Tomfoolery, Election Fraud and the CSM

There's a new groundswell in the EVE social media community lately, and I've touched on it a couple of times myself. Mostly it's about dissatisfaction with the CSM, and a comment Hilmar made in an interview that can be construed as his own frustration with the CSM.

And the general discussion is missing the forest for the trees.

The concept that seems to have favor (at the moment) is to have, essentially, districts. That's great, I'm glad that people are thinking about increasing participation (I've been a foolish voter for several years now). But the idea of district representation in EVE is inherently broken.

You can't elect someone in EVE to the CSM just to represent wormholes. Because for all you know, that person is going to get sick of living in a wormhole a month later, and go run incursions for less stressful ISK.

You can't elect someone in EVE to the CSM just to represent Faction War. Because the CEO for that person's corp could have plans on moving from Faction War to Nullsec Sovereignty that the CSM rep would know nothing about.

Basically, you can't create districts because one of the simplest things to do in EVE is to change the direction of your game.

White Tree was a member of TEST when elected. Now (if I remember correctly) he's in a wormhole corp. He's not in TEST anymore. So all those TESTies who elected him no longer have their "TEST" representative. This real-world example shows why the idea of representative division is a failure before it begins.

Each player (not character) who runs for CSM runs on a platform, like any politician, claiming to support (or oppose) particular issues. If you look back at the CSM platforms, each member of the CSM had their own platform and presented that to the community at large.

I'll have grounds
More relative than this—the play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.

Fun Hamlet quotes notwithstanding, the platform is what you vote for or against in a CSM election. Because that is the best estimate you can get on what a person will or won't support or oppose. And the simple math of 1 account = 1 vote means that if the candidate you support can get enough votes, they will get a seat on the CSM.

In addition, the CSM has changed a lot over the few years it's run. The terms are longer, and this group can run again (I believe they have recently removed term limits for the CSM). This allows for two things: continuity and complacency. If I were to humbly suggest anything to Hilmar for changing the CSM, I would do the following:
1. Stagger the terms, much like US Senators, so there is partial, regular turnover.
2. Limit the re-election to 2 consecutive terms.
3. Have the chairman selected by the CSM, from the CSM every election cycle.

Stagger the terms
This one seems the easiest. Make the term 18 months, with an election every six months. That's a lot of politicking, but 1/3 of the CSM would turn over every six months, leaving 2/3 to provide consistency. Of course, the problem here is the non-stop campaigning cycle that would barrage the EVE players. A second option would be two year terms, with half the council replaced every year. But can you really count on someone to be active and excited about EVE for two years straight with the pressure of the CSM?

Term Limits
A no brainer (sorry Trebor) but there should be term limits. Two consecutive terms, then you have to take at least one year off before running again. Gets the politicians back in the game as normal people for at least a little while.

Internally Selected Chair
This would be a requirement based on the staggered terms presented above. The chair would have a 1 year (or 6 month) term as chair. This should be merely a parliamentary position, and the "face" of the CSM for group issues presented to players or CCP. The CCP representative would have a vote on this as well in the event of a tie.

Wayback Machine: 27 August 2009 (Shedding isn't easy...)

This is the third in my series of "wayback" posts - posts recovered from archives of previous iterations of my blog.


About a month ago I finally decided to grow up. I've been playing EVE since December 2007, when the Mac client was released, and in that time I have racked up 0 kills and been podded 9 or 10 times. I did hisec missioning, not even trying out L4 missions forever. I was the poster child for Care Bearing. I think part of it was, I didn't really get into EVE. For me it was like a round of Civilization - play every once in a while when you have time. Well, I got a couple of co-workers into it, and they called me on the care bear lifestyle back in March of 2009. Just before Apocyrpha was released. So I started looking at what goes on in a PvP lifestyle, and started focusing my skill training more on ship/ship support skills, rather than the shotgun approach I'd been taking since the beginning. I started reading blogs written by PvP players, like Wensley, Flash, Mynxee, and the like, but I wasn't looking to be a pirate - just learn how to fight and defend. Then I started taking missions and occasional drops into LoSec, learning more about the directional scanner (I still need work on this one), and watching local, and flagging players and corps with status so I can keep careful eyes out. Finally, I dropped the non-existent shield of the NPC Corp (The Scope, FWIW) and applied to a full-on PvP corp.
After a bit of Q&A, I was accepted and have been a novice in the corp for about a month now. I haven't started my actual PvP training yet, since days after joining the corp left Empire and went back to 0.0, and I wasn't ready for that leap. I've been grinding up my status with an NPC corp in Empire to get a jump clone, so I can take shelter in my fuzzy empire blanket when the 0.0 lifestyle gets to be too much, or when I need easy ISK or items that are too hard to make or get out in 0.0. Let's face it, I'm really just hanging on to my fuzzy status just a little longer, because I'm afraid of the change. However, this weekend I will have trained up the skills to mostly fly a Helios, and I'm going off the deep end. It's a 30 jump trip from Empire to my corp base in 0.0, and I'm going to learn my way down in the Helios, fit with a CovOps Cloak, jump clone or not...

