The Great Scam

[Stargun007]

http://static.circa1984.com/the-big-scam.html

It's pretty long, but I found it to be really interesting. Basically, this guy scams his way into becoming a tycoon in Eve Online. It's a pretty good read.

[PsyClerk]

I thought this was gonna be a post about the GBA release of SMB, Zelda 1, and Donkey Kong.

[PsyClerk]

Ok, I actually read the story and that's a fine piece of writing. Good stuff.

[bignick]

damn this is taking for ever to read. I like it so far.

[Tespo125]

That actually wasn't that bad of a story. HardHead reminds me of that 23 year old fat dude who killed himself after a friend betrayed him in Everquest. Nice ending, lucky Frosttt.

[bignick]

Oh man, that was the best read I have had in a while!

[Kaijufan]

This is good stuff.

[scott123456]

Just be ready to dedicate 30 minutes of reading time...

[ex0]

Really great read (I read it a few days ago), but he *SPOILER* should've given the stuff to Hardhead or whatever his name is.

[Scrubking]

Reading about all those pirates and scams reassured me that I wasn't missing out by staying away from the mmorpg scene.

And about the scam all I can say is - what a waste of life.

[SpookyD]

It was quite a read.

[PsyClerk]

Isn't EVE Online a MMORPG loser? I seem to remember it being not so popular.

Decent games would have safeguards against the behavior this guy described.

[Ledhed]

Wow. That was a great read. And yes, in a perfect world, HardHead would've recieved the cash, Milton-style.

EDIT: I just google'd ZZZZ Best as described in the story. What an appropriate name for his company. :rofl:

[Kaijufan]

EDIT: I just google'd ZZZZ Best as described in the story. What an appropriate name for his company. :rofl:
:lol: Your right that is a good name for his company.

[Scrubking]

Decent games would have safeguards against the behavior this guy described.

From what I have seen this is a difficult situation because you either have so many rules in place that you have to roleplay a half-assed evil character who really can't do anything evil or you remove the rules and get abused by asshole bullies.

I guess it boils down to what you prefer - not so evil, evil characters or assholes waiting around to ruin your day.

[Final Starman]

Haha, I loved that damn story. ZZZZ Best 4 lyfe

[rocksolidaudio]

man, i know it's been said, but GREAT GODDAMN STORY

[dpatel]

long story, but great read. I agree with ex0.

[Mospeada_21]

Entertaining story. Very well written. Teaches some lessons on life; human behavior.

[Spacepest]

OMG what a scam! That was so wrong that it was funny. LMAO, to think that guy spent weeks planning it out, to actually pull it off and then give his ill-gotten loot to some random stranger in the game. Priceless!

[godhatesjustyou]

that story was AWESOME!

oh man, it had me on the edge of my seat, that was such a good story. and the ending, the ending couldn't of had been better.

[PsyClerk]

From what I have seen this is a difficult situation because you either have so many rules in place that you have to roleplay a half-assed evil character who really can't do anything evil or you remove the rules and get abused by asshole bullies.

I guess it boils down to what you prefer - not so evil, evil characters or assholes waiting around to ruin your day.

This is what PK is for in some MMORPGs. I know in Asheron's Call, you have to make a conscious decision to go PK, and then the gloves come off. You'll see guys that kill anything that moves, and then factions rise up to combat those 'evil' characters. The problem is by the time someone decides to go the PK route, they've already played the good guy long enough, so you end up with a bunch of bad guys running around and very few good guys (Non PK characters can't attack PKs and vice versa).

It's one of the great problems of MMORPGs right now.

[Storamin]

All MMORPGs are teh evil. Stay away. UO sucked a few years of my life, but never again!

[Squirms]

Damn what a long story, but worth it.

[msdmoney]

There was a guild who did a lot of similar things in daoc but I can't remember the name. They had a website of stories of everything they did.

[RisingZan]

All MMORPGs are teh evil. Stay away. UO sucked a few years of my life, but never again!

Heh, I agree...to pour that much of your life into something with no real world results just boggles the mind…

Except for this guy, who was able to get an amazing story out of it. I can just imagine that library phone ringing...

[PsyClerk]

Heh, I agree...to pour that much of your life into something with no real world results just boggles the mind…

As opposed to all the children's hospitals and homeless shelters that were built due to all the hours I sank into FFX, Halo, and Dynasty Warriors?

:wink:

[unctennis122]

good story, though long

[MeGaWC27]

I've hearing all these great comments about the reading, but one look of it reminded me of school so I closed it right away :D
Since everyone is saying it's great, I'm sure my opinion won't be much different.

[Mr. Anderson]

Ive wanted to try EVE for a while. I wonder if it's worth it...

[Wshakspear]

that was a nice 1 1/2 hour read (customers)...i think he should have thrown the money at hardhead though...

[Jaket]

too damn long.... someone sum up what the fuck he did why and how in less than a paragraph :D free cookie to whoever does it first!

[Cornfedwb]

Its a good read, but the guy just seems so pathetic for A. getting so upset over the MMORPG, B. getting so into the scam, C. running the scam at all, D. thinking about screwing over his rl friend for the fake money. I mean I want to either slap him or just shake my head and give him a lollypop.

