Continuing commentary driven by the CapStable interviews. I realize that my sequence here is a bit out of order. My podcast playing sometimes ends up picking up the more recent interview rather than the oldest. We have a very interesting batch here.
Top Notch Candidates
Sion Kumitomo (CFC official candidate, Null)
Any discussion of the official CSM Incumbent representing CFC comes with the understanding that he will be reelected. Period. End of Story. With that said he could have simply chosen not to even bother having an interview with CapStable. What we see with Sion in his interview is a calm, intellectual statesman like we have not seen in any previous interview. If we still had a CSM Chairman then this interview would be a great argument for why he should hold that role. The interview is very worth listening to primarily for the discussion of the relationship between the CSM and CCP, with the related sidebar on his opinions on Xander Phoena as a bonus for those looking for a bit of political bloodletting. I think it is also interesting to hear Sion praise the hard word of Sugar Kyle, Corbexx, and Steve Ronuken for the very reason that he has no need to seek favor from such. (Forum Thread)(Podcast)
Steve Ronuken (API, Industry, High Sec)
CSM Incumbent. The past year has seen a blossoming of the Eve API thanks to CCP Foxfour and by all accounts Steve Ronuken has been a big part of that on the CSM. The stereotype of a technical expert seems to fit Steve well. He's not a big communicator (check out his blog), he's not a politician from a big bloc, he's not a high-profile streamer. He just solidly gets the job done that he set out to do, as reported by his fellow CSMs, CCP, and the people who use his tools (such as the Eve SSO library mentioned in this interview). The CSM would not do well full of people like Steve, perhaps only needing one person like him, and by that (perhaps circular) logic then we'll all be well served to see him on CSM X.(Forum Thread)(Podcast)
Any discussion of the official CSM Incumbent representing CFC comes with the understanding that he will be reelected. Period. End of Story. With that said he could have simply chosen not to even bother having an interview with CapStable. What we see with Sion in his interview is a calm, intellectual statesman like we have not seen in any previous interview. If we still had a CSM Chairman then this interview would be a great argument for why he should hold that role. The interview is very worth listening to primarily for the discussion of the relationship between the CSM and CCP, with the related sidebar on his opinions on Xander Phoena as a bonus for those looking for a bit of political bloodletting. I think it is also interesting to hear Sion praise the hard word of Sugar Kyle, Corbexx, and Steve Ronuken for the very reason that he has no need to seek favor from such. (Forum Thread)(Podcast)
Steve Ronuken (API, Industry, High Sec)
CSM Incumbent. The past year has seen a blossoming of the Eve API thanks to CCP Foxfour and by all accounts Steve Ronuken has been a big part of that on the CSM. The stereotype of a technical expert seems to fit Steve well. He's not a big communicator (check out his blog), he's not a politician from a big bloc, he's not a high-profile streamer. He just solidly gets the job done that he set out to do, as reported by his fellow CSMs, CCP, and the people who use his tools (such as the Eve SSO library mentioned in this interview). The CSM would not do well full of people like Steve, perhaps only needing one person like him, and by that (perhaps circular) logic then we'll all be well served to see him on CSM X.(Forum Thread)(Podcast)
Interesting Candidates
Brave (if not all of HERO) will surely rally support behind Cagali Cagali. His enthusiasm is undeniable. With that block of votes behind him, I expect he'll be there to push the New Player Experience. I just didn't get the feeling of a great CSM candidate here. There wasn't a feeling of confidence here, a sense of purpose besides "help all the newbies", and perhaps most importantly a vision for sov-null that can stand up to the weight of that topic. Was this someone just unprepared for the interview, someone too busy with their other Eve duties, or someone just plain not ready for something like the CSM? Listen the podcast, check out his thread and decide for yourself. (Forum Thread)(Podcast)
Tora Bushido (HighSec Mercenary, Eve is Evil)
Marmite leader Tora Bushido proclaims that his mission is to make Eve more Evil, a platform that will appeal to many just for that soundbite I'm sure. Beyond that he comes across a lot more reasonable than you might expect. He advocates for moving away from AFK gameplay, from mining to AFK cloaking, including a suggestion on his forum thread that you should have to hit a button every 30 minutes to stay logged in. His thread also has a number of ideas that could be seen as making things harder for high-sec mercs/griefers like Marmite. However, in the interview he wants to "un-nerf" many of the recent changes so if you like where Eve is now, you may not like the past-is-future view. Nonetheless, if you'd formed an opinion on his CSM candidacy based on your opinion of Marmite, I'd recommend you look things over and see if it changes your mind.
(Podcast)(Forum thread)
Bobmon (Nullsec)
He's perhaps best known right now for his age, and honestly I think that carries over into this interview. He is an enthusiastic player and promoter of the game, but I don't really get what he brings as a CSM candidate. He seems more reactionary in wanting to undo recent changes, for instance complaining in the interview that he can't cyno his BLOPS all over the universe all night like he used to. If he didn't get that risk-free long range movement was exactly the problem then I'm not sure really what he understands.(Forum thread)(Podcast)
Not worth your time, move along capsuleer
Loreli Ierendi (High Sec, Carebear vs Gankers, NPE, Wardecs)
So I completely understand the argument that "people should be able to play Eve without using Google" and I appreciate wanting CCP to back up the idea of the professions listed on the website, but I'm not really sure what Loreli is trying to bring to the table here. While I understand people focusing on one part of the game, in a CSM I do expect that they have a bit of a clue about the major other sectors of the game. The stumbling conversation about wormholes compared to highsec felt more like Bhock trying to pull the conversation forward. Some of his other ideas seem way out of the feel for what Eve (forcing some way to make a ganker vs miner a "fair" fight) is all about or similarly seems infeasible (wall of shame for bans). Overall not someone who seems to be ready and able to swing in there with the CSM level discussions. (Forum thread)(Podcast)
So I completely understand the argument that "people should be able to play Eve without using Google" and I appreciate wanting CCP to back up the idea of the professions listed on the website, but I'm not really sure what Loreli is trying to bring to the table here. While I understand people focusing on one part of the game, in a CSM I do expect that they have a bit of a clue about the major other sectors of the game. The stumbling conversation about wormholes compared to highsec felt more like Bhock trying to pull the conversation forward. Some of his other ideas seem way out of the feel for what Eve (forcing some way to make a ganker vs miner a "fair" fight) is all about or similarly seems infeasible (wall of shame for bans). Overall not someone who seems to be ready and able to swing in there with the CSM level discussions. (Forum thread)(Podcast)
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