Russia, Once Proud

 

3 Years and 62 Billion ISK

 The Sunk Cost Fallacy:
Throwing Good Money After Bad

For context, see here.

EDIT: It has come to my attention that Gualu is upset, and trying to get me banned for "harassment". So, for the sake of laughs, here is the archive of his massive babyrage post on the forums, calling on the community to "share their experience" of my "psychogames" and petition CCP to get rid of me.

UPDATE 01/10/2024: Gualu is now claiming that the "discussion has been falsified" simply because some posts were eddited to provide additional evidence of his psychogames and abuse of other players; as if adding more evidence and more truth is "falsification". Such are the desperate psychogames Gualu plays; he doesn't want anyone to read the updated commentary, with all the proof against him, so he posted a link to an older archive of the thread. As such I have removed the link to the original post to keep attention focused where it needs to be.

Of particular note, literally no one sided with Gualu in the thread. He was literally laughed at and told to stop stop crying like a baby.

On March 06, 2021, a most fateful event happened: The Tatara belonging to Galaxy Lords Holding was destroyed by the combined forces of <STFU> and assorted random pilots. A couple of short months later, on May 22, 2021, the Athanor that <STFU> had put in the Tatara's place was itself destroyed by <WHBOO>, whom had plans to anchor their own refinery in that same, fateful spot as part of their takeover of Solitude. See, nobody liked <STFU>, and over time it became increasingly difficult for <STFU> to operate in the region. So they left - or rather, were shown the door - and a round table was held. It was determined that <WHBOO> would fill the power vacuum left behind by <STFU>, taking ownership of their major infrastructure and acquiring all moons previously held by <STFU>.

It was what everyone in Solitude had agreed was best: everyone, that is, except Galaxy Lords Newbies [GLN], who had absented themselves from the round table, and as such, were unaware that the moon in Vevelonel was claimed by <WHBOO>. Thus, when [GLN] began anchoring an Athanor, it was promptly destroyed and replaced by <WBHOO>'s. [GLN] was appraised of the situation, but disagreed, and claimed that it was [GLN]'s moon.

And so began a 2+ year private war between [GLN] and <WHBOO>. [GLN] held <WBHOO> responsible not only for [GLN]'s Athanor, but also the original Tatara and a Raitaru that was anchored nearby: a total of 30b. [GLN] asserted that they would not rest and would not stop until <WHBOO> not only transfered the Athanor to [GLN], but also sent a 30 billion ISK payment.

Now that <WHBOO> has moved to Placid and abandoned Solitude, for reasons completely unrelated to the conflict with [GLN], what did the conflict cost [GLN]? Or rather, what has the total cost of [GLN]'s investment in a single R64 in LowSec?

For this reckoning, I have excluded kills that [GLN] participated in, but were not responsible for, and would have taken place regardless. In other words, I excluded killmail whoring.

[GLN] has directly lost a total of 32 billion ISK to <WHBOO> and Solar Winds as a result of the conflict [GLN] started. <WHBOO>, on the other hand, has lost about 22 billion ISK as a direct result of [GLN] actions. But, keep in mind, these losses are in light of the fact that [GLN] had no appreciable income streams, while <WHBOO> held every valuable moon in Solitude. So, in the grand scheme of things, <WHBOO>'s losses were either inconsequential, or neutral, in the face of their vast income. [GLN]'s losses, however, broke into their savings - or their real life bank account, in all probability.

It gets worse, however: since [GLN] holds <WHBOO> responsible for the original Tatara and Raitaru, that would put the tally against [GLN] at 62 billion ISK.

That's right: [GLN] has spent a total of 62 billion ISK and three years trying to hold a single moon in LowSec. During those three years, [GLN] has mined at most 5 billion ISK off that moon. At the beginning of the conflict, [GLN] had several different pilots. But during the conflict, they began to leave in descending order; those with the most sense and sanity left first...

The Final, Unrecoverable Loss

And the final, most crushing cost to [GLN]? [GLN], after finally getting to own an Athanor in Vevelonel since <WHBOO> moved to Placid... is now permanently camped by members of <WHBOO> and Solar Winds. [GLN] should have known this was going to happen, since warnings were issued. It is unfortunate that, rather than heeding said warnings and coming to the peace table with reasonable expectations... [GLN] had everyone blocked.

And so, even if they have an Athanor, and spend ISK on fuel... they don't get to mine the moon anyway.

At this point, [GLN] has become a source of nothing more than amusement and... intellectual curiosity:

[GLN], understandably if not hypocritically, did get pretty angry about being camped on a daily basis in Vevelonel, as well as the embarassing and devastating loss of a cloaky railgun Tengu which they bragged was "uncatchable". The Tengu was deployed against Solar Winds mining vessels, in enforcement of [GLN]'s unrecognized and illegal claim to the Ratillose system:

As of this writing, the Athanor in Ratillose is permanently camped, and [GLN] has opted not to resume drilling...

