In the last few weeks there has been a lot of high level leaks coming from BPA, from chat logs, evemails and several rather interesting soundcloud recordings. So who are BPA, and what the heck happened? For this, we need a bit of a history lesson.
Black Pearl Alliance, BPA, was run by Exanimo Inc, EXAN, a corp that has been around in Eve since the early days. A corporation that has quite the history, being one of the founding corporations of Triumvirate, and most recently soon to be 5 alliances in 2014. However it is not until 2013, when EXAN, now under the leadership of BadBoris began to make waves. BadBoris and EXAN as some of you may remember was part of a failed coop to cease control of the now dead alliance, Unclaimed., siding with N3 and working with Nulli and Kadeshi, EXAN formed, Ex Cinere Scriptor, -ASH-, Shortly after the failed coop, -ASH- successfully managed to annoy Kadeshi and Nulli, by posting some very negative posts which were leaked, and then again switching sides, working alongside TEST/TRIBE, working with TEST however didn’t last long, due to logistical difficulties, and they soon changed standings once again, to join The Dinner Squadron, ex-HBC alliances who stuck together. It is during this time that a donation drive happened, pilots in the alliance kindly donated isk to BadBoris so that the alliance could buy her a titan. 2 weeks after the donation drive, -ASH- then moved to dronelands under the wing of EMP, causing yet another standings list change, and more logistics. After TEST imploded, many corps landed in EMP, after a period of time certain elements within EMP, mostly exTEST, began to question the usefulness of -ASH-, as they put very few into fleet, and so it was decided to merge -ASH- into EMP. EMP eventually disbanded, and EXAN changed homes again before landing in SCDOT and then -A-. A month into -A-, EXAN once again changed sides, resurrected an alliance they held, Black Pearl Alliance, and paid other alliances to aid them in taking a constellation in Catch.
Some people might remember, when this happened, HERO was very annoyed. Certainly elements within Spaceship Samurai were annoyed that BPA got to take one of the best constellations in Catch. There was several threads about removing BPA, of which were all shut down, much to the sadness of many a HONOR pilot. After some diplomatic work, BPA was cut down to only having 3 systems, although they were able to use a couple of nonBPA sov systems. Why they weren’t removed completely, and why they were protected remains something of a mystery. Sources inside of NC. claiming they built Supers and Titans for NC. And sources inside of BPA claiming this is entirely untrue, and that they had the space because of a deal made with HERO.
So roll on the start of September, we have all seen the drama surrounding Aura Ikku and I G, Upon leaving HONOR, BPA was approached as a potential new home for I G. This is something that happened very fast, and I G was accepted into BPA by BadBoris with virtually no consultation with anyone else in the alliance. This caused some CEOs to be rather unhappy with the decision. Upon I G joining BPA, a lot more leaks happened, and deals came to light, Aura was to be removed from I G, I G to undergo a leadership change, and for the I G line members to dial back the language, racism, and other such things they had been more used to in HONOR.
Then came along PL. Its unclear if they were hired, bored, or the FC was drunk, but 2 BPA CSAA’s were reinforced, not without a few dread losses from NC. Dropping in on the party, and some reset rumours between NC. And PL hitting reddit. Discussions were had behind the scenes, as the CSAAs were not hit when they came out of reinforced.
Since then BPA has held a leadership meeting, in which several options were put on the table, basically fight, disband, get some space from N3 or merge BPA into Gentlemen’s.Club. The CEOs voted to remain and fight, something that is rare to see in Eve. With this decision, HERO camped BPA space, with the help of the Stain Wagon. Many comments were made about BPAs lack of willingness to fight, and several comical and expensive killmails were had. Then news hit reddit, BPA is closing, and joining Gentlemen’s.Club, this was obviously news to the CEOs, again another decision made without them being informed, or part of the discussion.
So BPA will close, and merge into Gentlemen’s.Club (read the mail here), some corps have decided to remove themselves from this, with corps such as Godless Horizon, choosing to avoid null drama, and instead refocus efforts on low sec fun. Empty Wallets Inc. And Free Galactic Enterprises joining new alliances, and a couple of other corporations joining Northern Associates, the N3 rental alliance. From interviewing several other CEOs within BPA, there is certainly a sense of distrust, and unhappiness with how recent events have been handled. As for EXAN, sources tell me that members are becoming increasingly annoyed with the logistical nightmare that the corp has become, with this now being the 10th time assets have had to of been moved enmass in 2014. Although given the year of failure and general backstabbing EXAN have had, we wish Gentlemen’s Club all the best with the BPA merger.
