Faction Warfare was first introduced in the Empyrean Age expansion (2008) to offer players a stepping-stone into PvP (player-vs-player) game play. It was not without problems, however and LP (loyalty point) farming became rampant. After the Kronos expansion changes were implemented to put a stop to this and improve faction warfare as a whole. It has come a long way since then and all sides have a broad history of events since the conception of faction warfare. Today we take some time to talk about who is involved, what their goals are, and how they intend to entice you to join them. Later, in another article, we will discuss the mechanics of faction warfare so you can be better prepared to dive right into the action. If you prefer solo or small gang PvP, this is the place for you. New players and veterans alike can always find a good fight in faction warfare.
So before we go any further, let me introduce a few key players currently involved. Hopefully these interviews provide further insight on the happenings of faction warfare, and how new players can become a part of it like I did. Unfortunately, at the time of writing I have no response from the Minmatar Militia.
Q: Please introduce yourself: what militia you are with, alliance you represent, and your primary role.
A: Glitch Lampshade, Caldari Militia
“Hello, I am Glitch Lampshade, Caldari Militia, I am the CEO of Amplified. [AMPD] Alliance and Distortion. [DISTN] Corp. My primary role is FC within the Caldari Militia, it’s the only thing I really enjoy, the bigger the ships the better.”
A: Ypsiloon, Amarr Militia
“I’m Ypsiloon, CEO of the good old Space-Brewery-Association fighting for Amarr since more than 5 years. Our corp is part of the alliance Team Amarrica and mainly active during EU and early US timezone. We love solo and small gang warfare and the corp made already more than 30k kills for the Amarr Militia. That’s what we love, undock and fight within minutes.
A: SmokinJs Arthie, Gallente Militia
“I am SmokinJs Arthie from Justified Chaos of Spaceship Bebop which is enlisted to fight for the Gallente Federation. My primary role is to pretend I run BEBOP while trying to pvp as much as possible.”
A: Wolfsdragoon, Gallente Militia
“I’m in Spiritus Draconis within the Spaceship Bebop alliance, and I mainly FC.”
A: Roy Henry, Gallente Militia
“My Name is Roy Henry, I am the CEO of Black Fox marauders as well as an FC for my corp. I mostly organize small scale fleets under twenty pilots as well as a lot of skirmish and micro gang pvp fleets. Me and my corp also help a lot with warzone maintenance and participation in other Gal Mil corp fleets.”
Q: What player groups comprise the bulk of your faction’s militia?
A: Glitch Lampshade, Caldari Militia
“Currently we have the EU powerhouse that is Amplified. The Collection of US based time zones of Templis, Bloc and Hecon as well as the Russian based United fleet.”
A: Ypsiloon, Amarr Militia
“At the moment there’s not so much pilots/corps left in Amarr FW, except for some veteran FW corps like Shirak Skunkworks, Amarrian Vengeance, the North Capsuleers, PIE Inc and of course our corporation and some individual skillful pilots. There are many very good solo players, that fight for Amarr since several years, probably some of the best pilots in new Eden.”
A: Roy Henry, Gallente Militia
Gal Mil has a large variety of diffrent organizations that make up its bulk and fighting weight. The core is based around the “Northern GalMil” groups such as Spaceship Bebop, Villore Accords, and Black Fox Marauders. There are a lot of other very active groups around who help out a lot, including corps like Schneckt, Alwar Fleet, Guardians of the Gate, Rapid Withdrawl, and Prima Galactis. We have a good spread of pilots from EU and US timezone, and groups who like to do high end big fleet battles as well as the classical “Dessy down” fleets FW is known for.
A: What have been the primary reasons for your militias continued success or struggles in the last few months?
