Massively's EVE Online Tyrannis contest, part 3: Fiction-writing contest

by Brendan Drain on May 15th 2010 1:00PM

Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Culture, Expansions, Lore, Giveaways

Over the past two weeks we've been running some awesome weekly contests for readers to win EVE Online game time courtesy of CCP Games. In celebration of the upcoming launch of EVE's Tyrannis expansion, we gave away 10 PLEX in our planet screenshot contest two weeks ago. Last week, we ran a caption competition with a 15 PLEX prize total and received a flood of entries. So many in fact that we're still debating which captions should win a prize. The winners of that contest will be posted as an update to the second contest post within the next few days and the winners will all be notified via email.

This week marks the last week of our Tyrannis contest trilogy and to end on a high-note we're giving away a whopping 25 PLEX. Ten top prizes of two PLEX are available and a further five runner-up entrants will get one PLEX each. To enter, all you have to do is write a short piece of fiction based on the planets and moons of New Eden and submit it to the comments on this post. Entries are limited to 200 words or less as we're sure to get a huge number of entries and we want to give each one the full attention it deserves. Your entry can take the form of a short story, a poem or any other type of written fiction. Prizes will be awarded based on creativity, writing style and presentation. As with the previous two competitions, this contest is open to readers from any country.

UPDATE: Entry is now closed. We are now reading through the submissions and picking winners!
UPDATE 2: Winners have been selected! The list of winners has been added to the end of this post. Each winner will be contacted via email to arrange delivery of their prizes.

Skip past the cut for the contest rules and full submission guidelines.
Submission guidelines:

The contest is open to players from any country.
The deadline for entering is Friday 21st May at 8PM EDT.
Entrants will require an active EVE Online account to receive the prize.
Entries should be left in the comments of this post.
Entries are limited to 200 words. Any entry over 200 words will be ignored.
Only one entry per person is allowed.
You may include the character name you wish to receive the prize on in your comment. Do NOT include your EVE account name with your entry, we only need a character name. We will also never ask you for your password.
If you don't include your character name in your comment, you MUST use a valid email address to comment. If you win, I will email you at that address to get the name of the EVE character you wish to receive the prize on.
To ensure everyone's prizes are delivered in a timely manner, any winner that doesn't give me their character name before Friday 28th May (one week after the contest ends) will unfortunately have to forfeit their prize.
The character names of the winners will then be sent to CCP Games, who will deliver your prizes in-game.
The contest will be judged by the Massively staff. The winners will be our fifteen favourite stories based on creativity, writing style and presentation.
The contest is not open to current or former employees of Massively or AOL/Weblogs, Inc.
Massively will announce the winners in this post at the end of the contest period.

Good luck to everyone entering the competition! This is the last of our Tyrannis launch contests so make sure to enter for your chance to win some game time. I'd like to thank CCP for their generosity in donating a total of 50 PLEX for our three contests. We hope you've enjoyed the competitions and are looking forward to Tyrannis as much as we are.

UPDATE2: Winners announced:
Ten first place winners, each winning two PLEX:

Midir Fulton (comment #10)
Vesh Kar (comment #12)
"Arretu" (comment #17)
Aurum Pax (comment #63)
Istvaan Shogaatsu (comment #71)
"Willakan" (comment #76)
Azenn (comment #90)
Ruban Spangler (comment #112)
Sigma Cypher (comment #121)
Silmol Garnen (comment #128)

Five runners up, each winning one PLEX:

Thrace Salvator (comment #11)
Dys Novus (comment #29)
"de10ter" (comment #60)
Ricky Bolt (comment #81)
"Haps" (comment #95)

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest for your patience in waiting for the winner's announcement! It was genuinely difficult to pick just 15 winners from over a hundred entries. Congratulations to those who won!

Tags: ccp, ccp-eve, ccp-games, competition, contest, eve, eve-ccp, eve-mmorpg, eve-online, eve-tyrannis, eve-tyrannis-contest, featured, fiction, giveaways, graphics, lore, planet, plex, prize, prizes, story, storytelling, tyrannis, writing

Reader Comments (142)

I hear the dull roar as the landing craft begins its final decent. They took over space first, claiming to be explorers and scientists, looking for new technologies and species to help. But they’re not here to help.
I carefully peek around the rock and see the shuttle beginning to land, dust billowing out in a great storm, a storm that paled in comparison to what was going on far above me. They had already conquered space, and now they were returning to reclaim what they had forgotten. Land.
I look over at my friends, my neighbors, everyone I had known for most of my life on this horrible rock that was called a planet. My fist slowly rose, signaling them to get ready, and I knew they wanted this as much as I did.
The marines quickly ran out of the ship, deploying a screen for their leader, some head of a mining corporation. Apparently our planet was rich in bistot, and he wanted to take it. By stealing from us.
This is our home.
They can stay in space.
“Now!” The twenty marines were suddenly staring at over a hundred guns, frozen from the ambush. “Fire!”

