[CSM 15] The OZ

Council Of Stellar Management CSM Campaigns
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TLDR / Summary
Positive, constructive, and independent candidate without alliance pressure — Eve market expert since 2004 and new player friendly streamer on Twitch — will push for change because the status quo of abundance is killing content by deterring natural conflict — successful professional who will approach CCP at eye level — hardcore realist focusing efforts on achievable actions

Also check out my campaign video.

Quick intro about me outside of the game:

  • I am 39 and currently living in Germany
  • I have been fortunate to get the chance to live in the US for 10 years, South America for 8 years, Australia for three years and the rest in Europe
  • Professionally, I have spent fifteen years in financial analysis and management consulting and now manage a market data analysis business

My EVE Online story:

I started playing Eve in 2004 and was immediately fascinated by the largely player run game economy and market. Since day one, I have been analyzing the markets, devising strategies - and yes also creating lots of spreadsheets - to gain an advantage over others and make that ISK. While trading has always been by focal point, I have also spent quite a bit of time in wormholes, where I still mainly live as part of a mid-size wormhole corp. I also like to spend time in abyssal space, which in my opinion is the best PvE content CCP has created so far.

Like most of us, I took some longer breaks from the game but was always drawn back in. Two months ago I started streaming on Twitch because I wanted to show new players that it is possible to PLEX an alpha account by station trading only while also teaching them how to do it. The success and positive feedback from the community definitely beat my expectations, so the stream is still going now. My main mission is to attract and retain new players to this fantastic game in order to secure its future.

My areas of expertise:

While I have tinkered in virtually all areas of Eve Online at some point, I am first and foremost a market trader. I have a very clear grasp of the Eve Ecosystem and and drivers that impact it. Every month I analyze the monthly economic report in detail in order to investigate the impacts of patches and player behavior on the in-game economy. I have created a myriad of spreadsheets to conduct my own analysis of the Eve markets, some of which I have shared with the community in order to enable others, especially new players, to become more active in the market.

What qualities set me apart from other candidates?

  1. I am as independent as you can be in Eve. I am not active in any big alliances or corporations and my complete focus is the health of the game. Through my stream and guides I help new players understand and be successful in the game. I invest a lot of personal time into this as I think it is crucial for the overall health of the game.
  2. I embrace change. I don’t cling to the status quo because I am afraid to lose power in the game. In my eyes, this has been a huge issue in the past. Too many changes were not implemented because a very vocal minority was too afraid to marginally adapt their playstyles for the benefit of a potentially healthier ecosystem. These players and candidates have lost sight of the fact that a stale game without natural conflict drivers like resource scarcity lacks appeal and will not attract and retain new players, which is the only thing that will ensure the survival of this game we all love.
  3. I am a hardcore realist because I understand what it means to run a profitable business in the real world. And in the end, that’s what Eve online is to CCP and Pearl Abyss. So I will not waste my and subsequently your time chasing unrealistic measures or campaigns. I will focus on action items that make sense for CCP as a business AND for us as a player base.
  4. I have achieved everything I have set out for in my personal career and my out-of-game life is well balanced. This means I can fully focus on the task at hand and will treat a possible appointment as if it were a professional part-time job. From my professional career I can also draw the confidence to approach CCP and the other CSM members at eye level meaning I will not shy back from intense discussions and I will not rest until I have done everything in my power to get you all what you deserve. A thriving game that you enjoy playing in whatever way you like to.
  5. Having lived on four continents for at least three years each, my extremely international background will allow me to seamlessly connect with players around the world to pool their feedback and effectively serve on the multi cultural institution that is the CSM.

Why am I applying for the CSM?

I love this game and want to play it for many more years. So I want to do my part to ensure that will be possible. While CCP has taken some steps in the right direction lately, I still think there is quite a long way to go and part of that is rebalancing the economy and larger ecosystem, something I have very deep expertise in. I want to help get it there and bring the experience and knowledge to do so.

What can players expect from me?