Unable to deal with the shame of constant, daily defeat, [GLN] - in a fit of babyrage - decided to try to annoy <WHBOO> by once again creating structure pings. The result?

[GLN] fucked around, and found out. In fact, [GLN] has fucked around a lot for the past few years, and will be doing a lot of finding out. Perhaps they should find a new home? Why don't they?

Sunk Cost Fallacy: the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.

Any sensible person would have abandoned trying to own a single moon after losing a few billion ISK. Maybe some people would require an additional loss or two to cement the reality in their minds. But [GLN], suffering badly from Sunk Cost Fallacy, has instead invested over 60 billion ISK and almost a dozen structures, none of which they were able to mine any appreciable amount with, all of which have been destroyed.

Any sensible person would have abandoned a guerilla campaign when, after a few months, it was clear they were having no effect on their enemy. But [GLN], suffering badly from Sunk Cost Fallacy, has spent over 2 years fighting, spending almost 20 hours out of every 24 hour day creating structures pings, spewing garbage in Local, camping, and trying to whore on killboards. 

[GLN] really should move on, and write their investment off. The "war" is over. [GLN] lost, and has nothing left to leverage: having left Solitude, <WHBOO> has no interests and nothing to lose in the region, and the only tactic [GLN] has left is to create structure pings, which will result in more Athanor losses. And it costs Solar Winds absolutely nothing to camp [GLN], since Solar Winds lives next door.

For their own sakes, I pray that [GLN] leadership can find the courage to move on with their lives. Maybe close [GLN], give up their dreams of running a LowSec industrial moon mining corp, and maybe join a corporation that will take care of the Athanors and moons for them. Then, finally, maybe, Gualu can get more than 4 hours of sleep each night.

Until next time
This is Space Cat Xuixien
The Scorpion of Solitude
... signing off.

Life in Solitude: Bluefucking

How to Get a Permanent Disinvite

A few weeks ago I was hunting around Solitude when I came across a rather sizeable mining OP; about 10 Hulks and a Porpoise. I noticed that I had them set red. They were old friends from <STFU>! A corp known as Know-Nothings [KNONO]. So, naturally, I went on the hunt.

I followed them for 2 systems and one of their pilots, "Das Hagen", stated that he was a friend of [Redacted].

So I spoke to [Redacted], a top ranking member in <WHBOO>, and he explained to me that Das Hagen was a friend, and that he would appreciate if I didn't pester his dudes and gank them. Alright. No problem.

A rather polite mail was sent, (polite given the fact that I was dealing with [KNONO], which are pretty much the reason everyone hated <STFU>):

I never received a response. He must not have taken my warning seriously, because a few weeks later I'm watching the X-Files and my wingman informs me that 20+ Hulks just jumped into Straloin and made a beeline for the Dark Ochre anom. My mouth began to water. I opened my EVE client up and saw reds in Local, and indeed, Das Hagen amongst them.

We undocked and went to engage. There were five separate entities on field (which I will collectively refer to as Bluefuckers Inc, since they're all the same people on different characters): LowKey Ops [L0.KI], [KNONO], Singularity Syndicate <SYND>, SYNDE Associations <CINDY>, and Minamar Specialized Industries [MSI.]. [L0.KI] was blue, but the others were not. I began shooting neutrals, and immediately got spammed with private conversations with claims of being blue. But... no one I was shooting was blue. For what it's worth, I wasn't killing anyone. Just sniping at them with a rail Talos until they started to dock up. I never tackled anyone and let them go.

I figured, maybe there was an error somewhere, and we can sort it out after everyone is docked up and no lawbreaking is taking place.

But when I began to explain the situation to them - politely, again - I was met with insults.

Xuixien > Das Hagen you [were] told that we would honor your friendship with [Redacted] but the stay of force did not apply to mobrault
Das Hagen > stay of force hmmmm
Xuixien > You're not blue to WHBOO
Xuixien > As you were told in the mail, you're friends with [Redacted] and he asked me not to, so I don't hunt you in Solitude, but you were also told not to come to Mobrault
Asamaisen Sai Isu > nothing was said about  Mobrault. we just here for rocks. all good tho
xRenegade > u need grass
Asamaisen Sai Isu > wtf
Asamaisen Sai Isu > lmao
Renegamer > BMI over 40 no doubt
Das Hagen > bms
Das Hagen > go touch some grass
Asamaisen Sai Isu > one man to ruin diplo with a alliance. nice
Xuixien > You're not blue.
Xuixien > No blues were shot this day.
Xuixien > Das Hagen > go touch some grass <-- and this is the sort of reason why KNONO is not welcome here, regardless of who he's friends with in WHBOO, especially since they're not blue.
Xuixien > vOv

But it doesn't matter what insults they want to level at me to cope. They were slowly emptying out of Local, except for a small group that lingered in station. Then, one of them spoke up. He wanted to parley which, under the laws that govern The Crown, he had the right to do.

