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CCP releases EVE's emergency CSM meeting minutes
There's no drama like internet spaceship drama, and the boohoos stemming from last summer's EVE Online Incarna expansion -- and the associated monoclegate controversy -- continue to make waves. CCP has finally gotten around to releasing the minutes from the "emergency" Council of Stellar Management meeting that took place in Iceland from June 30th through July 1st. According to CCP Xhagen, the lengthy delay was due to the fact that "it takes time to create a document that everyone can accept. It is important to keep in mind that CSM meeting minutes are not released unless both CCP and the CSM give their approval." The document summarizes the discussions and presents the brouhaha surrounding captain's quarters performance, the Noble Exchange, and CCP's future plans for virtual goods from the perspective of both devs and player representatives. The PDF ultimately serves as a useful summary of EVE's latest drama explosion, and you can read it in its entirety by following the link below.
EVE's 4th CSM election results are in
Election results for EVE Online's 4th Council of Stellar Management (CSM) are in. The CSM are players elected by the game's subscribers, given the responsibility of representing the collective interests of the playerbase to EVE Online's developer CCP Games. The hope is that future game changes and features will be in keeping with how the subscribers like to play EVE. The announcement from EVE developer CCP Xhagen earlier today lists the election results by real name, character name, location and number of votes:
EVE Online's candidates for 4th Council of Stellar Management announced
The roster of candidates for the 4th Council of Stellar Management (CSM) in EVE Online has been announced. According to CCP Games developer Pétur Jóhannes Óskarsson (aka CCP Xhagen), 60 members of the playerbase submitted applications, with 49 players accepted after CCP's screening process. (Players must hold valid passports to attend the CSM summit in Reykjavik, and those with EULA violations are ineligible to run.) From this pool of 49, there will ultimately be nine elected delegates and five alternates who can step in when needed. Although Xhagen didn't break down candidate stats by nationality, there is a substantial number of U.S. players running for the 4th CSM as in past elections. This time around there are candidates from Latvia, Serbia, and Barbados as well. The ages of candidates range from 21 to 54, and only one female candidate is in the running this term which Xhagen notes is a decrease from the previous election. (He also indicates that only 3.9% of EVE's subscribers are female.)
EVE Online's 3rd CSM election results are in
The Council of Stellar Management (CSM) in EVE Online is a body of players elected by the game's subscribers to represent their interests before CCP Games. We've seen no small amount of debate on the CSM in the comments here at Massively, which is actually indicative of the lengthy and contentious discussions on the CSM that take place on the official forums and unofficial forums alike, as well as on player blogs. We'd already mentioned that the 3rd Council of Stellar Management elections were under way but now those election results are in. Two council members from the 2nd CSM were-elected -- Vuk Lau and Omber Zombie. Dierdra Vaal, who sat on the first CSM, has been elected as well. In fact Vaal garnered the most votes in this election (2967) and is thus the new Chairman of the Council of Stellar Management. 9.7% of EVE Online's playerbase voted in the 3rd Council of Stellar Management election.
EVE's 3rd Council of Stellar Management elections underway
The Council of Stellar Management (CSM) in EVE Online is perhaps the best implementation of governance in the virtual space achieved thus far among the numerous MMOs and virtual worlds, although this concept in the industry is rare. The basic idea behind the CSM is that as the horizons of EVE Online and its subscriber numbers expand, there are many different playstyles to be found in the game. The CSM acts as the voice of the playerbase, advising CCP Games on how best to change or develop the game to suit player interests in a far more direct way than the requisite 'nerf this' or 'boost that' threads on the official forums. The Council of Stellar Management delegates aren't selected by CCP but are elected by the players themselves, which is the subject of the latest dev blog from CCP Xhagen (aka Pétur Jóhannes Óskarsson).EVE Online's 3rd Council of Stellar Management elections are underway. CCP Xhagen's dev blog enumerates some of the CSM's main achievements to date, hopefully providing more incentive for players to vote. (Voter turnout has been lower than hoped, with only 8.6% of the playerbase getting involved, as of the 2nd election.) Massively has covered this idea of player governance in the past through interviews with CCP developers involved with this initiative, but Xhagen's dev blog and its links to EVElopedia provides greater detail into how the CSM operates. The polls close on May 26th, so if you're an EVE Online player, remember to make your vote count.
Call for candidates in EVE Online's player-elected Council of Stellar Management
Lost in the blitz of info about the Apocrypha expansion for EVE Online was the fact that CCP Games announced a call for candidates for the 3rd Council of Stellar Management (CSM). The CSM is a council of representatives of the playerbase, elected by the players themselves, who work with CCP Games to ensure that the development pipeline reflects the interests of the subscribers. Being a CSM delegate can be both time-consuming and stressful, as past and present reps Jade Constantine and LaVista Vista have told us. Still, it offers players a chance at helping to shape the game they love, something which few other MMO developers would ever allow. Already on the CSM's radar for the next group of delegates is reworking (lawless) 0.0 space and its entrenched system of sovereignty, which is no small task.