NBSI: Not just for nullsec

The acronyms flying around EVE are as rampant as they are in the U.S. military. Fortunately for us, there is a wonderful compendium of definitions available at the EVE Wiki. On of my favorites, and one that creates much consternation, is the NBSI/NRDS balance. For those of you not in the know, NBSI (Not Blue Shoot It) and NRDS (Not Red Don't Shoot) are the two polar positions of most corporations and alliances in nullsec. Our corp was a nullsec corp for a while, and although we currently inhabit losec, we maintain NBSI in the losec pocket we call home. This makes it easy to watch local, which has become more of an issue since our steady presence has led others to the pocket, both looking for kills and a quiet place to explore losec. Making it perfectly clear - we are an NBSI corp in our pocket, and NRDS outside (unless in nullsec). This upsets some folks who are new to either EVE or the whole concept of losec/nullsec. We don't own the space we live in - but since right now we are calling it home, we consider the assets in that space to be ours, and we defend that space and those assets to keep others away.

I think the one difference in losec is that NBSI isn't an automatic target lock. In nullsec, there are no chances for second-guessing - if they are neutral to you they are an enemy - clear and simple. However, in losec, there is occasionally an opportunity for discussion, a choice to be made - do we allow you to continue to access assets in our home, or deny them? A lot of that choice comes down to the attitude, and (frankly) the mood of our combat pilots. But it never hurts to ask - and don't call it piracy or ransom. If we ask for ISK to use our space, consider that you are killing rats (and earning isk that we might earn) or mining rocks that our industry folks might want, thus you are taking isk from us - so a small (and believe me, we don't ask for lots of money) payment for rent seems reasonable to me. We aren't a pirate corp. Frankly we are a bit lost in our direction, but even as an industry corp we need to have free access to the assets in our space, whenever we want or need them, and your presense (as a neutral) is an impediment to our progress. Of course, if you like our area of space, and would like to utilize the assets, we might be recruiting - just hop into our public channel and see.

What about you? If you are a losec (not pirate) corp, do you deny assets (missions/rats/rocks/plexes) to neutrals in the area of space you call home? Better question is, does anyone read this thing?

Our CEO for a while considered having us announce in local, when a neut appeared, that it was NBSI and they should evacuate with their assets intact. I think that's certainly a nice way to play, but shouldn't most people in losec already be worried when jumping into a dead-end system with 15 in local?

The more things change...

... the more they are the same.

I was a Dead Terrorist for about a year. The recent shake-up and collapse in Feythabolis shook my personal commitment to the alliance, and I have left. It was not an easy decision, since the corp I was in is a great group of guys, and I had flown with them (albeit in another corp) in another alliance prior to DT. DT and RENT are both great groups, and I wish the best for them, but I'm not sure I'm ready for the life of a full-time losec pirate, which appears to be the recovery plan (at least in the short term) for DT. So what now? I went home, although it's not the same home I left, exactly. The first player corp I joined has changed from a mixed-purpose PvP/PvE/Indy corp to primarily an industry corp. In fact, my indy alt is in that corp, and happily popping out T2 frigates a couple times a week like a pregnant rabbit.

I'm here because it's comfortable, and I don't really like being in The Scope - the crap in corp chat there often annoyed me. I don't exactly fit in here either, my fleet of ships tends towards combat ships: AHACs, BCs, Tacklers, and HICtors rather than Barges and Haulers but I know everyone here (they have been here a long time). I've had a couple offers for PvP corps, but not sure I want Faction War, or LoSec piracy. Who knows, but for now, I'm back in a comfortable place, with a group of guys I like a lot. Another thought, maybe I can be the catalyst to revive the PvP arm of the corp. There are a couple others like me who would enjoy more combat already, so let's see what happens...

EVE Blog Banter #22: Corporation Loyalty - Brothers and Sisters till the end?

Welcome to the twenty-second installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week or so to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check for other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month topic is brought to us by L'Dene Bean of Nitpickin's who asks: Why, and how did you pick your corporation? Is your loyalty solid or just until a better placed organization "recruits" you. The shorter version: Who holds your Unshakable Fealty and why?

