Victory

If you replace Syndicate with Deklein in the image above this post, you have a way forward for the Goonswarm Federation. The last few posts of mine that have been dealing with World War Bee have dealt a lot with the spin coming from TMC and Mittens in his fireside chats. Goons at their hearts have always taken things lightly. They are bad at this game. They hail from a comedy culture at Something Awful. The propaganda that Mittens has been spinning lacks any vestige of that. That, at its core, is what I understand DJ to be saying. It’s certainly what Goons all over New Eden who are not in GSF are saying. It actually saddens me to see that GSF Goons are picking up so little of this and are buying into the gossamer shreds of hope that are being pelted out by TMC. I say this because it will ultimately be the end of Goons to a degree completely avoidable.

Of course there will always be Goons in Eve. I fly with them in Horde and PL. Great folks. Darius is building a crew of them. And of course there will always be a GoonWaffe and a Goonswarm Federation. So when I am talking about an end of the Goons to a greater degree than otherwise, I am talking about an end to the current situation that will take GSF far longer to recover from than if it adopts other paths toward the future. Let’s take a look at some things.

First, World War Bee is not totally and 100% one-sided. Goons win some battles. PL makes some mistakes. Both of these phenomena have happened before, and they should not surprise anyone. Longwinded articles making much of the occasional won battle or successful tactic will not win this war. Right now the CFC war chest is enormous. We know that the MBC chest is too. However, MBC alliances control space and moons. The MBC has revenue. GSF revenue is a trickle of what it was. Money buys a will to fight. Goons have their storied history with which to rally themselves, but will that be enough when the war chest runs dry?

Recently, Seraph IX Basarab wrote an EN24 article explaining the Fabian Strategy in specific, historically accurate and academic terms. I’d like to add an observation to his statements, and further cement the truth that the CFC is not employing a Fabian Strategy. GSF is not Rome, but Carthage, and the GSF doesn’t have Hannibal’s war elephants that enabled him to break Roman infantry and get so far.

It may well be that Goons are geniuses, so much superior to PL and NC. and the remaining MBC alliances, who of course are all idiots compared to Mittens. If this is the case, then rather than describe the situation as a Punic War, we might liken WWB to the Nazis’ invading Russia. The Nazi regime had 35 million barrels of petroleum with which to conquer the world. They weren’t getting any more. Thus the attack on the Soviets. Thus the North African campaigns. Thus the war in the Middle East. That’s why it all happened, folks. Don’t kid yourself into thinking there was another reason for WWII. But in WWB, Goonswarm is not defending its space by drawing the MBC into it. GSF is attacking MBC space. I don’t know how you guys are missing that. You will be as effective as the NPC trash you once mocked before Lenny and IWI came along. Yes, you will indeed be annoying. That’s about it.

GSF is now a lowsec alliance. Your bank balance is what it is. You are being rallied by tales that you have won a few battles and your enemies have made some mistakes – that you’ve done a bit of good. If the tales you hear are not of your FCs winning them ALL, for a long, long, long time, you need to consider that the news is bad. The spin you are being fed is nothing but bread crumbs leading you to a big, bad wolf.

Lately, the spin seems to be centered around a hit to PL’s killboard. I’ve long touted that an alliance reaches its point of invulnerability by its reaction to tough times. Not to say that PL hasn’t suffered defeat before, but if their killboard stays low for a while, they will do nothing but become more resolute. GSF knows this. You guys have suffered some horrendous defeats. NC. has too. This does nothing but grow mojo. You’d better have more in mind that muddying a killboard. That’s not going to get you victory.

Victory almost always involves attacking from a position of strength. Instead of spinning yarns of delusion that you are on the verge of breaking PL because you jacked with their killboard, you should learn from them. Their traditional strength has been to ensure that they attack from a position of superior power. That’s why their killboard is as it usually is. And though they may suffer some casualties in a war (imagine that!), they are being true to form. They are farming you. Sometimes it will cost them more, sometimes it will cost them less. Have no illusions, however, concerning what your efforts are really going to get you.

Buying the spin will hurt you. The truth is that you have a leader that cannot take things lightly. He must be serious. Your leader also cannot be wrong. Mittens will never tell you what Remedial did: hey, it’s time to do something else. This will result in a tragedy of lasting effect. I hate to tell you this, Goons, but the day will come when you will go do something else. Unfortunately, with Mittens in charge, that day will be the day that your bank account is empty. You’ll be just another alliance forced to start from scratch. You could avoid this, though. You could conquer some space with trillions in the bank.

If Mittens won’t change his mind, get rid of him. If you can’t get rid of Mittens, Darius Johnson has the right idea. Go back to what you were. Lighten up, and don’t be stupid. Let yourself be bad at the game so you can go have fun and victory in times to come. Great adventures are in your future. Probably even some payback. NC. got theirs. Victory is waiting for you, but it’s not sprouting from Saranen, and it’s not taking root in Deklein.

Goons began with fun and irreverence of the establishment. A decade later, the Imperium plays you videos about discipline and robotic coordination. Oh how the mighty have fallen.  If you want to ruin somebody’s game, ruin Mittens’. He is who got you here. He is who is squandering your wealth and capability. And he is feeding you false yarns that will rob you of future glories.