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Choose my Adventure: Turpen dings 15, awaits guidance
WoW.com readers, it's up to you to decide the fate of Turpen the Gnome Warlock with Choose My Adventure. Help test the site's new features by participating in this event, casting your vote toward the many aspects of Turpen and following his exploits on Alex Ziebart's WoW.com profile!It hasn't quite been a week since I started this adventure, but Tuesdays (or around there) will be the days you'll be seeing on-the-front-page updates for Turpen the Gnome Warlock from here on out. For everything in between that, keep an eye on my WoW.com profile. Whether you do that by bookmarking my profile or adding it to your feed, that's completely up to you! So with that said, what's gone down since this project began?What's Old is New AgainSince the character I was told to roll was a Gnome, I naturally started leveling in Dun Morogh. Despite how many Alliance characters I have, this is probably the starting zone I've done the least. I never really liked it, and to be completely honest... I don't normally do the Gnome/Dwarf thing. I don't really like them much. I love the aesthetics of Draenei and Humans, and I think the Human lore in WoW is awesome. I generally stick to those. Dun Morogh was a relatively fresh experience.
EVE Online's 3rd CSM election polls close tomorrow
If you've been following Massively's EVE Online coverage over the past few months, you'll no doubt have noticed we've written about the game's Council of Stellar Management (CSM). The CSM is a body of players elected by their fellow players, who represent the interests of the game's subscribers and work with CCP Games to ensure that development and balancing are driving the game forward in ways the gamers like. Opinion remains divided on the CSM, of course, but we think it's an interesting concept; developers letting the players have a say in a game's development pipeline is something that's very rare in the MMO industry. We'd just like to post a reminder to our readers that the 3rd CSM election polls close tomorrow, May 26th. If you've been considering voting, check out what the candidates have to say about themselves and about EVE in the Jita Park Speakers Corner, a section of the EVE Online forums where each candidate explains their respective election platforms. There's still time left, so be sure to make your vote count.
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.
The Council of Stellar Management's impact on the game
Massively: Was giving the players this degree of input a frightening prospect for the developers and the designers? Pétur: [Laughs] Yes. I've been hearing the other companies in the industry asking if we've completely lost our minds. Of course it's a difficult step, but we wouldn't have have a game without the players, so I think it's a logical step to take. Even though it's a frightening one. Massively: Now that you've been doing this for a while, is it still as frightening now, seeing what the CSM is coming up with? Pétur: No. They still surprise us sometimes but in a good way. It's becoming a very valuable tool for us to have. It's important. Dr. EyjoG: Pétur and I work in the unit of Research and Statistics and what we are increasingly finding happening over the past two months is that the developers come to us and ask 'What do you think the CSM would think of this?' And now we can answer, 'Well, just ask them.' Pétur: There are at least three cases off the top of my head where the CSM was asked by the developers themselves about a feature they were thinking about, what the players' take on this might be.
Electronic voting outlawed in Ireland, Michael Flatley DVDs okay for now
Yes, it's another international blow for electronic voting. We've seen the things proven to be insecure, illegal, and, most recently, unconstitutional. Now the Emerald Isle is taking a similar step, scrapping an e-voting network that has cost €51 million to develop (about $66 million) in favor of good 'ol paper ballots. With that crisis averted Irish politicians can get back to what they do best: blaming each other for wasting €51 million in taxpayer money.[Via Techdirt]
German court finds 2005 e-voting was unconstitutional, uncool
Oh, e-voting machines... ever since they arrived on the scene to challenge old timey lever-laden beasts of yore (not to mention pencils and paper, if you remember what those are), there have been numberless examples of their hackability, their unreliable software, and the general mayhem caused by not having a paper trail in elections. It's been a fun ride, but one that's causing a ruckus in Germany... almost four years after the fact, anyway. That's right, the country's highest court has ruled that the 2005 General Election was, in fact, unconstitutional, after the use of e-voting machines was challenged by a father and son team. The ruling states that while the voting was unconstitutional (read: illegal) because the software used on the machines is unreliable, they have not proven that any mistakes were made, nor do they rule out the possibility of using such machines in the future, when stuff will be cooler and work better.
