Oye M’Beltas,
For the past year and a half, the HMA has been a regular feature of Hek and the surrounding systems with our public mining fleets. However, this is only a small part of what is intended for the HMA. From the beginning, I envisioned the HMA as an economic powerhouse – controlling resources, production, and distribution not just in Hek but throughout the larger world of New Eden. And, everything we have done up to this point has been in furtherance of that goal. While we have certainly encountered setbacks in our time, it is important to understand that these were all part of the plan. The purpose of Phase 1 was to experiment and learn. And, learn we did.
Effective September 21st, we are entering Phase 2 of the HMA. For most, there will be no significant difference in this transition. We will continue to run our public mining fleets and they will continue to be available to all without cost. Likewise, we will continue to utilize both positive (free boosts and compression) and negative (ganking) incentives to encourage participation in our fleets. However, what will change is how we fund the organization and support our members. During Phase 1, membership was freely available to any and all. However, since we ran entirely on donations our services were naturally limited. With the addition of dues, we can begin expanding our infrastructure and offering valuable services such as our Ship Replacement Program, defensive fleets, and dedicated security teams.
Some will criticize this change as being contrary to the spirit of the HMA. They will claim that this is some kind of protection racket. To which I have to say… well, duh. They HMA has always been a protection racket. However, to those that claim we are no different than Safety. or other ganking organizations, I cannot disagree hard enough. The simple fact is that we actually do what Safety. pretends to do. We protect our people. When you pay your dues to the HMA you are not capitulating to thugs, you are supporting the family that supports you.
