With Apologies to CCP Oracle

The hardest thing to do in the world is to apologize

I’ve been putting off this article for a couple of weeks. In fact I already wrote a couple of drafts just a day after the incident but I kept putting it off. No one wants to face their own shortcomings, and other things like CCP Games introducing gambling to EVE Online and igniting my rage happened, which felt like they needed addressing first.

That is a lie of course, I simply used the new controversy as a way to further delay the inevitable but its finally here. CCP Oracle, if you are reading this, (and I hope you do as I will tag you on twitter) I am genuinely sorry. I was rude and out of line and I shouldn’t have written that tweet. It was disrespectful, period.

Of course that is not enough. Its not enough to just say sorry. By itself the word is meaningless. What is important, the reason behind writing this entire article that seems little more than an act of public self flagellation, is to find out the reason why the incident happened in the first place and address that cause. Without it there is no in point apologizing so bear with me as we deep dive into my twisted psyche.

The innocent tweet about seeing more Korean players, including female streamers, flock to EVE Online following the launch of Korean localization, shouldn’t have elicited such a visceral response from me. That said I had mistaken CCP Oracle for a male developer and considering the current atmosphere in gaming and streaming services such as Twitch, made the wrong inference. That is all on me. When one assumes things without checking them first, one gets being made an ass. Its just logical. However like an ogre, lets peel the layers and dig deeper. Why would I even care about what a CCP Games developers had to say in the first place?

Lets start with the issue of Korean localization. A few years back CCP Games killed all localization efforts in the game, including the Korean language one. Being bought by Pearl Abyss, a Korean gaming giant, suddenly Korean language localization was back on the menu and done in quite a short time all considering. Yet at the same time, other, more established communities, must continue and play EVE Online in English rather than their native tongue. It feels both unequal and a tad hypocritical of CCP Games to praise the surge of Korean players after years of dismissing localization which is a barrier of entry for many people and not addressing the needs of other communities.

Then there is the part of the tweet that was the highlighting female streamers. I am all for more female representation in games, gaming and whatnot. Having more streamers covering EVE Online would be good for the game though I don’t think EVE Online translates that well into streaming. Its not a very fast paced game after all but that is not the point. The point is, CCP Games have a terrible track record with female players. The toxicity of some of the player base had worked to drive away many a female gamer, and I heard enough horror stories from female players to make me ashamed of having a penis. Its tough, its bad, and the fact is, CCP Games had done so little to protect its female players that promoting female streamers can almost be seen as throwing meat into the water. You know a shark is just gonna bite into it.

Okay, not great optics, but nothing worthy of lashing out. Obviously I was frustrated with what I saw as hypocrisy and irresponsibility but still nothing to send a mean tweet about. Time to delve greedily and deep to unleash the Balrog.

This tweet came only a few days after CCP Falcon resigned. A few weeks before that, Snuffed Out, my last home in EVE Online, shuttered as the content drought in the game continues. Friends keep quitting EVE Online one by one or reducing their activity and selling their super capitals. In this atmosphere of hopelessness its not hard to get frustrated, especially at CCP Games that helped create this situation. After all, its up to the game developers to, well, develop the game and outsmart the playerbase in order to promote conflict and engagement.

A lot of us waited with eagerness for some sign that CCP Games had a plan, that there was a solution to the horrible stagnation the game had fallen into in the last few years. The Las Vegas convention was seen as the place where CCP Games would unveil real solutions. We held out collective breath for the presentations and we got… Nothing. Absolutely nothing constructive was said in EVE Vegas. The entire event might as well have been cancelled. Instead of a roadmap or some acknowledgement of the rot EVE Online is in, we got a roadmap to a roadmap. Yes, we got a presentation about how CCP Games will implement short term roadmaps. I wish I were kidding.

That was it – the moment something broke inside me. The moment when I knew the game was well and truly gone because its developers have abandoned it. CCP Falcon’s resignation afterwards only cemented this feeling. CCP Falcon was the face of EVE Online and one of the main points of contact with the company for the community. Hate him or love him, he at least engaged with the playerbase. His departure pretty much created a gap between the community and the company. That void could not be easily filled especially after other community managers had either left or were let go in the last couple of years. With the last bridge burned, there was not even the pretense that the company was listening to us.

Which leads us here, to that moment where a frustrated, tired player gets sent a tweet of a CCP Games employee. All that anger, all that frustration with the state of the game, with the lack of an outlet, with that feeling of abandonment just comes out in one ugly tweet. An unnecessary tweet which demeaned an innocent employee and saw malice where there was none. A tweet that sought to hurt people that really had nothing to do with the situation the game is in.

The people who did mismanage the game, the people who are deserving of a good tongue lashing have been deaf to the community’s plight from the start. They already sold off the game and are moving on to make a new game which they’d either ruin later on or fail from the start as they done so many times in the past. They are the ones hiding behind people like CCP Falcon and CCP Oracle, using them as disposable human shields while they count the money they make from stock options and bonuses. They have shown a complete lack of care for the community that sprung around their game and attribute the success of the game to their genius instead of the hard work of both developers and players in keeping the game going all those years in spite of the lack of leadership shown above.

It is those people I should, and am, angry at but its exactly those kind of people that won’t listen to my rage at the continued decline of the game and community I’ve come to cherish. You can certainly see why and how its frustrating. That said, none of this is an excuse to lash at total strangers who probably have nothing to do with it all.

Once again I am sorry CCP Oracle for the tweet. I am sure that much like other developers in CCP Games, you were a player yourself who dreamt of working in the company developing the game and finally achieved this dream only to be hurled abuse by anonymous idiots on the net. I hope my apology will go some way into alleviating this.

