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Alliance warfare in EVE Online is a defining aspect of the game. EVE's setting of New Eden is a sprawling galaxy of over 5000 solar systems, where players are free to build empires, establish vast enterprises, and do whatever is necessary to maintain dominance over their competitors -- be it financial, political, or military. All of that freedom to do what you choose eventually leads players, collectively, into one another's sphere of influence, triggering bitter and protracted warfare. That's the nature of EVE -- the setting provides potential, but it's largely the players who drive the game. In what has been aptly described as "the largest virtual conflict ever waged", the Band of Brothers Alliance (BoB) has stood at the forefront of that struggle for dominance in EVE Online for years.

As an alliance, their strength is undeniable. But the power they've gained has sparked a fiery resentment from the much larger non-BoB playerbase in EVE, polarizing the community into those who either love or hate them. In many cases, it's been the latter. After all, for some time, Band of Brothers' goal was to control all space in New Eden, beginning in the lawless frontier of 0.0, where most alliance warfare rages, and eventually consolidating control over Empire space and its commerce. Band of Brothers set a goal for territorial control that's simply not possible in the game, however. The times have changed, and now the old paradigm of territorial grabs characteristic of the epic conflict with The RedSwarm Federation has been replaced with the MAX campaign, and a different nemesis -- the Northern Coalition. As vendetta-turned-alliance policy, MAX is intended to be a wave of destruction that cuts through the hulls and holdings of their opposition.

The man behind the MAX campaign, and the Band of Brothers alliance, is SirMolle. Massively recently spoke with SirMolle about the pressures of leadership, the impact Band of Brothers has had on the game, and the endgame of control over New Eden.

Band of Brothers fields the largest capital ship fleet in the game. Obviously this provides your alliance with an advantage, but how do you respond to what many players feel is a problem of capital ship proliferation? Do you miss the days before capital ships and POS warfare became the norm?

EVE is ever-changing. It has evolved since the early alpha and beta days to early release, to today's EVE. It will never stop changing, and the players have to evolve with it. You can always say "remember the good old days", but, that's just nostalgia. Evolve or die, adapt or be overcome.

I could say I miss ninja-mining, I could say I miss dura-Mallers, I could say I miss splash damage from torpedoes, I could say I miss the days before POS's were in the game. But all in all, EVE is a larger game, a larger world, a more complex world today than when it started. Changes are a part of your EVE-life. Embrace it.

The most important ship in EVE is not a capital ship; it's the battleship.

Corp theft is a daily occurrence in EVE Online. Unlike most MMOs, stealing from other players or organizations in EVE is permissible, assuming that normal in-game methods were employed to pull it off. Simply stated, corp theft in EVE involves becoming a member of the corp and then stealing from the target corporation's hangar(s). Once a thief has access to assets, they can literally clean the corporation out to whatever extent they are able to, depending on their level of granted access. Sometimes corp theft is premeditated, other times it's a crime of opportunity. There are players who approach these heists as a profession, others may do so out of revenge. Regardless of the reasons behind theft in EVE, it's a part of the game and does help establish New Eden's setting as being a harsh, corporation-dominated galaxy where deception is a style of play.

Most corp thefts that this writer is aware of inflict minor damage, often a few billion isk in losses. Generally this isn't enough to cause serious harm to any solid corporation's future, and the only real impact on the corp is emo rage and a few pages of forum drama, and the offender's name being added to Fitz VonHeise's list "The Thieves of EVE" which should be required reading for corp CEOs and Directors who are involved in recruiting players.

Alliance warfare is an aspect of EVE Online that sets it apart from virtually any other MMO on the market. It commands a devoted following of players who continually exert their collective strength to conquer new regions of space while subjugating their numerous opponents.

Although it's been said that only a minority of EVE Online's entire playerbase are entrenched in alliance warfare over 0.0 (lawless) space, this is where much of the action in the game takes place. 0.0 is where the most valuable resources in the game are found, and where the authorities do nothing to hinder player activities. The wealth, freedom and potential for power turn EVE's vast swaths of 0.0 space into hotly contested regions... the battlefield of "the largest virtual conflict ever waged," in the words of games journalist Jim Rossignol.

EVE Online has been getting increased mainstream media coverage. Recently the New York Times covered EVE's Council of Stellar Management (CSM) summit in Reykjavik, as well as the self-styled 'bad guy' alliance Band of Brother's initiative to annihilate their rivals in New Eden, wiping them from New Eden's star maps.

A new MMO article at Forbes takes a close look at the corporate paradigm of EVE Online, both in-game and out. The piece touches on the views of Goonswarm alliance leader and CSM delegate Sean Conover (aka Darius Johnson, CEO of Goonfleet) and the real-world CEO of CCP Games, Hilmar Veigar Petursson. The Icelandic CEO states: "There isn't a lot of difference between what you can apply within the game and out of it... It's more about social skills than gaming skills. It's very hard to stay on top."

