Trebor-Daehdoow
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How one player helped to reform EVE Online's election system
Last year EVE Online players were given the news that the standard method of voting in members of the Council of Stellar Management was on its way out, with a new voting system put in place that allowed players to rank 14 of their favorite candidates. The story behind that change is a fascinating one, relayed to us by the PA Report. In short, CSM official Trebor Daehdoow (just read that backwards) realized that the old system was proving too divisive and allowed middling personalities to get elected due to the stronger ones splitting the vote. He used his influence on the council to push for a new "Australian-style multi-seat election" to allow players to nominate several of their favorites instead. The end result was an election in which the candidates cooperated rather than competed and players had more of a say. Daehdoow is happy with the legacy that he's leaving behind: "It had exactly the results I had hoped. It elected a bunch of diverse and really hard-working, knowledgeable people. The strongest people got elected. We got the best blogger in the game, Ripard Teg. He couldn't even get elected a couple years ago. This year, because people didn't have to tactical vote, he came in second."
Massively's EVE Online CSM Interview -- Community backlash
In an effort to get players more involved in the development process of EVE Online, CCP Games began the Council of Stellar Management programme back in 2008. Twice per year, developers meet up with this democratically elected group of players to discuss issues ranging from bug-fixes and balance tweaks to feedback on future expansions and how players recieved the previous expansion. The latest summit was not without its troubles, with chairwoman Mynxee and council member Ankhesentapemkah expressing their concern over CCP's attitude during the summit. In the first of our two-part interview with EVE's Council of Stellar Management, we asked some general questions about how the summit went and what could be done to improve the CSM process. We gained valuable insight into what exactly CCP committed to do this term, what happens to ideas put forward by the CSM after approval and what's being done to improve communication between the council and CCP. In this vital second part of the interview, we moved on to more hard-hitting questions on player reactions to the summit meeting minutes, CCP's current assignment of development resources and whether the council can really achieve anything over the next 18 months. Skip past the cut for an illuminating look at the council's opinion on these explosive issues.
Massively's EVE Online CSM Interview -- The summit
When it comes to getting players involved in the development process, EVE Online's democratically elected Council of Stellar Management has up until now been a clear success. Previous council members have managed to get some important features implemented in the game and helped CCP with feedback on up-coming expansions. Last month, members of the fifth council met with CCP in Iceland for the first of their twice-yearly development summits. In meetings with developers, they put forward issues deemed important by the player-base. Initial impressions from the summit appeared grim, with both chairwoman Mynxee and council member Ankhesentapemkah voicing concerns on their personal blogs. Players were left waiting for the official meeting minutes to be published so they could decide for themselves whether or not those concerns were justified. The summit meeting minutes were released last week to some strong reactions within the community. The bulk of the negative reactions seemed to stem from CCP's inability to commit definite resources to any CSM issues. The community backlash was further amplified by a later devblog setting out CCP's current development schedule for the next 18 months. Of course, the people best qualified to talk about how the summit went are the council delegates themselves. Having been present at the meetings and knowing more about CCP's future expansion plans than the rest of the player-base, members of the council should have a much clearer picture of the state of play than the average player. To help clarify some of the community's biggest issues, Massively caught up with the CSM delegates and asked them some important questions about the summit and CCP's current development plans. In this first of our collossal two-part interview with EVE's Council of Stellar Management, I probe members of the council for their thoughts on the summit.