The House Always Wins

Looks like gambling is back on the menu!

Recently, CCP Games posted a new developer blog introducing the HyperNet thus resurrecting gambling in EVE Online. I wrote resurrecting because EVE Online already had a robust gambling scene in the past. Third party sites set up and managed by players offered a variety of gambling options from playing poker, taking part in lotteries and raffles, to betting on sporting events; real and in-game ones. All of this was done without developer intervention and using what few tools there were in-game for it.

The boom of EVE Online casinos would come to influence the game’s politics, the massive profits sparking a long and arduous war that by its end would see the Imperium, one of the biggest player coalitions ever, defeated and driven out of its north eastern strongholds. Defeated, but not destroyed. That said, in 2016 the party came to a close when out of game events forced CCP Games to ban the entire operation, shuttering many sites.

The event, for those interested, was a scandal involving the Counter Strike: Global Offensive skin gambling sites and several prominent video creators in the community. The skins for the game could be traded between players using real currency, leading to a robust market. It wouldn’t take long for sites to set up to allow people to gamble for said skins. Several video creators with large audiences promoted said sites and made videos showing them winning big prizes, neglecting to mention that they either owned or were partnered with said sites. Not only was there an issue about disclosure, but many suspected that the lotteries could, and were, possibly rigged for the purpose of the videos in order to dupe impressionable viewers, many of whom were teenagers.

This scandal got wide media attention, and later government one as legislators began eyeing the unregulated videogame market with its loot boxes and microtransactions aimed at exploiting the poor impulse control of teenagers and gambling addiction of adults. Though it would take a few years for countries to begin actual legislation in the field, the added scrutiny would be a welcomed change to an industry that was (and lets face it, still is) consumed by greed.

CCP Games got ahead of the curve by rightfully banning gambling in the game and thus escaping embarrassing headlines and possible fines or age restrictions added in many countries around the world where it operates. For a while, things seemed okay, well, in the standard that a slowly burning trash fire might seem okay. However on the 27th of November, CCP Games made its announcement and all hell broke loose. Well I write all hell, in reality just a heavily commented thread on the new feature as well as a few reddit posts. Who says EVE Online isn’t dead.

The scheme works like this: HyperNet will be a fun place where players can set up and buy tickets for raffles. The raffles will be player made of in-game items. In order to set up a raffle, players have to purchase the number of HyperNet Cores corresponding to the item’s value. Cores can only be bought from the New Eden Store (NES, formerly NEX) via PLEX (Player License EXtension, never said CCP Games were clever with their acronyms) or from market resellers. Once the raffle is up, players buy HyperNet Nodes, i.e. tickets, with in-game currency. When all the tickets, I mean nodes, are sold, the raffle occurs and a randomly generated number decides which ticket, I mean node, was the lucky winner. The winner then gets the item in their hangar (though in the station where the raffle was created to eliminate item teleportation).

I have to give it to CCP Games, it really managed to make one hell of a scummy, poorly thought of, system. PLEX is an in-game resource that can only be generated via paying real money then re-sold on the market. The HyperNet cores require PLEX to be purchased and the costlier the item, the more cores needed, meaning more PLEX is required to set up the raffle. Not only as a friend commented is that an unfair tax levied on the person setting up the raffle, it also devalues the in-game economy, not to mention re-introduce gambling into EVE Online. This of course is meant to fuel demand for PLEX (which may be dropping with decrease in player activity) which will tempt people to generate more PLEX by, of course, buying it from CCP Games and offsetting subscription loses. Truly genius.

Players of course, have begun defending the practice because many fans are dumb, and the dumbest sycophants really tie their identity and human worth to an aging, broken videogame that is past its prime. The excuses made in the name of an immoral feature are really mind boggling but I think I’ll tackle a few of the prominent ones. That said I’ll be doing this without harping too much about the immorality of gambling or the actual psychological damage it does too much. I know this is akin to writing “I don’t want to criticize the moral aspects of cannibalism as much as its hygienic practices” but it is sort of.

Its not gambling – It is. Full stop. Period. Exclamation mark! Raffles and lotteries are gambling. Here is a simple test: Does it cost money to take part in and do you win something out of it? If the answer is yes, then it is gambling. I know this a hard concept to wrap the head around but gambling is pretty much any game where winning is largely dictated by chance and involves money. You might say that in EVE Online it shouldn’t be counted as gambling since money in the game is all made up but I counter this with the next argument:

EVE Online money isn’t real – The next goalpost is to simply say that the Interstellar Kredit (or ISK for short) isn’t real and thus has no real life value. That is not even remotely true and anyone holding this notion should probably be completely ignored and/or shunned from polite society. ISK has a real life value because CCP Games has made an exchange rate between PLEX and real money. Since PLEX is sold on EVE Online markets for ISK, we have a direct translation of worth. At time of writing 1 PLEX was sold around 3,500,000.00 ISK. Since the smallest batch of PLEX sold at the cash shop is 500 for 19.99$ dollars, 1$ can be converted to 87,500,000.00 ISK. Fact is, CCP Games often advertised many of the big fights in EVE Online as having real money equivalency, bragging about losses mounting to thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars in assets. It can’t just now run away from it when its inconvenient. That is not how life works.

Its a closed economy – Demolish the first two defenses and the defenders quickly retreat behind the idea that EVE Online is a closed economy, or more correctly, semi closed since real money comes in but value can’t be taken out. Again, this is erroneous to such a degree that it makes me think that the defenders of this feature are either children or have child like intellect. In the legal definition they are right, but legal definitions are like expiration dates, followed by most people but ignored by some. The fact is there exists a whole grey market in EVE Online that enables converting ISK back into real money. Sure its illegal, sure its risky and those caught are often banned, yet the illegal activity in EVE Online hasn’t decreased and in fact certain sectors of it have seen a marked increase in recent years that not accounting for them is pure stupid.