  • Expect me to to listen to the player base and consider all sides of an issue before making up my mind and arguing for a position.
  • Expect me to be humble towards the player base in light of the big task that you will have given me while confidently stepping up to CCP to effectively communicate our opinions at eye level.
  • Expect me to always come prepared with a structured plan because I will treat this appointment like a professional job.
  • Expect me to be a relentless champion of change. Unlike many other candidates, who cling to the status quo in fear of losing power and/or resources, I will fight for the necessary change to make this great game even better.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this and for considering me as your candidate for CSM 15. If you would like to reach out you can find me here or in game:
Twitch: OZ_Eve

Quick note to better understand my character history: I am running under my public account that I also stream with because it naturally has the best name recognition. Due to the nature of the content I create, that means that it is a fresh account that I created specifically for the stream a few months ago. The corporation I run was just created last week in order to give new traders, who watch the stream, a place to hang out and exchange ideas. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

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Interesting. I will be considering voting for you, actually.

Did EvE influence your choice of RL career, or did young you have an interest in financial systems anyway and EvE was an outlet for the application of that interest?

Change is fine…so long as it is not just change for change’s sake to make folks feel like it is movement / progress without proper consideration of consequences of said change. That is what concerns me.

I like that you are factoring in the real situation of ccpPA being a business and the ramifications of their interests as such on the game world we all enjoy. I think all too many of us don’t factor that in.

07

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:red_circle:

Is that so? Almost all the changes that were introduced in the last 5 years only caused more and more issues with lead to less and less activity. Almost all of the introduced changes had considerable negative outcomes despite statements to the contrary. To me it sounds more like that a vocal minority got their desired changes introduced and the other people that told CCP how this would be very bad were ignored.

And you say you will listen to people and consider all aspects of a thing? I have a hard time believing that.

In other words more money grabs. Good to know. Almost all the changes that were introduced in the last 5 years were very beneficial for CCP’s pockets. Capital proliferation and Rorqual boosting as well as structures and certain new PVE types increased the Omega alt farms considerably which meant a lot more income for CCP. At the same time CCP kept peddling “vanity” items to players who could not even use them outside the character creator. CCP leaped onto the toxic MT market to grab some money instead of going their own way. Not surprisingly all of these aspects that are beneficial to CCP’s wallets lead to a rather terrible gameplay experience.

Looking at all the things you said, you are the perfect fit for the CSM. :innocent:

Oz Isaacs

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I think Lucas Kell has sucked the fight out of me. This is the second post I’ve seen in the past 10 minutes that i strongly disagreed with, yet I struggle to find the motivation to argue about it.

Maybe something is wrong with me.

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Hi Zhalyd, thanks for your reply. Apologies, but it is quite hard to start a discussion when it seems to me like you are pruposely misinterpreting my statements. Nevertheless I will try.

Is that so? Almost all the changes that were introduced in the last 5 years only caused more and more issues with lead to less and less activity.

Let me understand this before replying. You are saying that all the changes were terrible so we should stop changing and leave the game as it is?

In other words more money grabs. Good to know.

Not at all. A change that is good for the player base and will increase the number of players is good from a business perspective. A money grab is a short-term solution that is not good for business in the long-run.

If you would like to have a serious discussion about this, I would humbly request that you stay constructive in your argumentation. I will gladly listen to your point of view. I will even jump on the voice server of your choice to hear you out. I am sure that I will learn something.

Have a great evening.
OZ

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Hi Xuxe_Xu,

Thank you for the reply.

Regarding my RL career, I was already on the finance path when I started playing Eve, so it was a fun application of my interests. Although, there was a game called ‘Capitalism’ in the mid nineties that I played way too much that first sparked my interest in business and finance.

Regarding change, I totally agree. I don’t claim to have all the answers in terms of the consequences of each possible change. But I am quite sure about one thing: regional resource scarcity in some form would certainly drive conflict and conflict is what fuels Eve.

