Which is a bit ridiculous. Already you can find dozens upon dozens of completely empty systems at any given point in time in New Eden. What exactly are more empty systems supposed to accomplish?

Well, there is another ‘problem’ in New Eden these days, or at least an issue that a lot of people label a problem. The problem of the independent alliance. Roughly 2/3rds of player owned space belongs to one of two factions within the game. These areas of space also happen to be the wealthiest (for now). More than a few people I talked to during my short lived campaign for CSM8 mentioned that they were in lowsec as a means of getting ready to push into null.

Could it be that CCP is taking the easy way out? Simply add more space and those new guys should be able to make their way out into space easier, right? No, no I don’t think so. Stargates will, in all likelihood, be in the domain of those large coalitions – and those large coalitions alone. Unless the CFC and HBC decide to abandon their current space for these unknown frontiers wholesale, I can’t imagine this new section of space doing anything but further diluting New Eden.

Perhaps there will be some gimmick to this new space, as there is with wormholes (Mass limitations, system wide effects, no sov). However, in an expansion cycle that promises to push forward the cause of ‘ownership’, I can think of a better way. A way that allows those small fries hanging about in lowsec and NPC nullsec with a better primer on how life in the sov lane works. Corporate leasing of systems in lowsec might be a better way to guarantee the successful transition to nullsec sov-holding. However that is an idea that requires a whole new post.

This is all not to say that the idea of player built stargates is a bad one. In fact they could be a great way to allow the map to get smaller. Imagine if a Stargate could be built from one side of the map to the other. Logisticians would likely weep tears of joy, but perhaps more importantly the excuse of “its too far” among certain circles (in null and low alike) would be eliminated.

That, too, is a concept deserving of more thought and deliberation. For now, however, while I admire the ambitious vision presented by CCP seagull, I think greater thought must be given before an idea so grand is floated, much less implemented.

This is exactly what you were looking for. A CONCORD bulletin issued to all positive security status capsuleers within five jumps had summoned you here just minutes ago. Something about unauthorized FTL travel inbound to the system. Seeing as Vaajaita is the neighbor to two lowsec systems, both heavily contested by the Guristas and their capsuleer supporters, it is no surprise that the Caldari State wasn’t in the best position to investigate – but it was a big enough disturbance to warrant CONCORD alerting capsuleers in the constellation.

You whip out your probes and soon have the Local Disruption pinned down. You initiate the warp and land on a chaotic scene. About 50km away a smuggler’s gate is readily apparent, with gun towers being anchored next to it. A squad of Guristas piloted battlecruisers sit 20km off of your warp in, primed and ready to rock.

The group is too big and powerful for your Gnosis. Unlike the early ‘rats’ of New Eden, these ones actually pack a punch close to that of a player-fit ship. However, Caldari loyalists are warping in to help you out, so no worries there. You automatically find yourself entered into a gang with the loyalists. You broadcast primary and set to the dirty work of clearing out the Disruption, the gun towers, and ultimately the smuggler’s gate as well. As you send a few hundred projectiles into the face of the Guristas fleet, other capsuleers join you. As they do, the loyalists pull back – they are not rich like the capsuleers are, so any opportunity to save ISK on the cost of ammo and repairs is one they’ll take.

By the end of it, about 20 minutes later, you’re awarded with LP and ISK payment from the Caldari state. They may not have the manpower, but they certainly have the money. The gang is disbanded as soon as all your fellow capsuleers depart the disruption to head for home, wherever that might be. You arrive back at your home station, contemplating hitting the sack for the day, when you notice a Level 5 emergency alert from CONCORD in your Captain’s Quarters. Hitting play reveals that the Guristas attack in Vaajaita was apparently just one of many small feints – a full on assault is being made in The Forge, with multiple systems under attack. Unlike the Sansha, the Guristas aren’t interested in raids on highsec that only take hostages and prisoners – they want control.

However, it is late. The capsuleer, thinking that surely others will fend off the Guristas, elects to sleep instead of fielding his Gnosis in battle again. As do many others. By the time forces arrive in sufficient numbers in the beleaguered constellation, it is too late – at least one 0.5 system has flipped to 0.4, under the sovereignty of the Guristas.

~~~

Imagine if missions in EVE felt more modern, like Guild Wars 2, and less ancient, like Ultima Online. Instead of shooting X number of red crosses, imagine even small missions having greater implications on the geography of New Eden. Imagine dynamically created fleets, filled with NPCs if you don’t have friends around, with dynamically scaling rewards based on effort, number of participants, and other factors. If EVE’s PVE content were built around this dynamic, it may even lift itself off from the ‘Worst PVE System’ list.

