I’m sorry, I don’t mean to keep posting about this (yes I do), but when Massively provides you with such gifts, it would simply be rude to refuse them.
Some of the finer words of the white knights of Massively, enjoy!
Agreed, lets hope he learned his lesson. When he comes back maybe he’ll have learned a little empathy, maturity and social etiquette.
Sure you can argue that there’s a bunch of nice Eve players but at the end of the day I don’t see them.
I pretty much stopped playing Eve because of the general sense that most of the player base is out for number one and that’s about it. I keep seeing all of these comments that the Eve player base is nice and I just have never seen that while playing the game.
The lightness of the punishment just goes to prove that CCP not only condones such reprehensible behavior, they encourage it. They are certainly not serious about curtailing it. No question, the lack of morality exhibited by CCP is nothing short of shocking.
It’s people like him that keep me away from EVE
Keeping away from a game because the community, to a large quantity, consist of griefers, bullies and sociopaths, is in actuallity, a very good decision. It frankly doesnt matter how good (doesnt apply to EvE sicnei ts a terrible game) a game seems to you, if the community sorrounding it, is terrible, filled with hatred, inmaturity, griefing and whatnot, it wont be much joy. Subsequently, Ive enjoyed some mediocre games, because their communities were amazing.
have you happened to read the Eve forums and seen the number of player postings supporting this guys actions
Except what CCP doesn’t mention is that a gate-camp can and will just run the second something they can’t fight shows up
A 30 day ban is barely a slap on the wrist. They’re condoning his behavior by letting him keep his account at ALL. He was encouraging people to help drive an already emotionally damaged person to suicide
As long as he has a skill in queue (which I doubt since he’s probably learned everything) then his character is still going to get skill points. Worst thing that happens to him is he loses a month’s subscription…oooooooo, SCARY! The entire Goon alliance needs to have a little fear of devs put in to them. Well, looks like CCP is going to go under in a few years. (Note: This was not Tobold, or at least he did not use his blogging name to make the comment)
This is a clear indication that CCP needs to be vetted and cleared out. If the management of CCP had any kind sense, this tool would be gone and EVE would be a better game for it. There is NO room for such an idiot in any game. CCP, I know you read these comments. I am cancelling my sub. I am sure I am the first of many. I have supported you through thick and thin, but this is the last straw. Ban this moron and at the same time you send a message to the rest of the community that this behavior will not be tolerated. DO that and you can have my sub back. Not until then.
One less piece of filth having influence over a good game. Good riddance to him, perhaps the CSM can actually get some good done this year now.
Just wait.. sooner or later something awful will happen and some brilliant lawyer will nail CCP’s ass to the wall for not being more agressive in combating this behaviour.
CCP is playing with fire and every single year it gets worse. They have created an environment that promotes this kind of behavior and the have washed their hands of any responsibility. I don’t know how CCP expects anybody to want to play their World of Darkness title if this is how they handle these kinds of events. As the company that maintains that environment it is CCPs duty to ensure the safety of players. Sounds like a pretty good first paragraph to an opening argument, hmm?
CCP NEEDS to perma-ban this guy. And if they give a sh*t about the gaming industry they have to start policing their game.
We’re not discussing EVE’s community, since it really has nothing to do with this one idiot
There isn’t any undeserved bashing of the Eve community going on here.
Buddy, let me tell you something you learn in basic Political science
You either acknowledge that his actions were despicable and follow it up with a perman ban, or you announce to the world that CCP will tolerate a level of trolling that makes 4chan seem like a baby meetup group. In my humble opinion, there is no middle ground here.
And, no, he wasn’t joking. How do I know? Because nobody was laughing and he didn’t say, ‘Haha, just kidding. Don’t do it.’
