CSM Campaigns

My name is The Judge and I am proud (and excited) to announce my candidacy for CSM XI.

While I have rolled many characters and been known by many names since late 2003, I have been playing EVE full time since 2008. I have had the privilege to participate in many wars, events and alliances but what I am most proud of is the friendships and connections I have made within the greater EVE community. I strongly believe what makes EVE unique in a ever changing world is the community that shapes and guides the universe we all take part in every time we open up the launcher and log in. EVE is a massive and immerse game fuelled by the experiences of its players. It is you, the player, that I would like to represent.

I am currently honored to hold the title of Senior Diplomat and Fleet Commander for the alliance Circle-Of-Two. I am also a proud member of the Circle-Of-Two Alliance Tournament team. In my spare time I enjoy spending a few days a week making the rounds in the EVE Podcast community, as both a guest and listener. While I am currently a member of The Imperium, I have lived for large amounts of time in both High and Low security space. I like to think I have my ear to the ground on the issues facing pilots from all over New Eden. I come to you not only as a candidate for Nullsec, but as a person who wants nothing more than to see EVE continue to succeed, evolve and grow.

My platform is quite simple. I want to earn your vote and be the person you can voice your concerns, issues, hopes and ideas to. I want to make sure that every good idea and every concern that the EVE community has makes it to CCP and the rest of the CSM. I feel like the issue that continues to persist over the years is the communication barrier between players and CCP, which while I feel that CCP and the current CSM have taken giant steps forward to resolving this once and for all, I feel like I have something to offer.

Whether you are the CEO of your one person corporation or the head of a 40,000 pilot coalition I believe that you should have a voice, and that no one voice should be louder than anyone else's. I believe that everyone has something to say, and that they should be heard. I want to be the person you can contact and always get a reply. The EVE community deserves someone to filter the good from the bad and to present all the relevant information to CCP in a constructive way. Over the years the I have seen the outcries caused by misinformation or misunderstanding lead to many positive changes to be scaled back or downright scrapped. I feel like this is something that is still an issue, and something that with my skills and experience, I can help resolve.

The list of the current (and ever changing) issues that players I have talked to think could be changed or tweaked is ludicrously long, but some of the player perceived issues I have the strongest opinions on are:

• The power of nullified interceptors - The main issue here being that short of using smartbombs, interceptors in the current meta can be completely safe and uncatchable. Not only is this frustrating when being on the receiving side of this, but it also goes against the whole idea of "never being safe in New Eden". One idea I have heard is to make interceptors nullified to anchorable and light interdictor bubbles, but not immune to the bubble of a heavy interdictor.

• The balance of T3 cruisers in the current meta - It is well known that even after the latest rebalanced to T3 cruisers, these ships are still overly powerful for their hull size and cost. In my opinion this is not due to the modular design but more with the way T3 cruisers can be used in large fleet to devastating effect to almost anything opposing them. While I have no solid idea on how this could be remedied, I am open to suggestions!

• New player retention; particularly the well known "learning cliff" - While part of the draw of EVE is how unforgiving the game can be, it also means that there is a very high barrier to entry which I feel could be lowered even further, potentially with the return to the 900,000 SP starting point for new pilots.

• The current state of war declaration mechanics - It is my opinion that the mechanics of war declaration need to be completely redesigned. Not only is this an issue for Highsec pilots trying to make their start in EVE, but it is also an issue for Lowsec and Nullsec corporations and alliances. The current war mechanics allow entities to declare war on any corporation or alliance for an insignificant amount of ISK and almost no risk to themselves. I feel like in its current state the war mechanics have too low of a cost for the aggressor.

• Lack of new missions and mission variations - Anyone who has ever run level 4 missions will understand me when I say there is only so many times you can save "The Damsel" before you wonder how she seems repeatedly end up in the same situation after being saved. With a very limited rotation for agent missions, EVE for many players becomes incredibly repetitive and tedious. I would like to see either new missions added to each agent levels rotation, or a annual rotation of completely new missions.

How can you contact me?
Twitter: @_TheJudge
Ingame: Mail or convo The Judge
Ingame Channel: TheJudge4CSM

In closing, I urge you to vote when the time comes. There are many dedicated and worthy candidates hoping to make it onto CSM XI. I hope you find me worthy to be one of the 14 chosen to represent our amazing and unique community. Thank you.

You have my support!

Thanks for the reply Jayne.

While a early post may seem daunting to some, to me it is not only my candidacy but a way to show some dedication. It would have been very easy to post the month of elections and avoid critique, but I feel like that side steps the real purpose of a candidacy thread.

That being said, the common misconception that once you say something in the public realm that opinion is set in stone is something I will happily contend with. I have no doubt my OP will evolve over time, and honestly, I hope it does.

To your question - Yes, I feel the removal of the Interceptors ability for fit an Entosis Link was a step in the right direction. The issue most people had with Entosis-ceptors was the ability for the attacker to move throughout a region without any real risk to their ship, while also having the benefit of being one of the fastest warping ships in game. This leads into the problem of people using the Interceptors to "troll" sov holders without any real commitment or risk.

What you have outlined would be my perfect world scenario. What I hear a lot is the idea of the Entosis Link being limited to Battlecruiser or Battleship hulls and above, which while on the surface seems like a great idea, I feel like it would stifle a whole lot of positive content for smaller groups both attacking and defending. I think if the safety net of interdiction nullification and cloaking (in a perfect world, the ability to fit a cloak at all) was removed from Entosis warfare everyone would be better off. I think we would see a whole lot more of small and medium gang Entosis warfare and not so much of the lone troll pilot looking to annoy people with no intent to come back for the second timer.

Hopefully that answers your question :)