Helen Highwater for CSM

I've been playing Eve for more than two years now and I remember the introduction of the Council of Stellar Management. Like many players I was unconvinced at first by the rhetoric from CCP about player driven development goals and accountability to the community. As time has passed however and the third iteration of the CSM draws to a close, it's pretty obvious to anyone but the most jaded cynic that this has, in fact, happened. Issues raised by the first and second CSM are now finding their way into the game, and not just minor aesthetic tweaks but massive redesigns of core systems. As someone who is fiercely enthusiastic about the future of Eve, professionally involved in games design and more than normally interested in community issues within games I will be applying as a candidate for the fourth CSM.

Who Am I?

So, firstly then, let's get some biographical info out of the way. My real name is Iain Compton, I am British although I live and work in Germany currently. I work as a games designer for a studio that is developing an online FPS and I have previously worked on two different MMOs (Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer: Age of Reckoning) as a community manager. Prior to that I worked for Games Workshop in a variety of roles from games developer to White Dwarf staffer.

In-game my main is Helen Highwater who is a not very specialised Gallente combat character. She can fly most sub-caps pretty well and prefers fleet engagements to solo encounters. This character is in a Goonfleet corporation at present, fighting alongside some internet friends that I've known for some years. Before that I was flying with two different sets of real-life friends in corps that are now sadly gone. As you can guess from this, community and personal attachment is important to me, I fly with friends because the game is better when you know the people behind the character names. I also have a second account which contains an industrialist character called Krette Yn. He sits in Empire inventing and manufacturing a wide range of ships and modules for the local mission runners. Mostly he has introduced me to the joy of spreadsheets.

Personal details aside what would I bring to the CSM?

• A blend of community experience along with game design knowledge. I've worked in both fields for more than ten years and I believe this fusion of skills would be invaluable for the CSM.
• A deep appreciation for Eve as a unique experience within the MMO industry. I love Eve for all the things that make it different to other games. Improving that experience while not compromising on the uniqueness of the game is something I am excited about.
• A strong understanding of many different playstyles and gameplay choices within Eve. I've been a part of 1000 pilot per side battles as well as 3 man gangs. I've been a mission runner, an inventor, a trader, a war-scout, a fleet commander and a warrior-bee. I've lived in Empire and in 0.0. I'm a member of one of the biggest alliances in the game now but I've also been part of a 0.0 holding alliance that was mostly comprised of a few dozen real-life friends. I've experienced victory on a grand scale and I've been on the wrong end of a crushing defeat that destroyed our holdings and everything we had worked for.
• An ability to take ideas in a rough form and turn them into workable suggestions. One of my key skills in my day job is to take a problem, consider some potential solutions and then to refine those ideas and spot issues that would cause further problems.

My goals for the CSM

As I'm writing this, the game is on the verge of one of the most profound shakeups in its history. We're two days past Fanfest and we have some sketchy dev blogs as well as some vague keynotes dealing with the upcoming sovereignty changes. Alongside the sov changes are a host of economic adjustments and, of course, the much discussed Dust 514 game. All of these topics are being hotly debated at the moment on fan-sites, guild forums and the official boards. I'm excited about the prospects that have been revealed so far but it's fair to say that opinion is sharply divided on many points. It's probably the case that at least some of the objections will be assuaged as more details are released, however it's likely that some serious issues may remain once Dominion is deployed. My priority will be to bring forwards any such issues and to make sure that unforeseen side effects of such a wide ranging set of changes are addressed as quickly as possible. Also I will be highlighting areas where the implementation has failed to achieve the design goals. Once the dust has settled a little and the situation is clearer, I will be pushing for blurrier edges in the game.

What are these 'blurry edges'

Basically they refer to the categories that pilots and corporations tend to put themselves in. Mostly they involve gameplay choices but not always. I would like it to be easier to make a transition from one area of the game to another, whether we're talking about mission runners getting PvP experience or corporations moving between high-sec, low-sec and 0.0. I'd like to see players and corporations seamlessly moving around and sampling all that the game has to offer without needing to uproot themselves and start again. I'd like to see these sort of transitions become something that you can do casually without fear and without massive upheaval. There are many ways in which this can be accomplished and not all of them involve major game changes. In some cases it's purely a matter of making existing tools more visible and improving their usability.

Additionally I'd like to address the new user experience and the initial complexity that drives away so many potential players. I'm sure many of us have managed to persuade a friend to join only to see that person quit while still in the trial period because the game seemed impenetrable and over-complex. I have no desire to 'dumb-down' Eve or to make it any less harsh a universe but there's a marked difference between making the universe newbie friendly and doing the same for the game. One specific thing I'd like to push for on this front is the removal of learning skills. Currently they are nothing more than a barrier to new players, a wall they have to climb to be able to play on even terms with the rest of us. They don't add anything to the game, they don't open up cool new ships or playstyles, they simply serve as a speedbump between training up skills that do make the character more fun to play. I'd propose that all newly created characters get a bonus of +9 to all stats and a flag that makes them unable to use the existing learning skill books.

Beyond that, I'd like to make Eve a better experience for all of us no matter where you play or how you spend your time in-game. Vote for me and I'll represent you, whoever you are.

Updates!

I've opened a thread on the Eve forums where my platform is being discussed. Not unexpectedly a lot of the discussion is about my Alliance tag rather than my actual positions but I'm happy to talk out any issues that people have.

Additionally, Zarch AlDain from Eve Tribune interviewed me and you can read the transcript here.

5th November

Planet Risk hosted a live podcast about the CSM last night where I joined in with three other candidates to introduce ourselves and answer questions about our platforms and candidacy. You can download or stream it from the Planet Risk website. As well as questions from the presenters we also took questions from each other and from the live audience ingame.

12th November

Voting is now open! I've been answering a few questions about my platform on the Eve-Online forums, please take a moment to read that thread and I'll be happy to answer any additional questions you may have there.