Jarkko Kyösti gazed down upon INSTALLATION-499 in the solar system of Murini, also known as Murini VII. He had been altered that some kind of cataclysmic event occurred on the far side of the second moon from the planet by his work staff. Jarkko had rushed to the scene to find that his Amarrian Control Tower had become destabilized and plummeted into the moon. The explosion had been large enough to alter the moon’s orbit so that it would be pulled into the planet itself.

Jarkko was upset that one of his largest planetary operations would have to be scuttled. He sent a several commands to his automated assembly bots to start loading all supplies and items of value into any remaining rockets left in the facilities. An amused smile descended onto Jarkko’s face as he received several reports that planetary staff were trying to stop the bots from loading all the rations and oxygen tanks into the rockets. Jarkko responded by just hitting the launch button from his orbital position and watch as several of them perished in the flames. Non-capsuleers were expendable; besides, it would cost too much to launch them into orbit too.

Character: Biddybam

Ishahuro Tanaka woke up vomiting on the floor of the pod extraction room. It was by no means his first time out of the pod, but this time it was different, a lot different. Damn those Gurista bastards, he thought, if only I had left them alone with their schemes.
He picked himself up and stumbled out of the door to his quarters, and a familiar sight greeted him. His quarters on the station normally felt like home, yet now the pictures of happier times made him grimace. He had to do something.

As he walked towards the station's promenade, his ocular implant flared up. He would never have noticed the small camera drone without it. The thing disappeared into a storage room ahead. Darting after it, he grabbed his blaster from his belt, and skidded to a halt. In the half-dark storage room, his sister was bound up on a chair, her once beautiful face beaten to a bloody pulp. The camera drone hung next to her head as its video screen displayed his former boss.
“Haju, what have you done to my sister!”
“This is the price for disobedience, Ishahuro. You will not fail us again!”

Character: Volrath

A soft wind blew, breaking the calm silence of the valley, and with it carrying the small seeds and pollen of the wildflowers. The wind continued, wrapping it's self around and though the silent, broken stones.

These stones, unseen, unknown from time forgotten, stood strong against the wind, and the coming rains, as they always had. A testament to a peoples accomplishments, their history, their lives.

The knowledge that remained was a treasure, but it was not of consequence to the wind, and it passed along, leaving again the silence. Suddenly a Rumble began, shaking the world, Scaring the winds into a furry, bathing the ruins in darkness.

Now the History is gone, buried underneath an unknowing, uncaring automation. Lost for the progress of the unknown, the profit for a living god.

Character: Nepau

From the journal of Dodge Prefect:

I accepted this assignment, as they bring the new manufacturing online, for this very reason…

As I lay here upon the shores of Nakugard VIII, with the sun and wind upon my face… I still afford myself these small moments of wonder. 21 moons… though you never can see them all at once. Yet I know that with the coming sunset, this weary clone must once again journey back into the cold relentless truth of deep space. Where, as certain as the sun is to rise on this beach tomorrow, I will face my death at the hands of some faceless enemy.

Immortal… yes, but at a price.

Souless… often, whenever it is required.

Gallente… with every breath, and every death.

Hi there. Arzi X here. Got time for a chat? I've seen you flying nearby...come on, I won't keep you for long...
Word around the place is there's an expansion coming. Something to do with planets and moons. Know anything? What's that? Tyrannis? Planetary interaction? Hmmm, intriguing. It will be nice to be involved...I've sat here for thousands of years, watching you folks flying around in your shiny ships. Visiting the nearby station, even playing with the billboard and the gate guns. Zipping off to the Kerying gate, or far off Oguser. But do you think anyone visits me? Noooooo. Sure they tease. Warp to zero, they say. Pfffffffft. No one has come within 5000 km of me for eons. So lonely...Oh? you have a POS near a moon? Come now, that's hardly a visit. More like sitting outside the window and poking faces at those inside.
Errr, have you noticed that prober in orbit? He's very close. A hauler too! This is looking interesting. WHOA! Some kind of module is on it's way down!
Quickly, young capsuleer! Finish your Quafe and be on your way!
It appears I have visitors!!!

