In a post to the membership of the Red vs. Blue (RvB) alliances, RvB’s chairman, Delucian, announced that the player organization has stopped formal operations.

RvB was founded in 2009 and rapidly grew into one of the largest player alliances in EVE Online, currently with nearly 8,000 members. Well known as a haven for players looking to perfect their combat skills in player-vs-player fights, RvB pitted two alliances – the Red Federation (RVB-R) and the Blue Republic (RVB-B) – against each other in a permanent war declaration.

The post explained that while official alliance leadership and organized programs will be discontinued, RvB members can continue to skirmish with each other on an informal basis, for now: “The [two] corporations will remain and members can carry on with typical RvB style fighting as desired.” The current forum will also be maintained “for the foreseeable future”.

Citing “declining numbers in EVE, in general, and an ever increasing workload for a small group of individuals”, Delucian explained the decision to cease formal operations. “It is with heavy hearts that we make this announcement and hope the best for all of our members,” he said.

ShenanigansBus, the CEO of the Blue Republic, elaborated on the recent decision. “Now we are where we are today, caught between catering to an increasing number of newbros while at the same time trying to keep the bitter vet, who truly defined RvB’s culture, entertained. Sadly, those two things we now know are mutually exclusive in our current environment.”

“Unfortunately,” he continues, “with EVE’s activity in general on the decline, combined with the straddling strategy of keeping the two camps happy, we just couldn’t recover [from a slowdown of activity over the summer].”

Leadership burnout appears to be a major contributor to this decision. “Sadly, many of you will never know how much work really goes into providing all the services and content that you so enjoy,” ShenanigansBus explained to RvB members. “I look back at the last two months and 80% of my time has been spent doing admin work… It is that tremendous mountain of work that would need to be scaled again that forces us to make the hard decision that every predecessor has toiled with over the years: shut it down or keep on plugging away. With so few people left in command and even fewer really working hard, it is with a heavy heart that I must say we have decided to shut formal RvB operations down.”

Delucian left the door open for a possible future revitalization, if warranted. “Members are encouraged to seek community in one of the other fine corporations in EVE, or may remain in Red Federation or Blue Republic. We will be leaving a command member to handle applications, and if RvB begins to grow organically without formal command interaction, [this decision] may be revisited at a later date.”

Reactions to the RvB Announcement

Reaction from the RvB membership has been mixed, from expressions of sadness to demands for new leadership. Delucian responded: “ All those who desire to take [the] lead and organically continue to lead and grow RvB are welcome to do so. If those who do so show a strong and favorable following over time, we will assess their needs for [formal] roles.”

“We were very sad to see RvB stop formal operations,” said Azmodeus Valar, CEO of EVE University (E-UNI). “RvB has always been a great group of pilots and have created some amazing content for both of our organizations over their lifetime.”

RvB’s two alliances would sometimes cooperate to fight against E-UNI, in what became a long and mostly friendly rivalry. One of the RvB/E-UNI battles in Aldrat remains the largest conflict yet recorded in high security space, with more than 600 pilots fighting for more than eight hours. “Our yearly wars had some amazing battles, with lots of fun all around,” said Azmodeus. “Their leaders devoted a tremendous amount of time to helping provide content for others, and deserve all our thanks and respect.”

Mangala Solaris, former leader of RvB and two-time member of the Council of Stellar Management, released this statement: “I am saddened that command support of RvB is ending. However, I know this decision was not taken lightly by all those involved. Leading RvB was quite the herculean task when you consider its evolution over the past six years, from a simple ‘no BS fight club’ to one of the largest newbro-friendly entities in the game.”

Mangala remains hopeful for a possible resurgence of RvB, but is not entirely optimistic. “It could be that this dramatic solution to the issues mentioned by Delucian is the shot in the arm that brings forward a rebirth for RvB. However, having been part of RvB for many years, and having seen EVE change dramatically around us, I do believe that its time has passed as anything more than a niche activity for the casual few, for whom NPSI and more structured PvP are not a suitable alternative. I know that I myself will be returning to ensure pilots departing RvB find good homes and new opportunities to find fun in EVE, as well as looking at my own options to do the same.”