Just a thought I had.

Tags4Sec and Lowsec changes – Who would’ve thought that the long-dreamed-for Tags4Sec program would be so meh. Details are, of course, somewhat lacking as of yet. A lot of the success will be tied to just how rare (and thus, how costly) security status tags will be. My gut says “very” on both counts. Combined with the change to cycle ratting, which will (conservatively) double the time it takes to get back to legal from -10 by way of ratting, this could actually end up a net negative for the criminal crowd.

Removal of icebelts from your overview – because that’s all this is. Icebelts will still be found in systems they exist in now. You’ll just have to commit to the extra step of hitting your scanner button to find them. However, even this is fraught with peril – imagine if these anomalies do not allow for bookmarks to be made in them, and you instead find yourself warping in at a predetermined point any time you get into the icebelt. This would be a very smooth way of further nerfing high sec ganking and protecting miners everywhere. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen.

Planetary Conquest – The inexorable march of Dust 514 continues, with Molden Heath being selected as the first guinea pig in the grand, experimental expansion away from Faction Warfare. Will it be worth it? Time will tell. Overall, I’m not too concerned with this. I don’t play Dust actively anymore, and it doesn’t seem to be all that impactful in EVE. The search for the meaningful link between Dust and EVE continues at CCP.

The EVE Keynote – I don’t know about you, but that new warpgate animation is astounding. I’m loving the new scanner as well. The hacking minigame – well, we’ll see about that. If it’s an entertaining enough minigame, I think I’ll like it. I’ve always wanted exploration to be more than missions that required extra modules, and this seems like a good first step towards that. However, what really tickled my jibblies was the future vision of EVE bit given by CCP Seagull. Colonizing new space? Constructing warp gates? Excuse me for a second, I have to take care of something…

Oculus Rift Game – Now, I wasn’t there, so I didn’t get to try the Oculus Rift EVR prototype. However, from all accounts, this thing is amazing. Maybe CCP will have it in tow at E3 this June, so I can try it then. Exciting stuff though!

CSM8 – A bit bittersweet. I’m very happy for those elected and remain optimistic about the future of the institution itself. If circumstances had been different, I’m sure I would’ve been listed up there – but, circumstances are not different, so no use in crying over spilt milk, or something like that. Of particular note was the victory of Ali Aras and Mike Azariah – long shots at the beginning of the election who, through hard work and effort, were well rewarded. I’ve been conducting some interviews with candidates for TMC and hope to have some kinder words at that time. However, I am very, very concerned at the lack of a lowsec rep (I thought for sure that someone would’ve stepped up in my absence), as well as the lack of a nonconsensual pvp proponent. Given the way things are developing, I think it was absolutely imperative for these two playstyles to be represented on the Council, and neither of them will be.

Covering Fanfest – As Editor of TMC, with Mittens off getting drunk in the land of Ice and Fire, it has been an interesting last couple of days. Alarm clocking for Fanfest presentations is something I never thought I’d have to do, and yet I did. Little sleep and many words edited made for a cranky Scaurus on Friday. However, TMC will soon be back on a regular publishing schedule, which looks like an absolute holiday when compared with the frantic pace of Fanfest coverage.

Now, I’m still as time-strapped as I ever was. Somedays I have to schedule a block of time in just to breathe for a bit. However, I’ve transitioned to telecommuting from home and hope that this will result in a tiny bit more flexibility. I’ve also completed my Bachelor’s degree in IT Management (in 2 years) and have about 5 months before beginning my Masters in Cyber Security (which should only take me about a year and some change), so there is that. On the medical front, things are somewhat stabilized with the family. There’s a long road ahead, but a manageable one, for which I’m thankful.

All in all, things are looking up and I’ve got a hankering to play EVE like you wouldn’t believe. Hopefully I can translate all of this into actual actions, and not just words. But for now, I’ll end this post with a hearty ‘Congratulations!’ to the new CSM, and a Fly Smart for the rest of you scumbags.