Kryptex Zin > Xuixien want to chat on your TS
Kryptex Zin > im here

I spoke to Kryptex, CEO of [MSI.] on <WHBOO> comms. On comms, he had a [L0.KI] tag. Apparently, Das Hagen is his son in real life. I tried to explain the situation to him, that [Redacted] told me that Das Hagen was a friend and to leave him alone, about the terms in the mail, and staying out of Mobrault etc. He tried to cajole me with offers of going on mining fleets with them, mining Crokite and Dark Ochre "all over EVE", if only I would let them come to The Crown and mine whenever they wanted.

I declined. I told him that we stay in The Crown and are not interested in venturing abroad, and that despite any relationship he may have with people in <WHBOO>, his people are not welcome due to the unsavory and classless Local banter, the presumptousness, and the swarm of neutrals they brought with them. His response?

"I don't agree with that."

Well buddy, too bad. Just because you're blue or friends with people in <WHBOO> doesn't mean you can come to our house and start harvesting our stuff. We only let blues in The Crown, but we don't have to let all blues in. This is not unprecedented; that's basically how nullsec Alliances and blocs work: everyone gets their area. Running another corp's anoms in their area gives them leave to shoot you down. And rightfully so.

Apparently, daddy was so upset that he got some BLOPs together to drop on us. They had a few Hulks and a Porpoise out mining. As Pest Control Catalysts were landing, the Hulks scrambled, leaving only the Porpoise. We ended up killing their Porpoise and lost some Catalysts and a Garmur in the process. A new acquaintance, who had come out to assist, lost a Stabber.

But as I always say: no cost is too high to defend our territory from those unwanted.

Renegade Melkem > stop rping, buncha incels get a wife

And there's more of that lowbrow Local banter.

Even though they were able to field 7 BLOPs against us, we showed them that A) we don't care about losses; B) we can still get the kill before our Catalysts die, C) we can make mining here very inconvenient and not cost-effective for them.

So they left.

Angry and Spiteful

I was content to let it go. Another victory for Solar Winds. But this isn't the end of the story. Apparently, even though they "won", they still felt like they lost, and wanted to "get even".

When I opened the game in the morning, I had a mail regarding SRP for some friendly fire. I was confused, but it didn't take me long to sort it out. I guess Bluefuckers Inc must have been pretty disappointed that I wouldn't just give them their way, and that their "oVeRwHeLmInG fOrCe" could do nothing for them.

So a few hours after we held the field and forced them out, they decided to come back in a neutral Arazu with the same 7 BLOPs behind it, presumably hoping to catch Solar Winds mining. They caught someone else instead.

In the ensuing chat with their victim we see Bluefuckers Inc lying, trying to sew discord amongst friendlies and attempting to gain access to our private Discord and chat channels:

Insidious Insidious > Xuixien invited us here
AdmiralCane > ?
AdmiralCane > so we are blues
Insidious Insidious > ya he said [we] are to police the pocket
AdmiralCane > ya we are blues then
AdmiralCane > we are mining and supplying the crown
Insidious Insidious > sorry we wont shoot you next time. ill add you as blue. Praise the crown 
AdmiralCane > um ya we will need reinbursment for our losses sir
Insidious Insidious > Xuixien will cover it im sure of it

Insidious Insidious > on a real note. we are new to the crown but are really dedicated to its security. there was some misinformation and we were not notified of you.. Xix will prob ask us to cover your loss, but we must wait for him to ask because like i said he did not mention you guys. i would be upset if i was you and i recommend you tell him to make sure to let new blues know of you guys
AdmiralCane > correct we are sending mail now
Insidious Insidious > Praise the crown!
Intergalactic Bucket > Praise the Crown!
Renegade Melkem > For the crown!
Glitch Rebellion > For the crown!

KingSpartan > you guys on their discordx?
Intergalactic Bucket > my discord got reset, can you link it again?
KingSpartan > im on solar winds

Insidious Insidious > i dont think we are in that one
KingSpartan > odd
Insidious Insidious > we litereally just talked to xix today

Insidious Insidious > Anyways very unfortunate we had to meet like this. Im sure it will be all sorted tomorrow. We have another threat to the crown and must go back to patrol. Good luck!

Insidious Insidious > coulda been friends

Could have been friends if what? We let you do whatever you wanted? Why would we want to be friends with your group?