A: Glitch Lampshade, Caldari Militia
“Ahh successes. There have been little of note in terms of the militia as a whole. I think the biggest success would have been to pull a 130-man fleet recently. While to many this is not a big deal, the current culture (and our biggest weakness) is that its every man for himself and “everyone knows better” and does their own thing. Being able to unite us under the common banner of Caldari was a great feeling. Overall success internally wise I am proud with what my corp and alliance have been able to achieve in the sub 4 months’ we have existed. We have paved the way in the EU time zone with bigger fleets with more numbers and more powerful ships often being able to engage Galmil / 3rd parties toe to toe. Yes, we lose occasionally but it’s all part of building something from the ground up. In terms of our struggles there are far too many to list. They all, however have a silver lining. Historically Calmil have been on the losing side for around about 2 years, could be 3 or 4 now that I think about it. After a period of infighting that was rampant across Calmil it left the tattered remains of what’s left, while strong united many are divided and this causes rifts, issues and political problems. There lacks a “common” goal that all people will be doing together as a militia. This is slowly being worked on, however with the current Galmil/Calmil shift in numbers we are usually in a target rich environment, great for pvp but not so much against all those AFK farmers. “
A: Ypsiloon, Amarr Militia
“In terms of warzone control Amarr dominated the Minmatar during the last year, now the pendulum is switching back. Mainly because a big group left Amarr and went to nullsec for carebearing/ratting and taking lot’s of newbros with them. But that’s a normal cycle we have seen several times, random group outgrows faction warfare, no one fights them, they then leave for Null, some good pilots bored by ratting or whatever null things they do then come back and join us. But right now it’s the best hunting season when you are in Amarr, since Minmatar is in high tier and soon get their medal many winning team joiner show up in Minmatar Militia and give us a ridicoulous amount of new targets to shoot, it’s fantastic.”
A: SmokinJs Arthie, Gallente Militia
Gal Mil has seen continued success is because of how close most of the major entities are. In the past large null sec entities would join the Caldari Militia. And the only way the Gallente would survive is to band together and make them fight for every plex and any system they wanted. And once that entity left back to null or wherever we continued onward to just take the fight to the Caldari.
A: Roy Henry, Gallente Militia
I like to think our militias success and dominance is almost entirely due to the high level of teamwork and cooperation that we share across our militia. Using combined out of game services as well as regular mixed fleets and activities, we do a great job of letting everyone who wants to participate on big picture militia activities as well as some fun side fleets has the chance to do so. The last few months have been fairly active in gal mil, after the slow time during Dec-Jan. We have had some big fights against pirates and had to weather the plexing onslaught brought on by a tidal wave of amarrian farmers coming over from the other warzone.
Q: How are you enticing new players to join faction warfare?
A: Glitch Lampshade, Caldari Militia
“We run a LOT of newbie friendly programs along with programs that appeal to the more veteran player.- Within the alliance itself we run a FREE jump freighter service, allowing people to have their ships and items to and from Jita. -We actively give out free t1 fit ships, encouraging people that more often than not smaller ships account to our success rather than everyone in a poorly skilled battleship with navigation 2. -We give these ships out by the hundreds each week to both Corp, alliance and general militia as a way to recruit. -We offer great content based pvp with the chance to see pretty much everything that pvp can offer from solo, small gang to Big battleship fights with capital escalation. – We actively teach and assist new players in giving them the experience rather than just recruiting and forgetting about them. Our members are not F1 monkeys. – We have an LP/ Loot buyback program that allows any of our members to turn in their LP earned through pvp or plexing into easy quick isk at a great market rate.- SRP we offer limited SRP across all our doctrines- we offer skill injectors to anyone who FC’s or is notable throughout the month, this could be through recruiting, pvp accomplishments or just helping out. – Best FC’s in Calmil *winks*”
A: Ypsiloon, Amarr Militia
“It’s just great, you have PVP on the doorstep. Do not idle in a NPC corp, join an established FWcorp. They most likely all have some veterans that like to help out newbros with fitting and tactic advices and logistics or ships.”
