What is the Chip War all about?

An interesting concept I have always liked about EQG [Equilibrium] Online is the aspect of Chip Wars. It’s a huge, exhilarating three-pronged battle; three races, three chips, one map (the Crag Mine: a mining area appropriated into a battlefield whenever it is time for war) and a massive power struggle for complete domination. A battle royal for mining rights in the most sought-after area; whoever can defeat the other races' chips first and bring it to the center map will find the guardian Holystone Keeper waiting with their reward. Like a huge, futuristic, extremely violent variation on Capture the Flag, with at least 200, if not many more, people playing constantly. Working together with your race to destroy the oppositions' control centres, capture their chips and get away
with them to the middle of the map within a time limit.

The incentive to win the Chip War, besides bragging rights of course, is to acquire a very effective buff Victorious Vigor and to avoid a debuff, Car of Defeat which last until the next Chip War, and exclusive access of the winning race to the center map area of the Crag Mine, protected by a huge guardian monster (so huge, in fact, that it barely fits on a normal sized monitor) called the Holystone Keeper (often shortened to HSK). The mining speed in the center map is many times faster than anywhere else in the Crag Mine, and with the protection of the Holystone Keeper, any hostile race that attempts to enter will be swiftly killed, allowing the victors to mine as they please, completely safe and uninterrupted. Of course, not just anyone of the victorious race may mine in the center area only those who can prove their contribution to the war will be able to. To do this, a player must complete a special Chip War quest, available only while the war is in progress. To complete the quest and gain full mining access, players must acquire a Holy Metal Scanner an item dropped by any opposing race chip guards (NPCs/monsters with the appearance of the race of the chip they guard). This scanner must be obtained and the quest completed before the Chip War timer ends.

So why is gaining access to the center mine such a big deal anyway? Well, you see, mining is very important to a race economy, as valuable crafting and upgrading resources can be obtained from processing the mined ore. Precious metals that can be obtained from the ore are used for crafting armor and weapons, as well as highly sought-after talics and gems, which can be used to one upgrade armor and weapons to godly proportions. This in turn helps races to win more Chip Wars and gain domination of other shared maps, making the victorious race more and more powerful.