Activision Blizzard voted most likely to succeed
An industry survey put together by GI.biz has voted WoW's own Activision Blizzard as the most likely videogame publisher to succeed in 2009. Not that surprising -- not only do they have the Warcraft behemoth under their belt, but Starcraft 2 is rumored for a release this year, as is a sequel to 2007's best selling game, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and a Guitar Hero spinoff called DJ Hero.And who knows what BlizzCon will hold -- even though we're only now reaching the steps of Icecrown, the time is ripe for Blizzard to start hinting at content patches that come after 3.1, or maybe even expansion number three. Blizzard and their parent company at Activision are on top of the world right now, so there's no question why 30% of the industry folks surveyed said they'd have the biggest 2009 around. We can't wait.[via Joystiq]
2008 Best App Ever awards voting is underway
The nominations are out and voting has begun for the "Best App Ever" awards for 2008, recognizing the best iPhone and iPod touch apps of the year. Nominations have already happened -- the public submitted almost 18,000 nominations, and a panel of developers and experts was assembled to finalize the choices. You can vote right now over on the website for the winners in categories like "Best App Ever," "Best Musical App," and "Most Creative Use of IPhone Hardware" all the way down to "Best Word Game."Quite a list of choices. Voting ends on January 6th (so get started testing those apps if there are some in here you've never heard of), and the winners will be announced next week at Macworld Expo.Unfortunately, the App Store changes so fast and is so varied that some of the most useful apps (SnapTell Explorer is in for the hardware award, but it's missing on the "Most Useful" list) are not on the list in favor of more popular or well-known apps (Weightbot is a great app and very well done, but "Most Innovative"? And you know how I feel about Ocarina). Still, as a popularity contest, it'll be fun to see what comes out as the winners, and I can guarantee that in all of the many categories presented, there are a few really great apps that will come to your attention for the first time.
Estonia to allow citizens to vote via cellphone by 2011
Brutal honesty here: on election day this past November, the entire Engadget staff (well, those of us with US passports) collectively agreed that casting our vote via SMS or some other incredibly simple method would be infinitely more awesome than trudging out in the streets and waiting in hour-long lines. Clearly, some higher-ups in Estonia are on board with that concept, as its Parliament has approved a law that will likely make it the first nation on Planet Earth to give citizens the right to vote by phone in something that matters (American Idol notwithstanding). 'Course, those who choose to take advantage must first obtain a free authorization chip for their handset, which sort of kills the whole "not having to leave your house" aspect of all this. Ah well, at least we're moving in the right direction.
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.
Diebold's e-voting machines violate GPL, good taste
Diebold just can't seem to keep its nose clean these days. The nation's largest manufacturer of ATMs admitted not too long ago what everybody already knew: that their e-voting machines were totally bunk. Apparently in the course of that investigation it emerged that the company also thought it would be a laugh to load the open source Ghostscript Postscript interpreter software into those faulty machines without releasing its changes or paying the proprietary usage license fee -- leading Aritex, its developer, to file a lawsuit. It doesn't really instill confidence any further to hear that our nation's terrible electronic voting machines are running on stolen software, guys -- and to be honest, we're kinda starting to wish you'd get out of the ATM business, too.
EVE's second Council of Stellar Management applicants announced
EVE Online differs from other MMOs in a number of ways. Differences in game mechanics and setting aside, even the dynamics among the players is different than with your standard sharded MMO. The single server approach puts all of the players in one world, sometimes creating a tense social dynamic between the players, and especially between CCP Games and the EVE subscribers. The player-elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM) is an attempt to have a group of players bridge this gap, and represent the interests of the playerbase as a whole by advising CCP on how to keep the game in step with what the players want. Although the first CSM is still in office, the next election process is well underway. EVE dev CCP Diagoras posted a breakdown of the applications for the second Council of Stellar Management, listing statistics and information about those who have their eyes set on a place among the CSM, and plenty to read about each of the individuals in the running.
Princeton publishes how-to guide for hacking Sequoia e-voting machines
If you're American, it's nearly time to do your civic duty and pick the lesser of two evils for the greater good... and then to wonder if that vote actually got counted. With Diebold admitting its own machines are utterly insecure, competitor Sequoia is now under the microscope and, after a little quality time with the company's machines, Princeton researchers have filed a 158 page report on the ease of replacing their ROMs and winning yourself an election. Okay, we know what you're thinking: "Hacking hardware isn't exactly easy when the computer is in a locked box." Amazingly, it is. A researcher was able to bypass the physical security mechanisms in 13 seconds, despite never having picked a lock before. Now you're thinking: "But you'd need to do that on hundreds of them!" Not so; once infected that malicious code can spread itself to others, and, with no paper trail and an easily bypassed internal audit system, you're well on your way to whatever dark corner of Washington, D.C. you care to occupy![Via Ars Technica]
EVE's second CSM election process begins
CCP Games announced that it's time for EVE Online's next Council of Stellar Management election process to begin. Here's the message from the Council Election page: "The second democratic elections in EVE will start the 7th of November. Here you can enter your application to run as a candidate for the election. You will run under your real name with an EVE identity for others to relate to. You will have to be ready to appear in public or in mediums. Your account has to be older than 30 days. You are required to put effort into your position. Yet serving the EVE population is well worth it. Get all the necessary information here. Throw your hat in the ring and make history." Interested candidates will need to have their information submitted to CCP no later than October 17th (extended from their previous announcement that stated October 10th). The application, which requires a candidate to scan and submit an image of their passport, states: It is important to notice that your real life name, country, character name, campaign webpage and campaign message will be made public and available for everyone to see. Players elected to the Council of Stellar Management may also be required to appear on EVE-TV (should it make a comeback) and E-ON magazine, in addition to being willing and able to make the trip to Iceland.
