CSM Report: Week Forty Two

New Player Experience

New Sov

Xander’s Ballot

1. Xander Phoena—Shocker 😉
2. Manfred Sideous—There are literally a handful of players in Eve who understand Dominion sovereignty at an intrinsic, base level. Manny isn’t just one of those people, he’s almost certainly at the top of the list. He doesn’t need my assistance to be elected onto CSM X, but he has it simply because I believe his role on CSM X will be vital.
3. Mike Azariah—Eve is a game full of people acting as the nasty guy. Eve is full of people who will defend their position long past the point of rationality or reason. There are, on the other hand, some people who understand the concept of debate, and who can see both sides; who can take the heat out of a situation with a calm word. Mike isn’t only that guy—he’s a fundamentally good person. It’s going to be a tough year for CSM. There will be internal debates. I have no doubt there will be internal arguments both between CSM members and between CSM and CCP. These are the situations where a Mike Azariah is vital.
4. Bam Stroker—The concept of community is vital in a CSM member. For me, anyone on CSM has to have demonstrated that not only do they care about the player base, but that they also go out of their way to interact with it. Even without his work organising Eve Down Under, Bam would have handily fulfilled this criteria being someone who cares about the game, and interacts with the community at every opportunity.
5. Endie—Endie is one of the very best writers and theorists in the game. While I don’t always agree with everything he’s said, his blog is always well reasoned, intelligently written and fundamentally essential. I have absolute faith that these attributes will carry over to his term on CSM X.
6. Bobmon—This one is controversial; I suspect but it comes down to similar reasons as Bam above. Bobmon loves Eve. He genuinely gives a shit about the game. Every time I speak to him about Eve, I always feel like I am addressing this adorable New Eden puppy, with absolute boundless energy and positivity. I never feel anything less than utterly enthusiastic about the game after speaking with him.
7. Corebloodbrothers—I didn’t know Core all that well before I attended the Winter Summit. He contributed well over the course of CSM 9’s term up to that point, but I didn’t feel a particularly strong connection with him personally and frankly, doubted his enthusiasm. I was wrong. Core is experienced, knowledgeable and passionate and he also has a unique and important perspective on life in 0.0 that is significantly different to the usual null bloc mentality.
8. Jayne Fillon—Jayne is the person I was most disappointed didn’t make it onto CSM 9. Watching his presentation at Eve Vegas last year, it was quickly apparent that his work on Spectre Fleet wasn’t just a flash in the pan. This is someone who sees across corp, alliance and bloc boundaries in an attempt to build actual real communities in the game. I was worried that he might have dropped off the map after just missing out a year ago. If anything, he took the disappointment and used it as motivation to work even harder over the past nine or ten months. That drive and determination is what I expect from a CSM member.
9. Steve Ronuken—I don’t pretend to understand half the things Steve and Foxfour chat about half the time in our CSM back channels. What I do know is that as a specialist, Steve’s knowledge of third party development and CREST is unparalleled and his work in the coming term is vital. Like Endie, he’s also a Scotsman and I am biased towards Scotsmen. Deal with it.
10. Gorga—I didn’t know much about Gorga until quite recently. When I discovered that Progodlegend would be stepping down from CSM and Gorga would be his replacement as a Nulli candidate, I took the opportunity to chat to him. What I found was someone who has an understanding of the how life in 0.0 actually is, knows how much work is coming during the coming term and who represents a significant proportion of null. PGL was a vital cog in the machine of CSM 9 and Gorga will be a handy replacement for CSM X.
11. Sugar Kyle—You don’t need me to tell you how hard Sugar has worked over the past year. She is the very living embodiment of ‘workhorse’. She was the representative lowsec desperately needed over the past year and will continue to be so going forward. If I was to make any criticism it’s that I feel she should perhaps filter some of the ideas and questions that come to her before passing them onto CCP, but I have constantly banged the drum about how vital it is that a CSM communicates with the playerbase—Sugar does this and then some.
12. Psianh Auvyander—I’ve had a few occasions to talk to Psianh over the past weeks. As a member of NOIR, he has a unique perspective on the importance of mercenary work in Eve. Through hearing him speak on Declarations of War and elsewhere, he has interesting ideas and is able to communicate them well.
13. Sort Dragon—I met Sort at Fanfest in 2013. He reminded me a lot about… me. Make of that what you will. But Sort has been on CSM before. He understands what is required of a committed Council member as well as being another 0.0 perspective in a term where all those differing null voices are going to be important.
14. UAxDEATH—I didn’t know a lot about DEATH and his previous work on CSM. I sat down with him on a recent episode of Eve Radio and found him to be articulate and practical. Russian players were also criminally underrepresented during CSM9’s term and they deserve someone on the upcoming Council. Let’s see if RUS rally behind their man.