Glorious Propoganda

In the aftermath of BoB/KenZoku's final acceptance of defeat in the 'Great War', EVE's CAOD forums has seen many of the Goonswarm Coalition announcing they are returning home...

In a way this reminds me of the atmosphere in Lord of the Rings after Sauron was defeated. It's all very melancholy with all the old friends departing - kind of like the hobbits returning to their normal humdrum life in the Shire and the Elves leaving Middle Earth forever via the Grey Havens. I guess it is the RPer in me!

To mark the ending of the war Razor Alliance PR gurus have published the latest in their series of excellent propoganda posters. I am copying it below for your amusement:



If you like that you can view the back catalogue of Razor propoganda posters here.

The Great War has endeth

Well I have been a bit slip shod with blog posts recently primarily because of real life responsibilities and commitments - but also to some extent because there wasn't actually that much exciting happening (at least publicly) at the 'macro' politics level in EVE recently...

However I did have to bring you one in important news flash and that is that

THE GREAT WAR IS OVER

Yes apparently SirMolle, the KenZoku leader, has finally decided that their attempts to regain Sov in Querious were doomed and has signalled a withdrawal of KenZoku/BoB assets from their last remaining foothold 49-UGC.

This has prompted much speculation about the future of KenZoku and where they will go now they have finally accepted the loss of their original homeland. No doubt there will be a period of 'regrouping' and 'rebuilding' in Empire space before KenZoku evolves once more.

Obviously Goons are jubilant and The Mittani has published two articles on Tentonhammer outlining Great War history from his perspective.

You can find those

Here: http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/69645

And here: http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/69868

I would love SirMolle or one of the other BoB/KenZoku leaders to do their own 'After Action Report' on the Great War - but not quite sure they are in the mood for that at the moment. Maybe that's why the victor always writes the history!

So now that the war has ended what happens next in the EVE galaxy. Well there are a lot of interesting questions.

Will the victors Goons/Pandemic Legion/Northern Coalition maintain their allegiance to each other? Where will KenZoku go next? What now for Against All Authorities?

Tune in for the next episode!

And now the end is near...

Real work has been keeping me extremely busy lately which is why my updates have been lagging recently.

Anyway here is a quick round up of events around the galaxy. I would suggest readers use the automatically updated sovereignty map (http://go-dl1.eve-files.com/media/corp/Verite/influence.png) to get a better idea of the geography and location of these conflicts.

The Great War - Delve, Querious & Period Basis (Bottom left)

The fight over 49-UGC in Delve goes on. My last report had it firmly in Goon hands however a KenZoku(RKZ) tower spam has once again turned the tables. With -A- (Against All Authorities) and Stain bloc assistance KenZoku had managed to match enemy numbers and tighten its grip on the system. As it stands

KenZoku have 31 POSes claiming sovereignty as opposed to 12 Goonswarm. The 49-UGC system is important in that it is a transit route through to Catch which is -A- territory.

KenZoku have also laid down additional POS structures in other R.64 (systems with moons producing ultra rare and ultra valuable resources) in an attempt to wrest these back from Goonswarm. No doubt these systems and 49-UGC will see further conflict in the period ahead.

This fight from the Tau Ceti Federation (TCF is a Goon ally) - http://killboard.tauceti-federation.com/?a=kill_related&kll_id=124311 - demonstrates that not everything always going swimmingly for the Goonie coalition!

Part of the reason for the KenZoku recovery is that Goons and friends attentions were - at least temporarily focused elsewhere - Period Basis. Period Basis is the region under Querious and Delve which had been held by Executive Outcomes (EXE), a KenZoku ally.

Unfortunately for Executive Outcomes they simply couldn't resist the steamroller when it was turned in their direction and the region is currently being subdivided between Killed In Action alliance and two other Goon allies.

Mittani wrote this:

Over the course of three days, EXE has been transformed from the proud defender of a Sov4 constellation to a greasy, contemptible stain in the road. Z-M5 has only one hostile tower left at this moment, and in a few hours it's likely that it will have nothing. G-Q was hellpurged and is neutral sov as of today. All that remains is the Sov4 capital system of PA-VE3. RAWR spammed the nonstation systems in the constellation several days ago, so they will flip to neutral or RAWR when the 7 day claim ticker is over. This may be quite possible the fastest that an actively defended Sov4 constellation has fallen in the history of the game.

RKZ no longer owns any R64s in Period Basis.

With the fall of PA-VE3, there will be no more 'Period Basis Front'. This will allow ZAF, KIA and RAWR - the primary coalition forces invested in this region - to focus entirely upon Querious.

Of course Mittani, as Goon spymaster general would say that, he is after all doing his job. However, it is pretty clear that Executive Outcomes have suffered a blow as these internal forums postings demonstrate:
http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1065543

Whether Executive Outcomes will simply stop contibuting to the RKZ/-A-/Stain coalition vs Goons now they have lost their home region is debatable. Also debatable is the assumption that KIA and other Goon allies will continue to put their heart into the fighting in 49-UGC now that they have secured their own territory in Period Basis.

Time will as always tell!

Pure Blind (Left)

Nothing too major to report here however Triumvirate (an alliance whose power has ebbed and flowed over time) seem to be enjoying a bit of a renaissance at the moment and are attacking IRON assets (high value moons) in the region. IRON (another alliance with a big history and not so glorious present) are junior members of the Northern Coalition who are in turn currently allied to Goonswarm in the 'Great War'. While Triumvirate have on the whole stayed out of the larger war there is no doubt that there actions harassing IRON are causing some nuisance (albeit minor) to the anti-KenZoku coalition.

Insmother/Drone Regions/Etherium Reach (Upper Right)

As reported previously the IRC (Intrepid Crossing) and Ethereal Dawn (ED) alliance launched an attack on Red Alliance (RA) in Insmother. Unfortunately for them this provoked the wrath of the Goonswarm Coalition as Red Alliance were one of Goons oldest allies. At the behest of Goons the Northern Coalition (NC) reset standings to ED and IRC and NC along with other Drone Region and Red Alliance forces have launched a counter strike into Etherium Reach which is IRC and ED home territory.

I am aware of various 'good fights' happening in the area but am not currently sure if the alliances attacking IRC/ED are seriously challenging sovereignty with a view to taking the region for themselves or are simply harassing IRC/ED. Will update you when I know more!

Tenerifis/Detorid (Right)

Many formerly Goon regions were abandoned when Goons focused all their efforts on Delve in the aftermath of the BoB disbandment. As has been reported previously Against All Authorities (-A-) and various other KenZoku allies (Red Overlord, Coven, Systematic Chaos and Atlas) took advantage of this to claim swathes of new space.

