Header Image by Major Sniper.

We have been bringing you coverage recently of the newest coalition in New Eden, 7th Estate, comprising of Red Noise., Manifesto., Synergy of Steel, Blue Sun Interstellar Technologies, and Sl0W CHILDREN AT PLAY. Our coverage includes their inaugural State of the Coalition and their most recent Coalition meeting on August 5.

A History of the 7th Estate

7th Estate started out as an idea from Jin’taan, an ex-provibloc Sky Marshal and all-round innovative FC. Jin’taan is also a three-term member of the Council of Stellar Management (CSM). There, he is known for his engagement with the EVE community. His outreach includes players of all skills levels and areas of gameplay.

From the beginning, the central idea of the 7th Estate was all about looking after the regular members. Their stated intention was to “create wealth for their members” – not only in-game ISK and assets, but a new community for players. They have been an alliance and a coalition that intended to put pressure on the blue doughnut. Indeed, Jin’taan wrote a wonderful document about his motivation and his intended goals for both his new alliance, Red Noise, and the coalition that he wanted to see emerge.

Running a nullsec coalition means more than having a great idea and some member alliances, though. It inevitably brings you into contact with the politics and meta-gaming that is a major part of life in null. Many of the relationships and feuds in nullsec stretch back over a decade or more. The Goonswarm/Northern Coalition. conflict, for example, can be viewed as an extension of the Great War, running from 2006 to the present day.

Wading into those waters is swimming with the sharks. A novice can quickly find themselves in over their heads, and devoured. Who you have in leadership can be make or break for your group. The wrong choice can finish your dreams before they have gotten started.

The People at the Top

While Jin’taan was the public face of this new coalition, others were involved in the day-to-day organisation. This is not an unusual situation, of course; A logistics manager deals with structures that are needed for services. A Sky Marshal directs your military assets. Financial directors ensure that the coalition isn’t overspending. These are all crucial individuals who do work to keep an organisation running, and this allows a coalition autocrat to focus on other problems.

Within 7th Estate, some of these individuals are recognisable, such as Nour Samy or Piotr Engels. Others are less well known, but still influential within the coalition. One of these unknown but very influential characters was TheCurator. Involved in every aspect of the 7th Estate management—from financial decision-making to diplomatic relationships—TheCurator was the one who signed off.

The Who?

While micromanagement is not an unusual technique, coalitions are usually controlled by experienced Eve players, especially a coalition in nullsec. What makes TheCurator unusual is that the character was created in May 2018. Interestingly, the character was created on the same day that Jin’taan created his new alliance, Red Noise. This leads to one large question – who is TheCurator, and is this new character an alt of some established player?

When questions were raised, various explanations were offered for the character, most commonly that they were a long time industrialist who had amassed a large quantity of ISK over the years, and now wanted to put it to use. This is not out of the realms of possibility, so it seemed a reasonable explanation.

Fast forward to the 2nd SOTA on August 5, where TheCurator was invited to introduce themselves and explain their position within the coalition. Following a one-word response from TheCurator, Jin’taan then rather awkwardly introduces TheCurator as being “in charge of a lot of things, [doing] a lot of work in terms of diplomacy, and also is helping to run [7th Estate] finances in some degree or getting Mystic Rosez setup. It’s complicated – [he] does a lot of work for us, really good person”.

Truly, “it’s complicated” is an accurate representation of TheCurator’s role in 7th estate. This one individual, supposedly very new to the game, is presented as micromanaging varied and complex aspects of 7th Estate’s organisation, with support from a wider leadership group. These many distinctions raised a number of red flags and a wider suspicion for INN staff, who then posed a direct question to a senior member of 7th Estate leadership; is TheCurator actually Jay Maricadie?

Our contact then reluctantly conceded that yes, TheCurator was in fact Jay Maricadie.

Who Is Jay Maricadie?

Jay Maricadie is one of the few people in EVE most nullsec power blocs agree on. His incompetence tears coalitions apart, while he works for them. And all across nullsec, the biggest power brokers in the game universally despise him.

