Meanwhile, in Anti-Ganking

In theory, EVE's game mechanics make it trivially easy to disrupt a suicide gank. Electronic warfare and remote-repping can enable an anti-ganker to counter-punch well above their weight with dirt-cheap equipment--even cheaper than the stuff gankers use. However, the anti-ganker must know in advance where a gank is likely to take place. In the early days, our Knights were so few in number that the rebels could simply follow us around. However, the New Order has spread so rapidly across highsec that this is no longer possible. Anti-gankers can no longer track or anticipate our attacks; therefore, they cannot prevent them.

There's an exception to this rule: Freighter ganking. It takes a large fleet to get the DPS needed to gank a freighter, and the popular freighter death zones (e.g., Uedama) are all well known.

Yet the Anti-Gankers are powerless to stop ganks, even when they know exactly when and where the ganks take place. This has made them a bit bitter.

However, even in the Anti-Ganking channel, there are those who tell their fellow industrialists to toughen up.

Those who are disillusioned and unhappy about modern highsec congregate in the Anti-Ganking channel. It's a crowd that attracts radicals like Rusell, who encouraged his fellow carebears to rise up against the New Order.

In Rusell, perhaps the rebels finally found someone with the credentials and charisma needed to forge a truly effective anti-Order movement.

Or perhaps not.

No conversation in Anti-Ganking can get very far before it is derailed by paranoia and suspicion.

Annah Tsero's pro-Code bio made her a frequent target of suspicion. Since she proudly supported the New Order in her bio, some Anti-Gankers questioned her commitment to the rebel cause.

On this occasion, there was probably something to their argument.

One thing that's usually missing from Anti-Ganking is any serious discussion about how to use EVE's game mechanics to stop ganks, or how to help the miners avoid being targets. But today, Rusell was there to get everyone organized. To make them rally to the cause.

Rusell struggled. After three straight years of constantly failing, Anti-Ganking morale is in poor shape. They have little patience for would-be rebel leaders these days.

But what about the rebels who are still highly motivated? Surely they can still focus on the mission. They should be fertile soil for proposed actions against the New Order.

...In fact, even the most diehard Anti-Gankers now admit that Anti-Ganking is toxic and useless.

Although the rebel "community" inspires much well-deserved pity, it's worth celebrating in another sense: It's content that only exists because of the New Order. Without us, there is only silence, botting, and bot-aspirancy.

Gradually, Rusell drifted toward the natural carebear equilibrium--a permanent state of "someone else will handle the problem for me."

In truth, enough time has passed for us to confidently say that no one will ever solve the problem of the New Order. Because we're not a problem at all; the highsec carebears are the problem. We are the solution.

The Sweet Fruits of an Awox

We all know that it's a good thing when highsec PvE corps get wardecced and awoxed. Carebear corps are bad for players, especially new players who don't know what else the game has to offer. EVE benefits when the carebear corps are dismantled, because it allows the members to be redistributed among groups that know how to play the game and have fun. With that in mind, let's revisit the story of an awoxed corp and find out what happened to its membership.

In a three-part series on MinerBumping, we learned about Wendy Valentino, the alt of an Anti-Ganker. She was curious to see if carebears truly behaved as the New Order claims they do. As you'll recall, Wendy infiltrated Essence Distribution and Mining and brought about its demise. Here are the links, if you'd like to take a trip down memory lane:

The Minting of a New Agent, Part 1
The Minting of a New Agent, Part 2
The Minting of a New Agent, Part 3

The corp takeover occurred after its CEO, Yoshiyo Solette, reacted to a wardec by absconding with the corp Orca and left all the newbies to fend for themselves. In case you didn't read the story again, this might serve to refresh your memory:

Wendy Valentino > I'm doing these people a favor and helping them get to better corps, where they will be supported, and get free stuff, just for breathing
Wendy Valentino > Then you stole verything, so we decided to help out the people you betrayed
Yoshiyo Solette > Okay
Yoshiyo Solette > Well bye again
Yoshiyo Solette > Forgot you all are niggers
Yoshiyo Solette > You guys are such turds
Yoshiyo Solette > Ya know that
Yoshiyo Solette > You war dec mining corps
Yoshiyo Solette > Who don't fight people
Yoshiyo Solette > And this is why I can't have a corp.

Now to find out what took place after the carebear corp was brought into Code compliance.

Wendy, of course, learned that the New Order was right all along. She joined CODE.

Before making her allegiance to the New Order official, Wendy's actions were viewed by the carebears as quite provocative.

Sidar Joringer wrote a lengthy EVEmail to Wendy. He chastised her for enforcing the Code. For some reason, he had thought Essence Distribution and Mining had a chance for bright future under Yoshiyo's leadership.

In fact, this is typical of the carebear apologists. They think EVE benefits from protecting--to the point of invulnerability--the corps who offer the worst possible gaming experience.

Or maybe Sidar had a financial motive for his angst. With carebears, it always comes down to isk.

But a few days later, he wrote Wendy back. Sidar had a change of heart.

Indeed, a dramatic change of heart.