Initially most of this expansion was not resisted as Goons and allies were too busy elsewhere but as the -A-/Red Overlord/Atlas bandwagon spread eastwards they started bumping into pockets of resistance from entrenched Goon allies such as United Legion and Red Alliance.

With Goons wanting to distract -A- and friends away from 49-UGC they called on Red Alliance, Solar Fleet and the xXDeathXx alliances to start putting some pressure on -A-/Atlas in Tenerifis. Most of the conflict centred on the 46DP system which xXDeathXx tried to claim. This turned into a fairly large conflict as Goon allies from Pandemic Legion and TCF (Northern Coalition) also got involved in the fighting. Unfortunately things didn't go as planned for Goon Coalition with TCF losing a Titan and xXDeathXx a Mothership and -A- winning sovereignty of the system.

Watch out for developments!

Wicked Creek (Right)

Tenerifis is next door to Wicked Creek which is home to Scorched Earth alliance who have historic ties with TCF (Goonswarm's long standing French ally and member of the Northern Coalition). As reported here a few weeks back Aggression Alliance (AGGRO), a grouping nominally alligned with KenZoku (quite a few former members), launched a bold attempt to sieze territory in the region.

Despite help from Atlas Alliance and various other random groupings based in Curse, the Aggression assault failed, primarily because Tau Ceti Federation (TCF) took a hand in the conflict despite its commitments elsewhere.

The fighting seems to have stopped now but it will be interesting to see what Aggression tries to do next!

Geminate (Top Right)

Sovereignty in Geminate is currently held by Killed in Action (KIA) Alliance who, as mentioned earlier, are currently obtaining new space in Period Basis as part of the Goon Coalition. While this has been going on interesting things have been happening in Geminate.

The United Freemen Alliance (UFA) had been operating in the region however they have recently come under attack by the Wildly Inappropriate Alliance (who are junior members of the Northern Coalition).

Anyway it seems that the pressure applied by Wildly Inappropriate paid off as a UFA diplomat made this public surrender statement: http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1063200

Now I am not an expert on affairs in the North and the various diplomatic entanglements/agreements up there - but it does seem strange that UFA are surrendering their claim to a region which, according to the Sov Map, is owned by someone else entirely. Also I am not quite sure why Wildly Inappropriate (an NC ally) would be attacking a region owned by KIA (a Goon ally) when NC and Goons are in theory still cooperating against their common enemy - the KenZoku/-A-/Stain bloc.

I am quite sure that some kind of deal has been done behind the scenes - I just don't know what! Maybe one of you could enlighten me on this one!

Anyway there endeths my roundup from around the galaxy for this week. Hope you enjoyed the read and found it reasonably comprehendible!

Feedback is always welcomed!

Supporting EVE Search

Anyone who plays EVE will know Chribba.

Chribba is the god-like person who has created and maintained some of EVE's best and most popular community sites including EVE Files and EVE Search.

In my role as alliance PRO I regularly use EVE Search to monitor forum happenings. Indeed EVE Search is usually the first website I hit immediately after turning my PC on. Using certain keywords I can quickly get an overview of the EVE-O forums and then decide if anything is worth responding to (usually not).

Anyway, Chribba has recently launched an appeal for funds to upgrade EVE Search.

I have already made a cash donation but thought this worthy of wider attention!

The Great War and other EVE politics

Following KenZoku's (BoB's) successful defence of the Querious system 49- in conjunction with -A- and various other alliances Goon participation started to drop.

Over the next week KenZoku and allies started winning back key moons in Querious, Delve with Executive Outcomes holding the front line in Period Basis pretty comfortably.

This prompted Goons spymaster Mittani to post the following 'morale' post on Goons forums:

-------------------

Low-intensity strategic warfare is a bitch. The objectives tend to focus on assets which are critical yet incomprehensible to the average goon.

What do moons outside of stations have to do with the alliance? What does 'r64' even mean? Can I shoot dysprosium? Do we care about Querious? What about Period Basis? What's going on? Ooh, a wormhole!

This confusion is mostly the fault of the senior leadership. Darius, myself, Karttoon et al have been swamped with various real life issues - this is not an excuse, but an explanation. In the past week, Dabigredboat, Jaroslav, Brennah and many others have picked up the slack while your fearless leaders have been picking their noses. So, belatedly, here is an update to let you know precisely what the fuck is going on.

tl;dr: The war in Querious is a slow quagmire which we are presently losing, though every day of delay in Querious brings us closer to Sov4 in Delve. However, unless we turn our shit around in a serious way, all of our efforts will be for naught.

QUERIOUS FRONT:

Two weeks ago we had a pair of serious welps. After our stronting fuckup decisively lost us 49-, we suffered another station-level welp in 3BK where offline RKZ towers had been left undestroyed. They were fueled, turned on, and an additional pile of Red.Overlord, -A- and other shitty pet towers blocked out the rest of the moons in that system.

Both of these losses can be blamed on organizational-level burnout, as they took place at a time where virtually every system and station in Delve and all of our R64s swapped to Sov3 at once, which meant that a host of jammer towers and an entire bridge network was being thrown up in a herculean, sleepless effort by our logistics team. Shit got missed.

Since that time, we've managed to mostly secure our R64s. R64s provide our alliance-level income. The first step when attacking an alliance (unless you have total military superiority) is to cut their R64s off. Initially we lost four of them before they swapped to Sov3, largely due to stront timing issues - we had a stupid setting for default stront, and most of our R64s had been thrown up in a rush, as we took 25+ R64s over the space of 4 days. After yet another massive push, GSOL put jammers and bridges at all of our R64s, significantly impacting RKZ's ability to attack them.

Then we killed Kenny's capital fleet.

Without their capital fleet, RKZ's allies have been reluctant to do serious siegework on RKZ's behalf; the conflict has shifted from a station contest in 49- to tussles over R64s, most recently in Q2-. Unfortunately for us, many goons do not understand the significance of R64s or why they should care about something that isn't a station, so our participation has been crap. That, or it's the fact that no one has been providing a high-level overview of the war, so there's a feeling of confusion and a lack of clarity; take your pick. Or blame taxes.

The big problem is that, while the pace of our losses has slowed dramatically since killing the RKZ capital fleet, we're still losing; We lost our R64s in Q2- even though that system was jammed. While we initially lost 49- due to a stronting fuckup (ie, our timer got whacked), we proceeded to lose an additional ~10 towers in timezones where usually we don't worry about tower losses. Because goons are not showing up, we're taking hits where we normally would have uncontested system control; our counterattacks are faltering because we can't summon massive goon turnout in our primetime to do a hellpurge.

