Art by Mintaki.
With my last piece being about three months old, I thought it was now a good time to revisit the larger metagame. A lot has happened at a macro scale in Eve over this time, so I will try to be brief as possible. Yeah, who am I kidding, this is bound to be a lot of words (but hopefully not Arrendis-long!).
If you think I am wrong on any point, let me know in the comments, and I will try my best to address them.
So where was I….?
Picking up from my previous article, I had concluded that the PanFam were the real winners with the issues being faced by the DRF, run mainly by XIX. This should be interesting, as PanFam were not directly related in the hostilities, if not an outright declaration of war. The PanFam approach was very much more in line with an arms dealer or banking institution, playing both sides knowing that regardless of the result of the protagonists that they would still come out ahead. So Panfam supplied XIX with support in the form of PH, if you can actually call that support. While PanFam member GotG applied some pressure, but not for long as they got paid off. Finally, PanFam was very supportive of some of the entities being hostile to XIX, such as Lumpy, Tri, and Fraternity.
But perhaps in “winning” they have not done themselves any favours, at least in the long term.
A method to the madness
Given all that has happened and where, I intend to just focus on the larger groups and work around the clock face of nullsec. So if your group is not mentioned it, is simply for brevity. My apologies for not being able to cover your specific set of circumstances. If that should prove to be the case and you do want your story heard, then please write a submission to INN!
The Imperium
Despite all the nonsense being put forward by its enemies, The Imperium is probably in the best spot in the game. Unlike other coalitions, The Imperium has continued to push itself to improve. This has been shown in a number of ways: capital training ops, FC tournaments, SIG deployments, industry that should make the rest of Eve blush, and as always, infrastructure that would put many real-world companies to shame. If there is any doubt on this, then you need only look at the wonderful MER reports here at INN by Erick Asmock.
Delve is an industrial titan. Fountain is stable, and the Querious Fight Club residents have even been out-forming NC in defence of the QFC.
SIGs and Squads from The Imperium are also in fine fettle, and are having fun on their respective deployments. The vast majority of the action being seen in the northern regions of Eve.
GotG
GotG is effectively a lesser member of PanFam, but I still consider it to be part of the main group. The relationship that Sort Dragon has had over many years with GotG proves the point. Despite GotG gaining considerable sums from their part in the harassment of XIX, they are still suffering a number of internal issues. With the return of GigX, the capacity of GotG to be an effective fighting force has diminished further, although some could easily say that the effectiveness of GotG forces has never been established.
NC continue to bail out GotG from the mauling by a couple Imperium SIGs. They are moving backwards, and the MER offers great insight into the significantly reduced economic output from the regions they lay claim to. Lucky they got all that XIX ISK then, I guess.
GotG has been keen to absorb as many bodies as it can. With the collapse of Co2 they managed to pick up many of the corps left in the lurch. It was also rumoured that GigX, the former hands-on leader of Co2, had joined one of the GotG groups. But with GigX reforming Co2, a number of players have left GotG and returned to their former alliance.
Sort Dragon continues to present a narrative to GotG members that all is progressing as it should. But with PH moving over to Geminate, GotG have found itself having to defend far more space than it seems able to.
Internal issues have also been highlighted within GotG. 3, 2, 1…. KENSHIN! There appears to be a core within GotG that are happy to condone the real-life harassment of players. Some even went further in this. This has been covered greatly on Reddit, and Sort Dragon was doing his utmost to defend his coalition. Some would even say he was doing quite well in this. Well…Until Sort was also banned from Reddit for doxxing. Oh dear.
Co2.1?
Co2 should get a mention here as the are now active again near its old stomping grounds. Amusingly enough, CO2 has been placed by PanFam in Vale of the Silent. Vale was formerly the home of TEST until PanFam kicked them out. At the time that TEST was kicked out of the North, Co2 was allied to TEST. When Co2 was “Judged” and found to be wanting, it effectively fell apart. Member corporations mainly went the way of Test or GotG. But now that GigX has returned to Eve and re-formed Co2, former members have returned to him.
