Let me get back on track(!!), ahh I did it again.
A Band Apart has been an Alliance for 4 months and 16 days now. As of today ABA has eight Corporations under its umbrella. In general those break down to areas of interest for our members, HS, LS and WH space. Members of the Alliance are free to move between those areas of interest, to park alts in them, to play with each other and generally behave like the Alliance is one giant Corporation. This was always the intention and it seems to be working exceptionally well. All of that within the established confines of common sense and game mechanics, of course.
And while the Stay Frosty philosophy is well established and has been churning along for a year and a half now, ABA itself is still relatively new. Some of those eight Corporations are recent additions. (Welcome aboard!) And so we've lacked an overall philosophy that applies to the entirety of the Alliance itself. In general, most everyone has been applying the "Stay Frosty" way to everything. And while that works in theory, I believe it is also important that we spell it all out in black and white. Not everyone in the Alliance has been as exposed to the Stay Frosty method and new members may not be as aware of how awesome that is.
One of the most important Core Tenets of Stay Frosty has been, since day one, openness. Not only is our recruitment totally open, but our attitudes are as well. Not everyone likes that sort of thing, but the vast majority of our players do. And thrive in that environment. That Core remains and will continue to form the basis of our activities moving forward, Alliance wide.
I have posted and written a lot over the past year and a half about Stay Frosty and our philosophy. Now it is time to spell out and share with the wide world the Core Principles of A Band Apart.
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A Band Apart: CORE PRINCIPLES
A Band Apart is a group of Eve musicians gathered together for ensemble playing, united together for a common purpose. That common purpose is to uphold the ideals that bring us together, to withstand the tide of conformity, and to give all of our players the chance to excel on their own merits. We do this by standing apart from the crowd, by giving no fucks, and by upholding these common principles:
• Real Life always comes first.
• Eve is a game and should be played like one.
• Your Alliance mates come first.
• All of our players have a voice.
• All of our players should be self-sufficient first and foremost. All of our Corps should be self-sufficient second. And the Alliance will be the stronger for both.
• We shall create and preserve an environment where all our players feel empowered to take on the mantle of responsibility and rise to any challenge, organize others and overcome personal goals.
• We shall never DEMAND anything.
• We shall encourage our players to only fly what they can afford to lose, but shall never confine them to that idea.
• The Alliance exists solely to empower our players and individual corporations.
• We shall withstand the urge to conform and store our potatoes any way we damn well please, Praise Bob!
• Any player, from any Corporation, who wishes to participate in any activity should be allowed to do so if at all possible.
• In ALL things FRIENDSHIP first. The rules of friendship, among us all, are the guiding principles of our conduct within the Alliance. Friends may come and go, but as long as they remain our friends, they will always be our friends.
A Band Apart is not intended to be just another Alliance and the Corporations within A Band Apart are not intended to be just another group of Corporations. Any path that leads us to the "same-old-same-old" should be avoided at all costs. Find another solution. Forge your own path. Challenge the status-quo. Build something better. These are the qualities of A Band Apart.
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I strongly believe, just like Martin Luther, that if you believe in something you should nail it to a wall for everyone to see. So I'm publishing this on the blog today for everyone to see.
This is us. We make no apologies for being weird. We are doing our own thing here and it may or may not align with your pre-formed opinions about what constitutes an appropriate Eve Alliance. That is written right into our Core Principles, so whatever. It was never my personal intention to create just another group just like all the other groups. And please, do not take that statement out-of-context and put words in my mouth. I did not once say that we are better than any other group, or that our way is the best way, or that any other Eve group's way is inferior to ours. I have never said that, nor would I.
Our way is our way. Take it or leave it.
However, if our way sounds at all interesting to you and you'd enjoy being a part of something like you've read about here today - then I encourage you to talk with us. Our great Alliance is coming together and will be the foundation upon which we build great things. You can be an important part of that, or you can just come along for the ride. It is totally up to you.
Talk to us in the in-game channels EVEOGANDA and/or The Frosty Hammer.
We Are Groot!