Its legal – When all previous arguments fail, cry “Its legal” in a nonsensical defiance of criticism. Of course gambling is legal IN SOME STATES. That means that in other countries its illegal. What more, many countries have recently moved to ban or legislate gambling in videogames and bringing back gambling to a game that already banned it once in such a stormy climate is truly stupid. Not to mention that in some countries gambling is heavily regulated in order to protect minors. Considering EVE Online doesn’t have a uniform rating around the globe with some countries allowing minors to play the game and you can almost see the negative headlines and future lawsuits coming. It only takes one case of a minor using the HyperNet and sinking their parents’ credit card to start a riot, and justifiably so.

It will fund more development – Stop. Stop right there. Moving from questions of legality, we arrive at the fanciful idea that the money generated from gambling will fund more developers for the game, thus tackling many of the major problems plaguing EVE Online. This is a fantasy, full stop. Let’s forget for a moment that CCP Games had been bought by Pearl Abyss, a Korean gaming giant with deep pockets that can easily fund more development for the game, the idea that this extra revenue will be funneled into game development and not investor pockets is laughable. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver already showed what happened to state controlled lotteries aiming to increase public revenue for education only to squander those funds, but you are telling me a for profit entity that doesn’t have the pretense of serving the public is going to invest those funds better!? At this point you aren’t deluded, you are disingenuous and possibly a lobbyist for CCP Games.

Case in point, how state lotteries work to harm communities

At this point there is nothing left to argue. There are no further excuses that can be made in defense of this feature. If anything, there are only things to argue against it, like the fact its immoral. Yes, I wrote that I wouldn’t harp on it and I haven’t. I mostly addressed the arguments head on without moralizing but the reality is, gambling is immoral. There is a reason why many countries legislate it and restrict it. Gambling is a real issue for people with addiction issues. Teenagers exposed to it are more susceptible to it and the way the videogame industry had implemented it was done purposefully to target vulnerable populations in order to squeeze as much cash as possible from them. You’ve all heard terms such as “whales” and “dolphins” dehumanizing problem gamblers. If you watch Jim Sterling’s video on the issue you’d see both the ways the industry sees us, the consumers, through such mechanics and the real human cost it incurs.

Jim Sterling exposing both the predatory practices of the gaming industry and the real damage it causes

We banned gambling from EVE Online once when we saw the dangers of it. Letting it back now, when the legal field surrounding it is even choppier is a signal from CCP Games to us, the players. Its a signal telling us that the company won’t tackle the important issues that plague the game but is instead investing resources in harmful mechanics, both to the players and the health of the game, to further monetize said player base. Its basically an admission that the company is either unable or unwilling to face the desolation that is the current state of affairs but it wants to keep increasing its profits. Now can I interest you in some HyperNet nodes?

The Moomin Meta Game Failure of our Time

Moomin Amatin is what you get when you mix a dictionary with a kool-aid bottle

Disclaimer: Salivan Harddin is a member of Snuffed Out [B B C], a former member of Pandemic Legion [-10.0] and is acquainted with penifSMASH (we talked like, twice, omg bias!)

If you’ve played EVE Online for the last month and tried to keep up with any of the game’s news, the banning of Brisc Rubal would probably be something you’d be aware of. Not only did it make the rounds in the New Eden media circles, but even gotten coverage from the wider gaming press. To give you a short synopsis, Brisc Rubal is a member of The Initiative. [INIT.] which is part of the Imperium coalition that elected him to the Council of Stellar Management (CSM), a body that discusses and debates upcoming changes to the game with the developers as well as acting as a conduit for the woes of the playerbase. Since it gets privileged information, the players are bound by non disclosure agreements (NDAs). That said, the CSM had been embroiled with plenty of controversy since its establishment, with Brisc Rubal seemingly the latest in a long line of players to take advantage of their position to leak privileged information for personal gain. Of course, if you did follow the saga to its eventual conclusion, you would have learned that Brisc Rubal was actually innocent all along.

Of course, following the exoneration, people wanted to know who told on Brisc, and why? Theories cropped up and it all culminated in a confrontation between Killah Bee and Hy Wanto Destroyer on the Meta Show. I can’t comment on the regular quality of a show produced by the dregs of New Eden, also known as Imperium News Network (INN for short, flaming pile of trash for accuracy), but it was a bizarre episode. Killah Bee, himself a member of CSM, inadvertently confessed that he informed CCP Games on the possible breach following a conversation he had with penifSMASH on the upcoming changes to high angle weapons (HAW). As it turned out, penifSMASH had acquired Dark Shines’, one of The Initiative’s fleet commanders who got banned alongside Brisc Rubal, Molok titan and regretted it. The rest, as they say, is history. Killah Bee informed CCP Games, CCP Games banned Brisc Rubal and another two players, one of which is the aforementioned Dark Shines, and a whole rollercoaster of speculation and backpadeling ensued.

