As my regular readers all know, Solar Winds operates in an area of Solitude that we lovingly refer to as "The Crown". If you look on Dotlan maps, you'll easily recognize it; it's "the crown" of Solitude, right there in the north. This is effectively "our" space; yes, it's HiSec and LowSec, so no SOV can be taken, but people are starting to learn that if they're not blue to us, and they come here, they're going to be griefed incessantly. People don't like being griefed. It can cause entire alliances to collapse. Krabs just wanna krab, in peace and safety, without being bothered. Take that away from them and the tears will flow.
Our foreign policy is pretty simple: we are NBSI (Not Blue? Shoot It!) - and we're not interested in having blues. Unless, of course, you have something to offer that actually interests us. And pretty much all we're interested in is the convenience of structure access and invitations to PvP ops. Provide us content, or be our content. Simple.
With the new gate connecting Eggheron to Kenninck, we've seen an increase in traffic through The Crown. Most of this traffic is inconsequential; random neutrals in NPC corps just passing through to check out Solitude. But there was one group - a sizeable US/AU alliance, <OZLAD> - that wasn't just "passing through". For several days I watched their haulers moving around the region, and their Ventures huffing gas right in our backyard. Normally I would have griefed them to pieces, but I decided to try a different approach and reach out to their leadership first.
I'd noticed that <OZLAD> had some Athanors in Kenninck. I'm always on the lookout for this sort of thing; moon mining is a great way for junior players to make ISK (10-50 mil/hr in a single Venture), and compression is a huge convenience when mining ore anoms. Not to mention the strategic value of having a place to tether, and the possibility of joint mining and PvP operations to bolster content. Since <OZLAD> was already utilizing our space, I decided to reach out and see if they would be open to allowing us to utilize their space - that is, tether on their Athanors and mine their moons for a fair tax - in exchange for not harassing them when they're in The Crown.
My conversation with Towelie Smokesalot seemed to start off well, but one particular day - the day I was ganking their Ventures in Straloin - he seemed to be in a particularly bad mood, and diplomacy broke down (mutually; I was also a bit of a dick). Because of lies that are being told about the conversation we had, I am forced to post our Discord log in it's entirety below. The only bit I've left out is regarding some brief conversation about [QUOKA], where I put the possibility of our hiring <OZLAD> as mercenaries to defend GSC on the table (this was before Padrick decided we were "bad allies" and reset us):
As everyone can see, no tribute was asked for. ISK was not talked about. I issued no threats; just made our foreign policy - NBSI - clear, because the <OZLAD> pilots I was ganking were getting super butthurt in Local about it. All that was put on the table was the offer of a simple arrangement: if you let us tether and mine your moons, our pilots will be available to defend your structures should they be attacked. Also, we will set you blue and let your pilots huff gas and mine in Solitude without interference. Towelie Smokesalot decided to respond with threats, linking battle reports which did not seem at all relevant to anything; Tengus won't help you when kamikaze Catalysts are ganking your miners; after all, the goal is always only to kill the barge. Saving Catalysts is not a consideration.
I began to do what I do, since <OZLAD> was continuing to come into The Crown to do stuff:
The response from line members was as expected. They sat on tether while saying I was having "no effect" on their mining, etcetc. Nothing really worth mentioning; just the usual krabby talk. But then Towelie Smokesalot decided to show up and be racist in Local and unironically use the label "autistic" as a pejorative. Line members followed his lead and began posting bigoted garbage like this in Local:
[ 2021.07.09 04:08:44 ] Towelie Smokesalot > Xuixien I knew I smelled autism
[ 2021.07.09 04:09:05 ] Xuixien > I bet that smell follows you wherever you go... strange, huh?
[ 2021.07.09 04:09:17 ] Towelie Smokesalot > nah only when im up by solitude
[ 2021.07.09 04:09:35 ] Towelie Smokesalot > serious question though.......whats it like being a loser anyway?
[ 2021.07.09 04:10:35 ] Xuixien > You tell me.
[ 2021.07.09 04:10:38 ] Xuixien > I have no idea.
[ 2021.07.09 04:10:49 ] Xuixien > For example: I don't get super buttmad over computer games like you do.
[ 2021.07.09 04:10:50 ] Xuixien > ^-^
[ 2021.07.09 04:11:37 ] Towelie Smokesalot > weird white guy with an asian name thinking he owns some section of high sec......yeah man checks all the blocks it seems
[ 2021.07.09 04:11:43 ] Xuixien > etcetc
[ 2021.07.09 04:11:45 ] Xuixien > I didn't read it
[ 2021.07.09 04:13:11 ] Xuixien > ty4salt tho
[ 2021.07.09 04:14:12 ] Towelie Smokesalot > so weird
[ 2021.07.09 04:14:20 ] Towelie Smokesalot > anyway, back to winning
[ 2021.07.10 03:17:05 ] TJ Tadaruwa > U FRY RESHAK?
[ 2021.07.10 03:17:12 ] Rakeem Muganni > 4.99 dumpring?
[ 2021.07.10 03:17:33 ] Jintelli > sumtingwong?
[ 2021.07.10 03:18:27 ] Rakeem Muganni > five dolla make you holla?
Now I have no problem with smacktalk; I can hang with the best of them. However, racism and discrimination are just something I don't engage with, because it's disgusting, ignorant, and low brow. I don't know how <OZLAD> found out that I'm on the spectrum, but it doesn't matter; skin color, disabilities, sexual orientation - these cards are just not "on the table". Keep it game relevant.
Here's the thing about EVE: no matter how big your dick is, it's never big enough. There's always someone else with an even bigger dick. So logically, since your dick size is always inadequate, it helps to not be an actual dick spewing racism in Local. <OZLAD> decided to be smug asshats and drop their big dick carrier while spewing bigotry. Naturally that sort of thing does not go unnoticed, especially when your moon mining is being streamed (yes, twitch.tv/solitudemoonproject is still very much alive!).
People who like hunting capitals took notice, and flash formed. The natural outcome of course was for <OZLAD> - as Towelie Smokesalot would put it - to "win". And win they did!
[ 2021.07.10 03:13:50 ] Jintelli > anyone having trouble mining?
I'm so happy to be sharing our culture with our neighbors. Our diplo is still reaching out to <OZLAD> leadership, so I may or may not have a new installment. But until then, this is Xuixien - autistic nobody who "has no effect", signing off.
EDIT: I'm told the fight was recorded. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G14Ruz3mBac
UPDATE: <OZLAD> now docks their caps up when I enter Local. They are also so salty that they spend 1 hour camping an anom in order to hotdrop a single Procurer. I love these guys! <3
