Jita Park Speakers Corner

While serving on the previous three CSMs, I have methodically worked to make the CSM an effective tool for influencing CCP, and diligently represented the interests of all players of EVE, not just a particular in-game group.

If re-elected, I will continue to pressure CCP to deliver improvements to the game that the current players of the game want, and to justify their decisions. The hard work done during CSMs 5-7 has clearly demonstrated to CCP how productive engaging with both the CSM and the community can be, and I will continue my efforts to build on that success.

I will continue to make sure CCP is forced to confront difficult and at times uncomfortable questions. We are paying for this game, so they should justify their decisions with hard numbers and good business sense.

Areas of particular interest to me (as a player and professional) include: the User Interface, Trade & Industry, large-scale social features, and review and iteration of popular game features.

I will zealously ensure that CCP receives advice that represents the positions of as many different player groups as possible. The CSM should properly represent the interests of the entire community.

Finally, as the only significantly active member of CSM7 running for re-election, I am uniquely placed to ensure the continuity of CSM operations going into CSM8, a matter of some concern given the additional responsibilities that have been placed on CSM over time -- a trend I expect will continue.

I hope you will honor me with your vote, and encourage your friends in EVE to do this same. A high turnout in the CSM 8 elections is important
because it demonstrates player support for the progress CSM has made; the more votes are cast, the louder our voice becomes, and the more we can accomplish for you, our fellow players.

Accomplishments during CSMs 5-7

As vice-secretary of CSM 5, secretary of CSM 6, and vice-chairman of CSM 7, I was a primary author and/or editor of almost all CSM Blogs and Summit Reports.

In CSMs 5 and 6, I raised, championed and pushed through significant CSM proposals aimed at benefiting broad groups of EVE players (in particular, User Interface related issues), such as the Removal of Learning Skills, the User Interface - Big Wins, Fan Favorites and Low Hanging Fruit Proposal, the Planetary Interaction Omnibus Proposal, and the Possibly Practical POS Performance Proposal. Elements of many of these proposals have found their way into the game.

I created, developed and managed the concept of Prioritization Crowdsourcing, which was used to poll the players and determine what items on the CSM in-process list should be given the highest priority in negotiations with CCP. When CCP shifted their focus back to Flying-in-Space development in the Fall of 2011, these lists helped determine what got developer time.

Furthermore, I have steadfastly pushed for CCP to deliver on their promise to make CSM a full stakeholder in the development process. I spearheaded the production of CSM 7's Development Strategy document, which influenced the creation of CCP's new development model, and resulted in CSM becoming intimately involved in the Release Planning for new expansions at the earliest stages. Slowly and methodically, I have expanded the ability of the CSM to influence the evolution of the game in directions that reflect the wishes of the community.

I have always made myself available to the community, answering questions via Email and on the forums, and (when appropriate) bringing player concerns direct to interested devs at CCP. I have consistently encouraged CCP devs to reconnect to the EVE community and go directly to players for feedback about game features, and over the last 18 months we've seen this happen more and more.

Finally, I regularly blog about the CSM process, and regularly post on the Eve-Online and other forums.

A Little About Me

My RL name is Robert Woodhead. I am 54 years old, and live in North Carolina with my wife and two children. I am the author of the first 4 games in the Wizardry series of RPG games, as well as one of the first anti-virus programs, Virex. In other words, I'm an old-school hacker (in the original, good sense of the word) -- in fact, I was the Hacking Consultant for the film "Real Genius".

I am also a founder and CEO of AnimEigo, the oldest surviving Anime company in the US, and a corporate person who is now old enough to drink. I lived in Japan for over 6 years working on AnimEigo and other projects, and speak Japanese well enough to impress gaijin and amuse nihonjin.

In my spare time, in addition to playing EVE, I also build and fight combat robots, write the occasional bit of free software, and I'm one of the few EVE pilots who actually knows what Zero-G feels like.

Interesting questions answered in this thread:

* What do CSMs do and how effective can they be?

* Why I decided to run again

* Crossing Zebras Podcast Interview

* CSM as a tool to help CCP avoid groupthink, plus a bonus Devil's Bargain

* "Turds in the Sandbox"

* What I'd like to see done in EVE

* Balancing artistic and commercial sensibilities, plus a totally gratuitous attack on My Little Pony

* EVE Development and the challenges CCP faces in the short, medium and long-term

* What to do about moon-mining?