Of course, mentioning penifSMASH’s name to The Mittani, one of the two hosts of the show, was enough to to cause the latter a stroke. I admit, I have never seen a grown man so enraged and possibly coked out of his mind. He flew into a rage, grilling Hy Wanto Destroyer for details and just constantly shouting that he is The Mittani and he needs no evidence because he is The Mittani! I mean, it would be entertaining if it wasn’t so pathetic. This is the leader of the largest coalition in EVE Online, a man boy so out of touch with the game that he has to assert that he knows whats up while obviously being utterly lost and trying desperately to gather crumbs of information from Hy Wanto Destroyer’s mutterings.

https://clips.twitch.tv/DaintyBoldEagleYouDontSay (I tried embedding it half a dozen time but either I am retarded or WordPress is)
He is The Mittani, he knows everything! (except not)

So why The Mittani was so enraged? Well there is a lot of bad blood between penifSMASH and The Mittani harkoning back to the days of GoonSwarm [OHGOD] when The Mittani was treated with the seriousness he deserved: None. Its not really clear to me what happened during those times and in the few public conversation penifSMASH had which I witnessed, he only said that the anger was justified, which already shows that penifSMASH, unlike The Mittani, is healthy enough to recognize when he is in the wrong and like a decent human being, own it and move on. I know this seems petty but as we go down the Moomin rabbit hole it will all make sense.

Regardless The Mittani, still upset and coming down hard from his drug fueled craze (allegedly), sent his lackeys to write a hit piece blaming the entire event on penifSMASH because of reasons. Thus enters Moomin Amatin, a sad little man so desperate to get The Mittani’s approval that he’d go to any lengths to appease his master.

Now I haven’t really followed Moomin’s career in INN closely because I have much better things to do with my life but I am no stranger to his writings. He has the Sion Kumitomo problem of needing to sound intellectual. You know the type; uses big words, long sentences and a lot of hyperbole. I get it, anyone who writes has that phase when they try to show that they are really smart. However most good writers grow the fuck out of it. For Moomin, that style is his life. His self esteem hangs on it!

Moomin goes about investigating the same way inspector Clouseau goes about gathering evidence: Like a blithering idiot. Once he gets the expected responses from penifSMASH and Hy Wanto Destroyer (that is, fuck all) he goes on to write his spin piece how it was all a clever ploy by penifSMASH who hates The Initiative because of reasons and how Hy Wanto Destroyer is nursing a snake and should act before its too late or The Initiative will have no reason to trust him and so forth. To be frank I skimmed most of the article because it was the most amateurish, blatant propaganda and disinformation piece I’ve ever seen, worthy of Fox News. Fuck the evidence, he is The Mittani!

Usually I’d just scoff at such blatant stupidity put on full display and leave a disparaging remark, insulting the intelligence and integrity of the writer, which I did. Of course my very respectful and totally innocent comment got deleted by the moderators who are obviously the enemies of free speech (when goons get banned, but weirdly not when others do), but I shrugged it off and made jokes about oppression to my fellow Snuffed Out pilots. However being linked excerpts of the article and reading them thoroughly as well as the comments of the imbeciles buying this blatant cow shit (equal opportunity insulter) made me quite mad. I admit it, I got angry.

Very respectful!

I got angry because, in the end, I care for the truth. I care for the whole story to be told in the most neutral and impartial way. That is why I have kept off writing about the whole Brisc Rubal situation since things kept developing and I felt like I didn’t have a complete grasp of the entire affair, which as it turns out, I didn’t. Its why I write battle reports on the New Eden Report, tired of spin, hype and general inaccuracies and wanting to do justice by the pilots and fleet commanders who actually participate in those struggles. Because I’d like to think it all matters in the end.

You might think its a bit naive of me, and you may be right. Yet the fact Moomin blatantly misconstrued the truth and sought to create a vast conspiracy theory with penifSMASH at its center is something I feel shouldn’t be overlooked, but used to repeatedly bash him until his empty skull caves in, in-game of course.

The problem with Moomin’s article, besides the fact his reasoning skills are limited by the tiny oxygen intake his mouth breathing allows him, is that it undermines itself. Moomin has no evidence to work with so he keeps insinuating, using the pilot’s employment history as some sort of evidence. He has no ability to process the idea that people can, and often do, change their perspectives and relationships. He also can’t point to any “End Game” plan that penifSMASH supposedly has. I mean if you are accusing him of conspiring to take down The Initiative and failing, at least explain what purpose it would serve in the grand scheme of things.

Moomin can’t do that of course, because Moomin is a propagandist. He is the Joseph Goebbels of INN, only able to spout lies that convince the faithful, the converted, the indoctrinated. Buying into his own kool-aid, he had long thrown away any critical thinking skills he possessed, if ever. Thus, the uncreative hack fraud works to keep the line members happy by spooking them with the specter of penifSMASH. He is also trying to drive a wedge between The Initiative and Snuffed Out, to keep the former chained forever in service of the Imperium. After all, The Initiative is a much better organized, more experienced PvP group in the Imperium. Though the Imperium has a few gifted fleet commanders and special interest groups (SIGs) of its own, The Initiative is still a formidable power within the coalition and losing it will cripple the coalition somewhat.

Thus Moomin works to saw the seeds of doubt and fear. Snuffed Out is bad! It tried to take down your leadership! It tried to destroy you with the dreaded “meta game”, a term so frequently misused as to be devoid of any meaning it once had. Fear the outsider, trust in the coalition, after all when was the last time The Mittani had led you astray (2015 and 2016 called, wants to know why you never call them back). Snuffed Out doesn’t have your best interests in mind, and so forth and so forth. God, just writing this down makes me want to go and chug a bottle of bleach to kill the brain cells dedicated to his infantile writing.

Yet for all of Moomin’s ramblings, he can offer nothing, no insight. I kept wanting to shout time and again: WHY MOOMIN, WHY IS HE DOING ALL OF THAT!? No answer of course. To answer the question would simply raise more questions. The reality is penifSMASH finally bought a shiny Molok only to be disappointed by his purchase and complaining to his friend Killah Bee which was a lapse in judgement, nothing more. Twisting it to some nefarious plot is a skill Moomin doesn’t possess. You need actual brains to try and and concoct a good conspiracy out of it, and brains are sadly something Moomin wasn’t blessed with.

