So today CCP Fozzie rolled out some details behind two in-character news pieces (here and here). Long story short, the empires are having a contest for who can bring them the most of two of the four kinds of Sleeper blue loot (Neural Network Analyzers and Sleeper Data Libraries).

Here’s their dirty little secret, as well as some advice. TLDR: The empires are feeding you a line. This isn’t a surprise and you’re being set up. I’ll go into detail about this below. Meanwhile, the advice: Instead, stiff the empires and bring your Analyzers and Libraries to Guillome Renard, who is collecting them with the intent of forcing the empires to kiss the ring of the capsuleer community. I’ll talk more about Guillome below too.

The Big Lie(s)

The lore and backstory for this event is seated in a number of chronicles, but there are two that are the most important: Anoikis and Ante. Before I go further it is important to note that none of this is known by capsuleers from an in-character perspective. I’m talking to you as the players to educate you, but don’t pretend in-game (or on IC Forums) that you know this stuff or it will get ignored and laughed at.

Anoikis tells the tale of the initial discovery of the Sleepers in w-space, but that’s not really the important part for this discussion. The second half of the story, beginning at the line, “What do you intend, ambassador,” is what’s important.

What do you intend, ambassador? I propose we call for a private summit of national leaders, to discuss an exchange of information and come to an agreement about the best use for select recovered parts. We could use the Inner Assembly to arrange for the meetings quite easily under the guise of an understandable concern for these events, which have touched our worlds too, as we will inform them.

A private summit. About the best use for select parts. Now let’s look at the latest story.

After transmitting a detailed breakdown of the report to the Directive Enforcement Department this evening, The Sanctuary also confirmed that Arve Vesren, Director of Operations for the DED has called a meeting with the Inner Circle to discuss the findings further.

So … there’s a paper. A published set of findings. But it’s only being shared with another private summit. In other words, they still don’t want you to know exactly why they want these things. These things around which they made a quiet agreement while everyone was distracted by the horrible aftermath of the Seyllin Incident. This agreement is why NPCs buy Sleeper (“blue”) loot, providing the bulk of higher-class wormhole income.

Vitrauze Agreement. Article 8, Section E CONCORD subsidization in the acquisition of scientifically valuable by-products. Although preliminary, through the spirit of peace and co-operation that affirms this treaty, each of the four member nations have exchanged sufficient information to identify four key salvageable materials of scientific interest. Seeking to both minimize their impact on capsuleer economic development and to allow more time for proper investigation into the impact of all unknown materials, the member nations have agreed to focus on four lower tier by-products identified during initial excavations of unknown space. Clause 1) The four member nations of the treaty have each agreed that the preliminary findings, and any agreements based thereupon, on each of the four units is strictly provisional. Current scientific opinion broadly agrees that these items are of little material value. However, any reassessment undertaken by any of the member nations that is deemed to invalidate this initial finding may be deferred to. Clause 2) CONCORD, in operation with the SCC, has agreed to facilitate and subsidize the acquisition of these items through capsuleer markets at a standard price agreed upon by all of the four member nations. ***October acquisition metrics (Capsuleer Markets / SCC): Sleeper Data Library: 11,799,985 This large device appears to be a data archive of some sort. Although the information within remains a complete mystery, it is immediately apparent that it stretches far back into time. Small data fragments preceding each file appear to function as time-stamps. If this is indeed what they are, then this Data Library could offer a snapshot of the universe stretching back millennia. Neural Network Analyzer: 1,162,057 A cursory analysis of the software systems within reveals that it operates as some kind of monitoring device. The specialized design suggests it was used to process vast amounts of basic data and identify anomalies. Ancient Coordinates Database: 244,234 A brief analysis of the technology inside reveals that the database may in fact still be fully functional. The format and layout of the information within suggests it is a list of three-dimensional coordinates, charting a path to some distant place. Although this device could hold incredibly valuable information, there would only be a handful of people in the entire cluster that could make any sense of it. Sleeper Drone AI Nexus: 70,726 Although the technology behind the Sleeper AI is for the most part recognizable, this device offers some insight into the few mysterious aspects that are not. As coveted as this component must be, only the foremost drone technicians in all of New Eden would be able to possibly find some use in it. There is little doubt however that the promise such a thing holds would ensure they paid a tidy sum.

