EVE Trader Earns Zero PLEX Through Buddy Program

Lars Reinhardt loves the internet spaceship game EVE Online. A capsuleer of New Eden since 2006, Reinhardt boasts that he has only missed logging in on nine separate occasions, "One wedding, three power outages, four funerals and one really, really bad case of the runs." In game, he is known as "ScroodMcFcuk", a well known magnate in the popular Jita solar system with just shy of a trillion imaginary currency known as ISK. Although he has seen great success and experienced innumerable hours of self-perceived fun, Reinhardt still has always felt something was missing.

"Friends. Friends would be great. Almost nine years in EVE and I have yet to join a player corporation. I have read far too many horror stories of scams, spies, and thievery. During my first few months playing, I lost nearly all of my ISK to some obvious criminal mastermind who I swear is now a member of Anonymous. Did you know that back then just because it says 'Caldari Navy Raven' in the trade window does NOT mean it's an actual Navy Raven? Yah, well, trust me, it doesn't."

ScroodeMcFcuk can't figure out why his friends
won't try EVE after sending them screenshots like this

The next few years were lonley for ScroodMcFcuk. He rarely left Jita 4-4, minimized local, and put all of his focus and attention into making as much ISK as he could. "It was a way I could PvP without directly interacting with other players. No way I was going to be scammed again." But after a while, even billions of ISK, ship spinning, or the ambient station noise was enough to keep him company. It was at his darkest point that CCP released their Buddy Program to encourage players to get their friends onto the EVE server.

"I immediately sent a mass email to all my friends with my buddy code. Almost all of them were instantly drawn to the aesthetically pleasing, single shard universe and started asking questions about the game, so I sent along some screenshots. I must have had over twenty friends of mine email over the course of three days. Oddly enough, I didn't earn a single PLEX for my efforts."

One of several spreadsheets created
by Reinhardt in order "win at EVE"

Reinhardt redoubled his efforts a few months later, this time accompanying his screenshots with an attached spreadsheet showing how much profit he was making manufacturing capital components on his alt. He even added a screenshot of his T2 blueprint hangar in hopes of demonstrating the depth of the game's crafting system.

 ScroodeMcFcuk's T2 blueprint
collection

"I received even less replies than the first time," Reinhardt recalls. "Not even a picture of the robust market interface seemed to work. Showing friends in person was no help either. I'd log in and run them through my daily routine of checking my buy and sell orders, and well, that's really all I get to show them as they typically walked away at that point. The ones that did stick it out were often confused or say they 'don't get how staring at graphs and numbers is fun.' I am at a loss really. Not sure how someone can't see the potential in EVE."

This is the view that Reinhardt
experiences 97% of the time while
playing EVE Online

It has been years since EVE's Buddy Program has been introduced, and yet the free PLEX it offers has eluded Lars Reinhardt. As he continues to haunt Jita 4-4 and inflating his wallet, the hope to convince a real life friend is still very much alive.

"I've offered friends hundreds of millions of ISK if they would just subscribe for a month and still nothing. Maybe I will send them some gameplay video of my new hisec mining alt and see if that changes their minds."