On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast of Japan was devastated by a magnitude 9.o earthquake and subsequent tsunami. In response to this horrible tragedy, people around the globe have been working together to help aid survivors of the disaster. While real world organizations have certainly been doing their part to help Japan, online communities have also been contributing towards the relief effort.
In the span of a mere two weeks, the online community of EVE Online players have raised over $44,607 towards bringing aid to Japan. According to a press release sent out by CCP Games, the relief fund is the result of an in-game charity in which players were allowed to covert their character currency into real world cash.
Thousands of casualties have been reported. Power is out, and several nuclear plants are in severe crisis, with radioactive leaks being reported as radiation seeps from protective barrier never designed to withstand earthquakes of such magnitude. Millions are without water, and as each hour passes, illness, hunger, fear, and death encroach upon the many innocent people.Beginning March 14, 2011 and ending March 31, 2011 at 23:59 UTC, CCP will be accepting PLEX donations for PLEX for Good: Japan. Each donation will be converted into cash currency and donated to the Red Cross.To make your PLEX donation:
- Contract your PLEX to the “CCP PLEX for Good” character, and please make sure the character is in the “CCP” corporation and that the name is spelled correctly to avoid scams.
- Contracts will be accepted within 24 hours of submission, though usually sooner than that.
CCP regards any scamming attempts surrounding this effort to be morally reprehensible and they will be met with swiftest action. To learn more about how this program works, please check out this FAQ for more information.
PLEX for Good is an on-going charitable program initiated by the players of EVE Online. Past drives have assisted the victims of the Haiti earthquake and excessive flooding in Pakistan. To date, EVE Online players have donated over $63,000 USD (over 3600 PLEX) to those in need via this program, with almost $100,000 USD being donated by EVE Online players to charity since 2004.
All proceeds donated by EVE developer CCP Games were donated to the Red Cross effort to aid Japan.