PERIOD BASIS FRONT:

http://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Period_Basis

Slow progress here. KIA, ZAF and Morsus Mihi have been chewing on EXE and RKZ soverignty. RKZ has a number of R64s in this region, almost all of them owned by DICE, which is presently the most functional corp in RKZ - as they have cash. All of them had been guarded by Sov3 and jammers, but as the map demonstrates, KIA/ZAF have spammed those systems and snapped the Sov3s on a number of them.

EXE at one point had a substantial bridge network in Period Basis that led to Delve but that has recently snapped with the loss of HIX4 (and, earlier, 1-2JP4 and 0-NTIS). That bridge (from the EXE stations) took them to the doorstep of TN25, a Frontal Impact station 1 jump from HIX4 where Morsus Mihi has been engaged in a spam war with FI.

In sum, while Period Basis is a vastly lower priority than R64s in Delve and stations in Querious, it's moving in a positive direction.

DELVE FRONT:

On 4/21, we get Sov4 in the W-4 constellation, where the bulk of our stations are. Over the next few weeks, the rest of Delve flips to Sov4, including the NOL constellation where we built two new outposts. Essentially all of Delve is Sov3, jammed, and connected by jump bridges. We have a working empire bridge network from NOL -> A2-V27 -> Empire.

This is paradise. However, it's going to be on fire if we don't turn things around in Querious.

Already we have lost an R64 in Delve itself, in A-E which is NPC sov and unjammable. RKZ has spammed 1-SMEB and EXE has spammed M0O as possible bridge/cynobeacon routes.

THE FORCES AGAINST US:

Our primary enemy in this fight is not RKZ, which has begun to have serious systemic issues, but -A-, ROL, and their associated pets. Their numbers and timezone coverage have allowed RKZ to stumble forward, zombielike, and staunch their losses:

http://evemaps.dotlan.net/alliance/KenZoku

As you can see, RKZ has stabilized at around 2660 members, where before they had been steadily losing. This is a natural consequence of them having retaken 2 stations from us.

-A- has been pingponged somewhat between the 49- front and 9-98, 46DP, and eastern Tenerifis where XIX has been making inroads. That front is being distracted by ED/IRC's invasion of RA, who had been helping XIX vs -A-. In general, however, -A- turnout has decreased markedly over the past few weeks. If we can get goon participation back to normal levels, we should be able to overpower them. However, until -A- is pried away from supporting RKZ, we're not going to see a RKZ failure cascade, which is our end goal.

OUR STRATEGIC GOALS:

* RETAKE OUR LOST R64S: A-E, Q2-, ZAU, 5V-, 49-, C-7
* RETAKE 49- AND 3BK STATIONS
* DEFEND DELVE UNTIL IT HITS SOV4 (4/21 ONWARDS)
* BREAK RKZ FOREVER AND HARVEST THEIR TEARS

WHAT YOU CAN DO
1. Show up on ops.
2. Show up on ops.
3. Show up on ops.
4. Show up on ops.
5. Show up on ops.
6. Join the GIA.
7. Why the fuck are you still in NPC Delve? No one should be in 319. 0-H is for formups.
8. Help GSOL with push butan duty.

-------------------

Somewhat predictably this was leaked to KenZoku/BoB who then used Mittani's comments about the war in Querious being a 'quagmire' in their own internal propoganda to boost the morale of their own members and associated allies.

Unfortunately for them Mittani's call to arms seems to have provoked a response and Goons have gone back on the offensive. Rather than wait for BoB spies to do it Mittani has subsequently been posting updates on the war in Delve/Querious/Period Basis on CAOD (Corporation and Alliance Discussions) and I have to say they make a very interesting read. Obviously Mittani is making a political point - the war is after all going well for Goons at the moment - however they do give an insight into the conflict which is I have to admit more eloquent than my own!

You can view the relevant updates here:

http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1054371

While obviously biased to present the Goons and allies in the best light (and as such they tend to gloss over Goon & allied losses (the Pandemic Legion Titan loss being the most significant), they do provide an interesting overview of how the war is going.

Elsewhere

Fountain:

Most EVE wars end not because an alliance has been defeated in space but because of internal drama, usually resulting from differing egos, goals and objectives within alliance. Defeat on the battlefield and enemy infiltrators can help bring such differences to the surface but to be exploited the flaws need to exist.

A good example of an alliance 'failcascading' is Puppetmasters who recently launched an invasion of Fountain - threatening Pandemic Legion and Sons of Tangra assets and 'pet' alliances.

When resistance toughened and Puppetmaster stopped making progress internal divisions leapt to the forefront in the alliance resulting in this insightful post by Arimathea Anthelas.

Drone Regions/Insmother:

Intrepid Crossing (IRC) and Ethereal Dawn (ED) have continued their war against Red Alliance despite being set upon by various Northern Coalition sub-alliances (Wildly Inappropriate/Majesta etc)

With Goonswarm and the main Northern Coalition alliances focused on finally finshing off the war vs BoB/KenZoku in Delve/Period Basis/Querious and with the other local powers (xXDeathXx & United Legion) focused on hitting Against All Authorities (-A-) and Atlas in Tenerifis in order to divide their forces and prevent them helping BoB/KenZoku, it seems that IRC and ED have avoided being steamrollered and continue to take offensive actions against Red Alliance and their other enemies.

However pressure must be mounting on IRC ED and this is surely indicated by desperate sounding posts like this one. I bet IRC/ED diplomats and propogandists winced when they read that one!

Despite this IRC/ED are continuing to put up a fight as this thread indicates.


Tenerifis

As mentioned above the former Goon region of Tenerifis is now being fought over by Atlas and -A- on one side and United Legion, the xXDeathXx alliances and other assorted groups. Tenerifis was one of several regions which Goons abandoned when they moved wholescale to Delve in the aftermath of the BoB disbandment and was one of the regions siezed by -A- and other BoB/Kenzoku allies.

With -A- now being the main obstacle in the path of final victory over BoB/KenZoku it is clear that the Goon coalition is trying to distract their attention away from Querious by attacking assets at the opposite end of their empire.

As with the Drone Region/Insmother war, the war in Tenerifis seems to be generating significant cap battles. In this one an Atlas Mothership (supercap) is killed whilst an xXDeathXx Titan escapes by the skin of his teeth.

Curse

Danish capital killing specialists x13 (formerly BoB/KenZoku allies) have just joined the Krautbreak alliance that is based in Curse. Krautbreak is a conglomeration of renowned German cap-heavy corp Evoke and Outbreak (who were once regarded by many as the best PvP alliance in EVE). While x13 is not a huge corporation it is extremely capable and cap heavy. Its addition to Krautbreak substantially strengthens that alliances' capabilities. Are they going to focus on securing Curse and continue doing their own thing - or is the addition of x13 a sign that they are about to reengage in the 'Great War' and possibly take a hand in the fight in neighbouring Wicked Creek?