The best-laid schemes o’ mice an ’men
Gang aft agley,
An’lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

-Robert Burns

Half the time I couldn’t understand a Scotsman if you offered a million bucks to me to do so. Other times, I understand the bastards far too well. It would seem that my tumultuous entry into internet spaceships politics is at a close, my friends. Due to family medical issues (those of you who I know will know what this means, those that don’t probably shouldn’t), I am withdrawing from the campaign for CSM8. Before I say another word, I want to apologize to those who put their time and faith in me as the lowsec candidate, as well as those who gave me a platform to speak from. Kirk, Xander, Jaxley, Rixx and many more have all earned my gratitude and appreciation – and most important, my apologies. However, a couple of days ago I got a bit of a wake up call in a none-too-pleasant manner involving the medical industry (why are they always near bad news but never tainted by it?) and my family.

In these types of situations, you immediately have to triage your life. What goes and what stays. Obviously this is a pretty hard series of decisions to make, in particular when your time is already stretched to the max, to the point that life resembles a bit of a plate spinning act. Unfortunately, the plates must come down, and the CSM run is one of those. There are other hard choices in the days ahead, but I’m trying to take these things one at a time. Essentially, I was faced with a choice in regards to the CSM: sacrifice time with my family to pursue this thing, or coast along and become a do-nothing CSM member. Neither one of those was acceptable, so I’m taking the third way, which isn’t fun for anyone but is the best for all.

Of course, such an abrupt withdrawal is sure to have consequences, the first of which is already on the horizon. Upon being informed that I was withdrawing from the race, QCATS leadership let me know I should pack up my things and gtfo. I am assured that this has nothing to do with the effort of at least one director to give me the boot on my second day in corp, during which I went on a roam into Providence with other members of TheMittani.com staff, while waiting for the bulk of my assets to get Black Frog’ed to Nisuwa. Ultimately it was discovered that said director (I was never given a name) simply had a hard-on for anyone with Goons in their corp history. Some people really need some therapy. At any rate, I am assured that this was simply because my ‘utilization’ was too low for QCATS standards. I can respect that, though it seems that while being busy running for CSM is an okay excuse not to be out and about very often, being busy with family is not.

In short, the reason I applied to QCATS was not for CSM purposes, but rather because I genuinely believed them to be a good fit for my limited play time. Faction warfare really excels at undock and shoot playstyles – quickies, if you will. However, from day 2 of my time in the organization, I’ve been left with nothing but a bitter taste for them. It may all be legit, these assurances I have received, but the timing of things strikes me as a little too coincidental. Unfortunately I have bigger concerns these days, so I don’t have much time to think on the issue.

Where does this leave me? Well, in a bit of purgatory for the time being. I have no home in EVE, but perhaps that is a good thing. As Rixx noted on his blog awhile back, EVE often plays the inverse to life – when things are tumultuous in EVE, real life tends to be smooth sailing. When real life kicks up a storm, you often find yourself on autopilot in EVE. Maybe this means my priorities are straight for once. At any rate, stay tuned to this space for more bad news (regarding EVE) in the near future.

Here’s the full text:

I would like to take a moment here on the forums to announce that it is my intention to run for a seat on CSM8 as a lowsec representative. For those that may not know me, here is a brief history:

I have been playing EVE Online since early 2008, primarily as a lowsec resident and pirate, with interludes as a high sec war deccer, ninja, suicide ganker, wormhole resident and nullsec line member. I have blogged about EVE since 2010 and over the years have maintained ownership and management of Evebloggers.com as well as the EVE Blog Pack. In 2012 I joined the staff of TheMittani.com as a lowsec writer and within a month was made an Editor, a post I still hold today.

I am a solo and small gang PVP enthusiast who, for a time, got lost in the reaches of nullsec with Goonswarm Federation. Prior to that I was a member of The Tuskers, one of lowsec’s most prominent and long standing pirate organizations. I have been both a Director and a CEO of smaller pirate corporations and was proud to start my time in EVE Online as a member of The Guristas Associates alliance, a name that will always be remembered in the annals of pirating history. Currently I’m getting situated in my new digs with Quantum Cats, in the Gallente Militia.

Love them or hate them, the CSM has been growing ever more influential. Recently, CCP announced their intention to focus more clearly on the big picture. To develop a roadmap for the next 3, 5, and 10 years – and to include the CSM in that development process. While it has become somewhat of a cliche to state that the CSM has ‘laid the groundwork for great things to come’, I believe that to be a particularly true statement coming at the end of CSM7.

I intend to provide a strong, passionate and clear voice for lowsec as a whole – not just pirates, not just faction warfare, but for all the players who have come to know and love the gray area between CONCORD’s vigilance and nullsec’s political machinery. With CCP’s new conceptual/thematic approach to expansion planning, it will be possible for every expansion to contain at least a little lowsec love. Things I will push for include:

1. Making lowsec matter in the broader context of the game, with a tangible impact on more than just lowsec itself.
2. Pushing forward the idea that, while Faction Warfare is a prominent part of lowsec, it is not the be-all end-all of the area, in order to bring a wider variety of gameplay opportunities.