[danh920]

very entertaining read indeed, took me the last few hours to get thru but it certainly helped me grind thru the slow times in the work day

[Mr. Anderson]

One of the best endings I've ever read.

[Wshakspear]

too damn long.... someone sum up what the shaq-fu he did why and how in less than a paragraph :D free cookie to whoever does it first!

Guy Buys game, plays games, gets instantly bored. Figures out fastest way to make money, takes a loan, racks up money. Game company changes rules for certain ships abilities, player gets pissed, declares war on game. Uses new addition to game (blueprints for huge ships) as leverage to get many people to "invest" millions of game $'s into his corporation which is him and a friend who together faked about 16 other accounts who were thier "co. investors". He succesfully screwes many people over, inlcuding the person who originally loaned him money. Gives 200,000,000 out of 500,000,000 to his friend, throws the rest at a noob.

Story loses some of its impact (the poor librarians...), but thats the overall gist

[Backlash]

Entertaining story, but damn. I can't believe this guy woke up at 6:30 and played the game all day just to make money in the game. I thought at first it was a scam using the game for real life money, not virtual money. It's kind of pathetic in the end. I enjoyed reading it though.

[Javery]

What a tool.

[dmarsee]

Wow. Incredible. Just incredible.

[Noodle Pirate!]

There was a guild who did a lot of similar things in daoc but I can't remember the name. They had a website of stories of everything they did.

I think you are referring to darkwolves/ or dark puppies.
Wow is currently feeling the wrath of those losers and have even started up a website to out those ninja looters and scammers in the game , it has turned into such a problem.

www.darkwolves.biz

I think thats their website. its entertaining if you like seeing people get screwed over. but sad to know that there are peopl out ther who take pride in messing with other people's time/money.

[msdmoney]

There was a guild who did a lot of similar things in daoc but I can't remember the name. They had a website of stories of everything they did.

I think you are referring to darkwolves/ or dark puppies.
Wow is currently feeling the wrath of those losers and have even started up a website to out those ninja looters and scammers in the game , it has turned into such a problem.

www.darkwolves.biz

I think thats their website. its entertaining if you like seeing people get screwed over. but sad to know that there are peopl out ther who take pride in messing with other people's time/money.

Yeah that is the one, I hate to say it but I find the stories hilarious even if the guys are jerks. Just shows you can never be too careful in an MMORPG.

[KingDox]

Good, but damn long.

[jimbodan]

Good read, but I didn't like the ending, he should have done something cooler with the money. I mean all that work was basically for nothing. I bet the guy could have made some real money selling all those credits on ebay.

[sblymnlcrymnl]

hardhead should've gotten the money, no question

[Spacepest]

Good read, but I didn't like the ending, he should have done something cooler with the money. I mean all that work was basically for nothing. I bet the guy could have made some real money selling all those credits on ebay.

Yup, I'll bet he could have sold that in game money on ebay. Some person who took the game way too seriously probably would have bought it and turned that griefer's loot into some real world cash.

[jimbodan]

out of curiosity i just checked ebay, it appears he could have gotten at least 250$ for it at current prices, back then it was probably worth a whole lot more.

[Mr. Anderson]

A bump for old times sake. This is one of my favorite stories of all time, period, and everyone should read it at least once.

[sisco1986]

I read it a while ago, good read.

[Mr. Anderson]

Bumping this to remind everybody that this is one huge ass text file, and it is a GREAT read on the new PSP web browser.

[Tritan]

Bumping this to remind everybody that this is one huge ass text file, and it is a GREAT read on the new PSP web browser.
Cool, I just read this and it was great. Thanks for bumping it or I probably never would have read it.

[Purple Flames]

Ok so this asshole puts all this time and money into this scam, succeeds in extorting money from all these people, sells out the guy who helped him out in his early days of playing and a guy who considered him a friend, considers selling his RL friend out, and then just gives the remaining profits to some random guy in the game and never touches it again?

By the looks of things, his non-existant wife and daughter are gonna stay that way, non-existant.

[The VGM]

I bet the guy who got thr 300mil pissed himself when he got it.

[Mr. Anderson]

Ok so this asshole puts all this time and money into this scam, succeeds in extorting money from all these people, sells out the guy who helped him out in his early days of playing and a guy who considered him a friend, considers selling his RL friend out, and then just gives the remaining profits to some random guy in the game and never touches it again?

By the looks of things, his non-existant wife and daughter are gonna stay that way, non-existant.

I'm pretty sure that's why he just said enough. The game had influenced him to do some crazy ass things, and he just wanted it to be over.

[js1]

hardhead should've gotten the money, no question

Great read! I agree with sblymnlcrymnl HH should have got the money.

[GreenMonkey]

Good 10 minute read, long story.

Very funny, worth reading. Thanks OP for the amusement.

Only 6 more hours of work to go.

[godhatesjustyou]

i remember reading this a couple of months ago, damn good story.

[swetooth9]

it's assholes like this guy who make it hard to trust people...even if THIS time, it was just a game...

[evanft]

Great story. Those type of people ruing MMO games, though.

[Mr. Anderson]

Great story. Those type of people ruing MMO games, though.

It's easy to say that, but I think it's these type of people that make MMO games the living, breathing worlds that the developers and players want them to be.

[JSK414]

Ok story... Kinda nerdy