Jita Park Speakers Corner

With a year of understanding and testing the STV system, and with a voting bloc numbering close to 50,000, what is the over/under on how many null sec cartel members are on CSM9?

7,9,10?

Not that is matters at all anymore.
I wonder how many details will be given by CCP on the summer release, before the new CSM "election"?
It is very likely those details will make this next CSM a moot point for the largest chunk of the sub base, that being high sec causal players.

That is a fair enough statement.
I should cut down on the hyperbole.

But it is important for all to be aware how much control the cartels have over the game now, and how much more control they want to have, which equates to pretty much total control.

Threads like this keep it in the public eye.

I am not running to be part of some cartel. I am running to help influence positive change for the entire game. Because hurting any part of the game in turn hurts the rest. Instead Id like to see all areas strengthened. So you and anyone that wants to hurf about cartels can take it and shove it straight up your arse. I am not here to kiss anybodys ass Im not here for a popularity contest I am here because I have ambition to help foster positive change or addition to this game we all love so very much. Anyone who thinks that just because you have some "Cartel" on the CSM that you are going to get your agenda through is naive. I have had several friends as CSM members Seleene , Elise Randolph and Sala Cameron.


If you are running or want to run for the CSM because you want your ideas implemented you are doing it wrong. Lastly conspiracy theories are for nutbags cooks and the ignorant. HTH TYTIA

♥Manny

Posting in a Dinsdale Little thread. Sky is falling, damage estimate to follow.

A little harsh on people who prepare your food...

Also, babby's first taste of craziness associated with the CSM. Somebody take a picture.

I would invest some energy in getting the vote out for some non-bloc candidates who seriously want to try to protect what shreds of a game are left for the casual player.
But at the moment, I don't see a whole lot stepping up.

I was hoping Eve-UNI would put forth a candidate, but that looks unlikely atm. Frankly, as Ripard has already posted, the overall candidate pool looks smaller than last year. And with the cartels having consolidated and exploded in size in the last 12 months, well, it is looks grim for anyone who is crazy enough to try to stop that juggernaut.

I am REALLY hoping that CCP releases some pretty specific details about the summer release sooner than usual, so the damage done to high sec can be properly accounted for before the next CSM is appointed.

[citation needed]

Meh, there is only one candidate worth voting and that is Sugar Kyle.

[paranoia]
All 14!!!!111!!eleventyone!!!
[/paranoia]

So actually, I can answer this for you! At least for CSM 8.

I wrote this blog post analyzing the CSM 8 election: http://warp-to-sun.tumblr.com/post/50224048436/if-you-give-a-nerd-a-dataset

Specifically, I was looking at the effects of bloc voting. "Common pairs" and "common sets of three" is a good estimate for the bloc ballots, null and otherwise.

There are six ballots of note here: the CFC nullsec ballot (6146 votes), the HBC nullsec ballot (3195 votes), the N3 nullsec ballot (857 votes-- expect this and the old HBC ballot to switch this year), the Providence kinda-nullsec ballot (1230 votes), the Russian ballot (740 votes), the wormhole ballot (1813 votes; probably missing ~200 here), and what I'll call the Ripard Teg Independent ballot (1717).

Of those, about 10198 votes go to the CFC, HBC, and N3. They keep breaking up and making up, but one could call them a "cartel" of sorts-- although the CFC and N3PL have been fighting a war of words, posting, and desired balance changes on the forums for some time now (the CSM has been mostly ignoring them). Add Providence and the Russian candidates, and you've got a total of only 12168 votes from all of bloc-voting nullsec. I can't really count conscience-voting nullseccers here, but tbh, I'm not sure they count. They're not obeying the dictates of their leaders, they're thinking for themselves, it's hard to really portray them as cannon fodder for nullsec cartels or what have you.

You've got maybe 2000 wormhole votes (wormholers *hate* nullseccers like nothing else) and 1717 independents who voted a Ripard Teg slate (a slate which, iirc, did not include any bloc candidates). Said independents are reading a blog which has been critical of the CFC for a long time and are likely highsec dwellers or smaller-gang PvPers.

With all that added up, bloc voting accounts for 15885 votes of a total of 49702. For math's sake, let's say that smaller groups (<300 ballots cast for a given set of top three candidates) also count as blocs and round this up to 20k votes cast of 50k.

That's a nice round number: you'll see that 2/5ths of the voters in the CSM 8 election were following a slate. Of those, approximately 80% were nullsec voters, and 10% were wormhole voters, and 10% were highsec voters.

The remaining 3/5ths of the vote provided a lot of benefit to candidates such as myself and Mike Azariah, who were both elected without *any* nullsec bloc support. We've got a total of six members of a nullsec bloc on the CSM, two wormholers, five independent representatives (newbies/small groups, RvB, bloggers/elite pvp/independents, blops/highsec, russians) and one full-time high sec representative. The diversity is really, really nice.

In all seriousness, if you want to increase highsec representation-- form a highsec slate and go out and shuffle it around come April. Form a highsec union or a neighborhood association-- you don't have to make a coalition or a corp or an alliance, just a mailing list or something, and share highsec tips and highsec political knowledge on it. Hell, start a blog! (If you're not sure how to start a thing like this, my best experience has been to get ten friends, and sign them up, and start talking on the list, then get them to sign *their* friends up...)

For politics, your best bet, given that you're appealing to independent thinkers, would be to select 3-5 candidates who are running this year to endorse. If you know any highsec folks who're good thinkers and good communicators, get them to stand. If they want advice, I'm happy to give it out-- I know what it's like to start the CSM process as someone completely unknown. Anyways, pick your 3-5 people, tell all your friends to vote for them and why. Make a full 14-person recommended ballot as well, because that way you can ensure that if your first place or second or third don't make it on, your fourth-place will get a leg up.

Here's where it gets interesting. If you're successful, you should be able to pick your top-three set out of the CSM 9 ballot. *Even if* none of your candidates get elected, check out how many votes you get following your top three. If it's high enough, people will come to you for CSM 10. Say you can get 600 highsec voters to all vote together for some set of three. In the CSM 8 election, that would have let a candidate with another small source of support (maybe a #2 or #3 endorsement by a big name) survive long enough to collect on it. In the CSM 10 election, I guarantee you that such a candidate would seek your support, and be willing to promise you representation and accountability (or votes for your candidate).

Et voila: how highsec can conquer the world, or at least the CSM, no RMT needed. It really is that easy-- if you have questions or need advice on how to execute it, feel free to shoot me a mail.