3. Improving the ability for lowsec residents to turn a profit, be they pirate, faction warfare pilot, bounty hunter or industrialist.
4. Continuing the good work put in to make faction warfare and bounty hunting successful by pushing for the small, yet vital, improvements they need.

For Pirates: A new method of gaining security status for those that chose to do so. Right now, the most effective method of recouping security status lost in lowsec or highsec is to go to nullsec, which makes no sense. The implementation of either a ‘Tags for Sec’ program or more inventive methods is a priority.

The extension of faction warfare mechanics to the pirate factions is a change that is both long coming and well deserved. For years pirates have wished they could actually be a ‘pirate’, joining up with the Guristas or Sansha. This expansion of the faction warfare model would bring renewed focus to lowsec as well as more gameplay opportunities for the PVPer and PVEr alike.

However, new feature implementations in lowsec must also be balanced against the very strong desire for many of lowsec’s existing residents to be divorced from anything remotely resembling ‘sov’. The protection of the current way of life for the pirating profession is also a huge part of my campaign.

For Faction Warfare: While facwar can fairly be described as in a ‘stable’ state, there is still work to be done. Providing a means through which Faction Warfare can be a unique source for items (be it faction mods or ships) will go a long way towards ensuring the long term stability and impact of the feature.

Also allowing the war in lowsec to have a meaningful impact on the empires and the game as a whole is a goal I would like to see achieved. Recently the Gallente Federation conquered all of Caldari facwar space in lowsec – and they got a medal. While cool, it’s not really something to get the engines going. Making your mark on the map is something that excites many players of EVE Online – allowing FW to do so would be a great next step in its evolution.

For Industrialists: While the capital production market is alive and well in lowsec, other areas are virtually nonexistant. Bringing a renewed focus to industry in lowsec, be it through the introduction of unique resources in the area or providing the best profit margins, is something that has long been needed.

While not a lowsec-exclusive item, a POS revamp would also be a boon to lowsec. Making it easier for players to enter the POS arena, as well as making it more worthwhile in lowsec, will provide valuable gains to the lowsec industrialist’s cause, as well as drive more conflict (which is always good for business!)

For PVE: While static DED complexes and Level 5 missions provide an option in lowsec, they are often seen as ‘not worth the risk’ to the run of the mill PVEr. I would like to see a more robust and healthy PVE system implemented in lowsec, be it through an expansion on exploration gameplay, the inclusion of lowsec-unique (and very lucrative) PVE activities, or both.

For PVP: I also intend to push forward for improvements to the war dec system, bounty hunting, as well as to help improve the sad state of affairs with such time honored (but swiftly diminishing) gameplay options as the ninjas of high sec.

——————–

I’d be grateful if you could voice your support, ask your questions, or contribute your comments to the forum post or on this blog.

For those not up to speed on nullsec, there currently exists two very powerful blocs in New Eden – the Clusterfuck Coalition and the Honey Badger Coalition. The CFC is led by Goonswarm Federation, an alliance primarily made up of users from the popular forum SomethingAwful. The HBC is led by Test Alliance Please Ignore, an alliance that also comes primarily from an out of game source (namely, Reddit).

 
To understand the complex history between these two entities would require more words than I’m willing to put down right now. Here, however, is the short version: Test came into nullsec under the aegis of Goons. Test swiftly outgrew Papa Goon’s tender embrace and struck out on their own, to the south. Their first steps were a bit wobbly, as to be expected, but Goons helped Test where and when they could, asking for little in return (other than a powerful blue ally). Grudges were born in these growing pains between Test and other Goon allies, leading to bad blood even a year after Test fully stepped out of the shadow of the Goon machine (and into the shadow of Pandemic Legion – but that’s a story for another time).

 
Now most of nullsec is covered by one of these two behemoths. In the north, the CFC; in the south, the HBC. Over the past few weeks, apparent boredom (and a little of that bad blood) began to make itself known to the HBC. Test in particular began to harass Fatal Ascension, a CFC alliance. Things became heated when HBC ‘Head Diplomat to the CFC’ Bring Stabity stated boldly to a CFC Senior Diplomat that Test’s ultimate goal was to destroy Fatal Ascension in such a way as not to arouse the sleeping giant of the north – Goonswarm.

