As many of you may know, I recently left [TRI] Trident Arms Syndicate. The current commander, Darth Nihilus, had refused multiple requests over the past few months to change command back over to me, Neon Black, and had expressed to me on more than one occasion that the guild belongs to him as much as it does to me. I disagree with this point, and have challenged Darth Nihilus to show me exactly how easy it is to manage [TRI].

Now sure, the guild won't go anywhere. It still has the name and reputation that we have built over the last three years but I believe that without my guidance, recruiting and new-player mentoring, dedication to manufacturing, and overall leadership of the guild that [TRI] will not finish it's next Trident Type-M, and will slowly join the ranks of the many once mighty and now dormant guilds of years past.

Call it egotistical, I will not deny it. If you know the history of [TRI] you will know we've been disbanded, robbed, dormant for a period, and that we have rebuilt the guild from the ground up several times. I will not try to say that this was all my doing, my members now and of years past are the coolest most fun and driven people I've met in the 'verse and [TRI] would be nothing without the work we've done together (this is especially true for Darth and his dedication to the guild), but it was me who brought us all together, got us organized, and built the foundation and reputation that the guild stands tall with today.

I see this as a test for Darth Nihilus and I don't blame him for being pissed at me for the way that I've gone about it. I made another post a few days ago which I removed because it was lame of me to put our chat-log on blast like that (not to mention I was being reactive and acted like a douche)... I have been told that I will never again be able to fly with [TRI]. And that is entirely up to Darth and his Lieutenants. But to be honest I'm tired of spending my hard-earned credits and time to build a Trident for someone who has little respect for me and the things I've done for Trident Arms Syndicate.

In truth I'm looking forward to flying as a solo Greyspace pilot for the first time in a long time! I will still be focusing on providing PvPers with manufactured and faction weapons and I will still be mentoring new players on the fundamentals of this great game!

I wish Darth nothing but the best with his command but I think he will come to realize that I was a fundamental element of the [TRI] hierarchy, and that my actions here are nothing more than an attempt to test his resolve.

Good luck old friend!
- Neon Black

~I would appreciate your opinions (VO pilots and [TRI] members) on my actions and any responses to the points I've made~

After I returned to VO from my 5 years long hiatus, I approached Darth once with a request for help in manufacturing some Trident parts and the answer was - we don't do that anymore.

I was away for too long so I really have no experience with TRI but in a few months I have been active again, Neon was actually the only active TRI member I met that was openly advertising TRI services and actually did equipment manufacturing, sold weapons and manufacturing kits.

In this kind of guilds like TRI is, I think that the player who is actually pulling all the load is the best solution for the top position in order to push the guild forward and make it prosper.

I can't compare TRI to my guild since SKV is a group of friends. Commander is just a title, we are all equal and good friends and vanity is not among qualities any of SKV members thrive on.

For the past few months, for me, TRI was actually Neon whom I could rely on to supply what I needed when I needed it. He is good at what he does so if he continues doing it his way I could not care less if I am dealing with TRI or Neon.

neon - Everyone that I have talked to regarding the matter has supported my decision as everyone knows that you are unreliable to stay playing for too long of a time period. In fact, this won't be the first time in long time that you were a solo grey space pilot. You left [TRI] about 8 months ago on your own accord because you wanted to go solo. You were invited back in and given status of LT because you are one of the best players of this game that I know, my mentor, and not to mention my friend. The titles in [TRI] are simply titles as well...they mean nothing when it comes to who runs the guild. My main argument for remaining commander was that I am FAR more reliable than you when it comes to sticking around on a consistent basis. Grant it that when you are around, you are extremely active, which warrants you to be capable of recruiting. But it is only youre ego that requires you be CO. I am greatly offended that you would call [TRI] out as a guild to say that WE won't finish the next trident because of your griefs with me. This shows how lacking you really are in integrity, that you would put down others that look up to you. No worries though. Like I said before...what makes [TRI] great is not you nor me, it is every single member and every single person that is part of the VO community that believes in [TRI]. I have no doubt that the rest of community will continue to support [TRI], its values, and its commitment to neutrality, the way that they have in the past and are doing in the present.

bojansplash - I have working on building a trident by myself for the past three months. I have not been able to do anything else, but work on my trident. Also, I have not had time or resources to sell the parts that I have made. [TRI] has never stopped and will never stop selling trident parts as a whole. I just don't have any to sell at the moment. Check back with me in a month or so, or contact another member of [TRI]...

I would also like to apologize to the rest of the community for Neon Black's view that we need to involve everyone in the affairs of [TRI]. I can assure you all that [TRI] will remain intact and continue to grow. Especially once we finally complete a trident that will be FULLY committed to our guild.