The most insulting bit is the fact that there is no artistry to these lies, no delicacy or some complexity. Its so blatant, so obvious that it infuriates me that such scumbags get away with it. That they are considered a legitimate news site while in reality being a third tier tabloid rag. When you make The Sun look respectable in comparison, you done fucked up. Just to take a page from their playbook, I am going to show you how their loaded questions work:

Is Moomin Amatin a pedophile? Does he molest little girls or boys? Is he a member of an EVE Online pedophile ring that includes Dirk MacGirk and Xenuria? Is The Mittani aware that there is a pedophile ring operating in Goonswarm Federation [CONDI] and what does he plan to do about it? After all he is the leader of the alliance and the coalition. I mean, I am only asking questions!

Jesus Dirk! https://www.reddit.com/r/Eve/comments/bihnq3/maximum_overdirk_reaching_new_levels_someone_call/

This is what he does. This is what INN does. They keep insinuating and planting seeds of doubt and division. They have no evidence, no real knowledge or facts. Yet they push relentlessly the most absurd theories and notions to insulate their captive audience. When you call out their bullshit and expose it as what it really is, they hide behind the “Just asking questions” tag, feigning shock horror that you’d go and trample on their sacred freedom to ask misleading, loaded and malicious questions to lead their gullible flock.

There is no good faith basis here, no equal valley where we can meet and discuss facts, they don’t care about facts! These people are so twisted and deranged that they have convinced themselves and others that the entire game is against them. Everything that happens in the game is some sort of ploy or scheme to hurt them. Nothing is their fault! World War Bee? You mean the Casino War which CCP Games endorsed! The developers themselves are against us! More whining, more crying and of course, always spin things.

Some of you would wonder, well, why? Why do they do these things? The simple answer is fear. These are mentally ill people who invested their entire image and identity in the game. They built their thrones on lies and misappropriated credit and fear their exposure. People on the know how, people who had helped build those empires only to see themselves marginalized and thrown out are treated like the enemy. Endie, Darius JOHNSON, penifSMASH, all part of the founders of GoonSwarm, all treated like traitors and mentally ill. Because they know the truth, thus they must be discredited, persecuted and destroyed. Because they can see the emperor has no clothes and allegedly snorting cocaine.

Thus they have their useful idiots like Moomin spout off propaganda for the masses to consume and remain ignorant while suppressing any shred of the truth. Create narratives, build that “us” versus “them” mentality and always be vigilant of penifSMASH, for he may pop up behind you and snag your Vexor navy issue! The sad part this seems to work, but I’d be damned if I’d allow it to go on unchallenged.

Now when is The Mittani going to address the rampant pedophilia going on in his alliance? Just asking questions!

(I am in no way insinuating that The Mittani uses recreational drugs or that Moomin Amatin is a pedophile. Not so sure about Xenuria and Dirk McGirk though…)

News: Providence Bloc and Phoebe Freeport Republic Clash Head On in D-GTMI

D-GTMI system, Providence region. On the 11th of July at 22:00 EVE Standard Time, forces belonging to Phoebe Freeport Republic [PFR] and Providence Bloc clashed in the system over a Sovereignty Blockade Unit.

The
fight began as an event for [PFR]’s academy, which was celebrating a
graduation cycle and wished to fight Providence Bloc, choosing an
Amarrian motif for its fleet. 57 pilots assembled in an array of Amrrian
ships, with 3 Triage Archon Carriers and a Fenrir Freighter filled with
spirits. The fleet made its way from the 4-CM8I system in Scalding Pass to the D-GTMI system in Providence without an incident.

The Original Post for the Event

The
Fleet Commander for [PFR] attempted to arrange a fight with Providence
Bloc, but was ignored and subsequently banned from the diplomacy channel
of Providence Bloc by moderators. Attempts by other fleets members
resulted in the same pattern. This caused the [PFR] fleet to attempt and
draw Providence Bloc’s attention in another way. Since D-GTMI had
defensive Sovereignty Blockade Units already present in the system, the
[PFR] fleet decided to shoot the station, hoping to alert Providence
Bloc and cause it to form.

After a while though, with no apparent
response, the [PFR] fleet moved to the Sovereignty Blockade Units on the
T-RPFU gate and started applying damage to it, hoping to at least have a
killmail out of it. However, by this time Providence Bloc had already
formed, a 60 pilot mixed Cerberus Heavy Assault Cruiser and Caracal
Cruiser fleet. The force quickly made its why towards the system,
swelling its ranks as it burned forwards.

Deciding not to jump
head long into the [PFR] force, the Providence Bloc fleet took a detour,
attempting to enter the system through FSW-3C.
And yet, the [PFR] force may have had a spy on the Providence Bloc
force, as their fleet relocated to the FSW-3C gate. Luckily, the [PFR]
force was quite a way from the gate, allowing the Providence Bloc fleet
to enter safely and start the fight.

The two sides fought for a
while, the [PFR] fleet completely outgunned and out ranged by the
kitting Cruisers, who ripped apart the Amarrian ships with their missile
salvos. Even with the prevalence of Triage Carriers on the field, the
damage proved too great. Another factor that went against the [PFR]
fleet was the Providence Bloc Stealth Bomber wing, which accompanied the
main fleet and carried bombing runs on the [PFR] fleet.

The Fighting over the FSW-3C Gate

With most
of their sub-capital support gone, the Providence Bloc fleet went to
work on the [PFR] Carriers, taking down the cynosural field mobile
inhibitor and bringing their own Capitals into the system. One after the
other, the [PFR] Carriers were destroyed, the entire [PFR] fleet
decimated.
With no more hostiles left to fight, the Providence
Bloc fleet returned to its staging system, having secured the system
once more.