 
This resulted in repercussions. The shared Jabber channel between Test and the rest of the CFC allies was disbanded. In response, Montolio (leader of the HBC) kicked all Goonswarm accounts from the HBC’s IT infrastructure, a move more than a little reminiscent of closing down one’s embassies or ejecting all foreign dignitaries. Goonswarm, however, seemed inclined to shrug this off and carry on. However, Montolio wasn’t having it.

 
Instead, he embarked on a short and vicious propaganda campaign, seeking to unite all non-CFC entities in a Great War Against The Tyranny of the King in the North. There was one small hiccup to Montolio’s plan, however: Pandemic Legion. PL enjoys a special symbiotic relationship within the HBC. Though not the formally recognized leaders of the coalition, PL holds most of the HBC’s supercapital military force. PL fleet commanders hold the reins in wartime and PL holds no sovereignty, allowing them to operate more or less at will. They are not invested in sov infrastructure, allowing them to (if things go south or if Montolio were to piss them off enough) simply walk away.

 
The part where things get somewhat disappointing is where Shadoo, leader of PL, and The Mittani, leader of the CFC, sat down to hash things out. It was swiftly agreed that no one wanted to participate in actual sovereignty warfare, for the simple fact that its core mechanic involves not fighting people, but shooting stationary objects. The sovgrind is literally so boring that it stopped what would have been the greatest war in MMO history from going forward. I have no doubt that if sovereignty did not involve the deployment and destruction of structures as its core mechanic, PL would gladly have let Montolio rally the troops forward unto destruction.

 
Shadoo informed Montolio that actual sovwar would not be happening. Instead, a reset of standings and some essentially ‘for lulz’ fleet combat would be the extent that hostilities would escalate to. Montolio did not take this high handed declaration well, conducting a bit of a verbal slapfight with Shadoo via HBC Jabber broadcasts. This short fight between the formal leader of the HBC, and its military backbone, ended predictably: Montolio has ‘decided’ to take a break from EVE and has handed over the reins of the HBC to a trusted lieutenant.

 
Some may read this story and roll their eyes. Drama llama crap, nullsec politics that you don’t care about, etc etc. However, here’s the part you should care about, reiterated for emphasis on just how silly it is:

 
A war that would’ve involved 20,000 players, 75% of nullsec space, and hundreds of supercapitals was halted not by diplomacy, but by a game mechanic so dreadful that those who have experienced it previously have no desire to do so again.

 
This must change. Players often contemplate how to ‘fix’ nullsec in such a way as to allow smaller entities to enter the Grand Game of Sovereignty without kowtowing to the established lords of space. They come up with inventive and outlandish ways to achieve this. However, it’s all a bit unnecessary. If this war had happened, the turmoil involved in it would likely have allowed windows of opportunity to open for small entities to gain toeholds in space, be it from turmoil, lack of coordination, or invitations from the victorious bloc to come hold space.

 
Fix sovereignty, allow the Great Wars of New Eden to actually take place without threatening mass burnout, and voila – nullsec, fixed for all.
(Of course it isn’t that simple, but addressing the core dynamic of nullsec in such a way as to allow more conflicts to happen would certainly be a great start)

 
In my opinion – no, they wouldn’t. Not without the implementation of a slew of systems in EVE Online to take the place of the local chat channel in regards to intelligence gathering. That being said, I do think that the removal of local (or moving it to a delayed system) and the implementation of new methods of gaining intelligence as to the status and situation of a system would be one of the single greatest advances towards true immersion in EVE Online.

 
Immersion is something that, at times, EVE Online severely lacks. However, it is not the most pressing issue to be concerned with. CCP is, in relation to the gaming industry as a whole, a small business. Their resources are limited (see also: No Modular POS Expansion) and any attempt at justifying the prioritization of removing a feature that, while not ideal, definitely works in favor of a list of features that are unproven is just silly.

 
Perhaps one day we can cast off the tyranny of local chat in favor of a system that allows for more ‘thrill of the chase’. That day, however, should not be today or any day in the near future. However, when that day comes, I wouldn’t mind seeing something that represents a futuristic version of submarine warfare, wherein ‘pinging’ (be it through d-scan, seeing a ship on grid, probing or another game mechanic to be determined) allows for a visual representation of what ships are around, what their affiliation is (neut, blue, war target, etc – think IFF system), and depending on the system, their approximate location.

