Four years ago today, the largest cross platform, player-versus-player event in Elite took place. It was the result of a story arc that spanned months and thousands of lightyears, diving deep into the history of Elite and heralding the arrival of the Thargoids.
What we didn't know at the time was that it would be the only event of its kind. To date, nothing on the same scale has happened since. It disrupted the status quo, and for at least a little while, many people in the community had a reason to do more than just grinding for credits or merits for Powerplay.
In the four years since, Loren's Legion - and its offshoot, Loren's Reapers - has stood the tests that came with the long period without story or meaningful content in the game. We set out to blaze our own trail. This often brought us into conflict with others.
For this, we make no apologies.
We make no apologies because we set out to create the stories and content that the game sorely lacked. Our in-game exploits have resulted in two novels, written by one of our own, that seek to fill the storytelling void in which we have all languished. Our adventures in Carcosa were but one chapter in the ongoing narrative that belongs to Loren's Reapers.
We mark this day in Elite's history every year because we believe the best stories are born out of adversity and conflict. While the community has contented itself with the stagnation and mindless expansion of player empires and politics, we stand in opposition to it. We defy those who would rather the game become a matter of numbers and percentages. We defy the empire builders, the tedious gardeners in a world that, up until a few years ago, thrived on the clashing of ideals and opinions within the game world.
Today we look back at the high standards set not only by the Premonition player event, but also the interwoven personal narratives that have emerged as a result of the outcome of that event. It has shaped us in many ways, but it has always been the contributions and actions of our members - and the reactions of our foes - that have carried us forward. Were it not for these two crucial elements, many of us would have moved on long ago.
As we prepare for Odyssey, we find ourselves looking forward to the new stories and new ways to tell them. We look toward what plots may unfurl, what mysteries may beckon us to solve them, and what causes we may be called to fight for. Loren's Reapers seeks to expand and to shape the evolving narrative, just as we did four years ago today.
That means we will inevitably come into conflict with those who would prefer the tranquility of carefully managed background simulation states, who reduce the game to mere spreadsheets, and view smaller groups with similar goals to our own as obstacles to crush under the might of their superior numbers.
We don't believe Elite was meant to be a spreadsheet simulator, nor was it meant to be a place where dissenting positions or ideologies are only allowed to exist through negotiation and compromise. To acquiesce to those beliefs would be to deny the essence of the game itself, and to fail the charge given to us by Kahina Loren in her final message:
"Challenge the authorities. Force their hand. Refuse to be manipulated. Do not rise to their provocations. Make your own powerplays, organise embargoes and blockade the ports. Break their hold and force them out into the open. Blaze a trail. Visibility is the one thing they cannot abide."
So we will fight - alongside friends and allies, if we can; alone, if we must. But we will always keep fighting the long defeat for the love of a good story. We may be beaten in the end, but we can never lose.
Fight on, Commanders. And always....
Remember.
***
Into the Black & Shadows of the Past, the two unofficial novels chronicling the adventures of Loren's Legion and the Reapers, can be found here.
What we didn't know at the time was that it would be the only event of its kind. To date, nothing on the same scale has happened since. It disrupted the status quo, and for at least a little while, many people in the community had a reason to do more than just grinding for credits or merits for Powerplay.
In the four years since, Loren's Legion - and its offshoot, Loren's Reapers - has stood the tests that came with the long period without story or meaningful content in the game. We set out to blaze our own trail. This often brought us into conflict with others.
For this, we make no apologies.
We make no apologies because we set out to create the stories and content that the game sorely lacked. Our in-game exploits have resulted in two novels, written by one of our own, that seek to fill the storytelling void in which we have all languished. Our adventures in Carcosa were but one chapter in the ongoing narrative that belongs to Loren's Reapers.
We mark this day in Elite's history every year because we believe the best stories are born out of adversity and conflict. While the community has contented itself with the stagnation and mindless expansion of player empires and politics, we stand in opposition to it. We defy those who would rather the game become a matter of numbers and percentages. We defy the empire builders, the tedious gardeners in a world that, up until a few years ago, thrived on the clashing of ideals and opinions within the game world.
Today we look back at the high standards set not only by the Premonition player event, but also the interwoven personal narratives that have emerged as a result of the outcome of that event. It has shaped us in many ways, but it has always been the contributions and actions of our members - and the reactions of our foes - that have carried us forward. Were it not for these two crucial elements, many of us would have moved on long ago.
As we prepare for Odyssey, we find ourselves looking forward to the new stories and new ways to tell them. We look toward what plots may unfurl, what mysteries may beckon us to solve them, and what causes we may be called to fight for. Loren's Reapers seeks to expand and to shape the evolving narrative, just as we did four years ago today.
That means we will inevitably come into conflict with those who would prefer the tranquility of carefully managed background simulation states, who reduce the game to mere spreadsheets, and view smaller groups with similar goals to our own as obstacles to crush under the might of their superior numbers.
We don't believe Elite was meant to be a spreadsheet simulator, nor was it meant to be a place where dissenting positions or ideologies are only allowed to exist through negotiation and compromise. To acquiesce to those beliefs would be to deny the essence of the game itself, and to fail the charge given to us by Kahina Loren in her final message:
"Challenge the authorities. Force their hand. Refuse to be manipulated. Do not rise to their provocations. Make your own powerplays, organise embargoes and blockade the ports. Break their hold and force them out into the open. Blaze a trail. Visibility is the one thing they cannot abide."
So we will fight - alongside friends and allies, if we can; alone, if we must. But we will always keep fighting the long defeat for the love of a good story. We may be beaten in the end, but we can never lose.
Fight on, Commanders. And always....
Remember.
***
Into the Black & Shadows of the Past, the two unofficial novels chronicling the adventures of Loren's Legion and the Reapers, can be found here.
