"This is being put into my monthly research project we have to do, we get an allowance for our research. What i spent was a very small amount of what we get. "

Where can I apply for the position of Guy Who Makes Forum Posts about Fan Webpages for Internet Spaceship Videogames please? This job intrigues me.


"why would players, put so much time into a lottery system, on a MMO, to "help the player base""

This seems to be the root of your confusion. We do lots of community sponsorship events, sure - RVB, EACS, Eve Uni, Agony U, and lots of other stuff have all received donations. But we still make ISK. That's what we're doing. Running a profitable business. If you believed we were doing this out of charity and kindness and never turning any profit, I can happily disabuse you of that without any 'research' needed.

Before Blink, I built things, hauled things, did market stuff, and chattered in channels. Because it made ISK and was fun to me.

Now I build things, haul things, do market stuff, and chatter in channels on a MUCH BIGGER SCALE.

Because that's a fun way to play Eve for me, and it's been a successful way the past 2 and a half years.

"Anyway, i will be publishing my full report once i have permission from my work. It's about 30 pages long."

Could you please post this on the Department of Finding Patterns in Things official webpage - I really, really, really want to submit my CV so I, too, can make forum posts about my in-depth research of talking to some people in a video game.

"My advice to any Eve player, is to not play this lottery."

Let me expand this advice for you. Never send ISK to anyone, us included, in eve unless you trust them. Not even a little. Not even just to try it out. Not even once. If you distrust our business, we're okay with that. We have over 76,000 people playing Blink. We're not trying to force to play who isn't happy to do so.

"I am a married man with children."

Um. Congrats, I guess?

"which now numbers in the trillions."

CCP released a tweet of the two largest wallets. One was 5 trillion, one was 1 trillion. Both were alliances. While they didn't say who which were, a quick glance at the sov map clarifies that bit of research for you fairly easily :p

PS - Always Blink on #4. We rigged #4 to always win.