Mercenaries services are often sought out within the EVE Online world in all realms of space. It is also one of the most difficult professions to maintain. Entities such as Marmite, Vendetta, Suddenly Spaceships, and my very own Surely You’re Joking, are all just a few of the groups called upon to operate in their area of specialty. What makes the mercenary world unique is that it not only requires a certain level of pvp prowess, but also a level of ethical conduct. This is not simply for the sake of “E-Bushido” but because a mercenary’s word is his livelihood.
Many even rallied behind the in/famous and polarizing figure, Gevlon Goblin in his dispute with Alekseyev Karrde’s Mercenary Alliance, “Noir.” when many perceived that Alek’s alleged “lawyering” of his client’s terms left many questioning the old mercenary outfit’s current credibility. Both defenders and detractors spilled more ink than blood on the matter which spun hundreds of comments on both the Eve forums and Reddit. While both Noir and their detractors fought tooth and nail for their perspective, the effects of the dispute are arguably in play even now.
It is under these difficult sort of conditions that one is required to maintain their services and the interplay between perception and reality is more in effect than anywhere else in Eve. Having been both a consumer and a provider of such services, I wish to impart my thoughts on certain matters of the issue. It is a difficult matter to provide the services when the customers frequently ask for the moon and the stars in exchange for pocket change. But it is also equally frustrating as a customer when a contract hungry Merc CEO prices his task far above the prey’s worth, or worse, his outfit’s ability to hunt said prey. The issue is a matter of information and without the proper details it can be hard to make a decision on who to hire for that.
Some low brow types disregard Highsec completely but in truth it is the meeting place of all other residents throughout Eve. A secluded Wormhole player may never have much reason to head to nulsec, and a nulsecer’s interest in lowsec may only be marginal. Even so, everyone manages to find their way to High Sec be it for commerce or otherwise. As such, Highsec is an extremely valuable playing field for mercenaries and their customers.
The question remains, who to hire? In the tradition to the Oltean, we shall answer with a question, “What are you trying to accomplish?”
The tool you are trying to use is just as important on what you are trying to use it on. The largest Highserc mercenary alliance is of course Tora Bushido’s Marmite Collective. Critics have ravaged their Eve forum thread with complaints that Marmite only camps Jita and other major trade hubs and refuses to venture beyond. While Freight Club corp within Marmite and a few others disprove these allegation, at least in the absolute form, Marmite does indeed focus on the trade hubs of Eve. While not interesting in getting involved in the petty forum drama of the matter, I would argue that that is a completely legitimate form of mercenary work. With dozens, if not hundreds of active wars, Marmite is clearly effective on causing damage on behalf of their clients. With all walks of life having at the very least, some basic interest in systems such as Jita, it’s smart to hedge your bets and be present in the most active system in Eve. It’s a very in-demand service of denying access to the trade hubs. The Orphanage did the exact same thing before Marmite and if Tora were to ever close down his alliance, it would not be long before another took up the task. But perhaps your target is not one that frequents Jita as often. Perhaps you need a different tool for the job.
I first spoke with Scandor, Leader of Forsaken Asylum, under a couple of different aliases. Within my particular play style, where knowledge, secrecy and relationships are the things of utmost value, it is something I often do to obtain a good read on the individual I plan on working with. More often than not, if I speak with someone on this character, it is only after I’ve already assessed said individual via alts and/or have spoken with a few people close to that individual already. It was this sort of matter which Scandor showed a sense of appreciation and understanding for. Sometimes certain individuals become offended when finding this out, usually out of insecurity or because they are hiding something embarrassing. Scandor’s attitude was very nonchalant, “Alright, what else can I do for you? Would you like to speak on comms?” I agreed.
Scandor came off as a mild mannered British gentleman and we carried our conversation concerning liquor from the Eve chat over to Teamspeak. But of course, most of you British sorts come off as gentlemen and this trait has allowed your kind to impose your interests over several continents throughout the last few hundred years. One would need to be careful. I threw a couple questions concerning some of their past contracts. Some had been my own doing while others were not. I posed my questions intermixed and awaited the answers. I was pleasantly surprised because while Scandor was comfortable enough to reveal certain details, he would never go as far as to violate his clients’ privacy. He politely apologized and let me know what he could not reveal. Mind you this was a discussion where only I and he were present so there would be no loss of face. He maintained his stance simply out of principle, and that’s something I and many others can respect especially in the universe of Eve.
Two specific matters had brought me to Forsaken Asylum, the first being a current wardec with a small friendly alliance of newer players. There had been some mismanagement of words being exchanged that escalated into a conflict. Upon explaining the misunderstanding, Scandor was more than willing to see eye to eye and move past the issue to more relevant matters: discussing an actual contract. In the past I’ve dealt with merc contractors that were only interested in what they were getting paid, but with Scandor I had a distinct sense that he was interested in how Forsaken Asylum could fulfill their job instead.
Scandor has forbidden his alliance to camp trade hubs and instead specialize in hunting their targets throughout Highsec. They usually run small and medium sized gangs of frigates and cruisers. Often they’ll tear down bigger high value targets using a variety of tactics. While pvp prowess and talent is highly valued, the culture within Forsaken Asylum is very laid back. Just recently for a member’s birthday, Scandor and the rest of the alliance fit up their favorite industrial and/or mining ship for combat, loaded some liquor into their systems and went on a roams. It’s this sort of mixture between professional and laid back that produces a healthy culture and an effective force for clients to hire.
I give Forsaken Asylum 4 out of 5 stars for their professionalism and effectiveness. Dealing with Scandor is also an extremely pleasant experience. They’re one star away from the maximum rating only because I’d like to see them flesh out their ranks a bit more. That may not be a terrible thing for those looking to join an active highsec mercenary group that is active and is keen on actively hunting their targets and has room to grow.
If you’re interested in hiring Forsaken Asylum, contact Scandor in game or via Eve mail.
Eve Online Thread: https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=288534