CCP Games on the extent and impact of EVE's starbase exploit
Massively has been watching the issue of a significant starbase exploit in EVE Online, through which some players reaped vast financial rewards, as it went from rumor to confirmation from the developers themselves. Unlike your average run-of-the-mill exploit in most massively multiplayer online games, the exploit in question has had a significant impact on EVE's virtual economy -- the backbone of the game itself. All players in EVE interact in one vast galaxy, and their actions in the sandbox can create ripples felt by their fellow players, which has certainly been the case in this past week.EVE Online's developer CCP Games has opted to hold off on responding to most press inquiries for comment on the issue, having issued a statement on the matter and then focusing on the investigation and a weekend meeting with EVE's player-elected community representatives, the Council of Stellar Management (CSM). The minutes from that meeting are now available, and several of EVE's developers took part in the discussion: namely CCP's Lead Economist Dr. EyjoG (Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson) and CCP Arkanon -- who heads up the company's Internal Affairs division, which investigates the CCP Games staff themselves, hopefully ensuring that no CCP employee can abuse their influence over the game. Read on for Massively's highlights of the state of affairs in EVE Online, in the wake of the starbase exploit.
Election results from EVE Online's second Council of Stellar Management
EVE Online is notable among MMOs for having a system where players elect other players to become part of a representative body known as the Council of Stellar Management (CSM). The main purpose of the CSM is to represent the interests of the playerbase before the developers at CCP Games and, hopefully, keep the game of EVE in step with how subscribers actually play it. All four of the first CSM delegates who ran for re-election were voted in for the second council. Eva Jobse (aka 'Ankhesentapemkah'), Charlie Eriksen (LaVista Vista), Sean Conover (Darius JOHNSON), and Marcell Tóth (Tusko Hopkins) are all returning for another term. The CSM's new Chairman, having garnered the most votes in the election (2033), is Vuk Lau from 4S Corporation, of Morsus Mihi alliance. Joining them are four new delegates: Valentine Obasuyi (Pattern Clarc), Jeremy Jankie (Omber Zombie), Michele Boland (Issler Dainze), and Ryan Hamilton (Bunyip). According to EVE developer CCP Xhagen, the CSM's first order of business is to elect a vice-chairman, secretary and vice-secretary.
Voting for EVE's second Council of Stellar Management begins
This has been an important week for our American readers in terms of elections, but now that the minor distraction of real-world governance has been dealt with, it's time to focus on governance in the MMO space. You've got to keep those priorities straight, after all.The polls are now open in EVE Online's second Council of Stellar Management (CSM) election, where players can vote for candidates to represent their interests before CCP Games... and potentially impact how the game evolves. We can already sense the impulse someone, or several someones, out there has to comment below: "But why should I bother voting? What do they even do?" And to be fair, it's not been very transparent what the CSM has been up to (aside from the meeting minutes), but more so what effect they've had on EVE and its development pipeline.
EVE Online's first CSM term ending, next approaching
The latest EVE Online dev blog deals with the forthcoming changing of the guard, in terms of the player-elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM). EVE dev CCP Xhagen touched upon the fact that in the nearly 4 months that the first CSM has held office, it became clear(er) to the developers that their own views on some aspects of the game can be differ from how the players see it. While CCP Xhagen didn't list the CSM's accomplishments, he said that some of what the CSM brought to CCP Games won't be implemented until well after the new Council is elected, due to the time it takes to implement changes in the development pipeline. However, some of their efforts "will start to become visible in WAR 1.2 and the winter expansion." He also announced the dates and details for the second Council of Stellar Management, with a few changes made to the rules. CCP Xhagen said, "... the chairman is eligible for the chair-position again should he decide to step down as such and have the CSM vote a new one; 25% of actual voters are required to force a topic up to the CSM; the biggest change is the 21 year age limit to be a valid candidate." In addition, the timetable for the existing CSM stepping down and the newly elected Council moving into their role is as follows:
EVE dev blog: Council of Stellar Management Summit recap
The latest developer blog posted at the EVE Online site is a brief report to the community about last week's Council of Stellar Management (CSM) Summit, the first meeting between the player-elected council of representatives and CCP Games. The CSM Summit gave the delegates a chance to discuss, face-to-face with CCP, how the players they represent would like the game to change. CCP Xhagen reports that CCP views this first meeting as being a 'resounding success.' The CSM delegates were well-prepared and clearly put a lot of time and effort into the topics on the agenda, Xhagen says. The next step in the process is for the discussion topics from the CSM Summit to be sorted in terms of viability and priority. This involves a few factors, namely the time and work required by CCP to implement the game changes. From there, the CSM will prioritize the topics in light of the technical feasibility already established through talks with CCP. Afterwards, the proposed changes will enter development pipelines; future patch notes will indicate which issues or changes are the result of the CSM's efforts. CCP Xhagen cautions that some requests will take longer than others to realize in the game, but stated that the devs will do their best to roll out the changes and communicate timeline estimates. Xhagen finishes by saying, "The most important results of the Summit may not be immediately evident, but the seeds planted by the CSM into the minds of the EVE dev team members are already sprouting."
