Fanfest 2012 - Inferno, DUST 514, and Suicide-gate

Fanfest 2012 - Inferno, DUST 514, and Suicide-gate

Fanfest 2012 ran 22-24 March 2012 at Harpa in Reykjavik - the new glass-fronted concert hall that became Fanfest's permanent home from this point forward. Headline content was the Inferno expansion (war declarations overhaul, missile and frigate rebalance) shipping in May 2012, and the now-confirmed DUST 514 PS3 launch later that year.

What 2012 is remembered for is the Saturday Alliance Panel. The Alliance Panel - CEOs of major nullsec alliances on stage, drinks flowing, presentations escalating - was a Fanfest tradition going back to the inaugural 2004 event. Goonswarm CEO Alex "The Mittani" Gianturco, who had just won the CSM 7 election with a record 10,000-plus votes and was guaranteed the chairmanship, presented last after a long evening of drinking. As part of celebrating Goonswarm's harassment of an ice-mining target, he named the player on stage, displayed a screenshot of a private message from the player that hinted at depression and divorce, and told the audience: "if you want to make the guy go kill himself, his name is [name]. He has his own corp. Find him."

The fallout was rapid. Coverage broke during the weekend; on Wednesday 28 March 2012 CCP issued a formal statement removing The Mittani from CSM 7 (he had already voluntarily resigned the chairmanship), banning him from EVE for 30 days for EULA/TOS violations, and committing to revise the Alliance Panel format. The community split - some defended the comments as drunken theatre, most did not. The CSM lost its incoming chairman before he could be seated.

The Mittani returned to the game after the ban and remained the central figure in nullsec leadership for another decade - see The Mittani Resigns from Goonswarm for his eventual exit. Suicide-gate is the bookend at the other end of that decade, and the moment the freewheeling early-Fanfest Alliance Panel format formally died.