Over the last few weeks, various alliances and figures within the Imperium (formerly CFC) have faced a fair amount of backlash, departures and criticism. Earlier today, that trend continued. Noted member corporation of the GSF Bat Country has formally announced their departure from the alliance and NullSec space in general.
As of today, Bat Country members will begin to withdraw their assets from Deklein over the next 3 weeks and regroup in an undisclosed low-sec system. While an open invitation has been provided to those members who wish to stay within Goonswarm.
What came as a bit more of a shock was Blawrf McTaggart, member of Goonwaffe for just over 5 years, and Skymashall of Goonswarm federation for almost two years publicly announcing his departure on the EVE reddit.
I quit the alliance this afternoon, greatly displeased with the actions of top-level leadership, and hugely disillusioned with what Goonswarm – the Goonswarm I joined, loved, worked countless sleepless nights for – had become. I took a tour of Deklein, curious as to what the damage one such as I – if I was so inclined – could do. I didn’t steal 550,000,000,000+ ISK worth of materiel from four stations, because I don’t want to harm Goonswarm or the line membership within it. I didn’t cancel their supercapital builds with the roles I held because that is the action of someone who is bitter and vengeful – and I’m not bitter, no matter my treatment at the hands of top-level leadership I’m just sad at what it’s become.
The general community reaction can only be described as predictable. With two main camps shouting over each other, one claiming that this loss means another nail in the coffin for the Imperium. The other simply seeing it as the natural ebb and flow of alliance membership in NullSec space.
It’s debatable what impact this change will have, if any. BAT made up a portion of the GSF’s active PvP elements and the loss to GSF activity levels will be felt to some degree. The large-scale implications for the Imperium are a little harder to ascertain. The troubled few weeks for the organization have undoubtedly exposed some cracks in the foundation. But it remains to be seen if the issues raised by Blawrf will be addressed in any meaningful way. It’s worth noting that any organization that lasts over several years will be subjected to similar rhetoric. EVE is a game with a high attrition rate for players. As older players spend more time in an organization it becomes more likely that they will see changes happen that they disagree with. The geological time scale of New Eden often makes it harder to see this trend, but in my experience nearly all alliances that reach a certain level of success see these issues with growing displeasure of players.
The loss of their talented Skymarshal will certainly cause a bit more strife however. The loss of dedicated and talented players would kill lesser organizations. But I suspect that the damage will be mitigated to little more than a small scale morale loss that leads to a minor drop in active numbers. The likely response will be to shower members in content and attempts to keep demoralized players engaged with communal effort from the top down.