Wicked Creek

It seems that things are also starting to heat up in Wicked Creek where Aggression Alliance (who seem to be aligned with the KenZoku/-A- bloc) has launched an attack on Goon allies Scorched Earth and Tau Ceti Federation, with the backing of Atlas and -A-.

It seems fairly early days in this conflict but those who are interested can follow happenings in this Scrapheap thread.

That's about it from me for now!

Ode to the joys of NRDS and space diplomacy

One of the big stories on Corporations and Alliance Discussions (CAOD) over the past week has been the disbandment of Foundati0n (FDN) alliance.

Regular readers of this blog will know that Foundati0n are an NRDS (Not Red Don't Shoot) alliance based in the Great Wildlands region and were involved in the recent Ethereal Dawn (ED) and Intrepid Crossing (IRC) assault on Red Alliance which subsequently came off the rails.

This was interesting for me as FDN were the only other entity outside Providence who operated NRDS. The multiple reasons given for FDN's disbandment can be summed up simply as 'internal drama'.

It seems not all FDN's corporations had the patience or discipline to maintain their NRDS policies. The systems required to police NRDS and handle the resulting 'diplomacy' can be complicated and time consuming. It requires real commitment, dedication and buy in from the whole alliance to maintain the necessary structures and it seems that some FDN corps simply didn't have this! Hence the internal drama!

Anyway, shortly after this 'drama' my alliance noticed a lot of Foundati0n pilots in relocating to Assah - a system in Derelik - on CVA's Providence border...

As Foundati0n had blue standings to CVA at that stage I decided (as any good NRDS diplomat would) to touch base with FDN diplomat and find out what the state of play was.

Here is an excerpt from the conversation:

XXX > Well for the moment we're definately NRDS, we aren't shooting you providence guys. We'll have to look for the new alliance though. Alot of people are bored of what we where doing in GW =)
Hardin > Okay I can understand that
Hardin > But as we have you blue we would hope that at least for decency sake that you inform us if you do decide to change your view on CVA and Provi
XXX > Yes. We definately would =)
XXX > We're always trying to be the Gentlemanly type ==

----------

All fairly amicable and straightforward! However when I wake up I find that one of the FDN corps has started attacking people in Providence. Another CVA diplomat has the following conversation with another FDN representative:

XXX > o/
Amandi Casimi > What the HECK is going on again?
XXX > we are nbsi and shooting neutrals
Amandi Casimi > That official?
XXX > yes
XXX > have you read the FDN announcement in CAOD?
Amandi Casimi > Alright... consider yourselves KOS then.

----------

I immediately sent a mail to the FDN diplomat whom I had originally contacted and got this mail in response:

2009.04.12 08:39
I need to shout at some people clearly. There's not been any official standings change to my knowledge.

Will get back to you with something definate on that and apologies if i was the one to mis-interpret the situation =)

----------

I sent the following response:

Well I am afraid we will have to keep you at KOS until we get some kind of 'official' explanation!

Cheers

Hardin

----------

A few more incidents followed leading to another CVA diplo talking to several FDN pilots. This led to this 'alliance' mail being sent to FDN members:

2009.04.12 12:36
I had a discussion with Equinox Daedalus of CVA today regarding standings.

Due to several recent incidents, we are giving conflicting signals to CVA. They have asked us to avoid their space until we sort our new alliance and our new standings. I think this request is reasonable as we will are still in the old alliance and have not changed our standings to anyone outside GW.

We'll be NRDS in Providence until our glorious leader says otherwise (hopefully today lol).
Actually - its best to just not go to Providence until we are properly sorted, and in a new alliance.
Once that happens, safety off... fire at will

TLDR version: DON'T GO TO CVA SPACE AND SHOOT PEOPLE (yet).

----------

Shortly after the pilot who sent the mail returned to CVA space and was ganked by a CVA gang. Leading to the following convo:

[13:30:44] XXX > why hello there
[13:30:55] Keown > Hey. Equi is afk, but just noticed your comment in local.
[13:31:09] XXX > yes we had come to an arrangement with equi
[13:31:18] Keown > I was just curious why you came to providence 1 hour after your alliance mail about staying out of Providence?
[13:31:47] XXX> the mail said: DON'T GO TO CVA SPACE AND SHOOT PEOPLE
[13:31:51] XXX > we were not shooting anyone
[13:31:54] XXX > just passing through
[13:32:14] XXX > here is another quote from the mail
[13:32:23] XXX > We'll be NRDS in Providence until our glorious leader says otherwise
[13:32:29] XXX > oh andplease stop shooting hans
[13:33:13] Keown > Let me read your convo with equi one more time, but from what I remember you were told you where set KOS until your leader decided what to do. And for that reason where adviced to stay out of providence.
[13:33:25] XXX > I will send you the alliance mail
[13:33:29] Keown > i got it
[13:33:41] Keown > im a diplo and got access to the info.
[13:33:48] XXX > the arrangement was a temporary nrds in providence
[13:34:00] XXX > there was nothing said about 'don't go through providence'
[13:34:28] XXX > well I did say its best 'not to go' but didn't forbid it.
[13:34:52] Keown > Ok. let me re-read the post.
[13:35:02] XXX > CVA is currently blue to us and we shot no blues in our earlier engagements
[13:36:03] Keown > Equinox Daedalus > well can i ask that you avoid prov until you decide.
[13:36:11] Keown > thats from your convo
[13:36:34] XXX > ok we'll leave it at that then

----------

He then agreed to stay out of CVA space until FDN leadership decided what they were going to do. Unfortunately this did not last and now the ex-FDN corps (they left to form a new alliance) are KOS in CVA space.

The main reason I have recreated this entire 'drama' is that it is actually a good example of the kind of diplomacy that is required if you are going to operate NRDS successfully.

Now some would say why do it? It is after all a rod for our own backs and right old pain in the arse to manage...

From my perspective there are two main reasons:

1) CVA is a roleplay alliance. We see Providence and lo-sec Domain and Derelik as extensions of the Amarr Empire and 'piracy' is outlawed in the Amarrian Empire. We view agressions against CVA, its Holders and law-abiding neutrals in our area of influence as 'piracy' and such we will 'police' the area in the same way that Concord polices Empire space (albeit with a slightly slower response time)

2) From a pragamtaic standpoint NRDS has proved extremely rewarding. Providence is the most populated and highly developed 0.0 region in EVE. While the natural resources of the region are poor our markets are strong - providing lots of opportunity for ISK generation. In addition, those neutrals who do move to the area and start exploiting its resources and markets develop their own stake in the region and its wellbeing - providing useful intel and assistance in the event of significant raids and invasions.

