Political Structures: The Great Breakup

Published on 17. Nov, 2008 ... written by Securitas Protector, Tags: Articles, Columns, Political Structures

by Erik Jensen … As the non-virtual world goes through a time of political upheaval, so does the world of internet spaceships. What I’m referring to, of course, is our very own EVE online. As I’m sure many have noted in recent weeks, the sovereignty maps have been changing. Dramatically. Large chunks of space, held sometimes for years by alliances who have been there since the beginning of EVE, or close to it anyway, suddenly turn into a chaotic maelstrom as dozens of small alliances appear seemingly out of nowhere to seize a piece of the universe for themselves.

A perfect example of this is in the northeastern realm of New Eden. Just weeks ago, this was solidly held by Band of Brothers and G00DFELLAS, along with a few other, smaller alliances. Just weeks later and it’s all changed. Liberty alliance, in a migration from the south of New Eden in IAC space, has taken one system after another. Sc0rched Earth, yet another smaller alliance, has come out of nowhere, taking systems from Axiom. Other smaller alliances of note in the region include Scalar Federation and Terran Alliance, and Imorral Dragons have almost completely lost all of their space.

Just west of here, in the north of New Eden, right above empire-held space, is the rising star of Bionic Dawn, which has over the past few weeks taken various systems from Morsus Mihi. Meanwhile, in the southern heart of Goon-controlled space, RED.OverLord has begun taking sovereignty in two separate areas, not to mention the West, which has become a patchwork of sovereignty including Soviet Mercenary, Red Alliance, Legion of xXDeathXx, Shadow of xXDeathXx, Intrepid Crossing, SOLAR FLEET, SOLAR WING, and GoonSwarm. In fact, virtually the only areas completely unaffected by this sudden spate of land-grabbing action have been the deep north and the great Band Of Brothers/Executive Outcomes fortress in the southeast. Perhaps the oft-considered most powerful alliance in New Eden is simply impervious to the swarm of smaller alliances, or perhaps it is only a matter of time before the entirety of New Eden ceases being controlled by a few select power blocs and instead becomes a blend of hundreds of different factions. Which is more interesting? Well, that’s for every pilot to decide for himself.

Personally, however, I find it more interesting to have a political landscape consisting of many different competing alliances, small coalitions vs. big power blocs. Rather than having a few massive alliances controlling trillions of ISK worth of equipment and minerals and commanding massive fleet operations involving multiple titans, it is much more compelling to watch the story of a small but rising alliance, rather than having such a force instantly quashed. Headlines such as “300 Man Alliance Completes First Mothership” are far more inspiring than “Band Of Brothers Unveils Titan #38!” Come on, lets hear it for the little guys! Sure, their fleets might not be as awe inspiring as hundreds of capitals simultanously hotdropping on a Titan, but it’s battles between them that allow for the personal side of EVE to shine through. Player versus player, not Titan vs Titan.

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6 Responses to “Political Structures: The Great Breakup”

  1. Silene Derbhan

    17. Nov, 2008

    I completely agree on your last statement. Not only does it seem more interesting to have small alliances rising everywhere, but I also think it gives hope to new players or young alliances. When three or four blocks of enormous alliances are controlling space, you either have the choice to join them or stay irrelevant. With a more diverse landscape, anyone can hope to leave its marks, if only for a few weeks.

  2. Ecaf

    17. Nov, 2008

    Nice article Erik.

    It’s good to see my old Alliance Liberty is beginning to make a name for themselves!

    Even better to see a proliferation of new names starting to break up the power blocs that have controlled null sec for too long. This may be down to the pure fact that many smaller units can have a greater effect on a large unit than another larger unit of equal size to the combined small ones. They will have multiple fronts to defend probably creating problems at different times of the day resulting a logistical nightmare!

    Another factor could be that when smaller, especially new, alliances join forces with larger more established ones, they tend to be given space on the borders with hostile forces. I saw this first hand when we (Liberty) joined the IAC “greater alliance” and found ourselves on the frontlines of UNL space. I can easily see this causing some of these alliances being used as cannon-fodder to swap sides if they see the tide changing.

    I doubt we will see the demise of the power blocs but a cutting down of size is always nice.

  3. M4g3ll4n

    17. Nov, 2008

    Really good written article. I personally would like to see more “Patchwork” as you mentioned it and less “Powerblocks”. Will make things more interesting. But to be honest I don’t think this will ever happen. Most (or a lot of) people tend to seek a place in the big blocks if possible.

  4. Manasi

    17. Nov, 2008

    Nice article. Indeed, things seem to be changing at an incredible pace. Great summary of all the changes

  5. a CAOD lurker

    18. Nov, 2008

    Nice article, though a few of the things aren’t actual conflicts.

    Sc0rched Earth, for example, is not attacking Axiom Empire. Axiom left Fade on their own, about 5 weeks after Sc0rched moved in to a few systems in lower Fade.

    RED.Overlord is just a few corps from RA who were kicked and had towers in the area, AFAIK.

    Scalar Federation have been in Pure Blind for ages now.

    Nice article anyway.. but some CAOD lurking will help see whats really going on (as much as CAOD can).

  6. Flavan

    19. Nov, 2008

    Reporting on the big-empire picture of what is going on is excellent. We need a LOT more of it.
    As a nobody in Empire-Space, I am enthralled by the goings on out there in the wilderness. I’d love to join in, but… did I mention being a nobody?

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