 
The most important consideration, when thinking about ways to remove local from the intel situation, is to ensure that it remains a system that is skill-based – and not skillpoint-based. No new modules, skillbooks, or other requirements should be involved with this theoretical new intelligence tool. One of local’s few charms in the role of intel tool is the fact that you don’t need any number of SP to be able to understand its use and role. The freshest character off the capsuleer assembly should be able to use this new intel tool without arbitrary roadblocks in their way.

 
Considering this – the fact that local’s intel gathering capabilities need to be replaced by a system that does more or less the same thing, with a similar requirement that it not be skillpoint-based – I feel that it is, at best, a ‘would like to have someday’ goal. And while it is fun to speculate as to the shape of things to come (enough people have certainly had a field day with the no local banter), I prefer to deal in the immediate needs and wants of the players.

CCP has acknowledged their failings openly and readily. They seek to finally develop EVE Online in ways that make sense, both from a business perspective and from the players’ points of view. With their declaration to embark on future expansion development along thematic lines, lines that transcend geographical areas and offer something for every type of player and space, it is more important than ever for the player-elected Council of Stellar Management to represent each type of player and every space in EVE.

It is my intention to provide a strong and clear voice that represents the denizens of low security space – not just Faction Warfare, as CSM7 did, but not ignoring it either. Lowsec has undergone the beginnings of a renaissance due to the changes made with Crimewatch. Now is the time to ensure that we are not left, forgotten for another 10 years. Now is the perfect time to push forward the cause of the pirate, the industrialist, the PVEr and the weekend warriors, all of whom combine to make lowsec what it is today.

However, lowsec is not the only corner of New Eden that I seek to represent. Bounty hunting, while still new and fresh, still needs polish to achieve long term stability and success. War decs are in a state of disarray, with no clear vision on the part of CCP as to what role wars should play in high security space. Suicide ganking, an activity that is as much a personification of EVE as nullsec sovereignty, has suffered large setbacks in the last year. Ninjas across EVE have disappeared – seemingly for good – as their favored playstyle has become a victim of circumstance.

All of these causes are causes that I not only believe passionately in – they are all activities that I have done and enjoyed over my five years in EVE Online. I have conducted non-mutual war decs in high sec against corporations 10x the size of my own. I have been a member of both Suddenly Ninjas in high sec and The Tuskers, EVE’s most honorable pirate organization, in lowsec. I have led small pirate corps as both a director and as a CEO, and can remember well the tedium that exemplified coordinating the logistics of a small corporation. I have roamed the unknown reaches of wormhole space, feeling the pain of managing a POS as well as living out of one.

I am not a fitting savant, as past CSM members have been. I am not the leader of a nullsec alliance, as past CSM members have been. I am not a full-time mission runner, miner, or industrialist. I am not the be-all, end-all solution to the CSM. What I am, however, is a clear and concise communicator. I am one of the EVE community’s largest supporters and advocates. And I am dedicated to seeing this through, to putting in the work and to helping improve the game that we all care about.

In the coming months, I hope to hear from as many viewpoints as possible, to learn what concerns pirates and industrialists alike, and to help bring attention to lowsec in a mature and intelligent fashion. In the end, I hope to represent you on the Council of Stellar Management, and to honor your faith in me with a dedication to meaningful transparency and honest representation to CCP. It is the CSM’s role to be the elected advocates of the players to CCP – and not the other way around. I brook no bullshit and call things like I see them, a quality that I think will serve well in the CSM.

Ultimately, it is up to the players to choose the candidates who they think will do the best job at fulfilling this role. Throughout this campaign, I will remain dedicated to answering the questions and concerns of prospective voters in as forthright a way as possible.

If you would like to reach out, I am available in the following ways:

Twitter – @marcscaurus
Skype – marcscaurus
Email – scaurus2013@gmail.com
Evemail – Marc Scaurus

A formal platform, updated bio and forum announcement are soon to come, as well as in depth looks at the issues of the day – watch this space.

However, I’m not one to complain. The level of depth and thoroughness in the Minutes from CSM7 has been commendable, as well as a direct response to the baying of the transparency hounds. Ironic, then, that those same people now complain at the length of the Minutes, but that is a topic for another day.

To me, there were a few standout items to take special note of in the CSM’s Winter Summit. First and foremost was the future direction of EVE development, as discussed in the Minutes’ first section. Therein, CCP Unifex and CCP Seagull shared with the CSM their philosophy towards EVE Online’s future development. To sum it up, they are pairing an increased effort to gather statistical data regarding EVE’s player base with a solidly defined framework for future expansions to deliver more, and better, content to EVE Online.

