CSM Campaigns

I don't think the the CSM limits any play style at all, if anything it would immerse you in all the different options available in the sandbox and the intricate details. As for remaining neutral, working with the public communities has undoubtedly helped me remain neutral because the only thing people want in there is fun and content, both things which are thankfully free of political motivations. As for TMC that's a little different and can be taken more easily as me having political leanings or, as has happened on multiple occasions, causes people to accuse me of being a good shill.

This has made it more difficult, but I think my writings have shown me to be without bias, and consistently so.

Jayne,

Malcanis raises a fair point and being an active member, if I remember correctly, of the US Military do you feel that your duties as a member of the CSM added to your obligations to your work, as well as your family life, will be able to coexist?

Canada has a military?

I apologize, the majority of that question was based off the presumption that you were US Military which, if I believe I'm correct, has a higher rate of being called forward for duty. Clearly that depends on which branch and skills you're providing.


*Snip* Removed reply to a deleted post. ISD Ezwal.

Re: the small gang warfare stuff, yes we were mocking the situation.

I have removed some rule breaking posts and those quoting them. As always I let some edge cases stay.
Please people, keep it on topic and above all civil!

The rules:
4. Personal attacks are prohibited.

Commonly known as flaming, personal attacks are posts that are designed to personally berate or insult another forum user. Posts of this nature are not beneficial to the community spirit that CCP promote and as such they will not be tolerated.

5. Trolling is prohibited.

Trolling is a defined as a post that is deliberately designed for the purpose of angering and insulting other players in an attempt to incite retaliation or an emotional response. Posts of this nature are disruptive, often abusive and do not contribute to the sense of community that CCP promote.

26. Off-topic posting is prohibited.

Off-topic posting is permitted within reason, as sometimes a single comment may color or lighten the tone of discussion. However, excessive posting of off-topic remarks in an attempt to derail a thread may result in the thread being locked, or a forum warning being issued.

Well, this response has been a long time coming - and I apologize for that. I didn't really have a position, and between your various blog posts (I appreciated the firefly reference, btw) regarding the RNI gank and theft, to say I was conflicted on the issue would be a bit of an understatement. Anyway - to the point, I've summarized your question as follows:



It wasn't until your more recent blog post about heroes in Eve that I was finally able to solidify my opinions into a concrete answer, and although you're probably expecting me to agree with you that Eve is a dark place, and is growing ever darker, I'm going to have to disagree. The arguments against me are numerous - from freighters topping killboards, to racist undertones following the darkness drama, and your own example about a noob being scammed out of 1B ISK.

In terms of the newbie, he's the only one I have any fragment of sympathy for, and that's simply because he didn't know any better - and now he does. Just as Hilmar referenced "inherent value" in his talk at this year's DICE conference, no amount of ISK would have had any real value for this player. It did not represent any effort, any contribution to the eve universe, no great accomplishment or achievement. Had he legitimately earned and worked for that billion ISK, he most likely would have understood it's value, as well as all the different ways that he could lose it.... of which scamming is one of them. I have nothing wrong with the longer and harder path (seemingly the "one less traveled" these days) having not only a more rewarding destination, but more enjoyable journey as well.

Would it have mattered, or would you have blogged about this, if that player had lost 100M ISK? What about 10M ISK? In the simplest way of looking at it, this player lost something that had no value to him, and learnt a very valuable lesson - even if the price point was a little high.

In the same light, our now infamous ex-RNI pilot had no concept of value in our single sharded universe. I make no judgement of people's RL financial situations, but perhaps the multiple thousands of dollars that he contributed to CCP were of no value to him, or of insignificant magnitude. Eve pilots are hostile, and rightfully so, when their contributions through time, passion, and ingenuity are threatened by any joe with a credit card and money to burn. Furthermore, this individual's holier-than-thou attitude and penchant for threatening anyone and everyone makes me think nothing but "good riddance." If anything, players like this quitting the game should be heralded as a success in preserving Eve's unique culture.



Relieving ourselves of an individual who makes threats, has no desire to educate himself, and has neither respect nor appreciation for the community of Eve is something I would call a victory. I'm not ashamed of saying so.

