Sunday, August 8th, 2010
Issue: 40   Editor: HowlingMadMika


Half a Decade Altro
Event Horizon started on the 4th of August 2005, when BettyB and Zoltra88 left their previous crew The Legion, who were no more. Little did anyone know that the crew would be around a full five years later, and more impressively, have never disbanded and still have one of the original bosses. Like all crews, they have had high points and low points, but unlike many, have weathered the storm.

We caught up with BettyB, still boss of Event Horizon, for a chat about her crew. What was Event Horizons finest hour? We enquired. “Not sure I can choose just one thing,” she told us. “Making ‘EH’ on Penny Establishment page last round was fun.” This was when members of the crew bought up strategic locations in the Pennsylvania establishments, when all the members were in the crew, their crew colour spelt out their initials on the page. She went on, “Every time we come back after being shot is a great accomplishment.” With a finest hour, come those dark hours. “I think being insided mid way last round by Mason, who had been Underboss of EH and was very trusted. That did some damage to crew moral. We had to learn to trust people all over again.” Nevertheless they have.

“I’m pretty damn proud of the members of EH for making this possible to be honest,” she told us. Being the oldest crew on the statistics, and possibly still the game, they have never disbanded or taken a break, remaining active for the duration of their crew. With the same leader throughout, we wanted to know if she had ever thought of giving it up. BettyB replied with, “I have considered leaving a few times. Something, or someone, always changes my mind though. Of course there are challenges.” She went on, “I like to vent. However, I have a wonderful group of council who take on a lot of responsibility and they leave me very little reason to vent.”

Event Horizon famously, in the closing months of round five, held the majority of State and Nation Don positions. They used these players to attack a variety of different crews and players before eventually losing their spot, only to return later. Over the years Event Horizon has made many enemies, being attacked by several different groups, from Revelation to The Syndicate, we asked which, if any, stood out. “The ones who stand out are people like kraake, Charan, Pannu... kraake being the first person to remove EH from the stats last round.” BettyB explained. “We spent most of last round in war against these people, who EH now considers friends.”

With five years gone, how much longer will Event Horizon be around? “EH will be around as long as there are people willing to take on responsibility for the crew, and I believe there will be people willing to take the crew on as long as BL is around.” We wondered what antics are in the crews future, “Having fun, making friends and playing the game as we have been [...] As the game sits, one of the bigger challenges I believe the crew faces is crew growth. Stats crew are a good target with very few benefits,” BettyB told us, “It’s not prestigious to be in a stats crew as it once was.”

Given the masses of experience BettyB has acquired in her role, we asked what advice would she give to new players wanting to start a crew. “I would say, try to make some friends. If that’s through starting a conversation when busted, joining discussions in forums, applying for the buzz or other in game positions. Don’t beg, and try to be respectful. The game can be a lonely place if you have no friends. Also set a goal and focus on obtaining that.” She also told us, “Some people think we don’t do anything, just because we don’t make topics to pat ourselves on the back. To you non believers, just because we aren’t all over the forums whoring ourselves out, doesn’t mean we are sitting around getting fat and lazy. If we did nothing, we wouldn’t still be here after all this time.” Indeed, they have shown in the past that when the chips are down, they are willing to come out fighting.

FuckleMax, a new member to Event Horizon this round said, “It’s by far the best run crew I’ve been a part of [...] The crew has built up a great core of members over its tenure, and I think has a good mix of old and new members these days.” He said, “Definitely nice to know that even if we do get shot off stats, we’ll be back before long.”

With five years down, and no sign of letting up Event Horizon appears to be still going strong. Congratulations to the boss, council and members for managing to take a crew over half a decade of game play. They join a very short list of truly remarkable crews that are able to survive the test of time.