"Hey Guys, Let's Go Shoot Things"

A couple years ago, I decided to branch out and purchase my first "second PvP character" from the bazaar. While I've upgraded them over the years - selling the one I owned for a profit and buying a replacement for a discount - I saw the value in having a second character in a different corporation than Talvorian.

Each corporation or alliance bases out of the same station and uses the same group of FCs. They use the same doctrines, have the same strong time zones, and go after the same kinds of content. In the end, having multiple characters in the same corp means you get to go deeper in the same content.

I like variety. Part of me wants to help build something. Part of me just likes to get out there and shoot things. Jump clone timers mean you can't just keep swapping from location to location; you're locked into one kind of content per character per day most of the time, and certainly no more than two per day, assuming you schedule your JCs carefully.

But when you have two independent characters, you can really enjoy the variety Eve offers. I tended to keep one in sov null and another in lowsec - where I could resupply it easily and didn't have to worry about evaccing assets or using my main to carrier-jump resources in or out. About three months ago, I changed that up a little when I realized Valeria was fully cross-trained and support skilled through medium weapons and sentry drones.

I bought a dedicated ratting character to free her up. For the first time, I had two highly skilled PvP characters who were both a) free of the need to rat, and b) capital-capable. The second point can't be overlooked; a capital-capable pilot can be self-reliant for restocking and moving ships all across the map, and is much more attractive to any corp it wants to join.

Now, I just had to wait for that pesky war to slow down before I took advantage of it.

I wasn't looking to leave Repercussus, of course. I made that mistake once already. I wanted to keep spending time with the people in RP, both in and out of fleets. But, the goal of building something new in Fountain was one that required the alliance to cultivate its space. We have enemies and allies in Fountain, but it's not exactly a great place for content-on-tap. The gangs you run across are all well-organized and too strong for a solo or small gang player. Fountain isn't really suited for my preferred playstyle.

But it's perfect as a home, a place and a people with whom you belong. You need capitals, fleets, FCs, and bodies to defend it. You've got action on a regular basis, and Valeria was a perfect fit for it. So, when I started looking for that additional corp, rather than moving an alt in, I was free to move Talvorian around.

I wanted a group who were chasing the fights, not sovereignty or ratting space. I needed a USTZ focus, but more than that, I needed fleets that left a little later in the night for me, so I could participate after the family went to bed. TISHU gave me a taste of flying large and fighting outnumbered that I liked, but fleets would go out well ahead of my playtime. Close, but no cigar.

You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a group like that, since they naturally skew towards tenured players with outside means of generating isk. Some of the lowsec groups are good options, of course, but ultimately they tend to be locked into the same content day in, day out. I wanted variety, without the anchor of a fixed home weighing me down. So I started looking at merc corps.

Then, I saw an older corp that had suffered some drama recently and welped its alliance. But they had a reputation of competence. I'd heard an earful about them when I was in TISHU, but everything I heard from some former alliancemates who joined them was that they had the right attitude. And, they were a mercenary alliance, with leadership that knew how to run that kind of organization.

Then, I heard they took a contract to help the CFC during World War Bee, which delayed things; VIOL8 was deployed to attack the CFC, and I've written before about how I'm just not built to play both sides.

But, when VIOL8 moved back to Fountain, I joined Origin. and White Legion. I found myself supporting the CFC again. Wow...

Now, I've been very critical about the way the CFC plays the game, as only an ex-pat really can be. I believe it was (yes, past tense) a net-negative to the game this past year; it had become a very ugly thing. And I don't really want them to survive. So, why did I join up?

Put simply, by the time I joined up, the CFC had already lost. Alliances were fleeting it like rats leaving a sinking ship. It was bloated with pilots who joined only because they wanted to farm the safest space. No doubt, many of them will join the alliances who took the north.

But, most importantly, the myth that propagated the CFC was dead. The coalition existed because of the belief that it could protect and safeguard the space of its member alliances. Fozziesov changed the reality of sov warfare and rendered that belief obsolete. The CFC failed in its sole mission, and there's no reason for it to reconstitute. It was dead.

White Legion decided to take its money not because it agreed ideologically with it, but because literally everyone there was to shoot was arrayed against them. I wasn't joining a sewing or ratting circle, I was joining a PvP alliance.

And that was exactly what I got. Like clockwork, fleets went out day after day, shooting the targets flying around. They fly medium-sized fleets intelligently, they have small-gang groups, they have solo roamers. They're bringing on new corps to flesh out weak timezones. And alliance chat is right up my alley:

"Hey guys, let's go shoot things." Not just some things... let's shoot as many of the things as we can.

When Fozziesov was announced, I talked about how much fun it would be to be the attacker, the disruptor, the agitator. I saw that in TISHU when we started this campaign. I saw the fun Stunt Flores had. I experienced it as a member of the MBC attacking CFC sovereignty. Now, I'm enjoying it as I attack the new owners of the north.

It's not personal. If it was, I'd never have considered joining a group under contract by the CFC. I just want to attack the people who have the advantage.

And I'm having a ball. So far, White Legion is a great time.

Just wait 'til you see our logo.