CSM Campaigns

EDIT: Updating with podcast appearances relating to my CSM run.
Update with why no one mines in lowsec & possible solutions.
Update with the broken connection between Eve's FW and Dust514

Last year was a bad year for FW and lowsec in the CSM elections. I almost threw my hat in when Hans Jagerblitzen announced he wouldn't be running, but Marc Scarus, heavily involved as a blogger in his own right as well as at TMC, plus a member of fellow FW/Pirate organization QCATS announced he was running and I felt confident our voice would be heard in the coming CSM election.

When Marc abruptly withdrew from the election, that confidence was shattered, and at that point there wasn't time to mount a campaign, so our voice was silenced for the coming year. This year, I was at least going to wait until CCPs announcement for the CSM9 elections before throwing my hat in, but with so many candidates jumping in, it seems unwise to wait so long before getting the ball rolling, so here we are.

For those who know me from Twitter, FaceBook, my Blog, Eve-Radio, my work at TMC, or have been flying with me for any of my last 10 years in Eve, you likely already know more about me and where I stand than I can fully explain in a single posting. For those reading my words for the first time, I'll briefly lay out where I come from, and where I stand. I will of course be happy to clarify or answer any questions from those in the player base.

First, a little about myself:

I'm presently known by 2 characters in Eve. DJ FunkyBacon is the more widely known, public face that I have. Mirana Niranne is my SP main, and executor of a 300 man lowsec alliance with a robust newbie division that gives veteran player mentorship to new players looking to get into PVP.

I first picked up Eve off the shelf at a local game store in the summer of 2003, back when Eve's PCU was measured in the 4000-6000 range. I carebeared it up for about a year, got bored, sold my character and hit the road only to come back and start over 6 months later. Since then, I have been involved in most major game play aspects of Eve, from highsec, to NPC Null, Sov Null, a little time in a wormhole, lowsec piracy, and Factional Warfare. I have 1st hand experience of the pain it is to run a POS (not sure how you guys running several do it, a pair of them drove me mad) I have built many things from tech 1 to tech 3, and I've blown up possibly more than my share in return. For the last 1.5 years, FW and lowsec PVP has been my main fare, along with doing my part teaching the newbros in our training corp how to fight.

Starting in 2006 I joined up with the intrepid folk at Eve Radio, and 7 1/2 years later I still haven't looked back. I've had the privilege of experiencing some of Eve's highest and lowest moments since then from a front row seat, talking with the devs and players at the heart of many memorable events.

And Now, my platform:

As I mentioned before, lowsec and FW had virtually no representation in CSM8. It is my goal to get that voice back for us. In the last year, the biggest addition to lowsec was tags4sec, which likely was being worked on during CSM7's run. FW got a reiteration on Orbital Bombardments for DUST FW players, but poor implementation has left Eve and Dust players mostly unable to find each other, and the feature is just about broken as a result.

I would like to see more consistent attention given to both lowsec and FW. More specifically, lowsec is not null lite, nor is it necessarily a stepping stone for people to get out into nul sec. Pirates living out here by and large have no plans to ever head out and "take sov" same for many FW corps and alliances. The goals are different, the mechanics are different, the way we all play the game is quite a bit different. As CCP continues to change the game, and the CSM is dominated by representatives from the various nul blocs, it is going to be increasingly important to have someone (or more than one person) to look at changes from the perspective of the effects they will have on Eve's lowsec population.

As for specific issues that I see need addressing at the moment:

I think that warp core stabilizers are in need of a long hard look at what sort of "game play" they are enabling. I think similar, if not more effective levels of evasion can be attained with nanos and other mods that will simply require the pilots in question to pay a little more attention rather than wait for their minimized client to buzz before swapping windows to warp away.

Another issue on the minds of many FW leaders, is the issue of income for FW corps and alliances. Such entities usually have to rely on donations from leaders or members just to have a corporate office rented, nevermind the complete inability to help replace ships lost in fleet operations or provide other services that entities with at least a tax income take for granted.

