Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.05.2019, Síða 46

46 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07— 2019
WAR OF THE NERDS
Money>Buddies
In Eve Online, you can put a price on friendship
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photo: Eve Online
Can you put a price on friend-
ship? Eve Online player Samantha
Myth did. On a whim, he spent 16
months working his way up the
ranks of the Amamake Police—
more or less the Dothraki of the
massively multiplayer online role-
playing game—gaining the trust
and admiration of their leader
just to steal their rare ships and
a chunk of cash from under their
noses. Hello, Judas.
The heist
Samantha started his heist by
working his way slowly into the
inner circle of the Amamake, a
feat he accomplished by provid-
ing it with information that led to
the defeat of a rival group. Now in
the gang, he did something quite
cheeky, he lent Amamake’s leader,
Tikktokk, an expensive ship with-
out asking anything in return.
Weeks later, Tikktokk paid
him back by lending Samantha
an even nicer ship—that’s how
much he trusted him. The ship,
a Chremoas frigate, could only be
acquired by winning the Alliance
Tournament, Eve’s version of
the Olympics, and it boasts an
unprecedented 400 killmarks
(the number of ships a ship
has killed). To put it bluntly,
the ship was basically a golden
unicorn with heterochromia
and perfect pitch. It was that
rare.
Around the same time, Sa-
mantha asked two other mem-
bers to borrow their rare ships.
Now in possession of three
nearly priceless ships, he took
them, said peace, and left after
16 months of brotherhood.
Et tu, Brute?
After his heist, Samantha post-
ed on the Eve Online subreddit.
“This was a hard one to pull off
and I have got to say I almost
wish I didn’t,” he wrote at the
end of the post. “I almost became
emotionally attached to my vic-
tims. But this is EVE and this is
the role I play.”
Classy as always, Tikktokk
commented confirming that Sa-
mantha Myth had his ships. He
commended the pirate on his
heist, but then said that they were
most sad to have lost their com-
panionship in the game. “You have
been one of the few people I actu-
ally enjoy playing with,” he wrote.
It was a tragic response, and
as one Redditor, Svenviko, com-
mented back. “Damn, this story
is like stealing your big brother’s
car, and he just replies saying, ‘I’m
more sad about losing our friend-
ship’ :’( “ We agree, Svenviko. We
agree.
CITY SHOT by Art Bicnick
WELL, YOU ASKED
Throw Your
Pylsa Into The
Fjord
Words: John Rogers
Photo: Art Bicnick
How does one go about becoming an
extra on Game of Thrones?
Well, first, you wanna identify the house
you’re going for. To be a Greyjoy, take up
heroin and live rough for a few weeks.
To be a Lannister, try infiltrating the
upper echelons of Iceland’s corrupt,
crossbred political-business class and
copy their haircuts and mannerisms.
To be a Wildling, spend a weekend in
Kaffibarinn. Or just join Sigur Rós—
they managed it.
If someone on my Strætó bus is
exceptionally smelly, is it ethical
for me to spray said person with
perfume?
As a perfectly fragrant and deodorised
human who once turned around to find
someone spraying me with perfume on
the tube, I say no to this. You could have
a case of mistaken identity, and this
experience sucked for me. I smell great!
How does one properly hotdog in
Iceland?
Start by going to Bæjarins Beztu,
queuing with the tourists in the rain,
and getting your Buddhist “one with
everything.” Watch the sauces and raw
and crunchy onions being slathered
onto the pink sausage and squished
into the weird foamy bun. Next, go and
throw the whole thing into the fjord.
Hot dogs are processed junk food. Eat
something healthy. What are you, five
years old?

Send your unsolvable (UNTIL NOW)
problems to editor@grapevine.is or
tweet us at @rvkgrapevine.
Damn you backstabbing nerds!
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