An EVE Monument Update

I never thought when I started playing MMORPGs that I would wind up attending (and writing about) real world cultural events.  Last year I attended my first professional symphony orchestra performance at the Harpa the night before the opening of Fanfest 2013.  This year I plan on attending the unveiling of CCP's monument to EVE Online's players overlooking Reykjavik's harbor on Faxaflói Bay.

Artists conception of "Worlds Within a World"

Since many players have opined on the meaning and significance of the monument, I thought I'd post what CCP's CEO, Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, has said on the EVE community website:

"We would like to, as best as we can, reflect the same beauty that you have shown us. To make you into art. To honor you in the real world as much as you have earned in the virtual. To immortalize the already immortal pilots of EVE.

"To that end we are creating a monument to all EVE players whether they are currently flying or who have long docked their ships. A monument to players who are living and with us or who have sadly passed on.

"While most of our monuments have, up until this point, existed in game, this one will be placed in beautiful Reykjavik harbor and be donated to the city where EVE was first born so many years ago—the northernmost capital city on Earth.

"With the monument, entitled “Worlds Within a World”, we seek to honor the EVE’s developers (past and present), the volunteers, our partners and even the citizens of Reykjavik—all for the parts they play in this universe.

"The monument will stand testament to the collective and manifested will of hundreds of thousands of gamers, dreamers, leaders, wingmen, pirates, betrayers, victors and defeated.

"It will represent the past but also serve as a symbol for the journey to come—our commitment to this virtual universe and to the beauty it has brought into our lives. It is our hope that over the years this piece will grow in all of our hearts and that visiting it will be a part of every trip taken by a Fanfest attendee or a visitor to Iceland.

"We hope that it will, in a beautiful cosmic way, gather all our emotions and simplify what we have created together into one, universal distillation.

"And finally, we hope that it helps you understand how grateful we are to you, our bold capsuleers, for every second you have spent with us."

When most people think of EVE Online, they think of the single-shard universe players know as Tranquility.  But due to real world politics, EVE has a second shard, Serenity, run by TianCity in the People's Republic of China.  And yesterday a message from the players on Serenity reached the Tranquility forums asking about their place in the New Eden family.  Specifically, if the names of the players on Serenity will appear on the monument.  CCP Falcon, EVE's Community manager, posted this response:

"Serenity character names will be included on the monument.

"With regards to name filtering, yes, we've thought about it. This was one of the first things that came up when we decided we were going to put player names on the monument.

"We have a taskforce in Reykjavik, and a group from Tiancity, who will be filtering the names before they're submitted for inclusion on the monument.

"Anything deemed inappropriate will not be included."

CCP Falcon's reply actually answered two questions.  Not only will CCP include Serenity players on the monument, but CCP will review the names before they are engraved for eternity.  I think that's a question a lot of people had, given how many of the name's are rather inappropriate.  But that bring's up a few more questions.  If a player has an inappropriate name, does that mean the second pilot on the account is inscribed?  Will TianCity representatives pull any names that are political along with those describing body parts and sexual acts?  And will CCP remove names for copyright and trademark violations?

Of course, EVE being EVE, the answers to the above questions will probably spark new controversy and player outrage.  But monuments in the real world outside gaming are not immune to controversy and protest either.  In this, as in so many ways, EVE Is Real.™

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