Hulkagedden V begins the economic war in EVE

Judging by the crapload of ships that have been destroyed in and around Jita in the last two days, this may be a waste of time.  But for those players who do read the forums or news sites, please remember Hulkagedden V begins tonight and will run a full month (4/29 – 5/29!  Helicity Boson, the founder and organizer of the Hulkagedden events, put up a website to support this years.  Repleat with a video on how to gank miners.

What makes this year’s Hulkagedden a little more interesting is that Goonswarm is kicking in a considerable amount of ISK in prizes to support a wider event throughout EVE.  With 100 Million ISK per 10 kills, and Billions of ISK in prizes at the end, you can believe that it’s going to be a rather uncomfortable month for miners throughout the galaxy.   You prepared ahead of time, and diversified your industrial base, correct?
The really interesting thing about Hulkagedden isn’t necessarily the number of mining ships and Orcas that will pop in the coming month, but rather the underlying reason the Goons became as involved in Hulkagedden this year as they have.  Goons have always been involved to some extent or another, but this year they’re REALLY involved.  Technetium is behind it all.  With the Goons taking Tenal and Vale recently, they and their allies now directly control a tremendous percentage of the Tech moons.  And those they do not won’t matter as the Mittani has tempted those controlling alliances with riches that none will ignore.  I speak of course of the Mittani’s announcement on Twitter that he was working to establish OTEC — the Organization of Technetium Exporting Corporations — which will control virtually all Tech production and supply in EVE.

Goonswarm and OTEC will essentially set the price of Tech in EVE, which is a staple of a great deal of Tech II production.  Including mining ships like the Hulk.  Goonswarm is setting up a system in which they can greatly inflate the price of Technetium, then also drive demand for new mining ships, which require Technetium bi-products to produce.  That in and of itself is small potatoes.   Jita Burns?  Also part of the larger picture and really geared toward increasing demand.  But it gets better.  Remember the talk at the recent EVE Fanfest about ring mining, and how Technetium would also be obtainable through it?  You think the Mittani is going to be satisfied with anything that interferes with OTEC?  A wise person would expect a long term, concerted effort to suppress hi-sec mining.  It makes sense as it would also open up additional avenues of profit to Goonswarm as they are likely to also enter the mineral business to a higher degree than they likely are now.  Probably the safest place to mine after Hulkagedden will be Null-Sec!

What’s really going on here is the Mittani has launched a war the likes EVE has never seen before.  An economic war that will see a cartel in virtual ultimate control of everything in the galaxy.  One where everything anyone does within the galaxy directly, or indirectly benefits the Cartel, Goonswarm, and the Mittani.  What was I saying earlier this morning about how the interactions that were possible in games like EVE Online?  This is bloody brilliant, absolutely beautiful stuff.