So this is an interesting question, since I run multiple accounts and multiple characters (yeah, how do I manage that, exactly...) Without giving away details, my personal (not character-specific) loyalty is to the first corp I joined. They are a good group of guys (although many are currently away from EVE) that I still chat with out of game, even though they may not be playing right now. The only reason my main left that corp was to maintain my 0.0 PvP lifestyle - the corp was too small for the alliance we were in (as far as active PvP toons) so we did a pseduo-merge with another corp that was in alliance, basically mothballing the original corporation until better times (a.k.a. more game time for the veterans to be able to effectively recruit and train new members). If that corp became an active PvP force again I would (with due consideration and notice to my current corp) head back at my earliest convenience - to fly with guys I like personally.

This is not to reduce the value of my current corp. I have flown with this group in multiple alliances, other members from my old corp are also here, and the group is just as solid, reliable, and entertaining as my old corp (which makes sense, since we were in multiple alliances together and we all got along already). The trend here? It isn't the corp - it's the pilots. That should make sense to anyone who has played a multiplayer game - the appeal is the players you fly with - where they go, you likely will go as well if they are a group you are close to. I even experienced this recently with an RL friend who played EVE with a different group originally. His core group of players had a corp collapse, they all went different ways, and he joined up with my corp for a while. Now that his old group is re-forming, he has left (best of luck!) to fly with his in-game friends - and I understand and respect that completely.

If you are playing EVE, and you don't play with (not just against) others, you are missing the biggest part of the game, and the main attraction to the game - the social aspect.

Saying goodbye to the house you grew up in

After almost two years in EVE, I joined a Player Corporation last summer. Aurora Security (A.SEC) was (at the time) in Faction War on the side of Gallente. Within days of joining they left FW, with frustration of the blobs and problems with FW that have been well documented elsewhere. For a short period we were just a LoSec based corp, doing some wormholes, L4/L5 missions as a corp, a variety of industry, and some plexing. We lived under NBSI in our world, which meant we had targets all the time. A.SEC was my first real introduction to what EVE is meant to be. A group of players across the world working together and for them the game was all about fun. I learned how to fly safely in losec and 0.0 courtesy of Mr. Teu (retired). I learned about scouting roams, fitting long-range versus short-range, gank vs. tank, how to escape a gate camp (or at least have a chance). I moved to 0.0 with A.SEC, was introduced to bubbles, POS bashing (which I still can't do well), hot drops and bomber squads.

A.SEC fluctuated between 6-10 active members in my timezone in the early days. We fielded our own gangs for roams, we had groups to hassle invaders in our space (pre-Dominion), players who were new and old. An unfortunate turn of events led us to a rapid move from our first 0.0 home, which left several players with their entire hangar stranded in enemy territory. This happened to coincide with a few very active folks getting burnout and we went from having a steady 6-10 players online anytime to 4-5. We settled into our new alliance quickly though, and were able to contribute effectively and were recognized as a good addition. Life with Art of Defiance (-FFS-) was more interesting for A.SEC - this was a true PvP alliance, on roams, camps, ops daily, if not daily for each major TZ. FFS was made up (mostly) of experienced players - folks who had been playing for 2+ years. This was good and bad - lots of experience but lots of folks on the edge of burnout. During a particularly difficult stretch we had a new neighbor arrive in the form of Dead Terrorists (IKILU). After some preliminary shooting at each other, FFS and DT formed a NAP with the intent to drive Vanguard. out of their current residence. That worked well, with Vanguard departing within a couple months. However, FFS was seeing lower and lower participation, with the onset of holidays, new games, and just general burnout, and recruiting was not easy. A.SEC was suffering the same path of the alliance, but with optimism we moved forward, and FFS corps merged into DT.

A.SEC continued to struggle with recruiting and activity, and since DT is an aggressive PvP alliance, there were concerns all around about losing our access to 0.0 and the fun combat we love due to inactivity. It was decided to merge our PvP toons into a sister-corp from FFS that was also part of DT - Royal Enterprise (RENT). So, with much chagrin, I logged into EVE and dropped roles from A.SEC. First note: when you drop roles you lose access to everything - corp hangars, POS hangars, everything. Fortunately I was clear of assets in corp hangars, but if I'd realized that I would have waited a couple of days to help move assets about. The other part of this is that you can apply to a new corp as soon as you drop roles - and after the 24-hour cool down you can be accepted and just move from one corp to the other directly.

I will miss my time with A.SEC - although many of the other PvP pilots are joining me in RENT - it was my first true home in EVE, and the players I worked with impressed me with their willingness to educate and their great attitudes. With regret, I say goodbye to the house I grew up in - Aurora Security may you survive, thrive and grow through this tough time.