A: Wolfsdragoon, Gallente Militia
“The content gallente militia offers is vast. Within faction warfare there are a lot of ways a new player can learn what it’s like to go solo, small gang, and join medium – large fleets. Most militias can offer large fleets, but very few (probably just gal mil at this point) can offer large fleets beyond simply t1 cruisers, BCs, or BS. We’re able to field 60+ tech 3s at this point supported with capitals, along with regular command ship roams, faction/pirate battleship fleets, faction cruisers for fun, and HACs as well when we fancy them. The point being that a new player, and old player can both play important roles and participate in such a wide array of fleets and styles that there are opportunities to really do whatever you’d like in eve. The only real exception being the use of supers. I can’t think of another militia which offers these kinds of fleets at the moment, though gal mil did offer them in the past through SOTF and Wolfsbrigade did for awhile as well”
A: Roy Henry, Gallnte Militia
“I think the most exciting reason to join FW is because as the years go by, classic FW players are growing and adpoting the same fleet comps thats pirate and other entities use. The average fleet comps you will fly in Gal mil will be faction, t2, t3 cruiser as well as t1 and faction battleships. The days of t1 cruiser and down PVP in Gal mil ended years ago, and its very interesting to be a part of an organization that has the capacity to use the higher end doctrines pirates are known for, but to do it in a FW mentality of just taking as many fights as you can to have a good time. Risk avoidance isn’t really an issue and we will gladly take some crazy fights.”
Q: What are your goals for the next few months?
A: Glitch Lampshade, Caldari Militia
“I work closely with my directors in ensuring that we gear up for the bigger ship classes. We are looking at beginning a siege of a system in the not too distant future so we are working on recruitment in order to get our numbers up. Pretty much have fun and enjoy FW.”
A: Ypsiloon, Amarr Militia
“Blow up more Minmatar, now the T4 hunting season has started and the Killboard is hungry and needs to be fed. We also further strengthen and celebrate our community and will attend EVE Amsterdam, we already booked a houseboat to have the “together on a ship feeling” lol”
A: SmokinJs Arthie, Gallente Militia
“Continue to grow and get fly better. Continue to keep the warzone free from Caldari corporate oppression.”
A: Wolfsdragoon, Gallente Militia
“My goals for the next few months are the same that I’ve held since joining gal mil, continue to develop and run fleets that generate quality content.”
A: Roy Henry, Gallente Militia
“Summer is a slow time, and I think over the next few months I hope we can keep up the momentum we had this winter and spring. We are changing up some militia wide doctrines to keep up with the times, so that will be cool, as well as trying out the new capital ships and seeing what we can do with them. On a corp level I hope to grow by a few more members and just keep taking fights and getting better at what we do.”
Q: Do you feel faction warfare is a good place for new players to learn pvp? Why or Why Not?
A: Glitch Lampshade, Caldari Militia
“It is mixed. FW allows you to quickly get into any number of PVP engagements and if you pick a good corp you get the benefit of good guidance and assistance. Go it alone and you suffer from the inherent eve problem of “what do I do, what next”. So if you want to PVP earn easy isk and have fun with a group of guys. Join my Public Channel: Distortion Public. Or hit me up if you are part of a corp that may want to get in on the fun. I feel the negatives are the Permanent war and this can cause issues with new players not understanding the mechanics that Hisec is no longer safe ( it never was ) and more traditional newer player activities are not possible to do such as mining.”
A: Ypsiloon, Amarr Militia
“It is, if you put some effort into it and try to hook up with an established corp. There’s plenty of things to do solo or in a gang. This type of warfare needs much more involvement and personal skill than the large scale F1 line member, therefore you learn the ships and their tricks plus the general PVP behavior much faster. A few of our members started off in faction warfare and with some dedication turned out to be part of the top pilots our militia has to offer.”
