following:
- You restore our TCUs in the Delve systems that came online today, 11/2, all 14 system
- You restore our sovereignty in all systems
- Leave these game mechanics be, you've asked us to obey game rules, please do the same.
OR
- Remove sovereignty for Initiative Mercenaries, RAZOR Alliance, and Flying Dangerous
- Issue a public statement / changelog / rule change / whatever stating that TCUs, as well as other sovereignty structures, POS, Stations, etc… may no longer be timed to come in / out during downtime, and that that time doesn't count towards the timer as a result
\
- Refund all money and replace TCUs in game so we can recover our costs
- Use this as a precedent for all future issues regarding online timers.
Thanks for your time.
- Test Alliance Please Ignore.
Response mail from Senior GM Lelouch:
Thank you for the information about those additional five systems. No petitions had been raised regarding the TCUs onlined in those systems so we were unaware of those. I've taken a look at these five systems now and some of the TCUs started their onlining procedure well before the extended downtime hit; what they all had in common with your TCUs was that they finished onlining after the downtime had hit.
The TCUs in NH-1×6, G-73MR and 5KG-PY started their onlining procedure close enough to the start of the extended downtime that a significant advantage was gotten and they have therefore now been removed in the same way as yours were removed. The remaining two TCUs started onlining early enough that most of the onlining process was done by the time the server went down and they will therefore not be intervened with.
I have placed the replacement TCUs in your hangar at OWXTez Was Here as you requested. Which wallet division do you want to have the 1,176B ISK refund for the sovereignty bills placed in?
Finally, it is not intended for players to be able to online their sovereignty structures in perfect safety by starting the process right before an extended downtime, be it a TCU in order to claim sovereignty or SBUs in order to dispute such a claim.
This is to my knowledge the first time TCUs onlined in this way have been brought to our attention following an extended downtime and a discussion within the department naturally ensued, the results of which you know. If we receive notice of TCUs or SBUs which have been onlined in a similar manner in the future with most or almost all of the onlining period being completed while the server is down, then we will handle such cases in the same manner as this one was handled.
I'd like to make one final clarification though in regards to regular downtimes. We would not consider a TCU or an SBU which starts onlining right before a downtime of regular length (roughly 20 minutes now on average) to be in violation of our rules as while a portion of the onlining time is taken up by the downtime, it is not enough to give a significant advantage in the same vein as having most of the 8 hour TCU onlining time taken up by an extended downtime.
Best regards,
Senior GM Lelouch
EVE Online Customer Support
Fallout and Shitstorm
Xystance posts on the forums to petition the destruction of the fourteen TCUs with the official test response. The overwhelming number of petitions opened quickly causes the GMs to demand the alliance to stop and threatens consequences.
Xystance, rob3r, and Montolio quickly tell everyone to stop sending petitions, but many are sent anyway. DurrHurrDurr supposedly submits over 30 petitions for TCUs, GM favoritism, and vanishing petitions.
The Kugusumen thread quickly explodes and catches the attention of Czech Lion and he posts it to his website: evenews24.com
Corporation, Alliance and Organization Discussions also known as CAOD begins several threads regarding the destruction of TCUs. Many threads are quickly locked resulting in a gigantic number of spam threads being posted.
There were also five other non-TEST TCUs that onlined during downtime:
Majesta Frontier Alliance in G-73MR at 12:38 UTC (destroyed after downtime by GMs at 19:40 UTC)
East Empire Trade Federation in K76A-3 at 12:44 UTC
RAZOR Alliance in H-29TM at 12:54 UTC
Initiative Mercenaries in NH-1×6 at 12:56 UTC (destroyed after downtime by GMs at 19:33 UTC)
Flying Dangerous in 5KG-PY at 12:59 UTC (destroyed after downtime by GMs at 19:44 UTC)
Three of the other TCUs were destroyed much later than the TEST TCUs showing that the GM was singling TEST out rather than applying the new rule to everyone.
Getting Revenge
In true TEST fashion, the next logical thing to do is to wardec the CCP ingame alliance.
Test Alliance Please Ignore Declares War Against CCP Engineering Alliance
From: CONCORD
Sent: 2010.11.03 00:01
Test Alliance Please Ignore has declared war on CCP Engineering Alliance. Within 24 hours fighting can legally occur between those involved. For your convenience we have included the appropriate CONCORD War Rules:
The weekly cost is 100,000,000.00 ISK and you will receive a bill which needs to be paid promptly to maintain the war. If the bill is not paid before it is due then the war will be cancelled. If the war is cancelled then do not pay any outstanding bills for that war.
When an active war has been cancelled, there is a 24 hour grace period during which you can still be legally attacked.
If you are at war with a corporation that joins an alliance then the war will change from being against the corporation to being against the alliance.
If you are at war with an alliance and a corporation leaves that alliance then you will still be at war with the alliance but also temporarily at war with the corporation that left. The war against the corporation that leaves an alliance lasts 24 hours during this period you can attack them until the war expires.
Should you wish to resume hostilities against such a corporation then you need to declare war again.
In true TEST fashion, Montolio wardecs the wrong alliance. CCP devs then start trolling our CAOD thread.
CCP Prism X:
Came here intending to post about the impending doom of TEST.
Quickly realized that they just decced the QA alliance.
Left not caring.
Well, wardec them all, I guess.
Test Alliance Please Ignore Declares War Against C C P Alliance
From: CONCORD
Sent: 2010.11.03 21:25
Test Alliance Please Ignore has declared war on C C P Alliance. Within 24 hours fighting can legally occur between those involved. For your convenience we have included the appropriate CONCORD War Rules:
The weekly cost is 150,000,000.00 ISK and you will receive a bill which needs to be paid promptly to maintain the war. If the bill is not paid before it is due then the war will be cancelled. If the war is cancelled then do not pay any outstanding bills for that war.
