EVE Online scandal followup.

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EVE Online Scandal Follow-up [February 09, 2007, 4:13 pm ET] - 21 Comments
The EVE Online Forums have the promised (story) follow-up to the allegations of developer misconduct in EVE Online (story), linking to a pair of posts, saying: "It is our hopes these Blogs will address the remainder of the EVE community's concerns over these allegations". One of the blogs is called On Recent Allegations, by CCP's t20, which admits to one of the accusations, and the other blog is called The Commitment, which delves into this and other past incidents of employee shenanigans and describes efforts at preventing repeats in the future. Here's t20's confession:
As you might have read and heard, there were recently some allegations posted regarding developer misconduct that basically come down to:

• Developers helping (an) alliance(s) gain information they otherwise would not have.
• Developers having an unfair advantage of game mechanics.
• Developers helping themselves acquire goods in-game by means of in-house tools, otherwise not available to regular players.

All allegations mentioned above are untrue, except one. Sadly enough, the allegation regarding unlawfully obtained blueprints are, in my case, true. I’m here, laying out the facts of what happened in June 2006 so this whole issue -- which jeopardized my colleagues, my company and our community -- can be put behind us, I hope for the better.

The blueprints in question will be returned to CCP and reintroduced through a new raffle in the future. Specifically, these are:

• Flameburst Precision Light Missile Blueprint
• Phalanx Rage Rocket Blueprint
• Havoc Fury Heavy Missile Blueprint
• Bloodclaw Fury Light Missile Blueprint
• Spike L Blueprint
• Sabre Blueprint

Regrettably, my actions inevitably led to a shadow of suspicion being cast on a number of my co-workers, as well as Reikoku and Band of Brothers. I wish to make it clear that I acted alone and my co-workers and corp/alliance mates have been cleared of any alleged wrongdoing.

As much as this is a confession it is also a request for your forgiveness for events of which I’m truly sorry.

For those unfamiliar with EVE's gameplay mechanics, there are a limited number of blueprints available for in-game items in the science fiction MMORPG, and an alliance with a monopoly on the blueprints for a given item have a powerful gameplay and economic advantage. Here's the conclusion of The Commitment, which is written by CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson:
As we look to the future, we will endeavor to improve our handling of these matters by acting in a manner that is both swift and consistent with company policy. It is regrettable that such instances reveal flaws in our governance, but by the same token, addressing them decisively is what makes our company stronger. We now have resources dedicated to performing audits of dev activity on Tranquility with much more frequency than before. This, combined with additional layers of security, and the non-negotiable penalty of employment termination upon conviction of such acts, represents the full extent that we will go to deter dev misconduct.

The developers of this company will always play the games that they build here. Without being fully immersed in the player experience, perspective, and community, it is impossible to build, maintain, and expand online worlds with any degree of competency. And while that does expose us to some degree of risk, the rewards are incalculably higher. EVE has grown stronger every year since its inception; these bumps in the road are an inevitable part of the journey we must endure as a growing company; and we would not be here today if we opted to isolate ourselves from the player experience of EVE Online.

It is thus that we look forward to putting this matter firmly behind us, and move forward with our continued mission to improve and expand a world that we hold close to our hearts.