EVE Online has cropped up in The New York Times twice this weekend. Powerhouse alliance Band of Brothers announced their plans for New Eden in one story, while the Council of Stellar Management's (CSM) summit with CCP Games also caught The New York Times' attention. A number of members of the press were in attendance at the CSM summit in Reykjavik, a first for EVE Online and for the MMO industry itself. It's refreshing to see increased mainstream coverage of the niche title that avoids the 'gee golly' tone so prevalent when MMOs are discussed in mass media.

Seth Schiesel from The New York Times reports broadly on the 12 hours of meetings between the players who comprise the CSM and the developers and executives of CCP Games. As with any democratic process, differing viewpoints on how the CSM should operate led to some internal conflicts, Schiesel writes. It's interesting to note that the American CSM delegates favored "full and total disclosure" while their European counterparts on the Council preferred to deliberate privately before going public with recommendations and announcements. Given the controversy and forum outcries surrounding the CSM in recent weeks, it's understandable that this divide in outlooks would persist. But whatever issues the CSM had with one another, they were put aside as the Council performed their elected duties, representing the interests of their constituents face-to-face with CCP. See The New York Times piece for more details on the CSM meeting in Reykjavik, and for a brief profile of some of the delegates next to their alter egos.

Mainstream media seems to pick up on this odd, new 'MMO-thing' occasionally, but now and again they turn up something interesting. A piece from The New York Times does just that, in an article about one of EVE Online's most powerful alliances -- Band of Brothers (BoB).

The alliance holds a player gathering each year, the most recent of which was a weeklong get-together in Copenhagen for over 150 members of BoB. The alliance's leader, SirMolle (real name: Pär Molén), announced a new direction that Band of Brothers will take in EVE in the coming months, which he calls 'MAX' -- as in 'maximum damage.' MAX, if SirMolle is able to make good on his pledge, will be a different direction for Band of Brothers. Rather than establishing sovereignty over as much of EVE's galaxy as possible, BoB will attempt to lay waste to the vessels, holdings, and power structures of their numerous enemies in New Eden.

A pilot deep within the lawless lands of EVE Online's 0.0 space is never truly alone. In EVE, there is always some alliance, some corporation, or some like-minded capsuleer watching and waiting to strike. Within this realm flew an alliance that was a powerful force for nearly four years. Their trademark ace of skulls, four of which represent the leading corporations of the alliance, struck fear into the hearts of anyone on the wrong end of their blasters. They were hired guns, killers, and they were good at it. They were the Mercenary Coalition. For them, the war is now over, the contract killing has ended, and the alliance is no more.

That's right, the alliance has unloaded their ammunition, shut down their offices, and is calling it quits. From a press release on the EVE forums, Seleene, alliance leader of Mercenary Coalition, made the grim announcement and thanked members for their service. She said, "Everyone who has ever worn the MC tag participated in something truly unique. I can do nothing but salute you and give my heartfelt thanks." The reasons for disbanding are numerous, but a particular focus is placed on their betrayal of Band of Brothers. For some of us, one less mercenary alliance is a great thing. For others, this is sad day for the history books to record. The alliance, which has seen the better part of three years as a force within EVE, has docked for the final time.

[Thanks Nyphur!]

I'll be the first one to say it: the Great War is over. What once began as a campaign of conquest has become something none of the original participants could have conceived in their wildest imaginations. Anyone who has had any real exposure to EVE will know who the major players are; the GBC, or Greater BoB (Band of Brothers) coalition and their allies on one side, and RSF or Red Swarm -- most commonly called Goonswarm -- the "Something Awful" forumites on the other.

Now that BoB has beaten back the RSF's invasion, a sense of calm and serenity has come to New Eden. Along with it, there is a renewal of an older form of hostility. Small scale alliance warfare is springing up, which makes this peace tenuous at best.

The bonds made out of necessity during the Great War are now dissolving and a different type of peace is materializing. The peaceful shooting of one's neighbor. The universe is still at war, but the sides have blurred, everyone is involved in a great melee that in EVE is the only true peace. While it's possible, even likely, that most of the major powers that formed The Coalition (RSF) will remain as players in the broader galactic conflict, things will never truly be the same.

To exasperate matters, the North -- to quote a popular post from the official EVE message boards -- is "on fire." Wary players watch the Triumvirate's recent escalation of hostilities, which if the forums are to be believed, are drawing a lot of parallels to the ignition of the BoB/Goon war. Combine that with a growing destabilization due to the anticipated all out Mercenary Coalition / BoB conflict. (Most of the player-base has assumed this will occur since MC overtly back-stabbed BoB in their moment of need.) War once again threatens to engulf EVE, and who will win is anyone's guess.

The New York Times published an article on EVE Online this morning. NYT writer Seth Schiesel focused on EVE's growth and emphasis on player freedom.

Hilmar Petursson (CCP's CEO) told Schiesel in a phone interview that there are "basically two schools of thought for operating an online community. There is the theme-park approach and the sandbox approach. Most games are like Disneyland, for instance, which is a carefully constructed experience where you stand in line to be entertained." He said that CCP takes the sandbox approach, creating a world where players are free to define their own experiences.

The article also describes the current political climate in EVE Online's worth, including the Band of Brothers blueprints scandal and other things. If you're already an EVE player, you won't find anything new in the article, but if you're not, it's bound to be an eyebrow-raising read.