The Imperium put up with GigX’s nonsense for years. TEST managed to do so for about a year. How long GigX will be able to maintain relations with the rest of PanFam remains to be seen. GigX now has a well established pattern of behaviour that will likely follow him for the rest of time. As such, any group of people dealing with GigX will undoubtedly have that on their mind.
It is curious as to why GigX has settled his alliance where he has. There is no shortage of space in nullsec for entities able to take it, so why would GigX decide to settle where he is rather than claim space unbeholden to anyone else? Perhaps GigX is unable to do so. If look at the history of Co2, it has been reliant on other entities for years. First it was with The Imperium, until Co2 betrayed its long-standing allies. Then it was with TEST under the banner of Legacy Coalition. But Co2 were hardly good allies in this relationship, and tested relationships with partners at seemingly every opportunity. Now they are with PanFam. Perhaps one day Co2 will strike out on its own and quell any doubt as to their ability and independence.
PL
Keen to keep its elite skills finely honed and member pockets full, PL invaded Providence. The reason for this related to the up and coming station changes. PL were hoping to capitalise on this change and scoop up the stations once they were converted. With Providence having a very high density of stations, this would have been a very nice little pay day. This action also had the added bonus of helping defuse the stress being put upon the PL killboard. Prior to their Providence invasion, PL found that fighting Test was becoming a little tricky.
Hedliner has also made the news of late. Apparently he likes chaos. Oh and tridents as well. In all of this PL are trying very hard to push a narrative that suits its purposes. Mainly this is in the form of TEST being the most terrible allies ever. This is not only very evident in their internal musings, but also on Reddit as well. PL only usually get vocal when it is up to something. So, what could PL be looking to gain by painting TEST in such a light?
There is the possibility that this is simply PL looking to regain some credibility given some of its recent failures, such as being thrown out of Providence TEST. But there have been other instances of discontent within the PL ranks. Purple Helmeted Warriors, which are in no way affiliated with PL, had an issue of late. Something something has anyone seen my pod, the one with no implants in it at all? Finally in all of this, we have seen internal war updates leaked and shown the light of day. This demonstrates that PL is not quite as close-knit as it would like. PL have taken great efforts to prevent internal information from leaking out, yet here it is. One can only wonder how much more information is being picked up by those with a vested interest in the demise of PL.
NC
Aside from the subterfuge from taking apart XIX, NC has not really been that active militarily. Generally, NC has found itself bouncing between the galactic north and the south. In the north, NC has been providing capital support to GotG, as they have been unable to defend themselves from a couple of minor SIGs from the Imperium. In the south, NC has been trying to apply pressure on the Imperium via Querious to try and convince Imperium members to return home. This would be a cunning plan, if it were not for the fact that business in Delve is continuing very much as normal. NC seem to have forgotten that most Goons are quite lazy, so it is only those with more active interests in PVP that are deployed up north.
Weirdly enough, when looking at recent PVP activity, NC seem to have found a new nemesis in the form of PH, hough the general activity levels of NC seem quite low at this time.
DRF
XIX is “joining” Legacy, and will be apparently residing in Impass. Yes, the “joining” is in quotes as it is not exactly clear on what the relationship will specifically be. Some say that it is XIX joining as a member, and others present it as merely offering a couch. All of this is as a result of the constant pressure that has been placed on XIX for almost a year. XIX has moved its capital fleet, although it was far from the successful operation that they may have hoped.
Quite simply, the mighty Russian Beast in the East has turned out to be a paper tiger of the highest order. In my opinion, XIX has been gamed magnificently by PanFam. Not only has XIX paid vast sums for assistance from others, but it has also lost considerable source of income. In addition to that, XIX has been shown to be lacking greatly in its ability to handle conflict and the nuances of the metagame.