Battle report for the D-GTMI system can be found here.

The
Battle lasted 40 minutes, with local seeing around 200 pilots at the
height of the battle and Time Dilation not reported as a major issue.

[PFR]
lost nearly the entirety of its fleet, 58 ships including 3 Triage
Carriers and a Freighter, for a total of 12.63Bil ISK damage. Providence
Bloc losses were only 12 ships, mostly Stealth Bombers and Interdictors
totaling at 600Mil ISK damage.

It seems both sides managed to
achieve their objectives, with Providence Bloc defending its sovereignty
while [PFR] getting the fight it wanted, though not in the format it
wished for.

With FozzieSov around the corner and the so-called
impending invasion of the Imperium to the region, this may have been the
last “fun” big fight in the region for the near future.

News Bulletin: corebloodbrothers, State of the Region, Looming Imperium Invasion

Since the departure of Northern Coalition(dot) [NC] from the area, things have calmed down in the Providence region. Thus, not much has transpired during the passing week, giving Providence pilots a much needed breather after nearly two months of constant fighting. The things that did happen, were either unimportant enough to merit their own post or were already covered by other major news outlets.

The EVE Scribe has gathered all of the events into one news bulletin to keep the pilots of Providence up to date with the occurrences in the region.

corebloodbrothers Resigns his Seat on CSM X

In a move that surprised all, corebloodbrothers announced his resignation from the Council of Stellar Management 10, also known as CSM X. corebloodbrothers cited demands on his time and an inability to balance them with his work on the CSM X as the main reason for choosing to quit the council.

With his resignation, Providence Bloc loses its voice on the council, with the candidate most likely to succeed his seat being a representative of High Security space interests,Lorelei Ierendi. The full resignation letter can be found on EVE News 24.

State of the Providence Region

On the 2nd of July, the G-5EN2 system, the first system conquered by [NC] during its campaign, was finally re-claimed by Providence Bloc forces. This marked the official end of the war between the two entities, with all systems in the region once more safely in Providence Bloc’s control.

With [NC]’s departure, large scale conflicts have subsided in the region, allowing its residents to re-build and resume their peaceful activities. With Pandemic Horde [REKTD] and Spectre Fleet otherwise engaged, it seems Providence Bloc will enjoy the peace for a few more weeks at least.

Pending Imperium Invasion

Only recovering from one war, and already reports are coming in of the Imperium’s preparations to invade the region. The residents of Providence had been reporting increased Imperium activity as well as spikes in border systems, such as Esa in the Tash-Murkon region.

The system’s close proximity to the Providence region and the Amarr system in Domain which serves as an important trade hub for the South of New Eden, makes it an ideal staging area for sub-capital operations. The station in the system has historically served as the home base for several anti-Providence groups.

As the sovereignty mechanic changes, termed FozzieSov, will probably be implemented next week, bar no further delay, Providence Bloc may face a full scale invasion of its space, as Imperium forces hope to study and perfect the new system in order to protect their holdings in the future, using the region as their testing ground.

This may mean that the coming weeks may make the past two months look like a picnic in comparison. Only time will tell.

The EVE Scribe will keep you posted.

Lorelei Ierendi

News: Northern Coalition(dot) Re-Deploys, Drops Sovereignty in Providence

Providence region. Northern Coalition(dot) [NC] announced its new deployment, moving away from the Providence region and to the system of Litom in the Curse region. While [NC] assets haven’t moved yet, sovereignty dropped in several systems, allowing Providence Bloc to grab them.

On the 29th Providence Bloc managed to re-gain BK4-YC system. The system was left undefended by [NC] forces, allowing Providence Bloc to capture it without a fight.

On the 30th, [NC] ceded sovereignty over KBP7-G and Y-MPWL systems, which Providence Bloc was quick to re-claim.

The only system in Providence currently remaining in [NC]’s hands is the G-5EN2 system, which was the first to fall in the campaign. Its eventual re-capture will symbolize the end of the war between [NC] and Providence Bloc.

Providence Bloc forces have kept an eye on the situation, but no major action has been taken against [NC] assets in the region so far. It seems Providence Bloc leadership is awaiting the [NC] convoys to leave Hasateem, thus ensuring [NC] has actually re-deployed.

The news of the deployment came as no big shock, with the entire conflict growing stale as time went on. The question is what does [NC] expect to achieve with its move to the Curse region, which operates as an important junction from which both the East, South East and North East of New Eden can be accessed.

While no comment was given by [NC], Providence Bloc leadership had stated that [NC] proved to be a strong and tough opponent, whose tight fleet compositions, professionalism, commitment and experience proved to be an immense challenge. Providence Bloc had fought hard, and lost a lot, but also manged to win against the odds at times. In summary, it was a war where both sides showed respect for each other, and afterwards come new challenges and new enemies.

News: Providence Bloc and Northern Coalition(dot) Continue to Fight over KBP7-G

KBP7-G system, Providence region. On the 28th of June, at 19:00 EVE
Standard Time, Providence Bloc and Northern Coalition(dot) [NC] clashed once
more over the fate of the KBP7-G system.

Providence Bloc
went on the offensive in a bid to reclaim its lost systems. BK4-YC,
Y-MPWL and KBP7-G systems were put into reinforced mode by Providence Bloc, with the KBP7-G Infrastructure Hub coming out of reinforced on the 28th.

Providence Bloc organized a full scale attack in order to reclaim the system. It had assembled a
full Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet with a Stealth Bomber wing and E-War Frigates, all
told around 300 pilots. The force made its way towards KBP7-G in order
to force the Infrastructure Hub into its second timer.