A: SmokinJs Arthie, Gallente Militia
“It was for me. How it worked for me may not work for everyone. This was my third iteration of playing eve. The first two times I was in over my head and quit. But on this last time I told myself I would not stop until I at least got my own solo kill. I must have lost 30 some ships on my way to that first solo kill. The pvp shakes I got from those fights was unlike anything I had felt before from a video game. And once I got that kill I was hooked. After some research I thought that Faction Warfare would be the place for me since I heard how lucrative it was along with getting pvp all the time. My first fleet was with Julius Foederatus, now an alliance mate with me. And once that happened I was hooked. I started going on daily fleets and always noticed that the FC would constantly needed some with leadership 5 and logistics. So that is what I did, and still do today. I started flying logi. Always being that someone needed for the fleet. Shortly thereafter I was a part of my first system siege with Justified Chaos. It was one of the most fun things I had ever done. After that siege I put my app into JUSTK and haven’t looked back. I thoroughly believe that faction warfare is a great place for new players to pvp. Just be prepared to die, a lot. I sure as hell know I did.”
A: Wolfsdragoon, Gallente Militia
“It can be, plex warfare is a pretty easy way to continually try out cheap ships and participate in cheap doctrines that will help a new player learn how to control their mods for small amounts of pain to their wallets. However, not all militias are a good influence in my opinion, there are definitely bad habits and ideas that can taught, and it’s important for new players to make sure they’re not just taking people at their words. There are bad FCs and bad teachers throughout eve, so keep in mind not everything you hear from an eve beta “veteran” is sage advice. Countless times I’ve sat on opposing militia comms only to hear the most cringe inducing incorrect statements about why a fight was lost, or why a fleet comp is good or bad.”
A: Roy Henry, Gallente Militia
“FW is a great place for new pilots to learn to pvp, but just like anything else you have to find the right corp. Some corps are all about farming LP, but there are many corps especially in Gal Mil who are all about pvp. You can find a corp suited to almost any flavor of pvp if you just take a minute to look and ask around. In gal mil we have corps like Alwar and Schneckt who like to do dessy down quick and fun pvp, but on the other end we also have a lot of corps who are all about big fleet battles and capital ships and all that jazz. If you are having reservations about trying FW because you buy into the whole stigma that its all about expendable pvp in dirt cheap frigs- you would be surprised when you saw what we really do.”
Q: What are some things a new player can expect to learn from actively taking part in faction warfare?
A: Glitch Lampshade, Caldari Militia
“You will learn to fly your own ship. Fit it correctly and get stuck in. You can learn anything from scouting, covert ops and even to FC. FW allows anyone to learn what they want to and as part of an active war there is always content if you look for it!”
A: Ypsiloon, Amarr Militia
“New players can start to lose the fear of exploding and get into the PVP attitude. With some proper dedication, a new player will be able to pick fights to swing the odds of victory to their favor as well as escaping narrow situations.”
A: Wolfsdragoon, Gallente Militia
Within gallente militia they will learn what an organized fleet looks like for every doctrine small to large, but they’ll also learn how they can be effective in those roles. They can learn from other experienced players who have won the warzone, or players who simply use FW as an isk source so they can keep funding their pvp habits. Overall it’s a solid environment for a new player.
A: Roy Henry, Gallente Militia
Depending on the militia the lessons you learn activly participating in FW pvp are many. Taking part in system occupancy stuff can really teach you the value of teamwork and dedication to the cause, some of the most memorable things I have done in this game revolve around working with others to try and take enemy systems out of their hands over the course of week long battles. in FW you will get a feel for your group, what corps in your militia like to do what flavor of pvp, who is serious business and who just likes to slam ships into other ships. There is no shortage of any type of gameplay in a good FW and i encourage everyone to give it a shot, I am glad I did.
I hope this entices just one of you to join up and see what faction warfare is all about. There’s tons of fun to be had at all hours of the day. Just last night we were fighting right up until down time! Thank you to Glitch Lampshade, Ypsiloon, SmokinJs Arthie, Wolfsdragoon and Roy Henry for taking the time to be interviewed.
-Sunbeam
