So the War of Tears has ended as predicted: Not with a bang. But with a whimper. And that whimper came from Padrick Gaterau, the new leader of Greater Solitude Coalition <GSC> and their sister alliance N.E.S.T Corporation <N.E.S.T> - and, apparently, an alliance level diplo in NullSec on his main - who, like a beaten dog, made nice nice with the people who were attacking him and bent the knee (his NullSec alliance must be renters).
And all it took were a couple of shield timers from a corp that loses ships while bashing undefended POCOs in HiSec (which, by the way, were on completely unused planets - yes, QUOKA spent the time, lost the ships, and paid over 1 billion ISK to anchor POCOs on completely unused HiSec planets to "deny us access" - lol). Seriously. A 1 man holding corp and they still managed this:
QUOKA Guardians once again murdered by the faceless terror CONCORD.
Apparently Padrick wants "stability" - so he blued the guy who threw an ineffectual babyfit and WarDec'd half the region. Over a blog.
Padrick got played.
It's a bit disappointing. I spoke to Padrick at length on comms. He seemed like a cool guy - a gruff Pennsylvanian dude with a kind of frank, no-nonsense tone to his voice. We got along well, and using my counseling skills, I was able to take an emic perspective and understand where he was coming from. I disagreed with a lot of it, but I understood it. He asked me for a lot of advice regarding how to set things up and organize his group. Being a bit more experienced than him as a "hunter"/"spy" type of dude, I was able to give him a different perspective in regards to operational security. We were starting to find common ground. I was looking forward to a better relationship with GSC/NEST and perhaps a new friend.
That is, of course, until I was made privy to Discord messages that had been exchanged, wherein Padrick was calling me a "troll" and saying that I needed to "stop my 'bullshit'" - not only in-game, but out of game. He was demanding that I stop writing my "bullshit" Life in Solitude series, and that my corporation - of which I have been working my ass off to build - kick me. He also wanted us to leave our ancestral home - The Crown - in order to squelch hostilities between us and QUOKA.
When it became clear to him that he wouldn't be getting this, he unblued us (...he set NBSI pirates neutral... in order to promote "stability" for his alliance...). In other words: He was being a Sadrick and pounding his fists on the table because he wanted things a certain way, but wasn't getting it. Sound familiar?
Apparently Padrick has a real problem with me, but doesn't have the stones to come to me with it directly. Instead, he'll be nice to your face and then talk shit behind your back. Padrick also has this funny idea that his group is entitled to living in LowSec without having to deal with PvP or conflict of any sort. He thinks he can dictate to other players how they can and can't play the game - even what they can do outside of the game. "The Carebear Tyrant".
He's in for a rude awakening now that his alliance is neutral. This isn't NullSec. We live out of NPC stations. There's no evicting us; no batphone will help him.
Being short sighted, he's of course gotten the opposite of what he wanted. Not only am I not taking down the blog that bothers him so much - but now I'm writing about him. This is my personal EVE journal - the GMs have ruled that I can write anything I want here. Padrick wanted "stability" so he kissed ass with the people who were shooting his structures and unblued us - and now we will be shooting his line members instead.
Diplomats build relationships, but they also know which bridges to burn. Padrick can't seem to tell his asshole from his elbow. He just burned the only bridge his guys had to real allies in Solitude.
It was [SW-TC] that left the alliance the first time, on our own accord, when it was clear that us being there would cause issues for GSC. We have always had GSC's best interests in mind: I helped get rid of <STFU> and their oppressive tax rates. I brokered the agreement between the local pirates and GSC/NEST in which they adopted a less hostile stance towards GSC/NEST. I ensured that a certain group moved to Solitude and opened diplomatic channels with GSC/NEST vs the certain other group who wanted to subjugate and dominate the region for passive income. I showed up off-TZ to help defend reinforced structures, and I have spent spent dozens of hours teaching and mentoring line members in [R01D2].
I kept everyone else out of our war with QUOKA. Cryin' Andy threw a tantrum, whined to diplos incessantly, and WarDec'd a bunch of people - pulling everyone else into the drama - so of course Padrick blue's him and blames us. Because of a blog. "For stability".
All Padrick has accomplished is to make his group vulnerable to my plastyle. And, seeing as he's such a pushover, I don't think it will fare well for him.
Members of GSC have already approached me about coming over to our side. This does not bode well; GSC/NEST is already fairly inactive. I have scouts all over Solitude; I rarely see any GSC/NEST except in small numbers in HiSec.
It all makes sense though, it really does. Cryin' Andy is a crybaby who tries to control everything and throws a tantrum when he doesn't get his way. Sadrick tries to control everything and pounds his fists when he doesn't get his way. And they both whine about mild Local smacktalk and blogs. And both - being shortsighted - bite their noses off to spite their faces.
And so the wheel in Solitude turns. Today's blues are tomorrow's content. Actually, it's a weight off my shoulders. GSC/NEST have proven to be fair weather friends who, honestly, didn't provide anything of value, and now I won't have to be babysitting them behind the scenes, brokering deals on their behalf and making sure the sharks don't come biting. I believe we used their structures once, for some reactions. It's also given me a new perspective on diplomacy and relationships: no more will I be fostering relationships and working for the prosperity of groups simply on the basis of my liking them. Moving forward, any newly added blues will be added blue because they offer us something of value.
Solitude is gonna get spicy again. The Solar Winds Community is recruiting. In SWC we don't have "line members" - we're a growing family. All playstyles are valid; we won't put a ton of arbitrary rules and restrictions on you: our only rules are "respect standings" and "keep trash talk classy" (no swearing or racism). We don't care about killboards. We care about attitude, mindset, and fit. We support our members and we protect our PvE dudes. We're all about having fun and building friendships. Check out our in-game channel: SWTC Lobby.