Character: Jetta

Industry. Races of the galaxy pride themselves on their technology, their military prowess, and their industry. But time makes slaves of all things, industry is not given carte blanche. Forty second remain for this complex of Amarrian industry to make peace with time. The hustle of life both crawls and speeds, trying to reach a semblance of acceptance with what is to come. The order is given. A hundred turrets of the newly formed Minmitar fleet spin towards the surface. The little world in the back of nowhere comes to a halt. Signs and orders, counter-signs and confirmations rush across the void about a thousand tiny lives. This is the time when the Amarrian stock of life counts down a simple thousand souls. A simple thousand souls that produce crystals for a hundred Amarrian ships. The simple act of a few Minmitar will have effects through-out what is to come. As the crust begins to fracture, and the verdant hills become glassy, molten wastelands, time ticks on. It falls now to the Minmitar to take what remains of this world, and do what they can. Industry continues, no matter the cost. Industry continues, no matter the time.

(Contact via email if applicable.)

seconds*
above a thousand tiny lives*

Damn spell checkers, they don't check for intent.

He was still sleeping when they came for him. Two tall guards, dressed in Caldari uniforms, forced him to his feet and out of his cell, escorting him through the wide corridors of the battleship. Two weeks have passed since his ship was boarded but he could still hear the screams of his crew, begging for mercy, for their lives. His whole crew died that day, all but him. He should have never surrendered.

They arrived at the command deck. Commander Griffon was standing tall over his officers, studying an impressive holographic star map. He was a massive man, with broad shoulders and wide chin, wearing a heavily decorated uniform.

"Captain Letava, I have decided to release you." -Griffon turned to face Letava.
"Why?" -Letava asked.
"Kindness." -Griffon smiled.
"You can shove your kindness up your ass!"
"You will return to Hek in your own ship." -Griffon ignored Letava's insult. "I'll provide you with a new crew. Go see your old friend in the council" he was referring to General Svir "and deliver him this message" he gestured towards one of his officers to give Letava a datachip.
"What if I refuse?"
"You die."
"What is my reward?"
"Your life."

_____________
Character: locJ

A Planets Declaration:

You may find me inviting out here on my shores
Or majestic in ice topped mountains ores
You may find molten seas are not to your taste
And barron landscapes can put zen in its place
You may find a dust storm or three in a day
But deadly gasses wont chase you away
You may find interest still when broken i am
Just watch out for a smart plasma scam
However my traveler, warn you i do
Do not be mistaken of what lies for you
So bring your drills n pods n even you ships
Wage war that will be on every ones lips
For when its all over i will be standing
Waiting for the next wave to be landing.

Character: Midir Fulton

What are you doing here?

I told you not to come back after you prodded me last week with that stupid ship. I see that thing you have in your cargo, don’t you call it a POS or something like that? Either way I call it a nuisance. Its peaceful out here next to this planet, the last thing I need is a mini moon wanna-be. I’m serious, go find someplace else. I don’t care if you tread on your neighbors space I’m not here for your convenience. You’ll get bored, hear me…b o r e d. So get lost, nothing exciting happens here anyway.

/sigh

Alright how about this, put that thing near me and I’ll ram it in 400 years. I’m not kidding, I’ll do it, so put that POS thing back in your cargo before I change my trajectory. You could have at least asked first anyways, it’s not like I’ve talked to someone since my sister orbited by 50 years ago. Can you even hear me? Hello, I’m talking to you? Moon to whatever you are?

Wait, where are you going? Don’t leave your POS here, I’m not the baby sitter!

(char : Thrace Salvator)

Planets flash past too quickly to see. One emerges from the multitude and hovers, gently turning. Under a blanket of dark blue clouds, white flashes mark where plasma storms drift across the surface.

“The scouting team got pretty excited about this one boss. Plasma world - obviously - designation PP-69322-J; confirmed presence of rare, heavy and base metals; some nice non-CS crystal deposits in the southern hemisphere; and an ideal spot for a launch pad and construction facilities on a large plateau in the nearby mountain range.”

Visual markers spread across the virgin world, highlighting where gravitational stress, chemical interactions, and millennial geological movements have scarred and cracked the otherwise perfect façade.

A god considers the planet, ponders its location, its resources, its use. “Sounds good. Any problems?”

“One possible: we spotted a couple of other survey ships and a colony transport nearby as we were leaving. We'll have neighbours pretty soon if we move in. Your call though, chief.”

6 billion years in the making, the world waits. “No, I want somewhere more private.”

The markers vanish and the world falls back into the stream of planets.

“Ok, next we have...”

Whoops,

Character name: Vesh Kar

So many years, so many memories... all lost. We passed through the EVE Gate expecting great lands and habitable planets, and we were right, but we did not expect that we would lay waste to the infinite space in the same way we lay waste to Earth. Wars, Resource Depletion, and Genocide, is how New Eden as we call it now, slowly fell into a time of great danger and death. But soon, we will go to the planets of New Eden, and make more of the resources that lie there, and escape the harsh environment of space.