After thinking things over, Sidar had come to the realization that Wendy and the New Order were right to destroy the corp. He then joined Pandemic Horde, an alliance dedicated to teaching new players how to PvP.

RT Roflin, another member of Essence Distribution and Mining, also wrote Wendy. The awox was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and he knew it.

A day after leaving the carebear corp, RT had the courage and motivation to pursue what he really wanted to do in EVE.

...And as for Yoshiyo Solette, the CEO who abandoned the corp in response to the awox/wardec?

He biomassed his character and apparently quit EVE.

And so I ask you, dear reader, fair, reasonable reader...

Is awoxing highsec PvE corps good for the game?

A Brilliant Swell of Tears, Part 3

Previously, on MinerBumping... Scandal! Brilliants Well was caught hauling ore through highsec without a permit. When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade. Agent Tisiphone Dira made lemonade out of Brilliants Well's Bestower, destroying 200 million isk of contraband in the process. Reasonable observers agreed that this proved the system works. But Brilliants was unreasonable, and he soon clamored for justice in Uttindar local.

When ganked, carebears tend to draw real-life subjects (and threats) into the picture. Brilliants boldly declared that people behave in real life the same way they do in EVE. If so, Uttindar local was about to gain a greater appreciation of what the people in Brilliants' life have to deal with on a daily basis.

Tisiphone comported herself with dignity and honour. Brilliants did the other thing. Running out of options, he gambled that his appeal for racial tolerance would somehow result in getting his ship and cargo reimbursed.

Brilliants' plan went awry. Uttindar local was not as receptive as he'd assumed. Now he had no way of applying social pressure on our Agent.

It was clear to all that Brilliants' Uttindar campaign was a failure. Tisiphone reminded Brilliants of another path, the one set forth in the Code. The carebear refused to consider it. He threatened to return to spamming.

Fearing a repeat of the spam tactic, Tisiphone quickly tried to reason with the carebear from every possible angle. However, Brilliants was too confused and upset to meaningfully participate in the dialog.

Uttindar now had the worst local chat in highsec.

The carebear's vendetta against Tisiphone consumed him completely. He no longer made any plans for hauling ore. There was no room for courier contracts in his life. Now there was only revenge.

Tisiphone is a busy Agent, and she needed to spread her love to some other systems for a while. She promised to be back in a minute, but important matters kept her preoccupied for about 15 minutes. This was plenty of time for Brilliants to cool off.

No such luck. In fact, Brilliants had been subjecting Uttindar local to his nonsense the entire time.

An angry carebear is an unproductive carebear. How can they obey the Code and help build highsec's glorious future when they're busy ranting and raving? That's why it's so important for them to calm down.

Our Agent was polite, but firm. She needed 30 million isk to cover Brilliants' Red Pen fee. The payment was not optional.

I've often said that the rebel carebears are the New Order's best recruitment tool. Every single player who passed through Uttindar became a little more likely to support our cause.

Time passed. Then more time passed. But the carebear's anger would not subside.

At this point, you might be wondering how long this went on. You could go back to Part 1 and look for the timestamp on the Bestower killmail, but I'll save you the trouble: The gank took place at 15:43 EVEtime.

I cannot say how long Uttindar was treated to Brilliants Well and his tears. Agent Tisiphone was simply unable to remain in attendance for the whole meltdown. Brilliants seems like a hopeless case, doesn't he? Yet I am 100% convinced that even this carebear can be brought into compliance with the Code. After all, he spent hour after hour in Uttindar persuading people of the wisdom of the New Order.

A Brilliant Swell of Tears, Part 2

Previously, on MinerBumping... Agent Tisiphone Dira was on duty in the Uttindar system when she spotted a Bestower illegally piloted by Brilliants Well. In a perfectly executed gank, she destroyed the Bestower and removed 200 million isk of Nocxium from Brilliants' possession. In hindsight, Tisiphone made the right call. She made the only call. But Brilliants took his case to Uttindar local, hoping to incite an uprising against Tisiphone.

Brilliants failed to get the public on his side. In despair, he began spamming local.

It soon became clear that the carebear was barking mad.

Uttindar local was subsumed by the relentless propaganda barrage. Tisiphone couldn't even carry on a pleasant conversation about the Code anymore.

Now Tisiphone's only hope was to find some way of breaking Brilliants free of his chat spam routine.

However, our Agent only succeeded in making Brilliants slightly modify the chat spam before it continued.

On occasion, Brilliants would interrupt his spamming to answer a charge directly. But then the spam routine reasserted itself. Brilliants was more bot than bot-aspirant, now.

Then something curious happened. In spite of everything, a random passerby in local actually voiced support for Brilliants.

Finally sensing a sympathetic (if misguided) ear, Brilliants stopped spamming and began to present his side of the story.

Brilliants Well's guilt was beyond question. So he focused on procedural issues. Without citing any provision of the Code, Brilliants claimed he was entitled to be asked about his Nocxium shipment before being ganked.

The carebear stunned Uttindar local with his new line of argument.

What began as a debate about the Code and Tisiphone's reputation was about to take a strange and unexpected turn.

To be continued...