1. Bluefuckers Inc ignored a polite, if rather sternly worded mail stating that we would leave them alone, except in The Crown.
2. Blufuckers Inc ignored a second, polite warning, after they brought a horde of neutrals to our system.
3. Bluefuckers Inc shat up local with classless trash talk, when we were being polite, and issued warning shots instead of killmails.
4. Bluefuckers Inc, out of spite and bruised ego, tried to sour relations between friends and find ways to access our private Discord and chat channels.

Yeah now. We don't need "friends" like that. Trash isn't welcome in our house.

The Final Result

The fact that they came back hours later to hunt us, and, upon killing someone else instead, used it as an opportunity to spoil Solar Winds' reputation and try to gain access to privileged channels, made the situation exigent. I was going to let it go, but folks like this are like a bad smell that never goes away.

So I contacted <WHBOO> leadership, informed them of the bluefucking, and that I would be firing upon members of these groups regardless of standings until it was sorted out. I explained the entire situation in detail, with receipts ready to bolster my position.

Within only an hour the situation was sorted out. They are not returning to The Crown.

For what it's worth, if it was only a couple of dudes from [L0.KI], who are actually blue to <WHBOO>, I probably wouldn't have cared and probably would have joined them. But to bring 20+ dudes from who knows who, shitting up Local with nasty trash talk. Nah, you can go pound sand.

I wasn't going to write this blog, but am posting it anyway as an "official record".

This is Space Cat Xuixien, signing off.

Life in Solitude: Zug Zug!

They don't have the best dental care.

When last we touched base, Solar Winds was wrapped up in operations against The-Express and <DUMPY>. Unfortunately dear readers, as is often the case in these sorts of situations, both conflicts ended not in a bang, but in a quiet whisper of "you win, we'll leave". Now of course, neither The-Express nor <DUMPY> said such - at least not explicitly. No one likes to admit defeat. But admit defeat they have - implicitly. 

Both Athanors owned by The-Express and <DUMPY> sit fallow; their drills overline for weeks at this point. Neither group comes to the crown anymore. <DUMPY> tried one last time recently, and it went as expected:

All that tank... for nothing.

One <DUMPY> member - Rockwell - enraged that I followed through on my word of camping <DUMPY>'s LowSec moon and not allowing <DUMPY> to mine anywhere in Solitude, decided to wage a one man war against Solar Winds and our friends in <WHBOO>, venturing into Toustain with a multiboxed fleet of Hecates to...

...bash POCOs.

But he forgot, or didn't know, that Solar Winds lives just next door. Aftering being shut down half a dozen times, he decided to stop bashing inanimate structures and go after players instead. And... it went predictably.

He can copy my Hecate, but he can't copy my skill.

The interceptor is my favorite kill. As he was dying on station (after having rammed into the Orthrus), his fleetmates were jumping into system and warping to us. But they were just a touch late, because we were leaving grid as they landed. I wish I could have listened in on their comms. They were probably calling Rockwell an idiot, because he is.

And The-Expanse? They're not doing so good, either:

ZUG ZUG!

The fun never ends, however! Recently, a group known as "GF Company" (henceforth known as "Got Fisted") have been moving into Solitude, filling the vacuum <WHBOO> left behind. They have set up Athanors in Ogaria and Agaullores. They have Astrahi in Anckee and a few other systems. I didn't pay much attention to them. They seemed to be on friendly terms with Ancient Syndicate [AN-SY], a group out of Babirmoult that has never given Solar Winds any trouble what so ever.

But eventually they started sniffing around The Crown - trying to harvest our gas and run our anoms. I chased them out easily enough, but they just kept coming.

The Orcish Horde.

I told them several times, politely, that they have their area, and we have ours, and that if they stay out of our area, we will stay out of theirs. They did not respond. Every message went completely ignored.

Then I began warning them: I know where all your moon mining operations are, even your Aridia structures, and if you continue to provoke hostilities by tresspassing in Solar Winds territory and stealing our resources, actions will be taken that you will not like. Again, they did not respond.

They just kept coming. 

They were warned. They didn't listen. And they took a big L.

While engaging in illegal acts of violence in The Crown, they took more Ls:

And then foolishly anchored an Athanor on a moon in Straloin.

A few days later, after running them out of a gas cloud in Ratillose, they decided to be spiteful and kill a couple Solar Winds gas huffers. The losses were inconsequential, just a couple of empty Ventures. But Solar Winds brooks no such disrespect. I warned the pilot to leave, as they were approaching "last straw" status, and Solar Winds would launch a full-scale campaign against their moon mining operations in Agaullores and Ogaria. He... did not make the smart decision.

I went deeper into Solitude, attempting to track down his gas huffers and harass them, but they must have been logged off or already back in Aridia by then. All I was able to find were [AN-SY] and their friends huffing gas. So I decided on a policy of collective punishment:

If one fucked around, the others would be subject to finding out.