And here's where I switch gears.

These things happen in Eve - from the GHSC heist, to missed bill payments, and everyday Jita scamming; Eve is known for being a hive of villainy and scum. However, to view this as the entirety of Eve's culture is a mistake. In my opinion, this is simply a consequence of the vocal and visible minority. Taking Erotica1 and the New Order as an example: this abrassive, hostlie and (most importantly) extremely vocal group views people who play this game differently than them as somehow their inferior, with no rightful place in the game or value.

Undeniably, they are a part of Eve, but a small one at that. The second largest corporation in the game has just turned one year old, and is a corporation that prides itself on being classy both in and out of game. This is in distinct contrast to some of their allies who have an arguably noxious culture that is venomous to the very game they play. Sure, there are sides of our culture that are dark and highlight the worst that people have to offer, and they may be visible, but they are not the majority.

Your response to Kirith Kodachi's blog post highlights this perfectly. There are indeed people out there striving to make this game, the community, and the players better. They are the majority. They may not troll the forums or loose billions of meaningless internet pixels, but they are present and they are what make's Eve's culture so overwhelming positive - as long as you're in the right places.

Lastly, this is a sandbox - just as Erotica1 is at fault for judging others for how they enjoy the game, I would be amiss to blame CCP or ask them to restrict activities that fit neither my morals nor my sympathies. Such is the nature of our multiplayer sandbow - you cannot control which of the multiple players you will be playing with, but that doesn't mean what they are doing is wrong. Hope that answers your question.

What is your opinion on off-grid Ganglink support in the context of small scale and solo combat? Would you change the mechanic? If so, in what way generally?

So far you really impressed me with your way of answering questions, providing well-laid out answers and showing how dedicated you are to EVE.

You have my vote :)

PS: I'm interested in your responses to the last few questions...

I greatly despise this mechanics, and was incredibly pleased when they were prevented from activating links while in a POS, although I think that it should have extended to Rorqual and mining links as well.

Further more, I have always been a firm believer that links should only work while on grid. Eve's risk-reward system works wonders, and even in fitting a ship you have to make sacrifices in order to gain different or additional functionality. Currently, links can provide pilots with a capability on an order of magnitude greater than anything else, all while being exposed to minimal risk.

I personally fly my command ships proudly in fleet fights, and take the necessary steps to ensure that it has the best hope of surviving the engagement. The practice of moving cloaky-dictor nearly-unprobable link ships along with a gang is both cowardly, and heavily favors those with alts. Sure, formed fleets should have an advantage over a ragtag gaggle of ships, but they need to be put at risk.

TL;DR on-grid linking only, both for combat and industrial links

The CSM is council, not a solo job - just as I explained earlier I would be absolutely terrible representing those with an Industrial focus, there are probably better candidates if you would like a PvE representative on the council. However, my platform is firmly planted in two areas: the community, and the mechanics. Mechanics do not discriminate between how you intend to use them, whether there is a red cross of a player on the other side of your weapons.

As for my Eve-Radio comments, I don't have a recording so I can't review my exact wording, but IIRC I stated that the Rattlesnake would not continue with the same trend that has been announced for the worm and would likely carry over onto the Gilas. This is speculation on my part, and comes from two sources.

First, the recently introduced 50 drone assist cap would be completely negated if rattlesnakes were to be given 400% strength sentry drones. Nulli Secunda has already used rattlesnakes as a mainline doctrine, so it takes no great leap of faith to predict that it would happen again and be horrendously broken. Secondly, there is this quote from CCP Rise himself:



It's pretty obvious what CCP Rise is trying to say here, and I interpret it as follows: "We like this idea and think it will work well on a frigate like the worm, but this model may not scale to the cruiser of battleship variants." This is the same prediction I have for the Nightmare, as who really wants a Afterburner bonus on a battleships? It's certainly not for the signature radius.

Yes, I probably did "state this as fact" simply because I am completely confident that the Rattlesnake will not be getting the same size and type of bonus that the Worm received. I'll reiterate that one from the CSM has ever broken the NDA by giving me privileged information, much to my disappointment.