CSM Campaigns

Gorski you're a really cool guy in your own weird ways :-) You had my vote last time and you'll have it again. There's something about you that is very easy to dislike on autopilot, but I get the feeling that when push comes to shove you are able to put on your serious face and do some real good for the game.

I don't know what you did in CSM thus far, and I probably won't have a clue what you'll be doing if you'll make CSM again, my involvement in Eve never went that deep. Which is why I think its important to have at least one pilot who really know solo/smallgang PvP in CSM, to carry the torch for the rest of us.

If I'm not mistaken, you often fly with links. I know many people have issues with OGB, but I like the fact that you really know what it means, to fight a linked ship when you don't have them yourself, the difference it makes. Many pilots just complain about links, but have no idea what it really means. I really liked the way Logan described links in one of his videos "Used and Abused" which is a fine balance. Without links some aspects of smallgang/solo PvP would be destroyed, just as links themselves can destroy the experience for an unlinked solo PvPer. So that fine balanced needs to be addressed by someone who knows both sides of the scale inside out. If some highsec ganker who makes CSM (nothing personal against anyone, I don't even know who else is running) even touches a links-rebalance issue thinking he/she know what links are, without ever having flown a 5 pilots smallgang w/links deep into null doing gurilla warfare against 100 locals, not understanding what links mean to those 5 in such a situation, then just like that - CSM will fail small scale PvPers instantly. And the same can apply to various other issues.

I'll write something else now, that I think is good to just put out there. I feel that CCP fail to give a proper platform to PvP video makers. They are just beginning to understand the "power" of videos, but they are still babies when it comes to this point.

Personally I got plenty attention, views, criticism, feedback for my videos. But I throughout the years I have seen dozens and doznes of solo/smallgang PvP videos that were literally much better than mine, go almost completely unnoticed, and fade away with only a couple hundred views. CCP fail to understand the influence that a good Solo PvP can have on bringing new players into the game. I got more messages through youtube than I could count, of people that never played the game having seen my videos, asking me questions about if they should begin playing, and how... It would be to the incredible benefit of CCP to create some sort of platform for PvP videos to be seen in an "official" capacity.

To take it out of the "elite/myeve/out-of-reach" mindset (that's basically an illusion anyway) niche it got to become, where experienced pilots brag to the other 10 experienced pilots who roam the same subforum, and rarely get seen by the other 99.9% population of New Eden, and more importantly, the population of people who haven't created an account yet, but would have access to see those videos in one way or another if such a platform would be created. Eve has the outside world's curiosity, it always had, it always will. And there are few better examples of the beauty of Eve than solo/smallgang PvP. Anyone can feel the pure fun of the player when watching a good smallgang pvp video, even people that never played the game can sense it. I don't think CCP realize how many subscriptions they got.. say in the last 3 years.. from people running into random solo/smallgang PvP videos in youtube.

When a Solo PvPer roams endlessly (time-wise), against the odds, through the blob losses, and records. Then edits a video, which can be a time consuming effort in itself... And finally releases it, only to recieve 400 views and a bunch of criticism from elitists (because more or less only the experienced pilots get to see his video, rather than a whole bunch of "cool!" from less experienced pilots), then it's very easy to give up on ever doing it again, and even resent the game for it. CCP don't see that those pilots are offering them gold for free. They do things like this contest for video makers, to make a new trailer "This Is Eve" style, which is a cool idea, but it can even do some intentional harm. Think about all those that created videos and never got a second look, they don't have the amazing editing skills that CCP want for that grand prize, what they have is skills, understanding of the game, and patience to roam until they find those rare fights, +record them, and edit them the best they can, into their own little PvP masterpiece. It will never be a top edit piece of cinematic, but it will have the true essence of Eve inside of it. The spirit of the PvPer. They don't need some 100 PLEX. Heck even 1 PLEX through a buddy link in their video description, or a donation from a viewer, can be infinitely more substantial for them than some grand prize. Give those pilots a new platform, that can be "theirs", and just watch how much life is injected into smallscale PvP. It can be an alliance tournament level excitement all year round.

It is very easy to overlook solo and smallgang PvP, because on the surface it seems like a small part of a big game. But it is not so. First and foremost Eve is a PvP game. And a true PvP game without the possibility of a healthy Solo PvP aspect... is a dead game!