NRDS (and our non-expansionist stance) does create the same tensions in CVA which eventually pulled FDN apart. However leadership in the CVA actively works against such pressures by only recruiting corporations that are 'down with the programme', that understand our roleplay history and are already aligned with our 'vision and values'.

Unlike many we do not recruit corps simply because they can bring X number of Capitals to the alliance or because they have impressive killboard efficiencies. Even more importantly we only recruit Corporations that have already lived in and helped defend the region for a significant period (over a year in some cases).

This waiting period mean that applicant corps have an understanding of what NRDS is about and will have demonstrated their activity, ability and, more importantly, the patience and maturity of their leaders and members.

OMG - They resurrected Kenny

Just a quick update on the 'Great War' following on from my previous post here.

I am keeping it brief as nothing particularly exciting has happened. KenZoku (aided and abetted by Against all Authorities and various other alliances) have continued to make progress in 49-U in Querious, with Goonswarm and allies apparently suffering a huge post celebratory hangover which seems to have dented activity/participation. Some are also blaming the introduction of wormholes which have disproportionately appealed to Goon members who apparently like 'shiney' things! Not quite sure I believe that one to be honest!

The 49-U system is expected to switch to -A-/KenZoku control imminently (it is often hard to predict when sovereignty changes as EVE's POS warfare mechanic is so complicated) and there have been reports that POSes in other Querious systems owned by Razor (a member of the Goon friendly Northern Coalition) have also been hit by -A-/KenZoku forces.

In comparision to the rapids changes of recent months this all seems like pretty small fish but it will nevertheless be encouraging news for enemies of 'The Swarm' and its allies!

EVE Online Political Update - Drone Regions

Well I kind of feel bad as I haven't posted in almost a week and events move quickly in the EVE Universe... I blame real life!

Anyway here is a cheap and cheerful update on recent events in the Drone Regions.

As mentioned here Intrepid Crossing (IRC), Ethereal Dawn (ED) and Foundati0n had decided to take a pot shot at the Goons long term ally - Red Alliance (RA).

Unfortunately, things started to go wrong for them pretty quickly as Goon sleeper spy proceeded to rob IRC blind!

This was then followed by several of neighbours in the drone region apparently weighing in on the Red Alliance side. Goons then opened negotiations with IRC (some say IRC opened negotiations with Goons) and apparently came to some kind of peace deal which ED was left out of.

According to Farham on the Scrapheap forums:

It seems IRC was in such a hurry to agree to whatever terms the GOONs set forth they didn't think some of them through. They agreed not to attack RA or its pets unless they were in IRC space. RA knowing this are hitting ED. ED is apparently not amused with their long time allies.

Interesting stuff!

This leaked 'internal memo' confirms that IRC were in talks with Goons and at least temporarily stopped 'offensive' fighting for fear of being overwhelmed by enemies.

However, the war has continued with Red Alliance making POS assaults in Ethereal Dawn space (so far unsuccessfully) which have in turn been reciprocated by IRC/ED POS assaults on Insmother (Red Alliance territory).

TBH I am not quite sure on Foundati0n's committment/involvement with all of this as they have (probably wisely) kept a low public profile and don't seem too involved on the killboards!

Will keep you all updated!

U-turn if you want to

Well it seems the huge display of outrage at the BoB/KenZoku renaming has persuaded CCP to take another look at their 'alliance naming' policies.

This led to this statement here:

------------------------------
GM Grimmi

We appreciate the feedback from everyone. After reviewing all of these very valid concerns, we were compelled to go back over the information we’d collected in this case and carefully weighed it again against the precedents set in the past. Ultimately, we felt we had no other recourse than to reverse the name change, the key factor being that during this re-investigation we learned that the KenZoku alliance was created several months before the BoB alliance leadership switched hands. That being the case, the name change request was not submitted within a timely manner, as it had been in the legacy cases we were holding up as examples.

We will be contacting the CSM for input regarding our naming policies.
------------------------------

It's now quite clear that CCP did not really have a clear policy on 'alliance naming/renaming' issues (at least if they had a policy it wasn't properly applied), but surely they should have known that the BoB/Ken renaming would have enflamed such huge passions - particularly as it was perceived as a major part of Goons orginal 'victory'? In the two months since BoB was disbanded and Goons stole the name you would have thought that CCP GM's would have made sure their actions were watertight - but apparently not!

While many on the BoB/KenZoku side are claiming that CCP has simply buckled under pressure of a Goons 'threadnaught' the fact is that it wasn't only Goons that were outraged by this 'perceived' favouritism.

It is completely understandable that BoB wanted to reclaim their old name (or a name similar to it) and it's not really their fault that CCP's GM's mislead them on what was and wasn't allowed within the rules!

Despite the fact that BoB/KenZoku are as much victims in this as anyone else there is no doubt that Goonswarm and its allies will be chalking this up as yet another victory against their #1 enemy!

Rebranding - Reloaded

As mentioned in my last blog, the alliance formerly known as Band of Brothers (BoB) and then briefly as KenZoku (or Kenny to its many detractors) has had its name formally changed to Band of Brothers Reloaded. This follows the incident when a Band of Brothers Director switched allegiance to Goonswarm and in the process disbanded the old BoB alliance. In the immediate aftermath Goons created an 'alt' alliance with the Band of Brother's name, preventing Band of Brother's from officially reclaiming the name.

The Band of Brothers Reloaded rebrand has caused quite an uproar in the world of EVE as GM's have in the past been extremely reticent in allowing alliances to change name (or even change parts of their names). In this particular case a number of the rules which have been applied to prevent name changes in the past were apparently put aside by the GM's. This has led to calls for the alliance to be disbanded!

Now as followers of the world of EVE may recall CCP (the game's developer) was embroiled in a bit of a scandal a few years ago when it turned out one of the development team (who was playing the game) spawned a number of rare items for his alliance at the time - which just so happened to be Band of Brothers.

This latest incident of apparent official support/favouritism for an ingame alliance has therefore stirred gigantic emotions - even if the ingame consequences of the alliance name change has no significant ingame effect on anyone playing EVE.

CCP did issue a statement:

GM Grimmi

Yesterday we changed the name of the alliance KenZoku to Band of Brothers Reloaded as the result of a petition by their leadership. It has come to our attention that this was not a popular decision among some of our players and we’d like to take this opportunity to address those issues.

We have previously changed names provided a petition was created within a reasonable timeframe and the situation warranted such action. The leadership of KenZoku/Band of Brothers did petition us immediately after they were disbanded and their name was taken. While we worked on the petition for about two months we do not feel that they should suffer because of that. Having them disband and lose sovereignty again was not deemed appropriate in this case.

