As Sky Marshal Asher Elias ascends to the throne of Goondor, the end, long near, has finally arrived. Universally hailed as a decent human, and a self-professed Eve romantic, Asher seems to be the very hero the Imperium needs after the long, toxic reign of The Mittani. Thousands of former Goons will re-apply, and thousands more retired players will dig deep into their stash of PLEX as the sounds the resub horns reverberate and hopes rise in response to the promise of an opportunity to finally become either victor or vanquished – to become part of the story.
Early projections indicate that Imperium membership, already surpassing the peak concurrent user count on Tranquility, will spike over the next several months as Asher rallies the troops to prepare for war. By late fall, the vast majority of active players will be Goons, and the cement of the blue donut will finally cure. With all of New Eden under the glorious leadership of Asher Elias, no enemy worth the name will remain. Without an opponent, Goon interest will wane, then plummet with the January, 2024 release of The Elder Scrolls VI. Eventually, even the majority of Fraternity’s botters will move on. In the end, only a handful of bots, forgotten on VMs, will continue to log on daily to farm rogue drones until their supply of PLEX runs dry.
What can save Eve? Perhaps nothing. Or, perhaps, a villain will arise to restore balance to the New Eden cluster. Dare we hope that Fraternity will rise to oppose the horns of Goondor? Will The Mittani himself return to instigate a civil war to divide the Imperium? Will Rixx Javixx, Chance Ravinne, and James 315 join forces to become an unmatched pirate menace?
We can only hope.