[NC] wasn’t
sitting idle either and organized a fleet of its own to defend the system, a Loki Strategic
Cruiser fleet reaching nearly 100 pilots. The force bridged into the
system before Providence Bloc’s arrival, settling on the XHQ-7V gate the only point of entry for Providence Bloc, in
anticipation of the incoming hostiles.

Providence
Bloc jumped into the system and the awaiting [NC] fleet, its bomber wing landing a Void bomb run, which drained
the capacitor of most of the Lokis, switching off their armor hardeners.
The Providence Bloc Ishtars then de-cloaked, dropped sentry drones and
anchored up, starting the fight.

At first, the Ishtars managed to volley
Lokis and Logistic ships, seemingly winning the battle. However as time
went on, this changed. The [NC] Lokis
started tanking better, their Logistics getting on the ball. Providence
Bloc on the other hand, was doing poorly. With all their fleet anchors
webbed, the Ishtars remained in close proximity to the Lokis, which
proved fatal

After a brief exchange with mounting losses the Ishtars finally managed to gain some distance from the [NC] fleet. Attempts to break the Lokis’ tank with fresh sets of drones proved futile, thus the
Providence Bloc Fleet Commander made the call to disengage, leading the
fleet to warp off to an asteroid belt then to the XHQ-7V gate.

[NC]
attempted to give chase, managing to snag stragglers but the main
Providence Bloc fleet managed to jump out of the system and dock up,
conceding the field. With Providence Bloc defeated, [NC] brought their
Super Carriers and quickly removed the Providence Bloc Sovereignty
Blockade Units in the system, securing it for themselves once more.

With this, both fleet safely extracted, ending large scale hostilities in the region.

The Battle from the Providence Bloc PoV, Courtesy of Mangraa Dementia

Battle report for the KBP7-G system can be found here.

All
told, the system saw 400 pilots in local, with Time Dilation reaching up to 40% during the fighting. From start to end, the
battle lasted 30 minutes.

Providence Bloc
lost 83 ships, including 31 Ishtars, for a total of 9.04 Bil ISK damage.
[NC] lost 9 ships, including 3 Lokis, for a total of 5.24 Bil ISK
damage.

After the battle it became apparent
that the [NC] fleet was prepared for Providence Bloc’s Ishtar fleet, as
the Loki fit was meant to counter the use of sentry drone damage,
specifically Bouncer and Curator sentry drones. This allowed the [NC]
fleet to tank the incoming damage from the Ishtar fleet and along with
webbing their anchors, forced Providence Bloc to fight close range at first, where
the Lokis had a clear advantage.

Reports from both fleets indicate that fire was split between targets, which allowed both Logistics teams to keep ships alive in their respective fleets far longer. This is another reason for the low damage output, especially on Providence Bloc’s side.

Though
Providence Bloc lost both the field and the strategic objective, with
talks of [NC] deploying to a different region of space, it may be able
to regain its conquered systems as [NC]’s Super Capital umbrella is
expected to vanish. Without it, Providence Bloc may be able to field
its main doctrines, which were abandoned due to the pervasive use of
Super Carriers by [NC] during their deployment, granting them an actual
fighting chance.

The EVE Scribe will continue to update on the situation as it develops.

Special thanks Mangraa Dementia, of Blue Tridents, Sev3rance, for supplying the video footage

News: Providence Bloc Defeated in 9UY4-H

Disclaimer: Due to scarcity of reports, the numbers in the article are evaluations only. The events transcribed are based on the few witness accounts given, apologies in advance for any and all inaccuracies.

9UY4-H system, Providence region. On the 26th of June, at 18:00 EVE Standard Time, forces belonging to Providence Bloc clashed once more with Northern Coalition(dot) [NC] in the system, leading to a ruinous defeat.

[NC] forces had deployed Sovereignty Blockade Units in the system, in an attempt to provoke a fight from Providence Bloc. This worked, as Providence Bloc organized an Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet, estimated at 120 pilots.

The force arrived in the system and worked on removing Sovereignty Blockade Units from the gates, managing to destroy one before [NC] forces showed, bridging a Tempest Fleet Issue Battleship fleet into the 4B-NQN system next door, estimated at 60 pilots with Triage Carrier support.

The [NC] force jumped into the 9UY4-H system, the Triage Archons de-cloaking first before the rest of the fleet. The [NC] fleet however, was greeted by Providence Bloc, who had reports on it and already prepared in advance on the gate.

The battle started with Providence Bloc managing to volley off a couple of Battleships before the [NC] fleet could anchor up properly. Once it did, it managed to stabilize, the Triage Carriers doing their job properly.

In contrast, the Providence Bloc fleet was hemorrhaging ships. An attempt to warp off the field and back at zero on the [NC] fleet in order perhaps, to get below the Battleships guns and negating their tracking, miserably failed – Resulting in slaughter.

Quickly, the Isthar fleet decided to warp across the system, forcing the much slower Battleships to give chase, at the same time a Stealth Bomber wing was working diligently to remove one of the Sovereignty Blockade Units, thus securing the system.

To aid in buying time, Interdcitors kept the Triage Carriers under interdiction probes, sacrificing ships to force them to stay in place. Since the Triage Carriers were the backbone of the Logistics team of the [NC] fleet, this delayed their attempts to re-engage.

Managing to destroy the second Sovereignty Blockade Unit and thus secure the system, Providence Bloc retreated, conceding the field to [NC]. Thus, [NC] forces returned to the 4B-NQN gate in order to guard their last remaining Sovereignty Blockade Unit.

However, this was not the end of hostilities for the night, as the Providence Bloc fleet reshipped to Naga Battlecruisers and returned to the field. A second battle flared up, with Providence Bloc warping to the [NC] fleet on the 4B-NQN gate in close range an opening fire, managing to volley off Battleships but trading many Naga Battlecruisers in return.

