The EVE Online Asakai Conflict - A Cataclysmic Battle That Cost Players $300,000

EVE Online is a true anomaly in this current game industry. A hardcore space sim with nearly infinite leveling capabilites, with skills that take up to months in real time to master. The game is noteworthy for it's deep political climate, steep learning curve, player driven economies and numerous scandals over the years, ranging from high level sabotage to player bank economic fraud that would rival Bernie Madoff's pyramid scheme.

Each dot represents an active ship or drone during the Asakai conflict.

When I retired from playing the game a few years ago following the events of Band of Brothers, which was once one of the biggest player coalitions in t he game, I thought that I'd witnessed the biggest battles that EVE had to offer. I was quite wrong. Just recently a battle broke out between two factions that resulted in some of the most catastrophic losses of player assets I've ever seen. The ultimate ship to attain in EVE is a 'Titan' class, which take months to build, hundreds of hours of skill training and costs thousands of dollars each. Over the course of 14 hours, 3,000 players from 2 factions fought nonstop in the Asakai system, and when the dust cleared over 100 of Titans were lost in battle - An unprecedented level of carnage. Check out the official CCP article for more details regarding this incredible event.