Jita Park Speakers Corner

Dear CCP,

We the players need some kind of reward for voting.

I personally would like a little tag similar to the wanted sign for these forums that just says "I voted", this as well as a higher profile by CCP about the CSM as well as increasing the advertising for voting, prior to and during the elections would help to increase voter turn out.

At the moment we have a very strange arrangement

The CSM is meant to be our voice and to actively engage with the player community to master EVE issue awareness, understanding, and evaluation in the context of the “greatest good for the greater player base" but at the moment it is just primarily the Null and Wormhole minorities that actually vote.

While the CSM members could also increase there own visibility by posting the a CSM blurb in every Dev blog, as to their opinion and involvement in whatever the Dev maybe commenting on, and subsequently adding a link to a specific post in Jita park. It still remains strange that the minorities that are elected need to speak for those that do not vote, but rather than the CSM just speaking for minorities, I would like to see rewards added for those who actually vote.

The players need to be educated as to WHY they should vote, the STV system has made it harder to get people to vote, so more needs to be done all year long to encourage people to ask, "What is the CSM?" and "Why should I vote?"

Which was why I suggested a reward that was out of game. If they gain something that can be used here they might just decide to become a more active member of the community as a whole but even an in game bonus would not actually be a bad thing.

I am not actually for forced voting, Australia's donkey vote was listed so I merely posted the stats.

I would just like to see the CSM, by them selves and with the aid of CCP increase the awareness of of the CSM and get to the point where a large number of people will ask "What is the CSM?" and "Why should they Vote?", then actually receive an answer.

Absolutely, and the answer needs to have a literal relation to the CSM itself. If we can't sell new voters with the information we have, we either need more information (which CCP at least started to do with that "what the CSM means to us" devblog") or better sales people.

Rewards never work in this sense, because it changes the reason from "I vote because I believe in this process or this candidate" to "I get a free thing". The former implies there will be at least some level of interest and/or commitment to the process, but the latter is just "I want a thing", and once they have said thing, they'll go back to not caring until they can get a new thing.

You want to get a more diverse vote? Encourage players to actually form communities, and organize accordingly. Sov null did it, the Wormhole crowd did it, and with your much-maligned STV system making said organization even easier, there's no excuse anymore. That being said, best of luck trying to encourage highseccers to get behind anything that isn't an inch in front of their own nose - I suspect you realize this as well, hence you wanting a prize for voting instead.

I agree Doom, there needs to be a lot more done to promote the CSM, but I do have a question for you (more to see your thoughts on it tbh).

What would you do to reach that major portion of the player base who simply don't read anything about the game besides the occasional guide? Those players still will not vote if you reward them. They do not want anything to do with "out of game" things like the CSM. They do not come to forums (here or otherwise), read dev blogs or even patch notes. They skip through splash screens.

I myself was like that for a time when I was learning the game and it wasn't until CSM6 that I really started to pay attention to the CSM, but I am usually like that with games (getting more and more involved over time). However a friend I started with simply wouldn't know what the CSM is if I hadn't told him, and even then he isn't going to vote (in his words, why bother voting for a virtual government?)

How would you try to get the word to those 'single player' soloists out there?

And here I am!



Agreed though, so long as displaying the badge is a forum-only thing. This is a Good Idea™

How?

I Votes forum tags would be awesome, and were requested this year more than once. Maybe CSM8 delivers?

It'd be hella useful on more than one level.

That even from my point of view as a non-CSM member would be helpful. It would also allow study of threadnaughts ect.. to see if they are filled primarily with voters or non-voters and in what percentage.

Now I really do fail to see even a glimmer of an argument in that, other than it might encourage people to vote, subsequently making the voting power of Goonswarm less in comparison.

Yes characters under 30 days are unable to vote but that is a very tiny percentage of the number of eligible voters at the time of an election.


As you can see from the above "active subscribed time to be eligible to vote" is a load of crap, as that is the loop hole that exists and I complain about every year. Old accounts that are reactivated are eligible to vote.

I do agree that the abstain button needs to be returned, it is every persons right to abstain if they so choose, so they appear as a recognized number.

The tag will add visibility to the CSM and increase the number of voters for next year. It will also allow people to recognize and better understand why people may be choosing not to vote, subsequently allowing for better strategies to get people to vote next time.