In all of this I find myself a bit torn. On one hand it is a shame to see that the reality of XIX being a super power in Eve was simply a sham. But on the other I remember XIX fleets fighting against The Imperium during the Casino War.
I suspect that the future of XIX is still very much in question. They may be able to rebound and get back to fighting fitness and seek revenge on their enemies at some point. Alternatively they may fragment further and be absorbed into other entities where the leadership has greater credibility and more importantly ability. The one thing that I can state for certain at this time is that XIX effectively out of the picture for a good month or two at least.
One can only hope that they do return as a real force in the future and with a clear memory of who has wronged them in the past. For far too long they were content to do whatever it was they did in the East and to not really participate in anything other than token actions.
The recent events with XIX have shed some light on their internal workings, with Karer stating that there were no deals in place with NC/PL. This is interesting when you think about BoT, which was the rental group in the North East. So if XIX has no deals with NC/PL, then who are the real owners of BoT? On top of this, social media is buzzing about how TEST has already broken agreements with XIX.
There is one group that will be very happy in the demise of the XIX empire, that is Stain Wagon.
Legacy
Legacy has been a little bit busy of late as it has found itself embroiled in the matters of others. There was the assistance that was provided to XIX at points, as well as a short-lived war with Fraternity. The assistance offered to XIX has now realistically come to a conclusion. TEST have made an offer to help XIX get back on its feet. According to XIX leadership, the deal offered by TEST was considered to be more attractive than other offers that had been made.
They have also been successful in pushing PL out of Providence and back into the lowsec system of Assah. Some have suggested that TEST hand over stations again back to CVA. I would suggest that TEST keeps all it takes.
There is still some caution evident in the operations of Legacy. With the Imperium to its west and a hodgepodge of potentially hostile alliances to the east, it is with good reason.
The Meat of the Meta
With the XIX empire, falling there are now only three main power blocs within nullsec at this time: the Imperium, PanFam, and Legacy.
In the short term, any one with any sense and also any muscle is going to be interested in the station conversion planned for June 5. Expect to see efforts on that front for the next couple of weeks.
The likes of Reddit has seen a lot of action of late. PanFam is determined to label TEST as terrible allies, with PanFam members leveling all sorts of accusations. All of these are weak, to say the least, and only the simplest of dullards are likely to give them any credence.
XIX’s decision to move is theirs and theirs alone. It was the responsibility of XIX leadership to make preparations for the moving of their alliance. As for all the “well TEST said they would do so and so…” being rolled out as some excuse for the failings of XIX leadership, well, what can you say? When an alliance becomes reliant on others for something as basic as a move op, you know you have hit rock-bottom. It would even be reasonable to say that you probably do not deserve to hold any space.
But not content to attribute blame for XIX’s woes on the doorstep of TEST, Panfam is also keen to make Test responsible for CVA’s problems. Apparently it was down to Test to defend CVA from the PL invasion. Again, this is a foolish notion that does not hold water.
Despite the appearance of the major power blocs coalescing, I cannot help but wonder if the opposite is true. The potential for a new era in Eve seems tantalisingly close. With so much space now available there is a great deal of opportunity for those willing to take it, and it is unlikely New Eden will take a step towards the stagnation typified by the Chinese server Serenity.
Beyond the next couple of weeks, I suspect that we may be in for the seasonal lull in activity. This is not only as some of us nerds will venture outside to witness the Day Star, but also as the Alliance Tournament looms closer. Rental empires will need to be stabilised by those interested in such things. There generally seems a lack of reason or capacity for groups to fight each other. Thankfully within the Imperium, we have SIGs and squads that always seem to manage to find action, so at least for one group business will continue as normal.
I will make the bold prediction (or is it a safe one?) that no super major conflicts will erupt in the next three months, although one could argue that The Casino War still continues. I for one never stopped in this conflict, and I do not remember Mittems, PBUH, ever surrendering.