This action was limited to changing their name, as we have done before for others - we did not assist them in regaining their sovereignty after the Band of Brothers alliance was disbanded, nor did we assist with that now. Any other corporation or alliance finding themselves in the same situation would get the same treatment.

GM Grimmi
Lead Game Master

Many are disputing this CCP statement and have quoted historical examples where other alliances have not enjoyed the same treatment that BoBR seem to have received in this instance. Clearly the accusations that CCP favours BoBR over other ingame alliances has only been strengthened by this latest incident!

Less seriously, it turns out that when Band of Brothers Reloaded is turned into an acronym it becomes BOBR. While this may not seem that amusing to English speakers it turns out that bobr = beaver in Russian (and EVE has a large Russian player base). As a result Band of Brothers Reloaded is already being called the 'Beaver' alliance by many of its numerous detractors.

Others have also pointed out that the 'Reloaded' in the name is a clear reference to the Matrix sequels - sequels which have been widely condemned as being a lot worse than the original!

I don't think this 'rebrand' is likely to win any marketing awards in the near future!

For more commentary on this check out the following two blogs:

Casiella's - Controversy Reloaded

Kirith Kodachi’s - What’s In A Name

A hole in the dike?

According to this CAOD thread -

http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1031254

- some cracks are starting to appear in the anti -A- / BoBR (will explain the new name later) block.

(EDIT this Scrapheap thread has some interesting snippets too:
http://www.scrapheap-challenge.com/viewforum.php?f=34)

According to the thread Intrepid Crossing (known as IRC) and Etheral Dawn (known as ED) have teamed up with The F0undation to launch an attack on Red Alliance holdings in Innsmother.

Red Alliance are one of Goons oldest allies but were (according to general consensus) much weakened by the 'Russian civil war' which saw a Against all Authorites (-A-) and other Russian groups move into the BoBR camp.

This perceived weakness, combined with the fact that Goons have pretty much abandoned their old holdings bordering Red Alliance space may have presented ED/IRC with a 'land grab' opportunity which was just too good to miss!

According to the thread Goons have now reset their standings with ED and IRC and are publicly talking up their intention of assisting Red Alliance. The main problem that Goons face is that they are currently engaged against -A- and BoBR in Querious and may not have the capacity (at least in the short term) to assist Red Alliance.

Obviously there are many other alliances which could assist Red Alliance. The other Drone Region alliances (who are also nominally part of the Goon block) may feel pressured to assist Red Alliance. Whilst the Northern Coalition (NC) may also lend the Russians a hand. Certainly the French Tau Ceti Federation (TCF) (a major NC member) has historic ties with Red Alliance.

However, as I am not an expert on Drone Region politics, I have no idea what relationships IRC/ED/Foundation have developed as well, nor any clue on how strong all those 'historic' ties actually are post the Russian civil war! There could be any number of interesting permutations. Some could even argue that the Red Alliance contribution to the Goon block has declined so significantly that it wouldn't really make a difference to the anti -A-/BoBR block if they did lose their space anyway!

From my 'neutral' perspective the decision by IRC/ED to attack Red Alliance is certainly a 'welp' moment for them - which could either result in them expanding their territories signifcantly - or being wiped off the 0.0 map completely! Obviously their leadership felt it was the right move but they will be judged by history!

While IRC/ED may not have been the most active members of the Goon block (at least that is what Goons are saying now) they certainly weren't putting any obstacles in the path of those focused on the decimation of the -A- / BoBR block. The fact that they could 'potentially' distract forces from other front does represent a small hole in the dike.

It will be interesting to see if the hole is plugged rapidly - or whether this war indicates a new phase of localised territory wars as alliances take their eye off the big picture and put the needs of their own alliances ahead of a continued campaigning against -A-/BoBR forces...

Time will tell...

ps. If you are involved in this war and you want to enlighten me with any insights feel free to email me at amarrhardin@gmail.com.

Did you think it was over? EVE's 'Great War' rumbles on...

The weekend just past saw some gigantic confrontations between Goonswarm (and their allies) and the Against All Authorities (-A-) & BoB/KenZoku block in Querious.

-A- and their allies (Systematic Chaos, Stain Empire, Red Overlord and Coven) had been slowly but surely pushing Goons backwards (working alongside the BoB Coalition) during the early part of the year after BoB ended its MAX campaign in late 2008 and refocused on the South.

Then Goons managed to disband BoB (in the process destroying the alliance's sovereignty based advantages in Delve) and launched a full scale offensive to evict BoB/KenZoku from Delve and Querious. Initially, BoB resisted the attack, but the sheer scale of attacking forces and the PR-8CA debacle (most of BoB's capital fleet was trapped in an NPC station in the PR-8CA system and couldn't escape) allowed the Goon coalition a relatively free hand in claiming BoB's former home territories.

During this process however a lot of people questioned the commitment of -A- and their allies to BoB/KenZoku as they did not appear to deploy any of their significant forces in the defence of Delve and Querious. Some proposed that -A- had abandoned their ally. Certainly -A- and friends took advantage of the situation to sieze several abandoned Goon regions and as a result now control much of Southern 0.0 space.

Two weeks ago -A- finally hit back directly against the Goon coalition. The first thing they did was break the month long Goon coalition blockade of PR-8CA - the system in which many BoB/KenZoku, pilots and capital ships were trapped. This allowed BoB/KenZoku to evacuate many of their assets which had been under siege - giving the alliance back some of its teeth.

Then last Thursday -A-, backed up by their allies and BoB/KenZoku, launched a signifcant attack on 49-U6U - a Goon system in Querious. 49-U6U is important to -A- as it has a stargate connection to the Catch region (an area controlled by -A-) and could be used as a stepping stone by Goons and allies in any invasion of -A- homespace.

Over the course of the weekend gigantic numbers of pilots (1,500+) have been fighting for superiority in the system with -A- playing a leading role.

These two Youtube videos have been sped up by 750% and compress several hours action into a more reasonable timeframe. They depict a -A-/KenZoku attack on a Goon POS. (if you are not an EVE player bear in mind that these views are zoomed out from the individual ships in order to reduce lag)

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9REDXTdOK8
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hobccXblimA&feature=related

Obviously with so many people crammed into one solar system lag was signifcant. It is fair to say that just 2 years ago any fight involving over 200 people would probably have crashed the server so kudos for CCP for making great strided in this area.

Due to lag, the number of kills for both sides was lower than you would expect for several hours of heavy fighting in front of a POS - neverthless these are the largest fights EVE has seen to date! However, from what I can tell, the fighting seems to have been pretty inconclusive so far!

