Brave: The WOKA-4 plan

In Brave we have a problem. On the one hand many of the high skill point pilots want sov null with the ratting and mining opportunities and the epic large scale battles. On the other hand we are an alliance that recruits large numbers of very new players and we want to give them opportunities to develop in an environment that isn't as brutally hard as a backs-to-the-wall, last-days-of-Rome all-out sov defence.

One solution that has been suggested is to split the alliance into a newbie friendly lowsec campus and a separate sov section.

Here's a look at how we could do that using systems right next door to each other: Okagaiken, a system in Caldari faction war space and W-4NUU, a system in Cloud Ring. Effectively HERO would have 2 capitals, 2 adjacent market hubs, a conurbation collectively known as WOKA-4.

Cloud Ring: one of Eve's prettiest regions

Now Cloud Ring has its own inhabitants but my suggestion is that instead of fighting them all we ally with as many of them as we can, building the kind of relationships needed to hold sov space. Waffles won't blue us; on the other hand we might be the last best hope for J4LP now that they're no longer protected by The Imperium.

This would position us very near to PH, Karmafleet and Waffles and not all that far from RvB, Stay Frosty and E Uni's low sec and null sec campuses so there would be plenty of fun content for our newbros.

Sov in Cloud Ring is for the most part pretty awful but there's a silver lining to that in that we are more likely to be able to compete for it. Plus things may change in phase 3 of the Sov Revamp where CCP will be looking at nullsec rewards. If we can get Fweddit (J4LP) on board there's the possibility to peacefully gain access to Cloud Ring's only good constellation.

This plan combines the advantages of my previous Nennamaila plan with a genuinely attainable sov project.

Diplomatic content: developing links and alliances with major players in the region - Caldari and Gallente militias, The Imperium, Snuff Box, PH/Waffles/PL. Dealing with Cloud Ring sov owners: Waffles, Lethal Intent, J4LP, SMA, Iron Armada.

Here be chickuns!

Sov: in Fozziesov the only way to protect space is to live in it which means that although some null superpower could throw us out of Cloud Ring if they want (and from time to time this surely will happen), we can just shrug, focus on lowsec stuff and then reconquer W-4 after they move on. This means we can to a certain extent keep assets in sov space as they can't, in the long term, be trapped so long as we remain interested and based in WOKA-4.

This means we can at last perhaps have a relatively peaceful period for those who want to build up isk while retaining the availability of content for people who want it.

Moons: Dotlan lists 12 R64s in Cloud Ring (no dyspro) and just 1 in Black Rise (but Black Rise data lacks 0.4 systems).

Jump bridge/caps: from W-4 most of Cloud Ring is conveniently inside jump range.

High sec access is fairly easy - the nearest system is 5 jumps away but watch out for Waffles gate camps in Kinakka. Jump freighter access from Jita is very easy.

Cloud Ring is like Catch - a crossroads region - with exits to 5 other null sec regions and 2 low sec regions.

I think this is a strong option for Brave and HERO offering all types of content and isk-making opportunities. Pvp would be fantastic with a much broader range of challenges including fights against people much weaker than us.