And to rub some salt in the wound, I popped the wreck. And camped it for a further 4 hours.

More Finding Out

Logging in one morning, I put a scout in Agaullores. The night before I had done the rounds, checking their Athanors to see the status of the pulls. A moon on planet VI was looking pretty ripe, so I knew I should keep my eye on it. I thought it still had a day left, but apparently I was wrong: As soon as I jumped in, I saw a beautiful sight: 30 in Local, multiple Hulks, Retrievers, and Porpoises on DScan. I dropped combat probes and warped to my ping, just in time to watch the fleet warping to the safety of tether. There was some dancing as I got my Catalysts into system and set up my insta-undocks while Got Fisted tried blowing me up.

They managed 1 Catalyst on a gate, but I have Catalysts staged all over Solitude, left over from the war with <STFU>. So I just reshipped, and kept on keeping on.

Chasing me around system must have emboldened some of them, because they resumed mining as if everything was fine. They were wrong:

"Avada ice team" is their alt corp that mines ice in Avada and Got Fisted's R4 pulls in Haimeh and Chibi. Or maybe they're just friends. Or maybe who cares: they are guilty by association.

The response tickled me in places I dare not mention on blogspot:

The translation, according to Google, is "Xuixien, your name is D-O-N-E.", tac marks for E-M-P-H-A-S-I-S. L M A O. Zug Zug! Not likely.

I didn't bother translating this one. I think he was saying "Me busy, leave me alone!"

Based on the length of the pull and the number of rocks remaining on grid, the orcs must have just begun mining when I scouted them. Local began dropping once I entered system, but now currently sits at only 6, down from 30. I'm sure they will say "it was time for bed". Convenient how bedtime and getting rekt always seem to coincide, no?

All in all, I'm pleased with how this is unfolding. We've lost a Hecate, a couple of Catalysts, and 2 Ventures. Meanwhile, Got Fisted & Co are 700+ mil in the hole, not to mention 1.5 billion+ for the Athanor they dropped in Straloin that they will never get to use. And they must realize they can't use it, because it's been almost a week and they haven't started the drill yet...

The Lesson

There's a lesson here. A lesson about being good neighbors, and respecting other people's territory. Solar Winds rarely ventures south of Ratillose, and refrains from causing trouble for the other citizens of Solitude, unless we're given cause. The Crown is our home, and it's where we prefer to hang out and do our PvE. And we also never venture north of Eggheron, because we could care less about placid.

So when a Solar Winds represenative tells you: "Hey. This is our space, we would appreciate if we kept the peace by your leaving." - you would do well to listen. Because we do not make idle threats.

Until next time, dear leaders. Got Fisted seem the type of stubborn Zug Zugs to stick around and refuse to budge or accept terms. So this will likely be a long campaign that I am thrilled to chronicle for you. I haven't had a good fight in a long while and I'm hoping Got Fisted are up to the task.

Fly reckless.

This is Space Cat Xuixien, signing off for now.

Life in Solitude: Express Delivery

The Spoils of War

Lordvacuous is an alliance leader in The-Express. Lordvacuous told his membership that plans were in motion to "deal with" Solar Winds & Associaties and that we would be "removed" in time. They have to "defend what they have out here", after all. Instead, Lordvacuous has begun getting rid of The-Express' structures in The Crown. He tried to sell them, but since no one wants to buy them, he has begun unanchoring them instead. (I know all this because, as usual, I have an inside source... or two.)

Recent diplomatic contacts to The-Express have gone unanswered. They asked for a 72 hour ceasefire to sort things out after their mining fleet in Ondree resulted in multiple losses, and the ceasefire was granted to them. Howeverrrr... their pilots kept shooting at Solar Winds members. Solar Winds, for our part, upheld our end of the agreement.

The-Express were given simple diplomatic terms from the start: either allow Solar Winds & Associates to dock in their structures in The Crown, or, formally acknowledge that The Crown is Solar Winds territory and unanchor their structures without interference from us. The response from The-Express has been: antagonism, purposeful tresspassing with intent to steal, violating ceasefires, and chestbeating in the face of continuous losses.

So when I scouted their unanchoring Athanor in Eggheron, I knew what I had to do: I had to confiscate the illegal property, since The-Express has yet to acknowledge that The Crown is ours to govern:

...yes. That is exactly how this works.

I knew it would not be easy. Enforcing law & order in The Crown never is. But it's important to keep the pressure on, to never ease up and let people think for a second that there's any cracked windor or door slightly ajar that they can sneak through. Solar Winds' rule must be absolute. Our eyes must be ever watchful, or actions swift and decisive and unrelenting.

