Only the Beginning

There’s nothing like returning from vacation to be greeted by a warzone abuzz with activity. I logged on last night to see that more than half the Minmatar’s systems were vulnerable and that we had lost the long-held staging system of Kourmonen. In addition to this was a large quantity of new wartargets floating around bearing the Nulli Secunda tags. According to some Amarr, this null-sec alliance has nearly tripled the Amarr’s active pvp numbers. It is an interesting situation for the Minmatar, who were already frequently outnumbered in the pvp arena prior to Nulli joining.

I was soon barraged by various people ‘catching me up’ on recent events.



Apparently even with the newfound momentum in the Amarr militia, everything is not particularly peachy in Fweddit’s nerd paradise. I was forwarded some rather amusing mails and in-game corp logs. I won’t abuse your IQ by posting them verbatim here, but it appears that this don’t-care noob friendly corporation is suffering from the all too common reality of inactive and/or irate leadership.

Apparently, the last great hope for the Amarr will not be a fledgling group of enthusiastic new pvpers after all. Sadly, many will probably not even look back on Fweddit as even an all too common one-hit wonder.

Except for breaking records for local spam and name linking, as well as extreme littering, they have made little to no impact on the warzone.

This is apparently not the only drama filtering through the tumultuous Amarr ranks. While many are exceeding glad to welcome their new null-sec overlords, a few have realized the rock and hard place they are now between.

Ultimately, one of two outcomes will arise from Nulli being in Faction War, and neither are very good prospects for the Amarr. The first outcome is that they fail in their endeavors and do not reach warzone control 5. This would be a huge blow to the Amarr, and I believe that the impact on their morale could cripple the faction for a long time to come.

The second outcome is that Nulli succeeds. In this case the Amarr will have a new set of interesting things to deal with. First, Nulli, in grasping warzone control 5, will essentially prove every other Amarr wrong. Every Amarr who woefully claimed that the mechanics were set up to hinder an underdog from coming back—every tearful opinion claiming that the mechanics were ‘against’ the Amarr –will be proven as rubbish, if they haven’t been already just by what they’ve recently accomplished.

The Minmatar’s space is not the only thing Nulli will sweep through –the Amarr’s credibility will be irreversibly damaged.

The Minmatar, on the other hand, are in almost the best position they could be in. Many have already made their fortunes, so a lack of income for a time will be little missed, and the prospect of Amarrian space to conquer has many chomping at the bit in anticipation. After all, conquering space is much more fun, easier, and significantly more lucrative then defending it. An Amarrian revolution of sorts is just what the Minmatar have been waiting for, and essentially keeps us from throwing alts into the Amarr to ‘get the job done ourselves’ as it were.


As I look at all the changes and war to come –I smile. This week marks an important anniversary for me as a Faction War pilot –a period of time that I will be crossing where I will have been in the Minmatar for over a year –now longer than the period of time I spent in the Amarr.

As I reflect back on the question of why I chose the Minmatar –a question frequently asked by readers, interviewers, and general conversationalists, I find I have a much different answer then I might have once had.

They say that observing people under pressure is the best measure. I’ve now had the chance to observe both the Amarr and the Minmatar under great pressure. Right now, the Minmatar risk losing all their space to a null-sec alliance, perhaps even home systems.

The reactions I’ve seen from various Minmatar, especially my own alliance mates have made me both glad, and relieved to be Minmatar, and a Late Nighter.

I look forward to the next chapter in Minmatar history, and thank all the Minmatar I’ve flown with over the past year for giving me one of the most fun and ‘chillaxing’ experiences in EVE.