Well, that didn’t take long. The day started off with patch notes stating that no new XL Upwell structures, Keepstars and Sotiyos, would be allowed to anchor in high security space.
Those XL structures already anchored in high sec would be allowed to remain, but the cannot be replaced if taken down or destroyed. And the most famous of those structures is the Tranquility Trading Tower in Perimeter, run by the Tranquility Trading Consortium, a group of null sec alliances that decided that splitting a cut of the fees was better than fighting over a lucrative trade hub constantly.
The TTT Keepstar being deployed back in 2018
Not long after my post about the patch notes went up, a ping went out from Asher Elias to the Imperium stating that we had given notice that we were withdrawing from the TTC as the next disbursement, which occurs on June 15th. Notice was given in the TTC chat by Asher.
Ladies and gentlemen, please consider this as formal notice that the Imperium will be withdrawing from the TTC agreement. As you know I proposed changes to bring the TTC into the modern era in January but was vetoed. According to the agreement we may leave after the next disbursement which is tomorrow. June 15th will be our final payment then we will consider our part in the agreement ended.
A while later Asher posted a longer statement to r/eve about the Imperium’s intention to leave the TTC.
I always hated this arrangement, but the mechanics of the game meant that if we left, I would have been tying myself and every other person in the Imperium to a perpetual existence in highsec doing mind-numbing keepstar shoots. A Sisyphean effort like that wasn’t what I wanted to spend my 20 dollars doing. I did attempt to make improvements to make the TTC more equitable and reflective of the realities of the game. Before the recent northern war, I proposed that B2 be added to the TTC agreement, and Test Alliance be removed. I found it insane that the current form of Test and its 20 active members was getting the same amount of money as Fraternity, but meanwhile a group as large as B2 was getting nothing. I was vetoed and stonewalled by the other signatories, who were happy with the status quo.
Thankfully CCP has made changes that allow us to practically implement what my desire was from the start. I’m aware that we will have to police highsec for a time to keep other TTTs from popping up but I anticipate we will draw more allies than enemies in that. Thank you for your time.
The implication of the statement is not only that we are pulling out of the TTC, but that we will be launching an attack on the Keepstar at some point.
Imperium pings to all members suggesting that characters that have bad security status might want to do some ratting so that flying in high sec would be an issue more than confirmed the intent.
Meme time
Meanwhile, the thread on r/eve is full of fun and interesting tidbits, including pastebin dumps of TTC discussions including Asher’s announcement and behind the scenes discussions about what to do about goons.
A few people in the thread are salty about the Imperium leaving, calling it a betrayal or attempting to frame this as the Imperium going back on its word, but the TTC has rules for withdrawing from it, and the Imperium is following them. Even Vily, no friend of the Imperium, allowed that we had no requirement to stay in the treaty forever.
A couple of people tried spinning a conspiracy theory out of the whole thing, declaring that Asher wouldn’t slay the goose that laid the golden eggs without some darker motive.
But most of the thread knows which way the wind is blowing and is cheering on the potential destruction of the edifice to ISK anchored in Perimeter.
The TTC Discord was fairly subdued. Vily posted a notice that everybody should be aware of the Imperium’s withdrawal and there were a few snotty words about goons, but no action.
So it goes. It looks like there might be action in Perimeter before the month is out.
Addendum: It looks like the Imperium announcement is getting traders to move their PLEX sell orders to Jita. The traders know which way the wind is blowing.
Related:
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
I’m seeing a pattern here…
1: CCP gives (casinos, Rorquals, highsec trade hubs…)
2: Players feast on the given (casinos, Rorquals, highsec trade hubs…)
3: CCP CCPs and takes away what was given (casinos, Rorquals, highsec trade hubs…)
4: ?
5: Goons profit
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@Angry Onions – You forgot the step from r/eve conspiracies where Goons run the CSM which dictates to CCP what to do with the game and somehow Goons both make the feature appear and then make it get removed.
It has been a long running Imperium policy to try to tell CCP when they are doing something they will regret later… Rorquals being an example… then, when they don’t listen, exploiting the hell out of it based on the theory that CCP will nerf anything Goons are succeeding at.
For every r/eve conspiracy theorist there is a Goon convinced that CCP is out to get them.
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A couple of people tried spinning a conspiracy theory out of the whole thing, declaring that Asher wouldn’t slay the goose that laid the golden eggs without some darker motive.
Could you quote the source on this one please?
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@NotVilly – Here in the Reddit thread linked in the post.
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@Wilhelm Arcturus Well, for what is worth, I think that the Rorqual thing was Hilmar putting lipstick on the pig (= higher gross revenue) while looking for a sell. Same as the art books & such.
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Test and fraternity getting the same amount makes sense for me for a few reasons. One is that TTC was an agreement to benefit the original memebers. Also if they’re getting the same amount and nothing is left of TEST, that means Fraternity isn’t getting a “fair” share so I like that and it makes me happy. Probably not as happy as some of my corpmates though.
That said, I do see why Asher personally doesn’t like the arrangement. Mittens would be tolerate it if he inherited it from someone else and given how it came into place, there is no way Mittens withdraw from the arrangement if there was no imminent betrayal from the other parties. But Mittens is past, what he would have done doesn’t matter.
I am very pissed though. First of all, why ban anchoring those structures anyways? Just lower the damage required to pause the timer to the Frotizar’s level (but keep the higher damage cap). Keepstars can be vanity tools for the big players in high sec that just act as tankier fortizars that consume more fuel. It’s not like you get extra utility like being able to install a keepstar by using a keepstar exclusive weapon like a doomday (those are banned in high sec). The other thing I am angry at is the loss of Ichooseyou in Hek. I see why Asher isn’t a fan of TTC, but what did Ichooseyou do to him?
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