And so there I sat, holding my silent vigil. The Athanor's lights blinking under my constant, watchful eyes. I didn't know exactly when it would finally unanchor. I knew the day and time that I first noticed it, and the rough timeframe of when Lordvacuous would have begun unanchoring it. This afforded me certain date markers: "if not by this day/time, then definitely by that day/time", etc. My forecasting would prove accurate, and the stucture would disappear from space at the approximate outer boundary of one of my markers.

So the hour drew to hand; The-Express began to appear in different systems in The Crown in various combat ships. I let my friends in on my plans, and they joined me.

On the structure in question The-Express had a Sin, a Merlin, and Lordvacuous himself in a Prowler. This was fortuitous because the entitity that owned the structure was not in The-Express itself, and the CEO of the 1 man holding corp was not online. I was originally expecting the holding corp CEO to be online and attempt to scoop, and was hoping I could beat him to it in a moment of lapsed attention. But instead, Lordvacuous committed a critical operational error, and all but gauranteed Solar Winds the win.

I knew that the Prowler would scoop the structures and go suspect... but I also knew that Lordvacuous would attempt to cloak. We would have to be fast. A stealth bomber with multiple scrams was on standby. It helped that Lordvacuous' fleetmates were sitting on him at zero (the Sin appeared to have the Prowler on "approach"), which would prevent him from cloaking, affording the precious seconds needed to land tackle.

We were ready. It happened.

The Athanor unanchored, and I warped fleet to the bookmark I had prepared. And as I expected, Lordvacuous scooped the Athanor...

...and promptly went suspect, handing us the win.

Had the holding corp CEO been on grid to scoop, the entire OP would have gone completely differently. It's a simple issue of understanding game mechanics. Knowing is half the battle, after all. I suppose the other half is competence, which The-Express also lacks.

Our stealth bomber automatically decloaked as it landed amongst the other ships on grid, and immediately landed tackle. My dear copilot landed seconds later in an interceptor and landed secondary (actually quaternary and quinary) tackle. The hitpoints of the Prowler slowly began to deplete. Once his shields were gone, Lordvacuous' ship simply melted like a popsicle on a hot summer day.

The Merlin, flown by our old friend nightbawk, attempted to suicide gank the bomber, but was blaster fit and openned the engagement from 10km away. He died to CONCORD before closing distance.

It was all over in 2 minutes.

Even CONCORD recognizes our rightful claim!

The Loot Fairy said yes, and now the unliscenced Athanor sits in impound, racking up storage fees.

Express Delivery: Adendum

While chronicling this amazing event, I noticed something on The-Express killboard while taking a screenshot for the blog.

Thanks for another Express Delivery!

So that's that. It's looking like yet another group of ne'er-do-wells have entered the find out phase of fucking around. I'm unsure what the future holds for The-Express as pertains to The Crown. It seems they want to pull out. For all their bluster and banter, they are quietly disengaging and retreating to their little holes in Octanneve and Syndicate. I would not be surprised if this is the last entry I get to write about them. Out with a bang, I suppose!

Until next time, adoring fans. This is Spacecat Xui, signing off.

Whatever happens, happens.

Life in Solitude: The-Express Tear Jar

 Juicy. Delicious. Salty.

[ 2023.10.30 00:10:19 ] Ahban Ozran > pretty ship
[ 2023.10.30 00:11:23 ] Ahban Ozran > hmmm
[ 2023.10.30 00:11:42 ] Anne Riraille > Mr Orca! I was missing you already
[ 2023.10.30 00:12:01 ] Ahban Ozran > hes gonna be missing him pretty son LOL
[ 2023.10.30 00:13:06 ] Ahban Ozran > setting bms at all their moons

(Nothing ever came of it.)

If there's one thing I like more than anything, even more than holding dominion over an entire constellation and calling the shots therein, it's tears. Juicy, delicious, salty tears. And The-Express have not been stingy in delivering.

I was scouting around their area of space - Niballe and Octanneve - when I saw that they had a fleet of ice miners. And in typical Express fashion - because they are terrified of me - they had as many Logi cruisers as they did miners. But one of these Logi cruisers was special. Very special:

So I warped in, activated the KillRight, and lit him up. I was expecting some salt, but not as much as was actually delivered:

Maybe they shouldn't be taking advice from Rastigan regarding how KillRights work:

