CSM Campaigns

A big part, if not the most important part, of the CSM as a whole is the interaction with each player party, the CSM itself as well as CCP. I believe the primary role of the CSM as a body is to enhance communication. I pledge that I will treat every member of the CSM, community and CCP with respect and have a polite discussion regarding their viewpoint when performing my role, regardless of what my personal take on the situation is. I may not even agree with that person in the end, but it would be my duty take their viewpoint seriously and do my best to represent it. In my opinion everyone has valid and useful feedback, even if it is tempered by a misunderstanding or bias. It is through sitting down with them, listening and asking questions that you can reach a point of understanding about the crux of their issue, this is what game design decisions need to be made upon. I do not care if I “win” or “lose” the argument, if I was wrong at the beginning or right. My job as a sounding board and communicator would be to find the truth, not insist I already have it and take any iteration or paradigm shift as a blow to ego. That’s pointless and unconstructive. Being on the CSM is not for me, it’s for everyone else. I’m not saying I will somehow magically remove any infighting, but it is a principle I think is important to be going in with.

Thanks to the opportunities I have been given through the Alliance Tournament, I have already had the chance to work with CCP behind the scenes under NDA to some extent, and I would like to think we got on rather well. So often we forget that these are people who love the game as much as the most passionate of players (who tend to get hired and become the CCPers anyway), and I genuinely believe that so much of the angst and drama could have been avoided with better communication. I want to be the one to facilitate that communication. That said, I will be frank and clear when things are wrong. Sugar-coating things is only a delay tactic, I believe the correct way to fix something is to get to the point of the difficulty, and then discuss it calmly whilst trying to understand, not just listen to, but understand the ideas behind the views being presented.

So that’s the general stuff out of the way, let’s talk about my ideas for game development and what direction I would try to help steer the game developers.. I believe I express the core of my philosophy with regard to the future design of EVE in my “F*ck Ishtars” series on Crossing Zebras.

I want the design space of EVE to allow for as many tools as possible to be viable to do what you want, such that they engage in interesting decision-making for the players. I believe that it is in those decisions that we find a lot of fun and good gameplay, as well as allowing players who put their time and effort into the understanding of this behemoth of complexity to be rewarded for their skills, be they theoretical or executional. The “casual player” who just wants to play for an hour or two to unwind after putting the kids to bed, who doesn’t want to spend hours and hours studying and practicing EVE, should absolutely have a straightforward and fun playstyle that does not require heavy investment. Equally, those who do spend hours practicing their piloting and theorycrafting should have an advantage, but that advantage should be reliant on their ability, not just as a function of how much ISK they can bring to the field.

Another issue I want to represent is the transition of phases of Eve players from newbro all the way up to 10-year vet. We often talk about “how does this affect newbros” or “aaaagh old players are getting screwed”, but how does a player develop? When are they a new player, when are they middle-aged? How do changes affect those with 20, 40, 60 or 80m SP rather than just 0 vs. 120? One of the keys to player retention is not just the first week, it’s the transition phases. I am not a new player any more, but I’m not old either. Through my work with E-Uni and some RL friends I work with new players often, and it’s impossible to be in PL without hearing the viewpoint of players who have played the game since its earliest days either.

In summary, I want to be a CSM for communication, collaboration, engagement and excitement. I am more than happy to answer questions in specific views I hold to specific aspects of the game in this thread, but I thought that the above is a far more important resource in deciding whether you, as a player, want me to be one of the ones advocating for you to CCP, and for CCP to you. Whenever I take on a project, I take it on seriously; when I was given the opportunity to cast the Alliance Tournament, I damn well did my homework, producing a 32-page document about all the teams, their histories, and kept it updated with matches as they happened, interviewing as many people as possible so every team was represented as well as possible when I spoke about them on stream. I did something similar this year, posting briefer versions on Crossing Zebras. I can and will work my ass off if elected.

I have such passion for his game, I really want to help the CSM, CCP and all the players towards making it an even greater game, as well as repairing some of the dissonance between the three parties. If you like the way I think about EVE and my proposed approach to serving on the CSM, please consider voting for me.

I can think of few people as genuinely passionate about EVE Online as Apothne. He has always put the quality of content for everyone before "winning" or any personal or political agenda while maintaining a hands-on knowledge about the game rivaled by few, which is why I am confident he will make one of the best CSM that has ever been on the council.

Do yourself and the community a favour - vote Apothne for CSM

Niden
Editor-in-Chief
Crossing Zebras
GMVA head diplomat

fat + 1 for this guy!

I kinda like the idea of being a PL mouthpiece if it means I get handsome nerds like Elise and RocketX blowing me.

Here's a ~thing~ I wrote on Power Creep in EVE Online:

http://crossingzebras.com/a-brief-on-power-creep/

I was told that would happen when I joined PL, 14 months in and still going strong :D

PL is not quite the CSM though. Best of luck regardless.

So, a couple people have asked me who I would like to see on the CSM. The following are people I've had the pleasure of interacting with to some extent ingame/IRL, there may be a great many amazing candidates but I can't say much about them without any interaction now can I?

Gorski Car - He knows his ****, but not only that he can articulate it well too. He has a very idiosyncratic sense of humour but when it's realtalk time he's great to have discussions with.

Mr Hyde - Again, he knows his **** and is really good at communicating his ideas calmly with respect for alternate opinions. Super helpful, super nice, good guy.

Nashh Kadavr - Holy **** is this man a workhorse. Through working with him on EVE-NT Collides and Fight club, as well as the Nottingham meets I know this man will both work his ass off and be able to work with other people effectively.

Notice, the important thing here is not that they're some alliance leader or that they have a mega-broad knowledge of the game, but that they are good at working as part of a group and can communicate, listen and debate well without losing their temper quickly. I'm also fairly convinced that these are honest people, by which I meant I can see a genuine love for the game in them, and that their opinions are not likely to be bought or changed by some level of politics.

So yeah, should I get on CSM these are the people who I would really like to be working with, and if I don't get on I believe they would be a credit to the institution regardless. Thus far they're easily the top 3 I'm voting for thus far.

Am doing/have done a reddit AMA here.

You seem like a stand-up guy, and open-minded to boot. You've got my vote.