Most recently, he is infamous for his involvement in the downfall of the Drone Region Federation (DRF). Jay joined the DRF after being one of the architects of FCON’s departure from the Imperium in 2016, and FCON’s subsequent move to the south-east. Quickly working his way up to being the DRF’s head diplomat, Jay inserted himself into every transaction and operation the DRF conducted. Ranging from their relationship with NCdot via the Brothers of Tangra rental organisation through to military coordination with the northern coalitions, he swiftly became the “go-to guy”, using this to cultivate a number of relationships across New Eden.

His troubles with the DRF began in August of 2017. DRF allowed Legacy Coalition to stage in MT02-2 for an assault on the northern regions of Tribute and Vale of the Silent. The timing of this assault lined up with the Imperium’s deployment to Hakonen. This caused friction between the Guardians of the Galaxy coalition (GotG) and the DRF. Jay told Guardians of the Galaxy representatives that Legacy would simply be moving through DRF space, not staging there.

This prompted a military response from GotG later in 2017. Sort Dragon assaulted the northern drone regions through the same system Legacy had staged in. GotG even went so far as to drop and fight over a keepstar in MT02. The conflict also raised tensions among other northern alliances. Many of the rental agreements in the north were built on the stability of ‘safe backwater’ regions like Vale.

The Eastern Front

At the same time, Jay masterminded the addition of FCON’s Phoenix Federation to the DRF to bolster their southern borders and add to their combat capabilities. However, Phoenix Federation were fighting with Triumvirate. This brought the DRF into that conflict along their southern borders.

As a result, Jay hired wormhole groups skillurself and V0LTA (now known as the Holy Rental Empire, or simply the HRE) to engage with Triumvirate and provide a distraction while the northern front was resolved. However, this seemed a spinning plate too far for the head diplo, and he was removed from the DRF by UAxDeath after only six months.

Unfortunately, the damage was done. Whilst the GOTG assault was resolved amicably by Jay’s removal, Triumvirate at the time were well able to handle both Phoenix Federation’s meagre defensive attempts and the assault by the hired guns. Phoenix Federation soon collapsed under the strain. The death of Phoenix Federation marked the first coalition to collapse due to Jay Maricadie’s inability to juggle chainsaws.

The inability of the DRF to defend their new coalition members was blood in the water. RL leadership issues meant the DRF missed payments on the HRE contract, and the chum was stirred. The sharks didn’t take long to bite.

In early 2018, HRE turned their attention to the northern DRF regions. They, along with TRI, quickly steamrolled through hundreds of systems with very little difficulty. This forced the withdrawal of DRF forces, first to Insmother and then toward Legacy Coalition space.

The conflict culminated in a 600 Billion ISK fight as a DRF supercapital move-op turned into a fighting retreat. Ultimately, Jay had caused the collapse of one of the oldest coalitions in New Eden, and at the same time, forever stained his reputation with almost all nullsec power blocs.

Blowback

Revelations of this sort are inevitably significant. They can cause the entire diplomatic landscape to shift and change around a fledgeling alliance, like a kid goat caught in a landslide.

In the SOTA on August 5, 7th Estate leadership announced that they would be blue to the Imperium from 2100 EVE on August 6. However, the revelations surrounding TheCurator’s true identity as Jay Maricadie came to light mere hours before the standings were due to be set. As a result, the Imperium cancelled the plans immediately.

However, very few people seem to question Jin’taan’s motives in this matter. The CSM member has a reputation as a genuinely nice, guileless person. This appears to have provided him a bit of breathing room, as people who are aware of the situation watch to see if he is just one more of Maricadie’s victims, and whether he and the 7th Estate can recover.

What Happens Now?

At the time of writing, it is unknown what will happen within the 7th Estate as a result of this. Sources have indicated that the 7th Estate is still considering their next move, with the majority of line members having been kept in the dark about why the planned standings have not been implemented.

This apparent stasis from the 7th Estate also creates questions surrounding their leadership, the alliances, and the line members. After all, the line members were supposed to be the focus of this effort. Will they all band together and continue to forge this fledgling coalition? Will some individuals or groups choose to leave and continue along their own path through New Eden? Only time will tell, but INN will be ready to bring you updates as we have them.