[ 2023.11.01 06:19:05 ] Devon Boucher > so you gonna activate my killright or what ))
[ 2023.11.01 06:19:27 ] Devon Boucher > thats what i thought pussy lmao ))
[ 2023.11.01 06:19:39 ] Rastigan Evenshade > Its not your killright.
[ 2023.11.01 06:19:40 ] Devon Boucher > sit here actin tuff but wont do nothing hehe ))
[ 2023.11.01 06:19:44 ] Rastigan Evenshade > But nice try.
[ 2023.11.01 06:19:59 ] Devon Boucher > youre so dumb you dont even know game mechanics ))
[ 2023.11.01 06:20:22 ] Devon Boucher > maybe thats why you lose fortizars in hisec ))
[ 2023.11.01 06:20:57 ] Rastigan Evenshade > Lying about killrights in highsec while flying a leshak is even funnier.
[ 2023.11.01 06:21:39 ] Rastigan Evenshade > Xuixien is who I have a killright on. So you are baiting. But you are not prepared to play fair.
[ 2023.11.01 06:21:39 ] Devon Boucher > imagine being so retarded that you think people are lying just because you too dumb to understand game mechanics ))
[ 2023.11.01 06:21:40 ] Devon Boucher > https://i.imgur.com/9nZpSFH.png

[ 2023.11.01 06:25:18 ] Rastigan Evenshade > Devon Boucher you did not agress. Therefore not red flashy. Therefore no killright. You wanted to be able to kill a prax without being the one to agress. But that's okay.... Would you like to blow up a velator?
[ 2023.11.01 06:25:53 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > Hey bud you look like you're struggling with game mechanics. Here ya go
[ 2023.11.01 06:25:54 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Kill_Rights.
[ 2023.11.01 06:25:58 ] Rastigan Evenshade > No red flashy for us
[ 2023.11.01 06:26:58 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > If it's too complicated, let me know, I will hold your hand through it step by step.
[ 2023.11.01 06:27:24 ] Rastigan Evenshade > Are you exhausted from talking and waiting?
[ 2023.11.01 06:27:38 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > Let's not change the subject.
[ 2023.11.01 06:27:41 ] Rastigan Evenshade > Would you like a pick me up?
[ 2023.11.01 06:27:45 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > You don't know what kill rights are or how they work.
[ 2023.11.01 06:27:50 ] Rastigan Evenshade > Might I suggest drugs>?
[ 2023.11.01 06:27:56 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > I'm just trying to help you out since you're kind of a newb
[ 2023.11.01 06:28:18 ] Rastigan Evenshade > If so, we have just the thing for you! Yokaine.
[ 2023.11.01 06:28:38 ] Rastigan Evenshade > Never have your nostrails been so unplugged and your mind so on fire...
[ 2023.11.01 06:28:39 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > Did you at least learn to put your training clones in stations and not player structures?
[ 2023.11.01 06:29:11 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > Maybe if you took the time to learn basic game mechanics instead of calling people "liars", you wouldn't have such unfortunate accidents.
[ 2023.11.01 06:29:48 ] Rastigan Evenshade > If you order now, we will include two whole packages totally free! just walk your keester on down to the local PD and yeet your gun out yo butt. Then ask the nice man behind the desk for ya drugs back. It's that simple!
[ 2023.11.01 06:30:08 ] Rastigan Evenshade > We will even cover shipping and handling, FREE of CHARGE
[ 2023.11.01 06:30:17 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > This guy really doesn't want to talk about how he doesn't understand kill rights.
[ 2023.11.01 06:30:38 ] Rastigan Evenshade > Hell man, I may even throw in a crisp $100 bill for your snorting pleasure!
[ 2023.11.01 06:31:12 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > So kill rights can be made available to other people.
[ 2023.11.01 06:31:48 ] Rastigan Evenshade > Would you like to make an order of Yokaine?
[ 2023.11.01 06:31:53 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > Based on that screenshot, you have a killright available on Devon Boucher. All you had to do was activate it from the "Selected Item" window and he'd have gone flashy for you.
[ 2023.11.01 06:32:18 ] Rastigan Evenshade > I have 100,000,000 kilos ready to zip off to your location in no time!
[ 2023.11.01 06:32:18 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > So eitherA) You were too pussy to do it or B) You're too dumb to do it
[ 2023.11.01 06:33:20 ] Rastigan Evenshade > C) you cannot sell kill rights you do not own, and I do not own a killright on Devon. It's in my mails and on my sheets.D) is for dic
[ 2023.11.01 06:33:52 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > Bro... click the screenshot. The kill right is made available to your alliance for free.
[ 2023.11.01 06:34:00 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > lmao how can you be this dumb.
[ 2023.11.01 06:34:08 ] Rastigan Evenshade > Also, I do not have any killrights on anyone except for  Xuixien
[ 2023.11.01 06:34:10 ] Jhousetlin Zamayid > Were you born this way?

Rastigan is not the most competent pilot in The-Express:

So maybe nobody should take any advice from him.

815mil on Zkill.

More to Come

Stay tuned. More juicy content to come. I might even have to restart my Solitude Moon Project stream! (twitch.tv/solitudemoonproject)

Life in Solitude: The-Express

 The-Express Ticket to My Killboard

Solar Winds is engaged in a war on two fronts. From the north, <DUMPY> is encroaching upon The Crown, mining first in Eggheron, and then attempting to expand into Toustain and Ondree (we shut that down pretty quickly). From the south, another group - The-Expanse aka The-Express - have also decided it would be a good idea to set up structures in the area and steal the Rare Border anomalies from legal citizens of Mobrault.

