Political State of New Eden

Well for those of you who are curious this will be my first article on Eve nullsec politics circa late August 2011. Enjoy!

Reference Map courtesy of Verite Rendition

Brief Overview
Nullsec is divided into three large power blocs right now. Though individual alliances are independent (eh... no), through necessity alliances have grouped together for support and mutual protection.

• Deklien Coaltion (DC)*
• these guy are (despite the inclusion of Test Alliance Please Ignore) are actually fairly competent, they held their own against the largest SuperCap Blob in the game and for that they get kudos
• Main members are Goonswarm Federation (GSF), Test Alliance Please Ignore (TEST) and various smaller entities.

*yes I know there are other names but DC is the most acceptable

• Drone Russian Forces (DRF)
• Owns the largest super blob in game. This makes any warfare they participate in extremely one-sided. 
• Quite recently invaded the North displacing the now defunct Northern Coalition (NC). giving them the most valuable space in game.

• Against ALL Authorities. (AAA)
• While the DRF had engaged the Northern Coalition, AAA and co. decided to judiciously take DRF's southern most holdings. The DRF abandoned these less valuable systems but have returned to reclaim what they lost, and a bit more.
• Views on their situation in game is they are certain to lose. They don't have the super-cap numbers to face DRF head on and are trying to gather allies and divert DRF's attention by attacking the north, DRF's new space.

Holding Pattern

Right now the dominate power in this game is the DRF, they have the strength to take any territories they want and really the only thing stopping them is it takes time for that to happen. The rest of New Eden is hoping that DRF's main strength, their super carriers will be nerfed so that a handful of rich pilots don't dictate the game. CCP has stated that SC are due for a nerf and this means a drastic reevaluation of strength is near.

Right now the DRF are on a warpath, the only thing to stop the war machine seems at this point CCP, DRF decide this game now. Unless all of New Eden bands together, (this isn't going to happen, there is too much history between the other powerblocs) in which case there would definatly be a fair chance of success, though this would need to happen today rather than tomorrow.

What needs to happen is for power-blocs to hold onto what they can. Its not possible to simply build more supercaps than DRF right now, you lost out on that chance. But this is the thing. The DRF has shown that, while they dominate the front line, they are perfectly willing to lose territory less valuable. Paradoxically some of the least wanted space in the game is the the DRF strongholds. My advice, forget what you have now, taking drone lands means you can hopeful divert their attention elsewhere. Else, hold out till the Super nerf, Remember  Winter is Coming.

Passing of an Era

Last week something happened to the world of Eve, and it got me thinking. CrazyKinux has been the center of the Eve community, he is the grandfather of Eve blogging and is one of those rare players that make a game. This following has to be dedicated to CrazyKinux and the Players that make games every bit as much as developers do.

Eve has always been a game that is hard to describe, I'm certain I'm not the only player that has been asked, "Well whats it all about?" Every time I struggle to find the words; but over the past week I realized the best way to describe Eve. The stories it generates.

I'd like for you to take a second and think about this game. It certainly has a history, players have fought viciously and stolen from each others months and in some cases years of hard work. I would like to use Goonswarm and the remnants of Bob as examples. Name one other game where players fight each other, despite name changes, leadership squabbles, and at least five years between the initial start of hostilities. Its pretty amazing.

Now remember all the scams, corp theft, and extortion that takes place everyday. Eve online creates stories and it thrives on them. The majority of New Eden is made through player content. The massive battles that CCP advertises don't have a single NPC in them. Eve online is a developing story, and it needs a few people to tell that story.

This is CrazyKinux comes in. CCP can't tell New Eden's stories. They don't know them all. The players are the ones that have to say what happened. After all they were there. CCP is starting to realize the depth of the game they made. Hence Eve Is Real. But for years the stories had to be told by those few dedicated players. CrazyKinux did this but he did a little more to. He created the Blog Pack, bringing the player's stories together. This is what he did to help create the game. His stories have introduced countless players to the world of Eve, inculding this one.

I don't remember when I first heard of Eve, but I can tell you what drew my interest to this game. The stories. The pirates ignobly making their living off others, the simple traders, whatever, but most importantly those stories of intrigue that the game makes. The forever war between Goons and whatever name BOB/Kenny/IT alliance is going by these days is certainly one. And I would have never heard of it through some CCP marketing campaign, no those stories can only be told by those who live them. And those stories come to us through CrazyKinux and the other Members of the Blog Pack. I came to this game we all love/hate because of you guys. Thank you.

Fly Safe,