Jita Park Speakers Corner

Its time to have a common sense discussion on allowing CSM members to remain anonymous. There are a number of safety issues being ignored, and few common sense justifications for not maintaining a CSM's anonymity. Currently CCP lists the real names of the players sitting on the CSM its been previously stated by CCP Xhagen from the May-June CSM minutes that:



First lets address this "creating accountability" statement. CCP already knows who we are, they have our billing information, in the CSM vetting process they definitely know we can obtain a passport and are eligible to run. When a person gets elected to the CSM and signs that NDA, a binding legal document, its not their character name being put down on the paper. I would say at this point the person on the CSM is pretty darn accountable having gone through all of that. So what does having a person's real life name being publicly known add to that?

You don't know me in real life, you know me by my character, by my alliance, by my killboard and the posting I do on here. So if I tossed my name out there, how does that allow you to get to know me any better? How does that make me any more accountable than signing my name to a legal document? It doesn't.

Now lets look at this in terms of "practical matters." I know that CCP handles credit card numbers and other billing information which it maintains confidentially. At least I hope so because I don't think any of us would be all that happy having our financial information unprotected and floating out there. So if CCP can safeguard that information, how does it suddenly become not practical safeguard someone's real life name. I mean they are all ready doing that right now when they keep your billing data secret from the public, in fact its not just your name but also your credit card number. How hard is it to have a CSM member only known by their character name? Apparently it must be really hard so perhaps we should demand CCP to show us that they can in fact keep our billing information safe. Maybe CCP should just do the right thing instead and make the CSM anonymous.

Okay third thing in CCP Xhagen's statement is that if the anonymity issue keeps people from stepping up he is willing to pay the price. Actually that is the worst thing I have ever heard from a business standpoint when your problem solving and looking for innovation. Your never going to over take other MMOs and acquire more of a market share if your purposefully cutting off a potential stream of solutions and innovations. Those solutions and innovations when applied translate into revenue earned in new player acquisition and player retention.

Finally lets look at CCP's "safety net." CCP Xhagen states if some sort of harassment occurs they will call the authorities. There are a few problems with that. Mainly the authorities get called after the commission of a crime, they show up after the fact which means its too late. We have already had incidents in the past of people getting harassing calls at their homes, work and having their public information posted on these forums which oddly enough CCP frowns on. I don't think I need to rehash the names of banned players who engaged in stalking and being a nuisance. But consider this, CCP has gotten lucky that these people lacked the means or motivation to carry out the commission of a serious crime. What happens when one day some mentally ill person knocks on another players door and the result becomes a shocking story on the news? What happens when a sharp lawyer asks a jury "What should CCP have reasonably done knowing the problems they had to deal with in the past?" How much could CCP afford in attorney costs, settlements and the ensuing PR and media campaign to restore their image? Does it sound almost if not criminally indifferent to you that CCP says "its the authorities problem?" Why should CCP put out players willing to help them improve the game and keeping them viable as a computer game company? You would think a little care on CCP's part would make sense.

Now in the same May-June minutes we have Seleene and Two Step saying this:



Guess what we have plenty of jerks on the CSM right now. It doesn't tone down people pushing personal agendas that fail to benefit our broad player base. It doesn't stop Seleene and Two Step calling people concerned about their safety "assholes" and "dicks." In my opinion it takes a massive ******* to say another persons safety doesn't matter. Also its very telling when someone considers your play style to be an indication of you as a human being. That's what every person trying to censor computer games and console games says, "what you do in a game is who you are as a person." What a terrible message to condone. [Continued]

And if someone's name were to slip out?

What happens then?

It's easier, and safer, for CCP to say 'Real Names'. So there's no possible comeback on them if one of their staff happens, say in an interview, to refer to them by their real name.

Why would a name slip out? If CCP can prevent all our billing data and credit card numbers from slipping out I think they can treat a persons name the same way. There is no reason for a staff person to mention a players real name in any context.

I am naturally against this.

As a mentally deranged individual, how am I supposed to stalk members of the CSM if their real names are not given?

But seriously it is one of those things where you know it is only a matter of time before someone in the game dislikes the CSMs ideas so much that someone is murdered.

Look at that quote. Just look at it. Even on its own, the belief that unpaid consultants deserve to have their personal information revealed for the purposes of encouraging vigilante justice is deplorable; that this was said in the wake of the Fanfest debacle is insulting on top of it.

If Eve's playerbase can be counted on for one thing, it's going too far, and this has been demonstrated time and time again. There is no need at all to release this information to anyone, and doing it despite the issues that come up is irresponsible at best. Doing it to unpaid consultants who give up a year of their time with zero compensation to help you make more money is beyond disgusting. Fix your ****.

Personally I think we are too risk adverse to do that, lets get serious for once.

Personally I would stalk trebor, as my CSM of choice. He stirs drama, has nice things, could entertain me with Star Wars quotes.

See we really shouldn't share personal information, once someone lets it slip they have a better Star Wars card collection, or know more about Star Trek then I do, then RL incidents could occur we would all feel bad about.

I have a new aspirational goal!

Uh, WTF. Did you even read the minutes you are quoting? I was the strongest advocate for not publishing real names, I guess the thanks I get for that is "Two step thinks you are an *******". Thanks for proving I was right.

So you stand on the stage, with your face broadcast to thousands of people, and someone somewhere recognizes you, and posts your real name, address, etc to reddit. Is CCP now liable for your name getting out, because they broadcast your RL image, even though they didn't give your name? If you then get harrassed, can you sue CCP for a breach of confidentiality?

Perhaps as a company, instead you say that your information will be made public, and it's your choice to run or not.

If anyone is planning to stalk me, I hope they have a very high boredom threshold.


On the other hand, trolling someone so hard that they try and murder me...