The Hustings

I am buying CSM votes. Yes, I put that out there right in public, right now, no mincing my words. it's fucking #metagaming motherfuckers. I have ISK, wads thereof, and you have votes. Capitalist market theory dictates that according to needs and desires we ought to find one another, like star-crossed ships in the night, and bump transaction uglies.

It's only 1.01 ISK, paid up front, with good e-honour expectations that you will carry through with your threat to vote for me. I mean, I live in wormholes, we have a Code and everything. maybe it doesn't extend to bribing people with comically small amounts of ISK to vote in imaginary space game fake democracy, but whatever, I'll stretch that far.

Realistically, there's no picking winners. I'd like to see Corbexx getting up. He's been a good CSM member the past year, in a CSM which was to all intents and purposes a better CSm than the year before. There were some deadweights but more members than ever seemed to have their shit together.

But Corbexx was outstanding. He fact-checked (bodychecked) CCP on the blue poo issue with low-end wormhole PVE, resulting in a significant buff to income, and a significant buff to low-class wormhole activty. having a N766 C2 static went from a disappointment to a viable way for people to bang out a few ISK when solo.

That came at great cost to the man, as he used what can best be described as the freight train approach to the issue of what was the ISK/hr rate for each PVE activity level.This has actually spawned a series of questions on the forum thread about anyone's ability (specifically mine) to devote enough time to being CSM, as if being CSM is something which requires brute force solving of problems.

The TF approach to this is to maybe not actually spend 3 months on SiSi putting theory into practise.

Take C4 sites. I took an hypothetical gang size of 6, knuckled down on 2 Guardians, took into account the spawn distances of the rats, the need for damage projection and tank to be balanced out, and spent 2 days in PYFA fuckassing about with options. I looked at T3's, command ships, everything, and voila, we have our Cruise Typhoon ratting doctrine. 6 guys field 3800 DPS with 118km range, MJDs, etc. For a given gang size of 6, leaving aside wormhole effects, that's the ideal setup. It took some proving to the doubters, but now we've settled the issue.

I may not win, but I really wonder about a community which expects their CSM representatives to do things the Corbexx way.

Looking at the other candidates, some have their shit together, others really don't. The highsec candidates positions are lopsided and myopic at times, but what do you expect? Highsec isn't going to change anytime soon in the PVP arena, it'll be guys "PVPing" on undock and running ever more ludicrous amounts of war decs for 50M a pop. PVE will still basically be dominated by incursions and semi-AFK miners.

The lowsec guys seem OK but a few seem to have vague and half-formed plans and misty ideas. Which is to be expected - the consensus of everyone seems to be that lowsec is fine, don't fix it. Maybe having a clear position on something here might hurt, but I doubt any pirates are looking to wormholers for leadership, and the FW guys won't want to hear the 'nerf FW missions' agenda.

Nullsec? Well, again, the consensus is that the urgent action needs to be sovereignty. What that is seems badly defined. But we do need sov mechanics looked at, and I think it's pretty poor form if you can't adopt a position coming into the CSM even from outside nullsec.

This is where i would lay my criticism of Corbexx down. he's avoided answering lowsec questions, and is steering clear of anything not related to wormholes. That's honest and clearly he's focused on not sticking his finger in pies he doesn't understand.

it would be a great game, EVE, if everyone could just stick to one corner of space and do nothing, think nothing beyond their next roid or mission or anomaly. But it would also be good to think that someone on the CSM would be able to consult widely, be able to get their head around any proposed changes to sov or lowsec, and devote their talents to it.

I've done a bit of everything, and kept my ears and eyes and mind open, and kept talking to people and debating with k-space people, even though I'm buttoned up inside a C4 in Siberia Gula mode. Why? because in a year or two, if there's an opportunity to be struck, I want a sov mechanic where I can take prolapse. out and shit in someone's cornflakes in nullsec and have fun dying trying and know that everyone elected to the CSm gave that cornflake shit and didn't decide to hold back on an opinion - and boy, have I got opinions!

Vote TF for max cornflakes.