Assembly Hall

Hello CSM!

This is probably a terrible idea, and i'm sure you'll be able to tell the many, many reasons why. Nevertheless, since sperging on the forums is a god-given right of all eve players .... here goes nothing!

The new patch structure poses a particular challenge to the CSM. The current scheme of having a trip to Iceland for an information bonanza with smaller "catchup" sessions behind the scenes via skype / your forums worked well under the old model. It doesn't really seem fit for purpose under the new release schedule however.

The fine details of exactly what is being released are far more fluid than they ever were in the past. The recent drama over jump range changes seams to attest to this. I might be wrong, but what i gathered from it was rather than the CSM being actively mislead, they were simply left out of the loop at the vital stage, and we can probably except similar situations to arise in the future.

Burnout is also a factor to consider. You guys do fantastic work, but i think sometimes we can forget that ultimately you're volunteers, rather than this being your an all-consuming job. I'm sure the reality is different, but on paper your workload has effectively gone up by a factor of five, assuming each patch will require roughly the same amount of faffing about in terms of providing feedback, preparing statements etc.

What i'd like to suggest is doing away with the trip to Iceland, and instead hiring a full time CSM tribune to spy on CCP.

By no means am i suggesting that the trip is worthless, or that it's a holiday for you guys (i don't think anyone who's read the minutes could ever argue that!). But rather that this might be a better use of resources in our brave new reality. Hopefully the effect would be to give the CSM more of an active day to day presence within CCP, and simultaneously make your workload more manageable. I've assumed that having both would be a non-starter with CCP, but that the cost of the trip could be exchanged to cover their salary.

The fine details would of course be up to yourselves and more importantly ccp, but for illustration purposes here's an example of how it could work;

• They should be "employed" by the CSM rather than CCP, with their full 40 hour job description at the CSM's disposal
• They wouldn't be a direct member of the CSM, but rather a resource for it to use
• Their principle job would be to serve as "boots on the ground", reporting to the CSM (finding out what each team's doing on a weekly basis, sitting in on meetings, booking conferences, making sure questions are followed up on etc). Rather than receiving snapshots of information, there would be a more continuous flow (which hopefully would be more manageable)
• They could also be made responsible for a lot of the tedious collating and releasing of information (taking meeting minutes, keeping a calendar of what's currently under NDA or due for release etc)
• When the CSM has a unified position on an issue, they would be able to bang the drum in person on it's behalf
• Their permanent presence would presumably help smooth transition periods between one CSM and its successor

I could ramble on and on, but hopefully you get idea. I look forward to hearing the dozen reasons why I'm a drunken idiot in due course.

I question whether a CCP employee could represent and work for the CSM in a truly independent fashion. In the wide world of business, you generally don't entrust a company-chosen employee to recon for you.

Hi Steve.

Like the title said, it was a silly idea but i appreciate that you took the trouble to reply to my drunken wall of sperg.

Thanks, and keep up the good work!