All is Fair

While I rarely zoom out and write ‘above’ any of the various happenings in-game in EVE both game mechanics wise, and politically speaking, in light of a few current events I feel that it’s important to take off the hat and peel back the curtain for a minute to discuss a few things on my mind.

A recent post I wrote generated a huge amount of drama in the Amarr/Minmatar media. The few opinions I shared, and the information I relayed about certain groups in the Amarr militia produced a melee of attacks against several militia members including myself and Hans Jagerblitzen –personal, verbal  attacks in-game and out of myself, as well as political attacks of Hans.



I will, again, be completely honest when I say that while I'm not opposed to making the Amarr mad—in the same way that I'm not opposed to making them mad by blowing up their ships and taking their space—(it would be silly of me to imply otherwise) my primary purpose is not to cause melodramatic raging. Those who know me know that I’m very far from being a malicious person.

I never really had a goal or purpose for this blog when I first began writing except to have a place to share my own thoughts or opinions and occasionally vent. In writing about Faction War, however, I often feel the desire to go a little beyond a few disjointed opinions and to share a slice of the Faction War ‘world’  with the rest of the EVE population--or others who might happenchance be reading.

Unfortunately, this is often a difficult task. I could choose, as others do, to remain strictly dispassionate and objective in my analysis—sticking to dry discussions on FW game mechanics or writing like an impartial FW news source. There is a place for this, and I frequently slide toward that route. But, I usually find myself wanting—needing to tell you much more. I want you to see the passionate political upheavals, the grim backstabbings, and the ongoing rage drama that is very much a part of Faction War. I don’t want just to update you on who has what systems, or who won what battle –I want you to really see all the facets of Faction War, both glorious and brutal.

Contrary to what anyone in Faction War might tell you, it’s not just about getting good fights. There are extreme elements of camaraderie and loyalty that you will not find anywhere else in this game. There are fierce components of betrayal, loss, and controversy. It’s not just about getting a good fight---good fights can be found in many places in EVE. Faction War is a rough side of the greater EVE community –full of ruthlessness--both in defending one’s friends and defeating one’s enemies.

I do not regret what I said. Much of what was said about Fweddit came from things I read from the Amarr themselves –discussions they have in open about their leadership playing other games, or being busy in Delve.  Usually I provide links and ‘proof’ of what I say –though I assure you that even when I don’t –when I allude to mails or some other artifacts, it usually means I have a mail or some other document, conversation, link or etc. I’m way too skeptical and cynical of a person to simply fly on a rumor, and I’m not clever enough to make up some sort of mysterious intel for the ulterior purposes of targeted propaganda. Zeric Sarain, who claims I efficiently, and purposefully targeted specific groups within the Amarr for maximum ‘impact’ gave me way too much credit.

While I feel that my discussion on Fweddit’s impact on the warzone has been grossly misinterpreted, I do not regret this discussion either. To not share the commonly imparted feelings of disappointment the Minmatar have of a group they were expecting to revitalize the Amarr in a much more significant way would be a misrepresentation of the people I fly with, and Faction War as a whole. We would have much preferred Fweddit to be the raging Amarrian knight that cuts through our defenses and rolls through our space—as opposed to some no-name null-sec group that has no intentions of taking Faction War seriously except for the purposes of making a buck and blithely moving on.

This is not to say that Fweddit hasn’t provided us with some enjoyable fights, nor does it mean that they have been sitting on their thumbs. But, for all their talk and early enthusiasm over taking over the world against extreme odds, Fweddit seems to have fizzled into nothing more than your average general militia lackey. I would be very happy to be proven otherwise.


What I do regret is the loss of friendship, which seems to come with the territory of writing about the controversial. While I never, ever intend or strive to single out people for personal attacks that go outside the bounds of game-play, some of what I say is taken very personally.

I grow incessantly frustrated and disgusted with the growing argumentum ad hominem stance of people like Shalee Lianne, and others –including the currently notorious fwedditer who wrote about the non-existent (and absurd) ‘exploits’ of CSM delegate Hans Jagerblitzen.  I admit (and somewhat reluctantly and laughingly so) that I recently thought of inventing an Amarrian blogger just to have someone stable to banter with. I even elicited the help of Hans at one point –I had a crazy idea to set up some sort of Demosthenes and Locke approach whereby we could hack away at hard, controversial, and drama-inducing problems without the immature responses of people who prefer to attack someone’s blogging style and personality quirks as opposed to their ideas.

I sometimes wonder if these people—these Amarr, (I realize that often a very few tend to loudly contribute to the overall perception of their Faction) will ever realize that their personal attacks, their local spamming and threats have little effect. I wonder when people will realize that entire blog posts ranting about how I am a liar and should ‘suck it’ just makes the writer thereof look petty and immature, and doesn’t really inspire remorse on my part, or even much of a thought beyond what I write here.

Not only are such outbursts unproductive, (not that every blog post needs to be productive or serious) they are counterproductive to many of the serious and legitimate concerns the Amarr might have. By portraying themselves as ridiculous crybabies, (I realize some will consider this verbiage as trolling, but there’s really no other way to describe it) they stifle their own voices and cripple their greater influence.

The louder they cry, the quicker those whose opinions do matter will go deaf to anything they have to say.

Thankfully I still have hope. (And, thankfully I have no intention of arguing with myself masquerading as an Amarr.) Reasoned responses and thoughts from people like Zeric Sarain, though perhaps sizzling with their own political undertones, have a much better chance of not only turning a few Minmatar heads, but also giving us a run for our money strategically-wise in the future.

In closing. I realize this might seem like a blog post hailing the ‘end’ of something. I assure you it is not. Perhaps it is a beginning of sorts.

If anything, the events of the last few days have only strengthened my resolve to let it all hang out, be honest, and talk about my opinions even if they make people spitting mad—or regard me as a propaganda touting troll.

If anything –I’ve held back.

And, I apologize. I apologize to my new readers, and perhaps some of my old readers who are occasionally offended and/or disgusted reading other readers’ bitter comments that follow my posts. I’m sorry if you find it hard to follow the love-hate relationships that plague inter and cross-militia culture, or are confused at the blurry boundaries between FW game-mechanic discussions and warzone politics. I’m sorry if you occasionally get lost reading the heated debates about something that seems small and insignificant, or struggle to comprehend the bigger context of Faction War with its years of flip flopping loyalties and raging media wars. I’m sorry if we occasionally seem a little nuts, in our massive thrasher or rupture gangs killing each other over and over and over again for hours over a small plot of space--only to incessantly argue about the meaning of the outcome, or the motivations of each side for weeks following.

Welcome to our world.

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