Finally, while B-R has done a good job at reducing Eve's Supercapital population, lowsec needs more in it's toolbox to combat and pin down supers in our area of space. While I am in full agreement that "bubbles" as used in nulsec need to be kept out of lowsec, specific tools targeted to jump drive disruption outside of HICs are sorely needed to make supercap escalation in lowsec both more risky and more meaningful.

Very good.

I remember YOU

Eve Radio FTW



Agreed, always wondered why t2 warp stabs don't have any use vs t1, or with the new warp speed changes maybe fit it in there ?

Titan bridging 50 faction battleships on a four month old player in a Ferox sounds like a super capital issue to me.

The problem arises from the near impossibility of holding them down unless several HICs are on standby, and I mean several. It's a pretty solid reason why you don't read about supers dieing in lowsec too often. Asakai and the Revenant kill were both well planned super stings, and in the case of Asakai, HICs were lost and replaced by the dozen to keep those supers pinned down.

You have my axe!

Nobody has asked the most important question, would CSMing cut into your radio time? Also, if you were on the CSM, would CSM town halls get a longer timeslot on eve-radio? :P

Funky is a good dude, and I fully support his run. He has done a lot to get the CSM visible to the playerbase for years now, and the dude certainly can talk... :)

I see force projection in lowsec becoming a bigger issue in the coming months. Militias that could barely field a single triage carrier not even a year ago are showing signs of budding cap fleets, and the ability to field dozens of caps in a single engagement when the need has arisen in the last couple months.

As more and more players in FW get their skills and wallets up, I see these cap fleets growing, which will attract more capital (and by proxy supercapital) projection from several parties outside FW. I see your own group, BALEX, and Snuff especially as beneficiaries of improved lowsec capital hunting opportunities. While I do not see a lowsec proliferation of Titans to be much of an issue outside of more being needed for bridging duties, I do have some concern with Supercarriers and their immunity from conventional warp disruption playing too big a role in the future without adequate counters.

Let me be plain, I'm not so worried about people escalating to the use of Supers in fights in lowsec, as I am about the extreme difficulty in keeping those supers from being able to quit the field at the first whiff of trouble. A pile of dreads can dismantle supercarriers, but those dreads can be held on field by noobs in atrons, while near-stationary HICs, (requiring pilots with specialized skills) worth several hundred million each are required to hold down supercaps. I would like to see the implementation of jump drive inhibitors, whether area affected or targeted, ship based or mobile deployable structure... something other than just HICs, to help make supercap deployment in lowsec be a little more risky than it is currently.

I also don't think it would necessarily be a bad thing if a Titan had to leave a POS bubble to activate it's jump bridge.

Aside from that, I think larger cap fights in lowsec are a good thing. I think escalation is a good thing. I think more objectives in lowsec allowing for (though not requiring) the use of ships larger than cruisers would also be a good thing.



I think that keeping my weekly 3-hour broadcast would not present an issue with CSM involvement, though CSM issues and communications to the players will likely take up part of the show that we now use for entertaining people with pew pew. How much will depend on what kind of a week we'd be having. As for CSM town hall air time, that's always been beyond my control, but I'm fairly certain you guys have always gotten what you've asked for time wise. I have certainly never turned away a member of the CSM who wanted to talk about something or other on my show.

I see Ripard got to you, too. Good answers.

Bordering on needless to say: Funky Bacon will be at the very top of my ballot.

He has through his work proven to be a great asset to the lowsec community and shares the very core beliefs that long-time residents of cherish and value. He is both experienced, well spoken and has clear ideas on what can be done for lowsec.

I encourage everyone who lives in lowsec, and indeed who cares about the health of PvP in EVE to vote for Funky Bacon. Tell your friends, corp, alliance, militia, enemies, people in local, your wife, your dog - everyone, we NEED lowsec representation on CSM. Vote Funky Bacon and Sugar Kyle for CSM 9.