Guiding Hand Social Club

Guiding Hand Social Club is a corporation established in the MMO EVE-Online. Founded in mid-2004 by a player going by the name of Istvaan Shogaatsu and a handful of fellow conspirators, GH-SC slowly rose to prominence through mercenary activity with a heavy focus on infiltration and social engineering in order to damage targets.

The Heist

On April 18th, 2005, a Guiding Hand Operative by the name of Arenis Xemdal, who had infiltrated and risen in the ranks of Ubiqua Seraph, another player corporation, committed one of the largest thefts in MMO history at the time in tandem with fellow operatives. At the given go-code, Arenis Xemdal engaged Ubiqua Seraph's CEO Mirial, destroying her valuable Navy Apocalypse and emergency capsule with his own near-priceless Imperial Issue Armageddon, of which only two existed at the time (with the other Imperial Apocalypse destroyed live on EVE-TV, a internet television broadcast from the 2006 Alliance PvP Tournament while in the possession of Tyrrax Thorrk). Prior to the engagement, Arenis had secured large parts of Ubiqua Seraph's most valuable assets, including their entire blueprint collection. Furthermore, the majority of UQS hangars were emptied by sleeper agents at the same time. The damage inflicted was upwards of 30 billion ISK (EVE's in-game currency, valued at the time to a total of $16,500). Later that day GH-SC issued a press release , detailing the contract and it's results.

Media Coverage and Community Response

As a result of the Heist, both the GH-SC and EVE-Online received heavy media coverage from various outlets, most notably a 6-page spread in PC Gamer and New Scientist . Hailed as the ultimate villain, founder Istvaan Shogaatsu became a poster child for EVE's Machiavellian nature in the media, himself coining terms such as "valentine operative" when describing the exploits of the group.

Community response to the event, however, was largely mixed. While many lauded the audacity and style of the act, others decried it as base and sordid, with a sizable amount of players calling for the banning of all involved. Many agreed, however, that this was likely to make player groups in the game even more guarded and slow to trust, a trend that has arguably continued to this day. The Heist is still often referred to when speaking of grand criminal action in EVE-Online, with the Guiding Hand Social Club having become near synonymous with villainous activity.

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