Every year, CCP Games, the Iceland-based developer of sci-fi MMO EVE Online, lays on an extravagant player gathering called Fanfest, which attracts fans from around the world. This year is particularly special and it’s all going to be recorded by a team of Swedish documentarians who have a “deep fascination with new media, media activism, virtual worlds and communities.”
In April, EVE Online‘s persistent sandbox universe of New Eden will have been running constantly for a ten years. Over the past decade, the single-sharded game environment has played host to hundreds of thousands of “capsuleers” and has built up a deep and complex social ecosystem with sub-cultures and cliques – each with their own heroes and villains, figureheads and fall guys. These communities extend far beyond the game client into what is probably the most developed and complex gaming “nation” in the world.
For a few days, the city of Reykjavik’s ratio of Vikings to spaceship nerds shifts dramatically (although the percentage of pale-skinned facially-hirsute residents probably remains exactly the same). By day, the magnificent Harpa concert hall will be abuzz with internet spaceship hyperbole and by night Reykjavik’s bars and restaurants will become awash with beer-fueled talk of game features and “gud fites”.
In their documentary, A Tale of Internet Spaceships, co-producer Petter Mårtensson and his fellow Malmö University film-makers hope to explore this society, the unique relationship between the players and the game’s creators, and the overall “serious business of internet spaceships.”
As co-producer Elin Thedin says, “the aim is to create a film that will be fascinating for everyone, from the most hardcore players to outsiders.” She goes on to explain that the crew who travels to Iceland will be aiming to “document the community in action, to capture the spirit of the game and to explore the sometimes complicated relationship between said community and CCP Games themselves.”
In an effort secure funding for the non-profit project, A Tale of Internet Spaceships has been launched as an Indiegogo project with a goal of $6,000 for equipment and resources. At time of writing, the project has raised $919 with 34 days remaining.
Image Credits:
1. Screencap from The Butterfly Effect EVE Online Trailer
2. The Harpa Center (Iceland.is)
3. ‘The Unrequited Passion of Zulu and Mittens’ (PC Gamer)
