Interview: Gevlon Goblin

During the recent Fountain campaign, one name was on the lips of podcasters, bloggers and forum warriors. That name wasn’t The Mittani, Progodlegend or BoodaBooda. It wasn’t any alliance leader. It wasn’t even a senior FC on either side. The person everyone was talking about was that of famed Eve Online moneymaker, Gevlon Goblin. In an attempt to drag TEST back into proceedings, he rejoined the alliance and started a donation drive that raised 350b ISK in just two weeks.

Since then, TEST has abandoned sov, cut the dead wood and retired to some backwater system to lick their wounds. As a result, Gevlon has left TEST and all that donated ISK behind. I sat down to talk to him about TEST, the Fountain campaign and where his future lies in Eve Online.

How did you originally become involved in TEST?

I saw their doctrine foxcats. Back then everyone was flying Drakes and assorted cheap things. An alliance flying good ships was interesting enough to join.

I presume before joining TEST the first time that you had some awareness of the notariety of the average TEST pilot. Did this put you off at all?

Quite the opposite. I believe that not being “elite PvP” is a necessity to win on the Sov map, as often the optimal strategy is throwing waves after waves on the enemy.

Under what circumstances did you leave TEST the first time round?

I was kicked. Back then there was a group in TEST called “Norkzulus” who had their fun with “being a bit harsh”, meaning their reaction to things they didn’t like was “kill yourself IRL you nigger faggott”. They were trolling out FCs and made the forum horrible to everyone. This did not stop me from posting (despite they commended “shut the fuck up publord” like 100 times in every topic) and it made them really mad. Montolio considered them an asset and to make them happy, kicked me. It didn’t work out for him, as they soon left on their own, awoxing on their way out.

Why did you decide to rejoin TEST a few months ago? What were the conditions of you rejoining?

It wasn’t “months ago”, but less than one month. They were in war with Goons, clearly in trouble. Back then both me and them thought it’s financial so I thought I can fix that. The “donation board” idea I told them got them 350B in two weeks (comparison, the whole N3 renter empire gets that amount of money in two weeks).

Was any kind of ISK ‘total’ assigned to you as a condition of joining (either you personally contributing or ensuring the alliance wallet was increased by communal contributions)?

When I rejoined there was no requirement and I donated nothing until they created the toplist I requested.

What was your relationship with TEST leadership, particularly Booda, at the time?

I had no relationship with Booda. We never really talked.

In total, how much ISK did you give TEST during your second term as a member of the alliance (payments and/or donations)?

40B. That’s about my one-month income.

Talk me through the Fountain campaign from your prespective. What could TEST have done differently?

Everything. The problem was from the start that half of TEST couldn’t care less about Fountain or winning. They were just here for bad jokes and wasting time. They should have been purged after the Norkzulus left, since that event proved without doubt that such punks cannot be used for anything. Their laziness and trolling demotivated members from joining fleets and chased away FCs.

Given the effort and ISK you put into TEST during the Fountain campaign, why did you leave? Was it exclusively your decision? Why was TEST holding sov so important to you?

Booda turned out to be a compete idiot who clearly has no clue about… anything. He made no decisions, conflicting decisions or totally random decisions. Holding Sov is practically the only competitive goal in EVE besides Alliance Tournament. Everything else can be easily acquired without facing resistence.

Do you regret your interactions with TEST over the past few months?

No. I could prove that the donation board works, that industrious members can hold an alliance better than any moons and renters. If TEST, halfway into destruction could rise 350B in two weeks, imagine what could an established, functioning alliance can do if it makes PvE participation a competition and a badge of honor! However I have little hope that it will be implemented soon, most nullsec entities hate “carebears” so much that they wouldn’t have them even if the “carebears” would literally put them into titans.

What is your current relationship with Booda? You have been incredibly scathing of his recent decisions as a leader. Can he fix TEST?

As I said, I never had interaction with him. The best thing he could do for TEST is uninstalling EVE, as he is clearly a pants on head moron.

What do you wish, if anything, for the future of TEST? Would you consider rejoining if Booda left and someone else got the alliance back into a state where it held sov?

I’ve left and their future is not my business. Looking at the amount of key players lost (like ALL FCs), I don’t think TEST as an alliance can ever get back on its feet. If they’d ask my advice what to do NOW (and not two weeks before), it would be: kick inactives, merge all corps willing into Dreddit, disband the alliance, say goodbye to unmerging corps and offer to join Nulli as a corp (go to Goons if Nulli rejects).

What is in the future for Gevlon Goblin? Will you remain in null sec?

Gevlon Goblin, my main was never in nullsec. I was and always be the proud member of the best corporation of EVE: the NPC corp. I had alts in TEST. I’m currently working on creating a specialist corp that has stratop-only “fleetbears” for an alliance  and currently looking for one to be a partner in this. As I have little hopes that any of them would pick up the donation board idea, fleet participation without membership in their oh-so-elite alliance might interest them.

I want to thank Gevlon for taking the time to answer my questions. If you are interesting in hearing more of his thoughts and opinions on TEST, ISK and Eve Online in general, I highly recommend pointing your browser towards his blog over at http://greedygoblin.blogspot.com.

Fly safe,

Xander