It never ceases to amaze me how this "game" always follows the same predictable sequence of steps. It hardly ever varies. In fact, I cannot remember it ever unfolding differently. There are four "stages", or "turns". They are similar to the Stages of Grief. It's always fascinating to watch it unfold in real time, virtually invariate from group to group, player to player.

Turn One - Denial: During the first turn, I notice the presence of a group that is not set blue, and that has not reached out regarding liscensing and permissioning. My first step is to attempt diplomatic contact, reaching out to them and explaining that Mobrault, endearingly referred to by all as The Crown of Solitude, is the soveriegn holding of Solar Winds, and that if they wish to operate in the area, they must apply for and be granted +5 blue standings.

Generally speaking, we do not charge money. We are not extortionists. What we're basically looking for is an acceptance of the terms we outline. In accepting said terms, the entities in question both acknowledge Solar Winds' hold over The Crown, and also provide a tributary service to Solar Winds, usually in the form of docking rights in structures, free hauling of select imports, or selling ore to us at a reduced price.

During the first turn, the offending entities usually respond in 1 of 2 ways: They either laugh and troll in Local chat, asserting that no one can "claim" HiSec space, or they completely ignore us. Either way, the result is the same.

The owner of this Athanor, an Express associate, decided to ignore us. The result was predictable:

Members of The-Express continued to ignore attempted diplomatic contacts. They had two Athanors in Eggheron, and denied our requisition for docking access.

When told to stay out of the Empire Border anomalies, this pilot - another Express asssiate - decided to ignore us as well:

He had already been informed of the situation once before, and ignored us:

Some people are slow learners.

Turn Two - Refusal: During this phase of relations, the offending parties have accepted Solar Winds ownership of The Crown as a concept, but will not acknowledge it as reality. They may continue to ignore us, or they may actively smack talk in Local while attempting to continue their illicit operations. They may even formulate "plans" to "deal with us".

So they're going to "get rid of us". From our own sovereign space? Not happening.

In response, we decided to turn up the heat a bit. We decided to take a trip to The-Express' space and pay them a little visit. We decided, since they want open borders, we'd enter their territory and share our culture with them.

Spoiler: We shot him again.

We promised to continue sharing our culture with them in their own backyard, unless they decided to leave The Crown. Now we had their attention, and we moved on to the next step in the process.

Turn Three - Resistance: Note: Sometimes our enemies skip this part, and move directly to a resolution. That is always a favorable outcome, however, more boring than resistance.

During the resistance phase our enemies have acknowledged not only our ownership of The Crown, but our capability in enforcing the rule of law within the constellation. They are not happy with the situation, and actively resist our authority. They may form mining fleets of considerable size and boast in Local about how much ISK they're making with their mining fleet, or may attempt to interfere with the legal mining operations of naturalized Mobrault citizens. They often believe they're "one upping" or "getting at us" by doing this, however, what they never realize - until too late - is that by resisting, they are implicitly acknowledging our claim as legitimate. At this point, it's only a matter of time before resolution is reached.

They are also giving us exactly what we want: content.

The-Express decided to resist by setting up a mining operation, purposefully, to "antagonize" us. It went predictably:

Maackey thought "boy, I bet they can't do that over and over. I bet if I just undock another Retriever, they'll give up." Except that's not how this works. After his second barge died, the fleet switched over to Ventures and began to brag about the "force" they were able to field against us.

Special thanks to Bud wiezer for this gem:

The smacktalk continued for some time, with The-Express getting more and more unhinged:

Turn Four - Resolution: The entire sequence of events always ends in one outcome: capitulation. Capitulation takes two forms: accepting our rule over The Crown and abiding by the laws in place, or extrication from The Crown (which is itself an acceptance that we own The Crown and can enforce our rule with impunity).

Sometimes reaching a resolution can take some time. Cryin' Andie took a few months. Other times it's very quick. In this case, it only took a week:

The-Express is leaving The Crown, and have in effect already done so: they never send miners here anymore. So far all we've seen are a few combat ships doing... nothing.

The-Express are pretty mad. And understandably so: they have to tear down or sell their structures in The Crown. One structure in particular will be rather painful for them to remove. No one wants to buy it, and understandably. Who uses Tech2 rigs in HiSec??

No one wants to buy their shitty Tech2 rigged Athanor on a R4 moon in HiSec. The best offer they got was a couple of bil. The structure is worth 5bil+.

But it's gonna take them a while to get rid of the structure, assuming it's even alive  a week from this posting, because LOL:

Stay tuned for the next installing: The-Express Tear Jar