Regardless though, if anyone would like to argue against that, I would love to hear it. I will give anyone a chance to change my mind. Discussion is a beautiful thing and I love to hear new points of views of other players to learn from them.

o7, OZ

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:red_circle:

Well, looks like I am not the only one who purposefully misinterprets what is written. This is not what I have in mind. At all. I want change that is good for the game. Neither Blackout, nor Rorquals, nor structures, nor capital proliferation, nor overpowered Trig Crap, the blanket resist nerf when only capitals needed a bat, nor lack of development of other PVE areas than null sec farming and Trig Crap are good for the game. Yet CCP did that and it’s good for certain players and for CCP’s wallets but EVE was wrecked in the process. Saying that change is crucial for the health of the game is a blanket statement that does not reflect reality. Change for the sake of change without considering better options and only going for the path of least effort because your developers are incompetent is not a receipt for good changes.

By saying that you want to see change, that you are a relentless champion of change, you are hitting right into the same direction as far as I am concerned. This is an unhealthy attitude towards change.

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Thanks for elaborating Zhalyd, and touché on the misinterpretation. Good stuff.

I am sure that you can appreciate that it is tough to outline what constitutes ‘good’ change from ‘bad’ change in a three minute video or a paragraph on a forum.

What I can say though is that I indeed think that some of those changes you specifically listed there were not as terrible as you make them sound. I guess we would have to go into detail on each one of them, which I will gladly do over the next few days. Today, I will have to call it a night though as it is quite late here.

Respectfully
o7, OZ

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Good dude, valuable stream. Seems to know what he’s on about even if he isn’t Mr. Bigname McFleetcommander.

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Thanks a lot, dude! You’re right, I am far from Mr. Bigname McFleetcommander. I may claim Mr. Nerdy McSpreadsheet though…

BTW, of course I do think that one or two large-scale FCs should be on the CSM and null-blocs should be represented. No question. I merely think that we could use a bit more diversity in terms of in-game expertise an playstyles. That’s all…

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Good video. Thank you!

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Thanks, Dunk! Good luck on your re-election! Is there a Dunk campaign video on the horizon? :slight_smile:

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Actually, I’m not running this year.

Might make a “not running, but if I was” version though.

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What was the other?

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Always a good thing to add. I keep trying to get out comptroller at work to join EVE for the same reasons I’m sure you love it. :wink:

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DOO EEEET!!

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Great stream (please re-upload early parts!) I expect you’ll be in my top few votes!

What do you think about this abuse of capital systems and how could it be rectified if you think it needs to be fixed?

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Thanks, Twilight! I appreciate your kind words about the stream.

Regarding the abuse of capital systems:
I read your article and also the reddit thread discussing it. Regardless of whether or not you have a bias, as some are suggesting, I think you have a point and it is a topic worth discussing. Here is my take…

The way capital systems are handled is not ideal. That is why my preferred solution would be to add additional factors like trading and manufacturing to the system index as Fozzie indicated they were hoping to do in 2015. It’s a pity they didn’t just implement it correctly to start with if they already had these hunches. It’s not the only thing that ended up not working as intended with FozzieSov as we know now, but hindsight is 20-20.

I also think, however, that this capital system issue is not pressing enough in comparisons to other areas of the game in terms of severity and impact, so I would understand if CCP did not dedicate significant resources to it at this moment. It is definitely one for the long list of future improvements that I would like to see though.

This may not be the answer you are looking for, but it’s my current opinion. I am happy to listen to counter-arguments.

Thanks for asking.
Cheers
OZ

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I think that’s a great answer: it’s a problem but it’s probably nowhere near top of CCP’s priorities whilst it only affects a relatively small proportion of the player base (nor should it be). Good luck with your candidacy, you have my vote.

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Hello

always a pleasure to see CSM candidate who put “conflict driver” in their priority list

i have a question about something who existed before and was removed : Passive moon, what are your position about that, bad/good does active moon are more beneficial than passive and if you would like to see them’ come back what you think CCP should change about 'em ?

i strongly believe Active Moon was a total mistake just like Rorqual, when Rorqual encouraged Supercap meta Active Moon encouraged stagnation and “krabbing meta” i’m a bit pissed to see a small minority of people realizing that, some CSM candidate like Phantomite and Blazzingbunny seem to care about conflict driver that’s why i would like to ask every other candidate in order to turn Eve “krab meta” into a “perpetual war” just like it should be

it seem that’s your goal aswell and that’s a good thing <3