What does this mean in layman’s terms? It means that, rather than chasing the shiny (be it the Jesus Feature or the Low Hanging Fruit), future expansions will be focused around a central theme. From this central theme, CCP will either fix existing, legacy features – or introduce brand new features in an attempt to do the same thing. An example of this could be seen, albeit in a reduced form, in our latest expansion Retribution. The theme of the expansion was ‘War’, and featured both iterations on old mechanics as well as the introduction of (essentially) brand new mechanics.

While some say this is just returning to past habits, I believe that CCP Unifex will steer the ship a bit more steadfastly than his predecessors at the helm. Expect future expansions to be tight, sleek and well rounded in addressing a particular area of EVE – not a geographic area, but a thematic area (such as Industry, Production, Sovereignty, etc).

One of the most controversial reveals in the Minutes was the fact that, contrary to the information given to CSM previously, Modular POSes are no longer a primary focus of CCP’s development. Some have taken to calling this an outright travesty, with a thread begun by Two Step reaching epic proportions. However, it is important to point out that Modular POSes have not been dismissed entirely. It will simply not be a central feature to an expansion in the near term. Instead, iterations are to be expected from CCP on the existing POS system, time and resources allowing. The code for POSes is quite possibly the oldest untouched code in the game, and as was described at the last FanFest, has been allowed to creep into virtually every facet of EVE’s core code. Unraveling that particular ball of yarn will simply take longer than initially estimated.

While not explicitly stated in the Minutes, I do believe that some reading between the lines of the Faction Warfare section in particular indicates a renewed willingness on the part of CCP to address lowsec as a whole, as opposed to just Faction Warfare as we have seen for the past year. Of course, I could be completely off base with this, but I would not be surprised to see at least one expansion in 2013 make significant changes to lowsec. However, the current CSM did not seem inclined to capitalize on this, which is a shame.

Of final interest (to me at least) were the discussions regarding the CSM itself. A commitment has been made for a revised CSM White Paper to be released in the coming months (before the CSM8 election gets underway). There is also the strong possibility of an entirely new voting system being put in place. Following the laughable effect that the ‘100 Likes’ modification had during the CSM7 elections, this is not surprising – but is a potential cause for alarm. With so many prominent members of CSM7 not running for reelection (Elise, Hans, and Aleks have all confirmed they will not be seeking another term), there is a real possibility that CCP could implement a tragically flawed voting system due to a complete lack of interest on the parts of those who are active on the current CSM,  but not invested in the next.

Part One of my actual dissection of the Minutes will begin tomorrow, with an in depth look at the future conceptual development of EVE Online, as described in section 1 of the Minutes as well as the dual devblogs rolled out by Unifex and Seagull just the other day.

Let me tell ya. I got awards comin’ out the wazoo. Half the year, the only thing you seen on this blog – you betcha, it was awards. Now ole Seismic Stan wants me to hand out some more.

…Applaud Your Peers, Embarrass Your Enemies…

At the turn of the year in meatspace, award season starts to spin up. Across the general media, folk are encouraged to look to their peers and recognise excellence and inspiration from the previous year.

For the past two years I have attempted to do the same for EVE by distributing imaginary Free Boot Awards to an eclectic assortment of community luminaries. This year I thought it might be nice to expand the concept.

For Blog Banter 43 I would like to invite every participant to nominate their peers for whatever awards you think they deserve. Let’s start the year with some EVE-flavoured altruism and celebrate the best and the worst of us, the funniest or the most bizarre, the most heroic of the most tragic of the past year. They could be corpmates, adversaries, bloggers, podcasters, developers, journalists or inanimate objects. Go nuts.

There’s only one rule: no narcissism allowed (so step away from that mirror and resist the urge to nominate yourself).

Other than that, if it’s great, let’s celebrate.

Banter On.

You asked for it…

Sindel teased on Twitter a couple days ago that her awards might make some people mad. They might, but if they do, those people in question should probably relax, see the sun, etc. They were funny and poked fun at certain people in a ‘don’t take yourself so serious’ way. Maybe mine will do the same, though probably not.

Best Blogging Pundit Award

Pundits are a strange class of people. You see them on CNN and Fox all the time, peddling their opinions as if they matter. Strangely, we’re never quite sure why we should care what their opinions are. Pundits, pretty much by definition, don’t actually have power in a certain realm. They just act like they do in front of as many people as possible.

AND THE WINNER IS…Poetic Stanziel.