"Sir, we are approaching M-1848-G. We can send a drone to check the planet"

"Go ahead, I want to see if we can colonize it"

Hours later, the drone returns.

"Sir, the drone picked up life signals, and it confirmed the planet is habitable."

"Damn! It's too late, active the warp drive, we are going to find another planet."

"Alright Sir, Next up is M-3435-L..."

We are Tyrants...

Character: Kelian Underdwar

My father is one of the grate industrial men of New Eden, with much of his power in wealth and mining ships. When the news was broke that Concord was going to allow the pod pilots planetary control, his first word to me was; "It is time. Time for me to show all these weak fools just how powerful industry can be!" Though I am a worrier with many kills, and have been so freighted right before death many times before, this sent chills down my spine. Was he really so bold to take control of planets, moons, maybe even an entire region? As he did one last check of his finances and assets, he set off to a densely populated area of planets. I know my father can defend himself against any combat ship, with many battle he has won with easy when he was clearly outmatched, but as word got to me that he had settled on a small planet, word grew of people hiring mercenaries, and these men of military knowledge and expertise don't fly ships. I now fear for his power, and wealth as now his advantage of powerful ships has been taken away from him.

My full name is Sicario Asesino.

"Work!", they said, "Work for the glory of your corporation and the Caldari State!". So we worked for the corporations. We created cities of beauty, and the corporations became powerful. We created a myriad of technological wonders, and the State became prosperous. We created terrible machines of war, and the corporations became the State. We gave everything, but still they wanted more. We cried for justice, but the State was not human, and did not care.

The Star Man came, and told us of the endless virgin planets yet to be claimed. He told us of the freedom we could create, ours for the taking, if only we would follow him. So we followed him into the stars. We worked and died, and the endless planets were made our own. We told the Star Man, and he laughed.

"Work!", he told us, "Work for my glory and wealth!". So we worked, and died, and he gave us nothing. We cried for mercy, but the Star Man was no longer human, and he did not care.

We work and die, and always they want more. We wanted a new society, and toiled to create it. They did not care.

Nothing changes.

sorry, character name is Arretu

The charon pilot relaxed in his pod as his sattelite returned him all the information he needed to launch his command centre and beging planetary operations.
He'd been contacted by the local government who asked him to stop, but what would a bunch of dust lovers do against his marine divisions assigned to the outposts?
An alert got his full attention as the command centre started its descent into the atmosphere. There was a huge energy spike coming from a point on the ground.

Before he could react the planetary defence laser tore the freighter in half and the pilot awoke in a vat in the far reaches of space.

I wiped the oil and grime from my face, working in this barren command module was unforgiving. At least this world had a breathable atmosphere; some of the other workers had come from an ice world. I thought I could get out of the misery that the slums created for me; little did I know I was wrong. This was hell compared to the slums; I mumbled to myself “why did I ever come here”. The heat and noise was unforgiving, combined with the 15 hour shifts they eat out your humanity.

We had lost 4 lives laying the extractor and piping it to the command module, the dam demigod pod pilot who owns this outfit treats us like rats, cheap labour, cheaper than automated construction units. Why did I ever trust the recruiter? Today is nothing compared to tomorrow, we need to attach the processer, and it operates at a few thousand degrees as it melts the toxic metals to produce construction blocks.

The siren screeched and flashed a harsh red, I though not again launch pad usually only operates once a day, the vibrations of launch shake’s me and facility to our foundations; maybe sleep will save me.

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments

Massively's EVE Online Tyrannis contest, part 3: Fiction-writing contest

Reader Comments (142)

Posted: May 15th 2010 1:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 15th 2010 1:41PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 15th 2010 3:23PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 15th 2010 8:58PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 15th 2010 9:45PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 16th 2010 1:05AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 16th 2010 2:57AM Orvidos said

Posted: May 16th 2010 2:59AM Orvidos said

Posted: May 16th 2010 6:50AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 16th 2010 10:43AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 16th 2010 1:51PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 16th 2010 2:43PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 16th 2010 2:45PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 17th 2010 7:03AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 17th 2010 11:59AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 19th 2010 10:25PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 17th 2010 12:34PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 28th 2010 1:56AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 17th 2010 1:03PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 17th 2010 1:29PM (Unverified) said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

Dragon's Prophet blasts beta doors open on May 30th

Featured Stories

Massively Speaking Episode 249: Captain Grumpypants

Hyperspace Beacon: Does SWTOR's F2P work?

The Soapbox: Diablo III's auction house ruined the game

Engadget

Joystiq

WoW

TUAW