Make small scale PvPers happy, and you'll see the effects on the entire game. More players, more activity in previously dead systems/constellations, more videos, more creativity, more general understanding of mechanics, more fit discussions, more everything. It will leak to every other aspect of the game. It won't be noticeable that the things are connected, it'll be hard to connect the dots. But the connection is there, in the very core of the sandbox.

Don't have questions for you. Just a thumbs up :-)

Yes I do indeed stream at twitch.tv/hkarn. When I was in pandemic legion I put a badly photosho...painted image of a cyno as overlay it was mostly as a joke. I streamed without any delay or anything blocking my screen. I actually very rarely got streamsniped :( I would welcome it most of the time since it's a fight at least. I understand that streaming sometimes can get a bit frustrating in a intel intensive game as eve but it's your own choice. Some like it some don't. I think eve is decent for pvp streams there are a couple of semi big ones and ppl can have success doing it.


And Jimmy Jams/Aldap: Thanks for your support. I actually sold my link alt recently and I would love ccp to support movie makers more but there is also stuff you players can do in form of rewards (think one man crew) or sponsorships.

Hello Gorski,

It's been awhile! I wanted to find out when you wanted to schedule your CSMX interview?

So if you get re elected to the csm, what will you advocate for ways to introduce new players to solo and small gang pvp earlier? What would you change if any thing in regards to the way ships are balanced for small gang or solo pvp vs blob warfare?

In case you're going to vote for this guy, be sure to check out the CSM participation sheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ggvRK1hxnm6JM25JxbNT_IaKJBigsZAC5JqLlR6-llY/edit#gid=0

So as previously pointed out, you only attended 5 CSM meetings during the Winter Summit. Care to explain why we should vote for someone who doesn't attend?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but am I supposed to interpret this as you considering the topics you chose not to attend as irrelevant and unimportant?

Not to detract from the discussion of your involvement with the CSM's role at the summit meetings but I had a question for you Gorski.

As someone who has played the game with a wide variety of player groups, what are your thoughts on the New Player Experience in EVE in general? You are currently in RVB which is, to some, a solid starting area to learn the basics of how PVP works in EVE. What do you think can be improved upon and adjusted to better incentivize new players into venturing down the path of PVP and eventually subscribing?

One point of contention I have with the tutorials is that it does a very poor job introducing and preparing players for the concept of permanent loss when undocked and attacked by other players (or when their ship is destroyed by NPCs). There is also the problem regularly stated that a new player "has no clue what there is to do" when starting out and simply runs missions and so forth as commented on by CCP Rise at EVE Vegas. It could be said this is because the "sandbox gameplay" doesn't open up for the player until several hours into the game and beginners tutorial is completed. Your thoughts?

Having known gorski for some time, I just have this to say:

To me, small gang and solo PvP is everything in eve. I also strongly think that it is the genesis to 99% of the 'content' found here. The complexity, nuance,the tactical and strategic depth found in this amazing game are nothing short of jaw dropping. Sadly I feel that 99% of the eve playerbase (Including the CSM) doesn't see or understand this. Gorski is THE ONLY CSM candidate that I would fleet with. Having flown with him many times, I know for a fact that he understands. He, like me- can see the importance of solo / small gang and from what he has been doing with the CSM I strongly believe that gorski is our man.

The new player experience is kinda lacking at the moment. I know ccp rise are working on it and I've seen some prototype images that look a bit better. Getting people into solo and small gang is harder though. This is a MMO and people want to be social and just shoot stuff while talking to their friends. Going out alone can also feel frightening since you dont have anyone holding your hands etc. In most cases you are also going to lose isk doing it with no srp that you get in bigger fights. Honestly I think that people who go out solo must want to do it themselves and get better at eve. I belive that things like Garmonation or any other pvp video made more people try solo pvp then any guide or tutorial will do.

The barrier of entry is not actually that high to solo but there are some things that the new player experience never teach. Manual piloting tactics such as slingshotting or moving to maximize tracking are never taught and those are learned by practice and searching youtube tutorials. I think ccp should push pvp videos a bit more and they are doing a great job by adding some in their devblogs.

I think ccp needs to push lowsec and faction warfare more for smaller scale and beginner level pvp. The problems right now with these is that either you lose sec status fast and is punished by not having access to highsec as a new player or your standings get ****** from faction warfare and that's even harder to fix.