* Why "nutbars" on the CSM aren't always such a bad thing

* Some thoughts on rebalancing nullsec

* Kremlin Watching

* Why skill-training is an important mechanic

* Productivity metrics

* More on Wardecs

* Farming other candidates for bumps

* Timers and Sov

* My Philosophy about Hi-Sec balance

* More devs = stuff gets done faster; high-leve CSM strategy

* Outing Alekseyev Karrde as a Vegan

* CSM tactical arguments

* Table Pounding - An Early Analysis (Blog post)

* Declarations of War Podcast Debate -- Trebor vs. Psychotic Monk

* 2013 - A CSM Odyssey (Blog post)

* Lack of Quantity has a Quality all its own (Blog post)

* The Politics of POSsibility (Blog post)

* Every Vote is Sacred, Every Vote is Great... (Foolishness)

My recommended ballot for CSM8 (Version 1.0)

In compiling these recommendations, I am not giving any weight to how the candidates play EVE, how much they agree or disagree with me, and whether or not they are also supporting me. My major criteria is "do I think this person will do a good job if they are elected?" I expect that all of these candidates will be hard-working team players who will strongly but fairly advocate for the entire community.

None of my recommendations are bloc candidates. This is not because there aren't excellent bloc candidates this year, it's simply that their blocs will ensure they get elected, and supporting them isn't tactically wise under STV. I want a diverse CSM that represents all areas of the game.

1. Trebor Daehdoow. My polling indicates that 35% of my voters are voting for me because I'm experienced, 31% because I work hard and get results, 18% because they are old and/or bald like me, and 16% because they want to annoy Poetic Stanziel.

2. Tie: Ripard Teg is knowledgeable, hard-working, and a great writer, while Malcanis is probably the all-time champion goodposter on these forums -- he's been around forever and nobody has a bad word to say about him.

4. corebloodbrothers impressed me when he ran for the first time last year, but the voting system conspired against him. With any luck, the change to STV will mean the second time will be the charm.

5. Tie: Nathan Jameson and James Arget would be great voices for Wormhole residents. If the stars align, both of them will be.

7. I have served on CSM with both the major Russian candidates, and I like both of them personally, which makes choosing between them painful. However, I think Korvin is the better choice given the challenges and opportunities that CSM 8 will face.

8. Ali Aras is a rare bird, the experienced newbie. I want CCP to put more resources into making EVE more newbie-friendly, and her voice will help convince them to do that.

9. Mangala Solaris brings yet another important perspective to the table, and is well-respected in his community.

10. Given how much crap I've taken from his supporters, you may be surprised to learn that Psychotic Monk is going to be on my ballot. I disagree with some of his positions, but he argues them fairly -- and anything we do agree on is likely to be correct. I am hoping he will be CSM 8's Alekseyev Karrde.

11. Unforgiven Storm is a good industrialist candidate who has the bad luck to be a Goon who is running as an independent. That means he probably won't get much love from bloc voters, and a lot of other people won't vote for him because he's a Goon. If he doesn't make it, I hope he does well enough to try again next year. If so, he could be the corebloodbrothers of CSM 9.

12. Roc Wieler will either be a decent CSM, or he'll be able to role-play a decent CSM. Either works for me.

13. Mike Azariah wants to represent the casual player, and has shown he can work hard on community-related projects.

14. Steve Rokunen gets my final slot. He looks to be a well-rounded, sensible candidate, and his experience as an API developer would come in very handy.

+1

You sir have my vote. You're the man who always strives to keep EVE the best game out there!

Thanks for taking the time to tell everyone about your times in the CMS. Thanks for the hard work and here's to another year at it!

he's preformed on me many times +1

Trebor has done an incredible amount of work on CSM7 so far, always being the calm voice of reason and devils advocate where appropriate.

For that, he's getting all my votes.

While Trebor and I rarely agree, he is one of the hardest working and most articulate CSM Reps we've ever had. CSM8 will need powerful voices with aggressive agendas to balance out Trebor's persuasive voice of caution, but I fully expect those voices to be there to challenge him. And when Trebor gets a challenge, he tends to rise above it and bring the CSM along for the ride.

I think it's incredibly important that there be some continuity between CSM7 and CSM8, so I am glad to see Trebor take the bullet for the community and run once more.

Look, just re-elect him already!

Best ever CSM member for sure!