Racial Tension

In the game EVE Online, there are four playable races, and each race has a rich background that the denizens of EVE, though they might be older than most gamers, get really caught up in. When you first create your character, you must first choose your race. Though the difference (gameplay-wise) is relatively nothing, as you get the same basic skills and ships regardless of your racial choice (though the ships you get in tutorials are specific to your race), the short little summary of each race's characteristics on the selection screen are enough to compel a player to actually make a choice. In other games, you can choose a race or species and then, through the process of playing, learn more about that race. In EVE, you are given that information at the beginning. And I know many players who will swear up and down that their race is superior, or some other race isn't, even though they base it on their own opinion. 

The game also supports factional warfare, allowing players to delve even further into their own race and develop a strong sense of devotion to a particular civilization. 

Below I've included a quintet of short, racially promotional videos made by avid fans of the game. They use clips from official EVE Online trailers and various other unofficial machinima.

The Gallente Federation  are comparable to America, as champions of liberty and proponents of extreme liberalism.

The Amarr Empire, extreme Russian-descended space-Catholics.

The Minmatar Republic are former slaves of the Amarr, having risen up and formed a unified society based on their tribal ancestry.

The Caldari State. Based on a strong, Asian-state-culture,the Caldari are one of the strongest factions, both economically and militarily.

As a fellow player of EVE Online, I too had to choose a race.I chose the Gallente. Curiously enough, I chose them because I supported their defense of freedom. However, as I've read the books and delved into the lore, I find that, as with all things, there is a vicious dark side to them. And all players who choose a race are inevitably drawn to learn more about them. From those inquiries comes a strong sense of emotion from or toward particular races, and subsequently other players who support that faction. If EVE could be called anything, it would be two things; an "impressive economic model" and a "massive social experiment." Indeed, many of the events in EVE Online are shaped by the players themselves, even events between empires they don't even control.Such was the Battle for Caldari Prime.