Every single person there that didn’t come up and take the mic away from him makes the Eve community look bad
Go blow their ship up and call them a noob or hatch a scheme to steal THEIR stuff. Hacking their PC or otherwise interfering with their life outside of the game is going too far. That’s the point I’ve been trying to get through your skulls and I’ve been really clear about it,
I will never go back to playing Eve. It is not worth the risk
are you trying to be dense or trolling… At one point Mittani was in charge of Goons “meta-gaming” activities. He and others like him (Kunguusman?) spent time finding ways to crack into opposing players/organizations personal computers and guild web site/vent/TS servers in order to gain personal and game information to be used outside and inside of game. The risk? Lets start with them installing a keylogger and obtaining my Eve login and password so they could log into my account and do damage to my characters, disable defenses of my organization. Obtain personal pictures/work information/personal information to do anything from commit fraud, contact my employer and suggest I am a “bad” employee, alter pics of my children and post them on a forum, and I am sure Mittani could think of worse things
Oh pluh-ease. A perma band is what most are looking for
But now we all know where CCP aka “The Kings of Monocles” stand on social issues. I played EO for six months and I saw the behavior that was allowed and knew it would slow down its growth. However, at the time I played, this was before newbies were ganked in high sec in order to steal their nearly worthless ore for the laughs. If that had been the case, as it is now, CCP would never have got even 6 months revenue from me.
Honestly, CCP should put a stop to it because it creates an atmosphere that just stops being any fun. When you have to be afraid that people will try to illegally obtain personal information in order to negatively affect your life…well….it stops being a game and it starts being a criminal enterprise
It doesn’t seem like this is being “blown out of proportion” as much as it is that people know this guy and are tired of him; his actions are what most people think when they think about “other players in EvE online”.
Also, if you read another response, supposedly Goons are gunning for the “victim” in-game because of this as “revenge” and offering a 1 billion isk reward.
While that may be in-game, it extends from an out-of-game origin.
Are people going to ‘metagame’ Dust?
The Mittani may have thought that the guy was kidding, but then he called thousands of people to harrass him so he’d do it anyway – that’s violence, that’s criminal, and it doesn’t matter that the player in question was fine then, or is fine now, a targeted long-term campaign against him might just change that in the future.
They should of banned him for life to show ccp are the boss not the players. IM a good guy who plays, I actually get told im to nice to pvp but there are some good people there. The problem is these guys have probably been burnt before and resent everyone in the game.
But the thing is, many of us know (and researched) this and know some players, even though they say differently, treat this more than “just a game” and go offline for their harassment. Yes, this can and does happen in other games, but which MMO has the most famous stories and most numerous stories about this happening?
Alex is just the “boy who cried wolf” and many of us are waiting for him to “drop the other shoe”; heck, we are expecting it, especially after his 30 day ban.
Because of CCP’s lack of SUBSTANTIAL action against this player, I will never sub to any of their games, now or in the future.
If he’s an actual lawyer, he could actually be disbarred for his comments, or suffer censorship from his country or (US) State’s legal association. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disbarment If he’s in a healthcare or licensed occupation, he can lose his license to practice for making a comment like that
People like Alexander “The Mittani” Gianturco are cowards who most likly can’t interact well with people in real life so they come online to harrass other people like this poor guy with depression to make themselves feel important
Petition started. Get your names on this and get rid of him. In 20 days lets get to 10 thousand and remove him from EVE. (At the time of this post, there was one signature)
Every time I see something like this, I realize not only Mittani’s total disregard for human life but CCP’s as well And once again I am glad I shut all my Eve accounts down a year ago and never looked back. Thanks for reminding me what an awful company you really are, CCP! :) *bounds back off to much more pleasant MMO gaming*
When Hilmar announces his perma ban and vows to end the Lord of the flies mentality that the game wallows in then you will have progress.
You harrass a player until the breaking point to make him commit suicide then make fun of it publicly… and you get 30 day ban.
Not only that, but as a Representative of CCP through the CSM, exposing both himself, the CSM, and the corporation he represents to the public to legal liability by inciting violence against a person through his rhetoric (not protected speech, btw.) and facilitating someone’s suicide attempt.
I make a vow today never to put a single penny into the coffers of CCP.
Hardcore Casual 
Hilarious, self-righteous posturing from a bunch of spineless weenies. This is how they justify their unwillingness to take any risks in their gaming habits.
Wow, that is quite a collection. And no such thread can ever be considered complete until there is an online petition introduced!
Massively’s audience calibre has been plummeting to near WoWInsider levels.
Which is a pity, because I did enjoy posting on Massively, but now I look at my postcount and heave a hearty sigh.
Did you really feel the need to make the ultimate shitpost?
Are you not entertained?
Interesting read.
http://andknowing.blogspot.com/2012/03/reality-check.html
I had not noticed the two day gap between when the event actually occurred and when Massively decided to report on it, which happened to coincide with the “Mittani wins CSM Chairmanship” news being announced.