With -A- now seemingly committed to the anti-Goon fight and with BoB/KenZoku having got their ships back (but more importantly retaining +3,000 members despite losing all their space) it looks like 'The Great War' is back on!

Here is a quick Paint map I made up of current state of play in the Southern regions of EVE:

http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=thesouthe.jpg

Alliances within the green lines are -A- and BoB/KenZoku aligned. Alliances behind the yellow lines are Goon oriented. Of course this is a bit general and doesn't really convey the nuances of EVE politics - but it should give a basic understanding of how (at least territory wise) the front lines are looking!

Internet spaceships are serious business

The Mittani is the 'chief spymaster' in Goonswarm - the most populous alliance in EVE with +5,000 members which is currently riding high after their eviction of BoB/KenZoku from Delve.

Anyway he has been authoring a series of articles for the Tentonhammer website which have been quite interesting.

Here is his latest article. It is slightly OTT but nevertheless does convey some of EVE's unique 'atmosphere'. Serious business indeed!

A very basic explanation of EVE's 'Sovereignty' system

One of EVE's key differentiators (and one of the reason the politics of the game is so interesting) is that territory can claimed, held and then lost by alliances.

The mechanic for claiming 0.0 space is based on the game's 'Sovereignty' system which you will probably see me refer to from time to time. Unless you play EVE you will probably have no idea what I am wittering on about when I refer to Sovereignty so here is a quick guide to how Sovereignty in EVE 'currently' works.

Every solar system in EVE has a number of planets and moons.

Players are able to erect two main structures in space. These are Player Owned Stations (POSes) and Outposts (a form of space station).

POSes (also known as 'towers' or 'starbases') come in 3 sizes (small, medium and large) and range in cost dependent on the type of POS and the modules which are associated with it. They can only be erected at Moons and they need to be refueled regularly in order to stay operational.

POSes can serve either an industrial or a military function which is dependent on the modules with which the player equips it. The larger the POS the more modules can be attached. In industrial mode a POS will collect and process various rare moon materials and players will collect these intermittently for use in EVE's manufacturing processes. The more rare the materials the more profitable the POS. Some POSes can also be equiped with laboratories and space factories and shipyards. POSes in military mode will be equipped with a variety of weapons designed to inflict maximum damage on any hostile forces attacking the POS.

Large POSes have an additional ability - they can claim 'Sovereignty' in 0.0 solar systems.

Sovereignty provides POS owners with a number of advantages which accrue over time. At Level 1 Sovereignty the fuel usage of the POS is reduced making it cheaper and more convenient to run. Basically the fuel stored in the POS lasts longer - meaning that the Sov holders do not have to refuel the tower quite as frequently - a nice logistical perk.

The longer an alliance uses POSes to successfully claim a system without challenge the higher the Sov level they achieve (up to level 4). Other alliances can challenge by erecting more (if they can) POSes of their own in the system or destroying their opponents'. To cancel the Sov claim of an alliance the opponent needs at least 1 more large POS claiming Sovereignty in a solar system than the opponent. With some systems having 80+ moons this can lead to massive logistical battles and so called 'POS-spam' particularly if one side is finding it difficult to kill their opponent's POSes.

Higher Sov levels provides the holding alliance with significant defence advantages such as jump bridges (which provide travel shortcuts - massive logistical and defence advantages) or cyno jammers (preventing enemy capital ships from jumping into a system until the cynojammer is disabled by conventional ships). It can take 3 months for a system to go from basic level 1 Sov to level 4 Sov (assuming Sov isnt challenged or reset by hostile action).

It is fair to say that many of the major battles in EVE are fought over POSes - either for one side to claim particularly profitable moons/resources for their own industrialists or simply to challenge/remove the Sovereignty of an incumbent alliance.

Military POSes which have been set up purely to claim Sovereignty or to protect other assets such as jumpbridges or cynojammers are often known as 'Deathstars' and are formidable targets which can inflict huge losses on attackers - particularly if coordinated with a friendly fleet.

Players (with the right skills) have the options to take over and operate gun modules (which are usually automated) on POS towers and use this to concentrate firepower and coordinate with 'tacklers' to try and maximise hostile losses. This is known as POS gunning.

While Sovereignty/POS warfare does give signifcant advantages to the 'defenders' in EVE 0.0 warfare this was done specifcally to ensure that there is a risk vs reward balance.

The construction of POS/Sov infrastructure is very expensive and needs to constantly maintained/refueled. The problem in a 23/7 global MMO like EVE is that very few alliances would actually build 0.0 infrastructure and develop 0.0 empires if all their efforts could be destroyed at will by large blobs with strengths in different timezones. As a result the destruction of a POS is a two step process.

The initial stage is called 'reinforcement'. When a hostile alliance attacks a POS they can shoot the shields of the POS down to 25%. At this stage the POS enters 'reinforced mode'. By altering the stock of a particular fuel in the POS the defenders have the opportunity to time when the tower comes out of reinforced and should (in theory) time it to come out when they are at their strongest. This gives them time to gather forces and plan a defensive strategy.

When a POS tower comes out of reinforced the attacker has a small window of opportunity to destroy the rest of the shields and armour - destroying the POS. If they miss this opportunity then the POS shields will naturally recharge (or be repaired) - and once they reach 50% the defender can refill the tower with fuel - which moves everything back to square one.

If the attacker is particularly determined they will try and 'lockdown' the system so that the defenders cannot congregate to defend the tower when it comes out of reinforced. This will include disabling any jump bridges in the system and camping the main travel gates into the system, but as POSes can contain enough fuel to stay in reinforced for up to 48hrs, not all alliances have the patience to maintain lockdown for that entire period.

Now jumping back to the start I mentioned that there are two main types of 0.0 structure that can be constructed by players in 0.0. The second type is Outposts.

Outposts = Large player built space stations the alliance holds in 0.0 space. These are a major investment (25 billion ISK+ major logistical work) to build. They can only be built at planets and only 1 can be built per solar system. When 3 'Outposts' have been erected in a 'Constellation' (a group of 7 solar systems) then the Sov holding alliance can nominate a 'Capital'.

Capitals = Solar systems which are invulnerable to attack due to the fortification of surrounding solar systems. They can only be attacked if the holding alliance lose Sovereignty in the surrounding Outpost systems. Most alliances uses their 'Capitals' for their major Capital ship production. It can take up to six weeks (and gigantic amounts of resources) for an orbital POS shipyard to produce a Titan class 'ship which makes them extremely attractive and vulnerable targets so alliances do their utmost to protect them from random raids.

