Nothing brings the propaganda out in Eve Online quite like a war. Propaganda is one of the many ways in which Eve sets itself apart; why the tagline ‘Eve is Real’ is more than just a marketing slogan to thousands of its players. In a game where thousands of people stay up until the wee hours of the morning – or set alarm clocks to wake up early – just to fight one another, it is unsurprising to find a wide array of propaganda, from posters to speeches to videos.
Above: This video, produced by a member of Pandemic Legion, helped give the current war its name.
Poster by /u/wiros of Reddit
“In my mind, the best propaganda needs to be funny, high quality and must contain at least a hint of the truth,” said Jeffraider, Archbishop of Sniggerdly and a director of Pandemic Legion. “This allows it to bolster friendly morale while eroding enemy confidence.” And ultimately, to win a large scale war in Eve (such as the current conflict, officially recognized by CCP as World War Bee), boosting friendly morale and undermining that of the enemy is crucial.
David Whitelaw (who goes by the name Xander Phoena in Eve and is a former member of both Pandemic Legion and the Imperium Coalition), explains: “The keenest observation in a forum post, the slicing satire of a well done piece of propaganda, the scathing statistics in a concise article can sway the hearts and minds of enough pilots to win a war. It has always been this way and always will.” While wars obviously claim large scale resources within the game, it is the time and energy that combatants are willing to expend that determine the outcome. If you win the hearts and minds war, you’ll often end up winning the space pixel one as well.
The theme of motivation was a common one in the individuals I reached out to in the Eve community. Bryan Ward, a graphic designer and advertising consultant who goes by the name Rixx Javix in Eve, said that the best propaganda “gives meaning to a possibly meaningless effort,” referring to the fact that these wars are just over pixels on a monitor. “It has to sing to you, a song that you understand, to give you the motivation to do all the not-so-fun things war in Eve involves.”
Poster by Bryan Ward
He refers, of course, to the people who ‘heal’ the damage dealers on the battlefield, the people who deal with the administration work of a thousand strong alliance, the people who ferry goods to and fro – all people you need. While the battles may garner the headlines, it is often the logisticians and administrators that provide the edge in a war – and it is to those people that propaganda is most effective.
“Good propaganda reaches outside the game,” Ward added. It can serve as useful recruiting tools, bringing back unsubscribed players and attracting fresh blood. It is no coincidence that right now, the two alliances growing the fastest are Pandemic Horde and Test Alliance, both with huge presences on the Eve subreddit.
In an interview with the Atlantic recently, Andrew Groen (the author of the newly launched Empires of Eve book about Eve Online’s history of warfare in nullsec) stated “inspiration and morale become these huge resources for these organizations, and that’s fun, because it means propaganda starts to matter. I have examples of these wonderful propaganda speeches, where the leaders of these alliances start talking like they’re Winston Churchill. And you get the very real sense they believe it.”
Above: One of the few Imperium propaganda videos to receive praise since the opening of hostilities.
This is a sentiment echoed by Ned Coker, CCP Games’ head of PR and Social Media. “As [Andrew Groen] says: It matters. It matters to the people making it, anyone it is made against, and really to the onlookers as well. Even if you dismiss it outright upon viewing it, the seed is planted however small in your emotions and memory.”
Ned Coker’s favorite selection of propaganda, dating from 2008
While the Imperium remains on the defensive after the conflict of Easter weekend, with systems falling in five separate regions under their control, The Mittani (the Imperium’s leader) spent several key moments in speeches to his troops on the subject of perception. He disagrees with the name World War Bee, for one, as it suggests the fight is against his alliance alone (Goonswarm Federation, whose logo is that of a bee), while in reality the primary targets of the Allied forces have been every alliance in Imperium other than Goonswarm. He also refuses to engage in a propaganda war on Reddit, which is hostile to most Imperium corporations and alliances, instead pointing his troops towards the posts made on his website, TheMittani.com.
Clearly, propaganda matters in Eve – a single odd fact among many that set the 13 year old MMO apart from every other game in the genre.
For more from Ned Coker on propaganda, check out his full length reply when interviewed for this article.