Hello, my name is Seraph IX Basarab and I’m an opinion piece writer and analyst of Eve politics and war here at EN24. The thoughts and opinions written here are mine and not meant to represent anyone else’s.
Within 24 hours of this article hitting, we will all be finding out what Mittani has planned for Goonswarm and the rest of the ‘Imperium’ coalition. Until then, there are a number of possibilities that could play out. The following will be a number of educated guesses on what GSF and their coalition could be doing. Currently, we have a war in the North mainly between GOTG and TEST, in the East between Triumvirate. and former friends, and the South/South-West between elements of PanFam and neighboring regions in Querious and Catch.
- Rush for Fountain. The Imperium and various Stainwagon + affiliate entities have been poking around Southern Fountain for months now. The region is extremely rich, secluded, and generally thought of as a major source of income. Although the content can be a bit hard to come by due to geography, Fountain does provide an option for Goonswarm to expand. The strongest power in Fountain is The-Culture, ex-Black Legion nomadic mercenaries turned sov holding alliance two years ago. If Goons were to invade Fountain, The-Culture’s future in the region would be held mostly in the hands of semi-allies such as Pandemic Legion/Horde and NCdot. I rank this possibility as “somewhat likely” considering most other entities seem busy elsewhere and Panfam’s somewhat distracted in other conflicts.
- Tip the balance in the East. Goons could be deploying out east where tensions between Triumvirate. and DRF are high. GSF may, potentially, help Triumvirate. either win the war or fight as they pull their assets out. Possibly, they could even be taking Triumvirate. in as coalition members as it is unlikely that TRI would be able to secure a complete victory in the east without going after the entirety of the DRF. Save for a diplomatic agreement, TRI would have to wipe out DRF as a potential threat or move out West, possibly with GSF help. Goons could also simply be looking to third party but that’d be boring and unimaginative, even for GSF leadership.
- Playing the field North. GSF diplos have been working hard to develop their relationship both with GOTG’s leading alliance, Darkness, as well as Test Alliance Please Ignore. They could make a deal to support GOTG and in exchange move back North, or help TEST take their lost space in Vale and oust GOTG from Deklein. In either case, one of those bridges would be burned. Moving in to third party would more or less sour relations with both sides and be unlikely to gain them any long term advantages. But with Goons doing, basically, nothing for the past year other than bragging about their mining numbers, that kind of content may be just what they need.
- Finally twisting the knife in Co2. Mittens has talked about getting back at Circle-of-Two for their defection from the ‘Imperium’ for over a year. Despite Co2 being a stone’s throw away, GSF has done little bit throw in some annoying roaming fleets and posting propaganda on their media site. With TEST (coalition ally of Co2) up North and the East being more lively than usual, this would be the most opportune time for GSF to strike at Co2. This may burn a bridge with TEST, but it’s just as likely that TEST may not care giving their blessing as long as their things remain untouched. This would be a major propaganda victory for GSF and may signal a sort of “coming back” for Goons on the main platform as a power player. I, strongly, doubt they are content with being a glorified mining alliance, as they are currently viewed.
Like always, no one can really predict the future of what will actually happen. I rank these (in no particular order) as the most likely announcements of the upcoming State of the Goonion. Either way, it seems the summer content slump has gone and Eve is hitting the long awaited content wave.