While the mechanics of 'Sov' warfare are currently being looked at by CCP in order to make them more 'fun', it is important that they recognise that a 'risk vs reward' balance in 0.0 is needed. EVE 0.0 politics (and history) is rich and entertaining precisely because it is such a challenge to oust the incumbents and as such the sapping of the opponent's will to fight is almost as important as inspace victories.

If it is made too easy to topple alliances in 0.0 then the willingness of alliances to invest in the development of infrastructure and alternative forms of governance will be eroded as will their willingness to put heart and soul into the protection of their territory. EVE 0.0 will no longer be about the development of rival civilisations but could devolve into a wasteland dominated by Mongol style tribes whose only differentiating factor will be the number of warriors they can field at any one time!

While the Sov warfare system can be improved and steps should be taken to make it more 'enjoyable' we need to remember that the current system has not resulted in a static position as many of its detractors allege. A quick look at some of the historical EVE maps and the current position demonstrates that EVE 0.0 is dynamic!

I just hope that CCP, doesn't throw the baby out with the bathwater!

Small is beautiful

I made this post on EVE's infamous Corporation, Alliance and Organisation (CAOD) forums about a week ago and thought I would share it here. It is slightly out of date now, primarily because things can change very rapidly - especially for smaller organisations - in the EVE universe.

Was looking at the Alliance Ranking thingy - http://www.eve-maps.com/outpostalert/alliancerank.asp?SortType=Number - and as I have seen some debates recently about how 'big' an alliance has to be to claim some 0.0 decided to investigate the lower reaches of the table.

This is what I have found:

Smallest Sov Holding Alliances
1) Coded Arms Alliance - 1 sov system - 28 members
2) Crimson Dawn Alliance - 2 sov systems - 44 members
3) Blind Aces - 7 sov systems - 47 members
4) Gay4Life - 1 sov system - 55 members
5) Slammers Republic - 1 sov system - 57 members
6) Felony 13 - 2 sov systems - 59 members
7) Sparta - 2 sov systems - 64 members
8) Uni****- 1 sov system - 66 members
9) Immortalis Inc. Alliance - 2 sov systems - 69 members
10) Sex Drugs And Rock'N'Roll - 2 sov systems - 81 members

Smallest Outpost Holders
1) Event Horizon - 11 sov systems - 1 Outpost - 135 members
2) Soviet Mercenary - 12 sov systems - 1 Outpost - 172 members
3) BeachBoys - 5 sov systems - 1 Outpost - 207 members
4) INTERDICTION - 1 sov system - 1 Outpost - 262 members
5) RED.Overlord - 68 sov systems - 13 Outposts - 373 members
6) Cold Steel Alliance - 6 sov systems - 3 Outposts - 406 members
7) Stain Empire - 18 sov systems - 5 Outposts - 444 members
8) Aegis Militia - 6 sov systems - 2 Outposts - 446 members
9) Kraftwerk - 22 sov systems - 4 Outposts - 485 members
10) Legion of xXDEATHXx - 82 sov systems - 14 Outposts - 528 members

Smallest Constellation (Sov Lvl 4) Holders

1) Cold Steel Alliance - 1 Const - 406 members
2) Kraftwerk - 1 Const - 485 members
3) Legion of xXDEATHXx - 1 Const -528 members
4) C0VEN - 1 Const - 549 members
5) Paxton Federation - 1 Const - 632 members
6) SOLAR FLEET - 1 Const - 721 members
7) KIA Alliance - 2 Const - 788 members
8) Sylph Alliance - 1 Const - 813 members
9) The Initiative. - 1 Const - 918 members
10) Sev3rance - 1 Const - 1047 members

And finally... a largest list...

Largest alliances with no sov claims whatsoever
1) Ivy league - 1079 members
2) Dead Mans Hand - 685 members
3) Veritas Immortalis - 655 members
4) Minor Threat. - 641 members
5) Axiom Empire - 598 members
6) OWN Alliance - 550 members
7) New Eden Research - 525 members
8) Alternative Realities - 511 members
9) Eradictation Alliance - 475 members
10) The Council. - 471 members

I think this clearly demonstrates that the ability to obtain and hold sov is just as dependent on the ability of an alliance's leadership to work politically/diplomatically with other organisations as it is to simply have large numbers or military capability.

Of course large numbers and military capability does provide negotiating leverage - but that is not always necessary!

The Great War - Goonswarm vs Band of Brothers

Way back in December 2007 I started a thread on the Total PC Gaming Forums about EVE's 'Great War' between Band of Brothers (BoB) (and friends) and Goonswarm (and friends), which had already been raging for over a year by that stage.

I have since updated the thread on a relatively frequent basis as the war has progressed and as such it is a relatively accurate and objective 'history' of the Great War written from a 'neutral' perspective.

It will have some inaccuracies and distortions as I did have to rely on third party forums for much of the material and deliberate misinformation for strategic and propoganda purposes is as much part of EVE warfare as it is in the real world. Nevertheless it is possible to sift much of this and while some details may be slightly off it should provide a reasonably solid 'big picture' overview of the conflict and its roots.

One area which is not covered well in the thread is BoB's 'MAX Damage' Campaign against the Northern Coalition after the initial 'failed' assault on Delve. This coincided with a period of relative EVE inactivity on my part.

As the MAX campaign is generally perceived to have failed its impact in the grand scheme was relatively limited, apart from the fact that it helped unite the Northern Alliances and gave them a new determination to assist Goons in seeking BoB's destruction.

Similarly, the pact between BoB and Against All Authorities (-A-) in late 2008 is not mentioned, nor the fact that until Goons 'disbandment' coup (as written about by the BBC here) BoB, and allies had been pushing Goons remorselessly backward with Goon activity and participation tailing off.

With KenZoku (the BoB successor) now pretty much eliminated from any sovereignty responsibilities in 0.0 many people are claiming that the 'Great War' is over. Certainly the picture is very bleak for them. But with over 3,500 veteran pilots on its roster I believe talk of the Great War's conclusion may be slightly premature - particularly as -A- and other BoB allies still maintain significant 0.0 holdings (much of which were taken off the Goons or Goon allies).

Will the Empire strike back?

Welcome

Welcome to my first real attempt at creating a 'blog'. I did create one for Council of Stellar Management (CSM) elections last year but that doesn't really count as I stopped updating it as soon as my time on the CSM was up.

As a blog 'noob' I welcome any constructive criticism and advice from battle scarred blogging veterans. I am pretty sure that I know what I want to achieve with this blog and have the posting capacity to keep it interesting - but feel free to nag me if you think I am slacking.

Similarly, do not hesitate to get in touch (amarrhardin@gmail.com) if you think that I am overlooking certain aspects of EVE politics, if you think that I am being biaised (unwittingly or not), or simply want to point me at juicy little stories or bits of info that I may have missed!