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:
You choose Battlefield Bad Company Conquest maps
Already registered via Xbox Live to vote in November's general election? Here's a different vote to rock: EA is letting players have a say in which two existing Battlefield: Bad Company multiplayer maps will be tweaked to become Conquest battlegrounds when the free Conquest Map Pack deploys this fall.The six maps are up for vote at EA's Bad Company site, and include Acta Non Verba, Crossing Over, Par for the Course, Ghost Town, Welcome to Bad Company, and Crash and Grab. Developer DICE will pick the two top vote-getters on September 2. The golf course themed Par for the Course is currently way out in front, but, hey, you might change that. DICE is working on two more Conquest maps to join the fan favorites.By the way, we've checked, and your vote really will count. You know, unlike a certain Spider-Man: Web of Shadows poll Activision conducted last month.
Diebold comes clean, admits that its e-voting machines are faulty
For years, Diebold has embarrassed itself by claiming that obvious faults were actually not faults at all, and during the past decade or so, it mastered the act of pointing the finger. Now that it has ironically renamed itself Premier Election Solutions, it's finally coming clean. According to spokesman Chris Riggall, a "critical programming error that can cause votes to be dropped while being electronically transferred from memory cards to a central tallying point" has been part of the software for ten years. The flaw is on both optical scan and touchscreen machines, and while Mr. Riggall asserts that the logic error probably didn't ruin any elections (speaking of logic error...), the outfit's president has confessed to being "distressed" about the ordeal. More like "distressed" about the increasingly bleak future of his company.[Via Techdirt]
Unloved e-voting machines cluttering warehouses, losing value fast
Just as the world's landfills could soon see an influx of unwanted televisions, many American warehouses are packed with e-voting machines that once held promise for a better way to vote. Instead, they turned into a multi-year fiasco, with hackers figuring out how to do everything save for their income taxes on 'em and states reverting back to less vulnerable methods. Now, many states are scrambling for ways to recoup costs, even for outlets that will take them in for recycling. Oddly, Ohio cannot ditch the systems it purchased until a couple of related lawsuits get dealt with. The result? Buckeyes will probably still be using e-voting machines come November.[Via Slashdot, image courtesy of BradBlog]
Delegates for EVE's first council of stellar management announced
The voting for the first EVE Online CSM closed just a few days ago, but already CCP has announced the nine lucky players that will compose the first Council of Stellar Management. Andrew Cruse (Jade Constantine) managed to beat out Niall Dologhan (Hardin) by a matter of only a few dozen votes, to be the CSM's first chairman. The post at the official EVE Online website includes a number of details about the voting process, including a great deal of demographic information. The first order of business for the Council will be to elect a vice-chairman, secretary and vice-secretary.Some 24,651 votes were cast, out of a pool of 222,422 eligible voters. That's a turnout of 11%; not great, but not bad for a first effort either. Most of the votes were cast by veteran players, with an average account age of 1.77 years. Most of the votes came from the US, roughly 32% of all the votes cast. The next most involved countries were the UK, Germany, Russia, and Canada. These percentages roughly align with the countries representation in the player population. Congratulations to the new CSM delegates. For a full list of your new representatives, read on below the cut.
Voting begins for EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management
Voting for EVE Online's highly-anticipated Council of Stellar Management has begun. This long-in-the-works experiment in player participation will be running through the 19th of the month. From the huge number of initial applications the field has been reduced down to a group of 64 candidates.The EVE site's voting page offers the candidate's in-game portrait and a link to their personal site, so you can get a sense of what their position is like. The developers and designers at CCP are obviously very hopeful about this experiment in player/publisher relationships, and we'll keep you abreast of details as they become available.Anyone willing to share who they're voting for, and why?
