Today, while I was at work, a thread was posted on the RvB forums, requesting the attention of the RvB Management. The OP was basically asking that RvB consider putting a candidate forward for the upcoming 8th Council of Stellar Management. I read the post, then got back to work.
Now, fast forward a few hours where, after a seemingly random shout appears in the RvB shoutbox, I discover that people inside of RvB – & outside of it – think that I should run for CSM8. I am still not sure if this is them being serious or trolling me due to how bitter I occasionally am. However, I also cannot stop grinning every time I open the thread…
In the spirit of democracy and all that nonsense I ask you, my readers, followers & friends do you think I SHOULD run?
[poll id=”3″]
And if I do what would be an ideal platform suitable for me to campaign on?
(This is not suggesting I do not have idea’s of my own, I just want to see what you come up with – comedy or otherwise)
I feel like you’d be a fantastic high-sec candidate, seeing as you’re eternally locked in a high-sec war.
And you have insight into null a little bit as a roaming gang fc and not a sov holder, so there’s that as well
I was going to say no because running for CSM basically entails no longer playing Eve, but then I remembered that you don’t log into Eve anyway! Just be aware of what a ridiculous commitment it can be if you actually do it right (you could of course simply do it wrong like some past CSMers have done, but I’m assuming here that that’s not the plan).
I think something you might actually struggle with is the fact that RvB is so unique – it’s not really the same as anything, which on the one hand makes it stand out in the community but also means that as an RvBer you don’t quite represent any of the major groups. You’re not really a hisec war corp, but you’re not really anything else either. Finding a platform that has broad appeal is going to be important, but I’m sure you’re up to it.
I reckon you should go for it, for two primary reasons.
1. You have a large body of community input that can be considered informal and open. Maintaining this when you hold a position of office can be difficult, but if you can continue to engage with the player base in such a manner, whether through the client or meta means such as forums, you’re onto a winning ticket. The CSM is about popular support, but that popular support should be founded on engagement and discussion.
2. Not only, as previously mentioned, do you represent one of the breeds of ‘forever war’ (the other being the low security Faction War), you represent a group on par with or greater than EVE UNI and AGONY for it’s engagement with the non-bloc gameplay. Do not take this as a snipe at power blocs, I believe that as annoying as they are to an independent such as myself and many here, they are a natural and necessary evolution of null sec politics and stabilisation of resource extraction. But they are virtually guaranteed their representation while you are in the almost unique position of representing the ‘outsider view’, which is definitely not a minority in this game. High Sec centric pvp focus with a weekly view of what it is like to enter null as as blob of unknowns is a surprisingly deep engagement with the game for how casual it seems.
As for a platform from which to run, i have only one humble suggestion:
Breadth is every bit as important as depth, both in pvp and in industry. I feel that we currently have large problems with low security and null sec that draw focus negatively onto high security space, not because there is nothing to have in null, but that the ‘scraps from the lord’s table’ just aren’t enticing enough.
Null sec blocs SHOULD dominate null and effective corps should have the transitory power they have in low, but a certain ‘something’ (sorry I cannot be more specific, but I am far from a game dev and don’t wish to spout an answer I don’t really have) should be there that makes it worth braving the risks. Epic arcs for Guri and Angels did this for me, but that’s a fleeting few hours at most, then a 3 month cool down.
Some form of fleeting, easily depleted (slowly recuperating to prevent ‘sit and farm’ mentality) resource or activity for roaming individuals, be they curious outsiders or enterprising little fish in big alliances, would go a long way to giving that feeling of enormousness that every noob feels, back to even the oldest players if/when they choose to engage.
Pulling back out to a big picture view, it is my opinion that a solid objective for a running platform is a focus on the middle ground between blocs and individuals. We usually get one special interest high sec CSM and a load of bloc CSM, so their platforms/representation of their advocates is secured. Look for the areas between perceived endgame and perceived starter content, where little touches or the re-appropriation of existing material may add value (for example ring mining for moon resources [static content made dynamic] is performed in an ‘exotic environment’ [no local chat presence/perception while in said environment, has other effects in addition] – essentially a re-appropriation of elements of moon mining, traditional mining and wh mechanics in a micro environment).
This has gone on a bit, but I wish you the best of luck. My examples above may be industry-centric, but i am sure that others can transpose the concepts to pvp/pve combat scenarios – as a casual pvper my differentiation between types of pvp is too weak to really draw good examples.
Aelisha – @NisabaSyndicate
Why do you have to ask what your platform is? We’re about having fun manufacturing spaceship explosions, right? You’re about having fun with spaceship explosions, right? Your platform is pro fun and pro spaceship explosion.
Could always run on a platform of bigger explosions, more fire, and the like.
Seriously tho, RvB is a unique entity in Eve that counters the idea that high sec is carebear-land and the only way to pvp is through going to low/null or things like wardec griefing. Agony & Eve Uni present similar, but different ideas that complement what RvB offers. I think low/null could benefit from more opportunities for the average joe instead of the “scraps from the lord’s table” available now as one player put it. Maybe it could be through missions that originate in high, or mebbe through more or better scan sites. I also think high could benefit from more opportunities for consentual pvp similar to what rvb provides. Perhaps it’d be as simple as creating the concept of lowsec islands or ccp-sponsored ffa’s or some other form. Mebbe some sort of game system where people could sign up for a daily brawl somewhere or teams or whatever. Mebbe newbies could have regular ffa’s in noobships, something funny there anyhow, I don’t know. More likely it’d be a lot more complicated than that, so as not to upset the balance of play too much or create something else for the power blocs to dominate. Some way to lower the barrier to entry, like CCP already seems to be leaning towards. Sure you’ll come up with something. I’d vote for you w/ my three accounts anyhow. Also, tho I haven’t been on in awhile, Red Fed Best Fed.
Buff Rifters…..
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