I did see that CCP was retroactively appalled by things once the word got out. Sometimes it takes a few days to realize a horrible thing occurred right there before your eyes.
I think it’s a little disingenuous to claim that the reason people cared is because of who got the Chairmanship. That might’ve been the reason the FIRST complaints were lodged, but the “white knights” only rode in because of the exposure, plus cyberbullying being such a hot topic, and it was a good opportunity to justify shitting on something they’re threatened by and afraid of (EVE, in general).
The white knights couldn’t give a crap who has the Chairmanship.
The Mittani has been quick enough to boast about using the media to further his goals in the past. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
I’m not sure which is crazier: that people wrote all that or that I read it. All I know it that I feel stupider. Thanks, Syncaine.
To be honest I don’t quite get how anyone can be entertained by this sickening show. This Mittani guy has definitely crossed the threshold and therefore should be dealt accordingly. I’m not bothered with his thuggish escapades as far as they are confined to his nullsec hole. But he decided to take it outside of virtual world boundaries into the real world. Therefore he has to face the consequences of his thuggery as an adult in real life. 30 day ban slap on the wrist hardly qualifies as facing the consequences.
But what is more disheartening is this gangsta subculture cult that the likes of Mittani are trying to impose on EVE community. And it looks like it is gaining secret admiration from SynCaine and many posters on this forum. To quote SynCaine: “Mittens will still be the power player of the CSM. Only now, he can tell whoever he wants to kill themselves, and when asked about it, explain that he is simply doing what goons do.” What kind of bravado is this? Having done business in multiple Eastern European countries I had to deal with organized crime and their goons first hand and this is not a laughing matter to me. Sorry SynCaine but you have no idea of what real goons do, how they do it and for what purpose. Neither does Alex The Mittani Gianturco. I’m wondering if he would continue his tough dude talk if he got hit by real goons in real life without friendly CONCORD around to help.
@Andrei: Would you then ban video games that glorify goons – say Grand Theft Auto?
I’m definitely not a big fan of Grand Theft Auto but imo as long as all action happens within the game it is protected by freedom of speech. Unlike GTA EVE’s gameplay is community based and that’s where it gets a bit complicated. Again imo as long as goon glorification is confined within goon corporations and their alliances I don’t have a problem with that. What I have problem with is a goon like Mittani representing entire EVE community or trying to influence EVE gameplay to become centered around goons. In other worlds if thuggery is one of equally viable game styles in EVE I’m fine with it but I’m against it becoming the dominating style. And I’m definitely not happy with CCP cultivating celebrity status for EVE goons.
An yet a game like EVE, with Goons having been a mainstay since 2006, and all around ‘thuggery’ being prominent since day 1, builds a community the likes of which haven’t been seen since MMO’s of old.
Funny how all of us sociopaths in such a terrible environment can form together and create long lasting, meaningful friendships.
I’ve always wondered why EVE has such a low veteran turnover rate when it’s such a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad game.
Holy shit, it’s honestly people like you that are the problem. Spouting nonsensical garbage about ‘real middle eastern goons’?! What in the actual f— does that have to do with ANYTHING?
Some people (mostly congregating now at Massively) have honestly lost their minds. I’m speechless in the face of such ridiculousness.
My apologies, Eastern European real goons. A goon is a goon though right? ;)
“:words:…gangsta subculture cult that the likes of Mittani are trying to impose on EVE community…:words:”
you have no idea what goons are, do you? you’re a goddamn idiot; kill you are self now.
I did touch a nerve didn’t it? It is ironic how bad ass talking avid non-consensual PVPers are so sensitive about being called names :) I guess I’m having this “I don’t give a fuck about anything but ruining goon’s day” moment…
Did I read somewhere that there is “bad blood” between Brendan “Nyphur” Drain and Alex Giancurno? Suggestions that Massively’s coverage is not entirely unbiased?
By the way I am not really close enough to this to have inside information but my “outsiders” reading is that Mittens has lost credibility but it seems to have become such a partisan thing now it is hard to call what the long run outcome will be.
Massively, and numerous other sites and blogs, had a bunch of facts all wrong, tripping over themselves to write something to generate traffic. They reported that the ‘victim’ was indeed suicidal, that Mittens gave out his real name, that CCP approved the slide with the name, etc.
