In-Game Events and Gatherings

It's hardly a question of what is handed out, it's a question of the principle that a group of players is being blatantly favoured and handed free stuff. If CCP gave out ordinary Vexors and Magnates it would still be an issue.

CCP was quite clear that there wouldn't be any more Gold Magnates, Silver Magnates, impocs, imparmas, state ravens, tribal tempests, and the rest of the newer tourney frigs and cruisers (adrestia, etana, utu etc)

Ships I'm not sure whether they said there wouldn't be more of; Guardian Vexor, Federate Issue Megathron, Opux Luxury Yacht..
(releasing more does kinda suck for the collectors who already have one or more, and releasing more via a lottery is moronic)
Ships I know for a fact they've never promised to limit the number of, quite the opposite; Ishukone Scorpion, Gnosis, Quafe haulers..

It has nothing to do with trust and everything to do with playing favorites and awarding Somer blink with massive material gains through exclusive access to new content. Why do they get to profit MASSIVELY from this and I don't? Or any other player...?

It was not removed. It was exploded. You want to rewrite history. Quit it, plz.

This is great. All the people who think unique ships that got destroyed a decade ago should stay destroyed are just dumb.

It's crazy that it took this long for two more to appear.

One of the worst ideas CCP has ever had. CCP not understanding eve yet again. Greed is good, right?

Do they let a bunch of monkeys with typewriters come up with some of stuff you people at
CCP write?

Certainly the gold magnate should never be released again.

Hey, guys. It looks like there are quite a few people with... strong opinions on the prizes sponsored by CCP. Since Navigator was kind enough to try to explain things on CCP's end, I thought I'd give a few basic answers to explain (and in a few areas, reiterate) where we at Blink stand on the issue.

1. My favourite fansite didn't get anything to give away. Why you, and not them?

This is a hot point of contention, and I can understand why. Favoritism is not something anyone wants in Eve, and I'm absolutely certain that CCP Navigator is aware of the company's policy in that area. "Why Blink?" is certainly a valid question, and to be honest, I can only speculate. I would like to believe that it is because we have dealt as openly and honestly with both CCP and our customers as possible in the past and present. It may be because we reach a certain critical mass of players that is optimal for CCP to test third party event partnership. There's likely other criteria that I can't begin to guess.

What is important to remember is that CCP has not stated that this is a one-off with Blink. As far as I am aware, if they are pleased with the outcome of this event, then there is the opportunity that CCP will conduct more of these events with other organizations. Other sites such as Eve Bet and EOM, or independents like Chribba or Darknesss, would certainly deserve it. However, I don't work for CCP, so this is all speculation on my part.

2. Blink is a scam! How do we know they're not going to take all of the prizes?

Somer Blink has been operating in its current iteration since October 2010, and in that time, we've dealt with thousands of players, participated in a ton of draws, and we've seen over one quadrillion (that's sixteen zeros) isk pass through our business. Before that, Somerset Mahm was well known as a respected community member and forum lottery administrator. We handle a large amount of limited issue ships and modules, many of which are unique or tournament prizes, as a matter of course. Stealing two limited issue ships, as shiny as they might be, would provide nothing of value to us. They would never be able to be used or sold, and even if there weren't repercussions from CCP, there would be (understandably) from a customer base which relies upon our honesty and transparency. Any theft or dishonesty, no matter how small, would undermine our business model; it would be like breaking down an isk-printing machine to sell as scrap metal.

However, this is Eve, and if there's one thing the past has taught us, it's that capsuleers can be devious. Because of the nature of the game, we have always had the policy that we do not coerce anyone into playing. If you believe CCP is in error with respect to trusting us with this draw, or that we have dishonest intentions, or even if you just don't like us, we encourage you not to play. And as always, as with everything in Eve, do not Blink what you cannot afford to lose.

3. Blink makes money off of this! How can CCP give more to the rich people and not help the little guy?

As I mentioned above, we are a business. We do our best in our niche to accomodate our customers, and we do make a profit on most Blinks. A good deal of these profits go toward paying our employees - all of whom are responsible for the delivery of every single prize - and a significant amount goes towards promo Blinks, which are items we give away for odd tokens that have no real value. After that, a good deal of profits go towards sponsorships - Red versus Blue, the Syndicate Competitive League, and many live events, just to name a few. We generally don't go up and down the aisles telling people how many hundreds of billions of isk we've donated to other organizations that work to generate content in Eve, mainly because advertising is a nice side benefit to helping hardworking people achieve success. Also, because it would make us look rather conceited.

Regardless, whether you think we're good or bad, we can offer only one solution if you're unsatisfied with us - don't play. This is the old "vote with your wallet" bit offered to customers time immemorial. If you're a person who can't stand the though of us making a profit on a blink, consider your gilded invitation sent.

In closing, I understand that not everyone will be happy with this event, regardless of the outcome. If there is a way we can improve on our service, please mail myself, Andrev Nox, Somerset Mahm, or Sylvie Blinkhelper, and we'll do our best to address concerns. If you're concerned with the way CCP is planning events, please contact their support staff; I'm sure they would love to hear feedback on this test. To the people who do decide to play; best of luck.

you could give the prizes back to CCP and tell them to do their own lottery, that would be a start.

Fixed that for you.

I would love to fly one of these in combat but I will not "gamble" for something that should be earned by WINNING TH ALLIANCE TOURNAMENT!!


Stupid idea.
so many bad choices in the last few weeks...

You have such a ridiculous conflict of interest that you should not be talking.