I am fairly sure this is in reference to Everydevel's little prank in coordination with April Fools Day 2001. The prank included:
- Random translation of the text in a writeup to either l33tspeak (th1s 1z l33tsp34k), rot13 (guvf vf ebg13), or reversed text (txet desrever si siht).
- Switching around of "You have gained exp!" and "You have lost exp!". You see one where you would see the other.
- Devilish grins from the e2gods.
Slashdot did much the same thing (in the transposing of the text) on April Fools 2000, and apparently E2 wanted in on the fun.
W3ll, th1s 1z xm477, s1gn1ng 0ff! L4t3r d00dz!
Update: A few hours later
The "joke" apparently seems to encompass more than the 3 things listed above. The content editors apparently had their powers temporarily revoked, and a few trolls were turned lose on the the site. While too numerous to name, they produced such pieces of work as I will fuck sophanda on the bus to school, why you shouldnt give head on a black sofa, a/s/l check, and sophanda and me 4ever, among others.
Update: The next day
It's not a joke at all, E2 was hacked. Someone was able to figure out how to disable opcodes for the gods, and really screw with all sorts of stuff. It happened on April Fools, but for most people it wasn't funny. You don't realize how much you come to depend on a site like E2, and when it is hacked, malignantly, it's not a laughing matter.
Update: The gig is up
In an elaborate April Fools prank, all the gods and editors registered troll accounts and proceeded to act like pathetic script kiddies as part of the snafu. Everything, I mean EVERYTHING was all part of the joke (pun somewhat intended). What's amusing is how many people they had at least partially convinced (myself included). The real challenge, though, will be next year, whenever, after the official confession comes down, will be super-jaded about E2 April Fools jokes, and the gods/editors will need to come up with something really outrageous to fool anyone. | 