Why the hell do we care what this guy thinks? His fact checking is abysmal, his opinions over the top, and yet we can’t stop reading. If he was in radio I’m pretty sure he’d be a part of the EIB Network. Grats, ‘Poe’, for being relevant without cause.

Looniest Loon in iTunes Award

This one is dedicated to that rare breed in the EVE Online community – the podcasters. WAIT! You don’t know who I’m going to pick. JUST WAIT A MINUTE! I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong. WRONG I TELL YOU.

AND THE WINNER IS….Rundle Allnighter.

Listen, everyone in podcasting is a little crazy. You sit at your desk and talk into a microphone pretending you’re talking to legions of people while simultaneously hoping you get at least a dozen listeners who aren’t your friends. All podcasters have egos, they all have agendas, and they all are fakers in at least one way. Where Rundle differs is that, instead of buying into his own ego, his own agenda, his own mythos – he’s bought WHOLEHEARTEDLY into the shit being fed to him by an internet spaceship guild. Sorry, but this easily makes you the Looniest of the Loony Bin.

Lifetime Achievement Award

This is a genuinely tough one to give out. 2012 was a year of passing, in some very sad and serious ways. However this post isn’t sad nor serious, so let’s stick to the two names that popped into mind when I typed the header above: Verone and MichaelBolton III. The former was the leader of Veto for quite a long time before finally landing a dream job at CCP. The latter was some dude in TEST.

AND THE WINNER IS…CCP Dolan (aka Michael Bolton III).

Why, you ask? Well, if I was in a more serious mood I’d give it to Verone and Veto together. Veto is dead now and it’s leader has ascended to the pantheon, so to speak, working in CCP. That surely warrants an Achievement award. However, I went with MB3 in the end, because I think we all know this is as far as he goes. He’s peaked, and though he’ll probably live another few decades minimum, this is the shining moment in his life. Let’s let him bask in it.

Best Drama Award

Ah, what’s not to love about a good drama? Laughter, tears, burning hatred and rage – all the things that make EVE so great are basically the same things that make dramas so wonderful to watch unfold. There are many great contenders in 2012, ranging from the recent shenanigans in the podcasting community, my brouhaha with Mr. Rixx Javix, to the Elo Knight/Wicked Princess stuff of not long ago, etc etc. However, one drama trumps them all and, in many ways, exemplifies them all.

AND THE WINNER IS…FANFEST 2012, Featuring THE MITTANI.

Dude essentially told people to go taunt a suicidal guy. Pretty fucked (not BULLYING, you twats, but still fucked). He apologized, of course, but ended up with a ban and a boot right off the CSM for his troubles. 10k votes were tossed to the wind like so much chaff and instead we got Chairman Seleene. Heh

The Honorable Mention Award

Doesn’t it seem like in every awards show, there’s that one nominee that is up for a ton of stuff but ends up with not a thing to show for it? EVE has one of those in this Blog Banter. He was so miffed he even declined to give out a single bit of recognition to his peers!
AND THE WINNER IS….Rixx Javix.

What? Someone had to give the guy a cookie. He brought back the frill, after all.

The Hardest Working Man in Show Biz Award

This guy, like James Brown, is everywhere. You can’t have a Twitter conversation without his name popping up. You can’t listen to a podcast without him being on it. You can’t even talk to your own writers at a certain Eve News website (sans Eve News in the name) without his name being brought into the conversation. This is truly the hardest working man in showbiz…

AND THE WINNER IS….Hans Jagerblitzen.

With as hard as he works at telling people how hard he’s working, you’d think we’d all have gotten the point by now. But we haven’t. Until this award was given out, of course.
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Serious Time!

Serious awards have to go out as well. I would be remiss if I didn’t give Ripard Teg a proper shout out – the dude is a machine. Best Blogger of the year, by far.

For Best Podcast, I have to say Crossing Zebras. They are young in terms of podcasts, but smooth and just all around good. Except for that terrible boy band music.

For Best CCP Dev, it has to be CCP Raivi. As innumerable others have pointed out, he has seemingly singlehandedly changed the game in a fundamental way in a very short period of time.

Finally, I’d like to give a hefty dose of recognition to the guy who asked for it in the first place – Seismic Stan. In a community that seems to come and go more than the tides – bloggers disappearing, reappearing, disappearing once more, etc – Stan has been the one solid rock throughout it all. While having a kid on the way, losing his job and finding new work as a legitimate games writer, Stan has stuck with the EVE community through it all and kept the blog banters flowing. So to him, I say thanks – for everything.