Keep in mind, a lot of the writers at these sites also play EVE, and are likely enemies of the goons. As Mittens himself said, sites like Massively just became a tool for the Great Game, so /hat-tip in that regard. Now of course that they are part of it, they get to receive as well as dish it out. Thing will be interesting going forward.
@Wloire My guess is that the reason goon subculture is tolerated in EVE is that majority of players come from carebear background in RL and never had first hand experience with organized crime. Including Alex Giancurno. For the same reason the way they role-play goons in EVE is primarily driven by pop culture and has very little to do with real life criminal world subculture.
Except they don’t attempt to emulate any ‘culture’. Goonswarm (capital G) may partake in some ‘goonish’ (little g) behavior but they simply play the game in a fun, ‘we don’t give a fuck about anything but ruining your day’ mentality.
There is no ‘roleplaying’ and if there was they would be pure sociopaths rather then criminal wannabes.
Roleplaying is inherently present in a virtual world like EVE. After all EVE players are space pilots aren’t they? As for emulating any cultures no they don’t consciously do that. Nevertheless, the name “Goonswarm” has some cultural meaning to them. Otherwise why don’t they simply call themselves ‘Mean Kids’ (capital M) a real life term that most accurately describes them?
So who am I emulating when head out with the intention of destroying somebodies ship? Am I unconsciously emulating a murderer? A criminal? Am I an asshole?
Or am I simply playing a game as it was designed?
Reading those comments was the highlight of my day
even after I had the most epic troll moment I’ve had in ages earlier (got a 25 page thread and locked/deleted in like 30min)
(thread that I started for that purpose)
I don’t get the hate on eve’s ganking and screwing around culture. I spent 90% of my time in vanilla wow ganking people, hiding from gankers, and in general having a great time not grinding quests and gear. I loved always having to watch my back and I was always on the lookout for someone for kill for a couple of hours. It made every trip to STV an adventure. Someone was always taking over a town and making trouble and there was always something going. Killing that part of wow was the worst single thing that happened to that game. God knows why anyone would wish it on EVE.
@Wloire You are definitely playing a game. If it means more than just a game to you or if you are trying to emulate somebody consciously or subconsciously I don’t know – only you can answer that. Regardless of that in EVE you have to pick the role depending on the game style that fits your taste. It is the way the game is designed. It is a sandbox world not a themepark – it is your decision what to do in the game. You can pick to be a miner. Or a tycoon. Or a goon to gank other people ships.
ah… i know what you are now. you’re an anti-nonconsensual-pvp whiner who thinks all griefers are literally hitler and wants to turn the game into a single player online game in which there is absolutely no risk or impact, aren’t you?
get the fuck out of my internets, pubbie faggot ->
Awake ye evil blogging overlord, for fucking Friday is upon us!
Think I can write a blog that makes someone kill themself?
Maybe not, but you may laugh yourself to death. Check out Tobold and Gevlons blogs. You were warned.
“Agreed, lets hope he learned his lesson. When he comes back maybe he’ll have learned a little empathy, maturity and social etiquette.”
Let’s hope he HAS learned something from this, because he is the big loser in all this, with possible lasting repercussions. And I do not mean his 30-day ban in EVE. Google “Alexander Gianturco” and you will discover he belongs to a group called The Goons, gets drunk at public gatherings and encourages others to harass another person.
Now, you and I may understand how much (or how little) this means, but I guarantee you that any future would-be employer of Mr. Gianturco will not. Most major companies in the US, at least, now do pretty extensive internet research on candidates, and this is going to be a blight on his record for a long time to come.
he’s a retired lawyer in his late twenties – early thirties. pretty sure no one retires at thirty, especially nowadays, unless they’re sitting on an epic fuckton of money.
i’m guessing any future employers of Mr. Gianturco that try to conduct internet background checks on him would be welcome to kiss Mittens’ ass.
LOL – I hope you are right. Look up lawyer in the dictionary and you will find “risk-averse”. He had better be self-supporting.
At first I thought this was just the most disjointed post ever written, then I realized these are lol comments….
I should get myself a blog so I could ramble on incoherently as well. Have you read the post yourself before you hit ‘publish’? I doubt it.
I’m very happy to hear you’re leaving EVE. It’s a welcome act of evolutionary survival of the fittest.
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Can I have your stuff?
Wtf you talking about? Who is leaving? Reading comprehension problems?
This guy legitimately thinks all of the comments are Syncaine’s, including the last one.
Heh.