As damage output decreased due to losses, Providence Bloc was unable to break the tank of the Battleships and once more retreated, leaving the field for [NC] to hold. Having gotten the fight they wished for, [NC] forces extracted safely, ending hostilities for the night.

Battle report for the 9UY4-H system can be found here.

The battle lasted nearly an hour, with the system hosting less than 300 pilots in local and Time Dilation not reported as a major issue.

Providence Bloc lost 84 ships including 29 Battlecruisers and 24 Isthars for a total of 12.38 Bil ISK. [NC] lost 13 ships including 4 Battleships for a total of 2.45 Bil ISK.

Providence Bloc managed to secure the system, its strategic objective, but at a cost. [NC], on the other hand, got the fight it wished for and managed to hold the field.

As the two entities continue to fight, it remains to be seen how this war concludes. The EVE Scribe will keep you up to date on developments.

Update: KBP7-G Status

KBP7-G system, Providence region. On the 24th of June, the system fell to Northern Coalition(dot) [NC] forces unopposed.

Providence Bloc fought [NC] every step of the way, but after the station was taken and the Territorial Claim Unit destroyed, had to concede the system.

Click for Killmail

While there may have been a chance to delay the [NC] Territorial Claim Units from reaching online status, [NC] had them deployed on a heavily fortified tower (Also known as a deathstar). At the same time, a timer was coming up for a station in the BK4-YC system, and the Providence Bloc Fleet Commanders decided to abandon the KBP7-G system in favor of wrestling BK4-YC back.

At this stage 3 of the 4 systems connection the Providence region to Empire space have been taken over by [NC], for what purpose none but [NC] can tell. Regardless, Providence Bloc continues to fight [NC] forces daily, resisting their advance. The EVE Scribe will keep you posted.

News: Providence Bloc and Northern Coalition(dot) Clash over BK4-YC

MVCJ-E system, Providence region. On the 24th of June, 21:30 EVE Standard Time, forces belonging to Providence Bloc and Northern Coalition(dot) [NC] clashed in the system in a brawl that showed much effusion of blood and destruction.

The fight began with Providence Bloc attempting to regain the BK4-YC system, which it lost a few days before. The station was leaving its first
reinforcement timer, and Providence Bloc forces were moving in to push
it into its second timer.

Providence Bloc brought a 150 pilot
Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet, with a Stealth Bomber wing for
support. [NC] forces were aware of Providence Bloc’s attempts, and
decided to use the timer to get a fight, the system itself holding
little significance for them.

[NC] brought an estimated 70 pilot
Loki Strategic Cruiser fleet and set up on the 2-TEGJ gate in the MVCJ-E
system. The system is the only point of entry to the BK4-YC system, and
the 2-TEGJ gate itself was the most probable point of entry for the
Providence Bloc fleet, which was spotted in the 9UY4-H system clearing a hostile tower as it was slowly forming up.

Providence
Bloc made its way as theorized to the MVCJ-E system, their Fleet
Commander getting reports of the awaiting [NC] fleet. However, he made the decision to
jump into the system anyway, starting the fight. The Providence Bloc
Ishtars quickly anchored as they entered system, losing a few ships as
they pulled range. Sentry drones were dropped in large clumps, making it
hard for the [NC] Lokis to find a good spot to negate their tracking
and optimal range.

The Ishtars started returning fire, managing to
break the tank both of the Logistics and the Lokis themselves. For a
while the two sides exchanged losses, Providence Bloc settling to an
alternating rhythm of Logistic ship, then Strategic Cruiser, while [NC]
busied itself with removing as many mainline ships as possible.

At
some point the [NC] fleet was getting dangerously low on Logistics
ships, and the call was made to bring Triage Archons. However, due to
the distance of the system from the [NC] staging, the Carriers had to
jump to a system a few jumps from the fight itself and make their way to
the battle.

At this point the Fleet Commanders’ opinions split.
According to the Providence Bloc Fleet Commander, [NC] brought the
Triage Carriers to the system via a cynosural beacon off grid, while the
[NC] Fleet Commander stated that they jumped via gate from
the LF-2KP system.

Regardless, both agree that the Triage Carriers arrived quite late in
the battle, thanks in part to Providence Bloc Interdictors which
deployed interdiction probes on them, preventing them to warp and join
the [NC] fleet for quite a while.

With the [NC] Triage on field,
the Lokis fared better, managing to stabilize, many saved entering deep
armor. Realizing they couldn’t be broken anymore, nor the Triage Archons
themselves and sustaining continued losses, Providence Bloc decided to
extract from the system, conceding the field to [NC] forces. [NC] itself
decided not to remove the Providence Bloc Sovereignty Blockade Unit or
repair the station, choosing instead to extract safely home, ending
large scale hostilities for the day.

Battle report for the MVCJ-E system can be found here.

During
the peak of the battle, the system saw less than 300 pilots in local,
with Time Dilation not reported as an issue. The fight itself took
nearly half an hour in total.

Providence Bloc lost 107 ships, 19
of which were Ishtars, for a total of 9.31 Bil ISK damage. [NC] suffered
28 losses, 12 of which were Strategic Cruisers, for a total of 11.37
Bil ISK damage.

Providence Bloc lost the field, but thanks to
[NC]’s decision to leave the BK4-YC station unprotected, managed to
later reinforce it, achieving the strategic objective. Special mention
has to be made of the Providence Bloc Stealth Bomber wing, whose Void
Bomb runs managed to help cap out Lokis, turning their shield off and
stopping them in their tracks.

With a new timer for the station,
it is quite possible the system will see further clashes soon by the two
sides, as the war in the Providence region continues. The EVE Scribe will keep you posted.