So what the empires are asking for is “a snapshot of the universe stretching back millennia” and “some kind of monitoring device … used to process vast amounts of basic data and identify anomalies.” Now, once this is collected, what might we use it for? Maybe if you had a starmap it would be useful … oh wait, you mean another piece of blue loot is “a list of three-dimensional coordinates, charting a path to some distant place?” No wonder they might find this useful. Oh, and could you bring it to them for free?

Sounds like leverage to me.

Let’s go back to Anoikis.

That will turn the empires toward research. Not if we intervene and provide for them what convincingly appears to be the most promising final applications of any potential studies. This hints at precisely the point we must illuminate. When framed as a concern for the balance of power between the empires and the capsuleers, our interests will appear far more congruent with theirs, and our actions will remain understandable. The empires can be made to quickly appreciate how little control over these new areas they will have, and from there, it will be simple to assist each of them in coordinating access to components we identify as key. They will recognize it as the only opportunity any of them have for strategic equality. None will refuse.

Now … wait a second. If this person is talking about the empires in the third person, who is this? Ah, as I might have mentioned a time or two before, capsuleers are suckers for the Sisters of EVE.

And that leads us to Ante. The premise of this chronicle is fairly simple. Namely, the leaders of the Intaki Syndicate and the Sisters of EVE are old friends and co-conspirators (and on a side note, the CEO of SoE is the sister of the Serpentis CEO). They collaborated to ensure that the Zephyr shuttles, given out for free to all capsuleers, were used as a massive crowdsourcing tool to feed the Sisters w-space data.

“Consolidate all the data received from the Zephyr program, everything those oblivious capsuleers have given us on wormhole space. Prepare the datacores for immediate transport; a representative from the Sisters of EVE will be arriving shortly to take possession.” – Silphy enDiabel, CEO, Syndicate

So, suckers, are you ready to give lots of expensive blue loot to the empires now? Being the secondary patsy to the Sisters and the Syndicate while they use the empires like tools?

An Alternate Potentiality

So into this breach years ago came the Arek’Jaalan Project. This was a player/dev collaboration to discover the roots and details surrounding wormhole space via in-game investigation and science. It broke unprecedented ground and led to conclusions that actually forced CCP to change some things in the game, particularly to change POS code so that it couldn’t determine distances between them since it was allowing triangulation of space. It also generated two interesting little efforts: Project Catapult and Project Gateway, that may trigger visions of Seagulls, and might tell you where CCP is headed with this event.

Sadly, Arek’Jalaan was buried unceremoniously with the Summer of Rage and CCP Dropbear moving to the Witness Relocation Program and eventually leaving the company. But perhaps, my fellow capsuleers, the time has at last come to re-assert ourselves on the storyline.

To that end, my corpmate Guillome Renard has started a drive to beat the empires at their own game. Interestingly, as one of the largest C5/C6 wormhole alliances, Sleeper Social Club has a shot at convincing the wormhole clans to consolidate efforts.

Yes, it could be a scam. But here’s why I think you should trust Guillome:

He was a participant in Arek’Jaalan. That means he actually gives a crap about the lore. He liked it enough to contribute to the last free stuff drive, which led to the creation by CCP of Site One in Eram. He cared enough that he helped me mine (and we both hate mining) toward an analysis for Project Tesseract that never came to fruition. He is an in-game content enabler. He voluntarily built a store of Tech 1 ships to hold in the wormhole for on-the-spot purchases for roams. Not that it was killing him for expense, but he did a ton of work for a pittance. He has plenty of money already from years in a wormhole. A few billion isn’t worth the scam given his interest in AJ and the lore. He’s an EVE University lecturer and alumnus. Not that this makes him automatically “good and honorable”, but it’s another indicator of his interest in promoting the game as a whole. SSC is generally considered an alliance that values e-honor, and he’s a long-standing member. Yeah, we occasionally sucker-punch opponents, but we are widely known for honoring our ransoms and doing what we say. I think the alliance would be pretty disappointed if he ripped everyone off in the person of an SSC character.

I’ve suggested that Guillome consider using Chribba as a holding entity for them during the contest; stay tuned on that front.

Don’t be an empire’s sheep, or the Sisters’ and Syndicate’s patsies. The Sleepers are awakening. I encourage you to join us and lead rather than follow.