And it's funny that you claim that I have no respect for you or the things you've done, when you left our guild because you don't respect me or the things that I have done as CO. Weird logic my friend...but then again, after the past few months you've had I guess I shouldn't expect too much rational thinking from you

1) What about me leaving was "your decision"?

2) 8 months is a long time. I left then so I could fulfill a vendetta without spoiling [TRI]'s neutrality. We all agreed it was necessary. And btw LD was Commander at the time, not you.

Insult my integrity all you want. I have put no one down as you continue to do to me. I'm stating my opinion and presenting it to the public because the way you see it is different than the way that I do, and I deserve to speak out.

You're being melodramatic. I just wanna see what you can do without me. That's all. You can propose all these happy ideals about a shared guild and how it's "bigger than me or you", but without strong leadership a guild like [TRI] will only stay around because you stay subscribed with all your alts in Lt. and Council positions.

I don't doubt you are good at logging in every other day, and I don't doubt you can keep the guild "alive". I do doubt, however, that you will be able to finish your Trident and I doubt you'll be able to hold the guild to the standards that the VO community has come to expect from [TRI].

These are not insults, these are my opinions and the reasons I don't think you should be in command.

In all honesty, I hope that me challenging you in this way inspires you to become more proactive as Commander. Just a shame that you reacted as you have. It's just a game dewd :]

-Neon Black

Drama is a beautiful thing to watch. Let me get more popcorn.

:}

@Neon:

What, exactly, are your demands? What result would make you happy? Do you want Darth to make you commander? Do you want Darth to hand over controlling interest in the council? Does Darth know exactly what you want?

What are your terms?

That is all I asked, to be reissued command of TRI. I asked three times over the past few months. He told me I was going to take all the guild bank and bounce.

You are still not being sufficiently specific.
What actions constitute "reissued command of TRI"?

At the very least, Darth should know exactly what it is that you expect, in detail, and that fulfilling those terms will resolve all issues, or if not all issues, what issues those terms will resolve.

you are a very literal kind of person aren't you Roda? :] And fyi I am happy. It is what it is.

I made my case, Darth knows what I wanted and chose to skirt the issue. So I left to see if he's really up for the job. Probably could have handled it better, but now that I've made my decision, I see what Darth thinks of me. I have no desire to rejoin [TRI] any more. I can see now I was only useful to him as a Trident pilot and someone to do all the heavy lifting.

@ joylessjoker: Politics are fun :]

It is a game. I thought we were friends outside of the game, since we definitely have talked about it before. You took it to a personal level. You started insulting me by saying I wasn't fit to command [TRI]. Everyone in VO knows that you are one of the most melodramatic people in this game. Literally everyone that I have talked to about it has said "yea neon always over-reacts". Think what you want to because thats your egotistical style, but you are the one that ruined a friendship over a video game dude. Assuming you ever saw us as friends anyways, which seems to be a stretch at this point...

And you'd think that being commander of one guild would be enough for you

When Neon was in command I had to threaten to slaughter his guild to get parts n stuff when I was originally just offering money.

I have not had to threaten anyone since.

Mind you I do not need parts anymore as I already have a dent so who knows what the true cause is.

Actually I don't think neon was in command then either, there was some other guy and he was an LT so!

No threatening to any of the current command contenders!

</no resolution here>

I am literal, when it comes to objectives. As a computer programmer, I have seen too many programmers start writing code, before hey had defined exactly what the program would do, with the result being, whatever happened to result. When I write a program, I define a minimum set of functionality, before I write any code.

I do not RP the way I write code. I know exactly which way my rp is going, with absolutely no idea where it leads. The exact opposite of how I write code. But then, my RP is not really much more than "I rp I got a gun. I rp you better run".

Where are you going?

@Darth: Go ahead, tell me more about how many ppl don't like me. Tell everyone my alt character. You're the only one hating. Leaving [TRI] and saying you are unfit to command isn't meant to be insulting. It's meant to show you that I am, and always was, the true leader of [TRI]. It's business, not personal. Learn the difference.

Keep on hating, I'm still your friend even if you're not mine and I wish you and your guild the best.

@Spence: I <3 you too

@Roda: Not exactly sure. We will see :]

It truly is sad when a person feels as though they have to attack a friend's capabilities in an attempt to get some kind of justification for his own...you've got a weird way of treating your friends katofmine or neon

And the guild belongs to everyone in it...TRI has always been a guild with members that lead themselves. No one that stays in TRI ever needs to be lead or submit to any kind of leadership. That is beauty of TRI. It has and always will rely on certain level of autonomy

All guilds have dirty laundry. Is there ever justification for airing yours in the public? I like the lining on that red panties though.