This is a story about how one big-mouthed idiot can start a chain reaction of events that end in the destruction of a treasured annual event in Eve Online. Bear with me, this is going to be a wild ride.
Stay Frosty has historically been rather lax compared to other groups in Eve Online when it comes to recruitment. We believe in a "sink or swim" philosophy that has served us well. New players are put into a 30 day "Chiller" role and then we wait and see what happens. Some make it and some don't. I explain this because those players have no roles in our organization other than to prove they deserve to become Frostians and full-fledged Pirates. Pretty simple stuff but it works for us. The Pirate life is not an easy one.
One of these new-to-us-players was not working out. Already we had discussions about their future in the group. According to other sources he was rather profane in telling elements of GalMil that Stay Frosty owned "Sov" in Ouelletta and that the militias were not allowed to plex there. This is, of course, silly. It is however a common mistake that new members can make. Ouelletta is our home. And while we do enjoy defending our home we also encourage everyone to come and do their business there - if they can. It's content for us. Heck, we even hold the largest player-run event in all of Eve Online there. Or, at least we did. This is the unintended consequences part of the post.
The folks in Percussive Pizza Time Diplomacy didn't take kindly to his rants and decided to attack our Athanor in Ouelletta. We can argue all day about this decision, but I think in hindsight we can all admit this was not a good idea. For those of you reading this and not familiar with structure mechanics or the current state of affairs in Low Sec - a structure timer is a red flag that pops up on certain people's radar. Now that structure timers are only a 2 step process, once the shields are gone - this group can swoop in on the second timer and pop the structure without having to inconveniently wait. More on this later.
We formed up for the timer defense and luckily no one showed up. My group had their blood up however and needed something to do. You can't form up 40+ blood-thirsty Pirates and then send them home empty. So we flew two jumps over and returned the favor on one of Pizza's structures. We hoped that would be the end of it. Stay Frosty is not really interested in structure fights. The rest of this story is a mess of back and forth diplomacy, miscommunication, and mistakes. And I freely admit that several of those were made on our side as well. There is enough to go around.
All of which is fine. It happens and we worked it all out together and we no longer have any issues with the people in Pizza. Unfortunately however - this path resulted in two of our structures in Ouelletta being put into timers. Two red flags popping up on someone's radar.
The Stay Frosty ABA Annual FF4A has become the largest player run event in all of Eve Online. Back in March we held our 8th Annual version and broke all the records we had set just the year before. Every year they get bigger and bigger. The event is hosted out of an Astra named "Toothpaste Fish" in Ouelletta. We do this because of the tether and because of the extra cargo space afforded by the structure itself. Last year we had 20,000 fully fitted frigates on hand. Every hangar in Ouelletta was full. That is 3 NPC stations, an Astra, and an Athanor FULL of Frigates. Without the Astra and Athanor people can camp the NPC stations and kill frigates as they undock. This used to be a huge problem back in the early days and it kept those early FFA events much smaller than they became once tethering became possible.
As of yesterday Toothpaste Fish currently held about 13,000 fully fitted frigates in preparation for next year's event.
So yes, in order to ensure the survival of this structure I sounded the alarm on Twitter and on Discord. I knew what was going to happen. And I was right. We can argue that the egg came before the chicken or that the chicken came first, but the fact is that what happened was going to happen either way. This is the reality in Low Sec these days. The Mafia wants their protection money and if you don't pay they will remove your structure and there is literally nothing you can do about it. The red flags went up and they were noticed.
So yesterday, as expected, Snuff showed up to the Astra timer and blew up Toothpaste Fish. A structure that had been in space for six years and six FF4A events. They blew up the 13,000 frigates, which are now in asset safety without a place to put them. (For the moment at least) They did this because we are not paying them protection money. They did it without a care in the world. They did it simply because they can.
And right now, if they are reading this (which they are trust me) they are already forming the insults they will use to down-grade me and make themselves feel better about what they did. I know the type. And I also know, better than most of you reading this, that this is Eve Online. It is harsh, it is cold, and to the victor go the spoils. I am a pirate after all. And not just any old pirate either. So don't try to tell me about how harsh Eve can be. I already know. Thank you.
I'm more than familiar with bullies. I was there on the field when Snuff destroyed Space Detroit. And I've watched Tama turn into a regular old system in the aftermath of that structure being destroyed. I was there when Snuff killed the 6th Empire's Keepstar, a well-known and long-established center of peace in the universe. The Space Popes' home. So yeah, I don't need a history lesson.
Stay Frosty has a Code we live by. It's an important piece of our heritage, a heritage that goes all the way back to the very first pirates in Eve Online. We're proof that you can be cold-blooded, scum-sucking pirates and also be decent human beings. The idea that being cold, heartless, Eve Online players means you also have to be assholes is a myth. It is a left-over from another era, a misunderstanding by juveniles masquerading as adults. And there is no room for it in our culture. The continued existence of these forces is what keeps Eve from achieving its full potential. And, as we've all seen this past year, those who bully are being torn down and asked to leave.
Right now it is entirely possible that we will not rebuild the Astra in Ouelletta. We no longer need it to house our clones due to the recent NPC station changes. The only reason we kept it was because of the event. Us pirates don't need structures. It is entirely possible that we will not hold another FF4A. Right now I am undecided regarding the future of that event. I need the Astra to truly make it work, but why put up another one if some bully is just going to knock it down again. That doesn't make any sense.
So we'll see. There is a lot of time between now and next March. A lot can happen in that time.
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I want to take this moment to thank the good people in Brave, Goonswarm, Shadow Cartel, Critical Effect, Get Off My Lawn, and any others that joined us over the past few days to help defend our structures and the event. You are all appreciated.
And to the people in Pizza - remember to check the employment history of that idiot in local. And please reach out to me directly next time. I'm the easiest person to reach. We look forward to resuming normal operating conditions.
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Stay Frosty is a neutral organization. We are non-aligned with any militia, coalition, or other organized groups inside of Eve Online. We do not have blue standings with anyone outside of our Alliance and sphere of support alts. We do however support our friends when needed. Or when content is offered. We are loyal to those we consider our friends, enemies in-game are friends out-of-game. This is the way.