So its that time of the year again, why not start it with a video showcasing the Proving Grounds?
This Video shows some PVP Action in the Proving Grounds.
But hold on, Proving Grounds are not the only part of my CSM campaign, more later!
My EVE Story:
My EVE story is quite long, I started playing in 2009 and back then I did mostly PVE stuff like Ratting and Mission Running. I also dipped into some PVP back then through duells in Jita. In 2015, I joined a Nullsec Alliance (Goonswarm through their renting program in Pure Blind) for the first time. In that time I experienced a lot of what it feels to live in Nullsec, from Intel checks to being the first to scan the daily 6/10 in Home system and so on. But I did not stay too long in Goonswarm. Later I left that Alliance and then I was back in Hisec doing Missions. 2015 was also the year I started my Youtube Channel that you can find here. Started off with many PVE and occasional PVP Videos.
In 2016, I lived in Providence under their NRDS regime. I did a lot of PVE there, mainly the High DED sites. I had a lot of fun in that time. I also built my Youtube channel further on that time, doing the first PVP Videos and more PVE Videos, including a Timelapse of me doing C3 Wormhole sites in a Legion that got over 20k views back then. I lived in Providence until early 2018 when Pandemic Legion invaded it. Then I moved back to Hisec again.
2018 was the year the Abyss came to EVE. While many call me “the king of the abyss”, I was not a first mover when the Abyss came out. Instead I tried out Level 5 Missions back then, making another timelapse video that got over 40k views. 2018 was also a turning point in my EVE career. It was while watching the EVE Vegas Keynote when CCP announced the addition of the old arena in the Abyss. This got me really hooked. In November 2018 it got released. Just after Xmas in that year, I stepped the first time into that Arena and it was such a great feeling. The Old Arena gave me so many good memories and very tense fights.
The story continued in 2019 like that. In April 2019, I did my first stream on Twitch (here) of the old arena. It did not take long until I reached Affiliate and then the Streaming business started to grow. In Fall 2019 I went back to Nullsec, joining Dreddit from TEST alliance. I did that to stay away from Hisec and all the Streamsnipers & Gankers. Because in the old Arena I was often flying 10B+ Ikitursas and Cerbs etc. I would say that the time from September 2019 to June 2020 was probably the best time I had in EVE. I spent hours experimenting different fittings for the old Arena while also enjoying Null life through all the lucrative Sansha sites. (and ofc getting epic fights in the old arena and growing my YT/Twitch channel).
2020 Came, the first half of the year was very good for me, doing more Abyssal PVP, streaming and stuff, and during COVID activity in the old arena increased leading to more epic fights, and the surgical strike patch opened the room for new metas in the old arena. But then on June 29, while watching Torvald Uruz stream, the joy was suddenly over. CCP released a news item and a DEV Blog. The News item first was ok’ish, it did not mention what was really going to happen. But then he presented the DEV Blog that showed the Proving Grounds - and telling that the old arena would go away. It was a really sad evening, I simply could not believe that this could ever happen. It was also with just a 2 week notice until the old arena went away and the proving grounds got introduced. It was also in that year that I discovered the CSM and it was also the first time I brought something up to them. I fought really hard against the removeal of the old Arena, but sadly I did not succeed.
Then the 2nd half of 2020 until Spring 2021 was kind of my lowest point in my EVE career. I was very close at quitting EVE, after the old Arena was gone. I did not play much then apart from testing the T6 OMNI Cerb on SISI and doing some Abyssals here and there. But the situation improved in April 2021, when I got accepted into the Partnership program. Then everything went upwards again. In July 2021 I did my first big giveaway event to celebrate 1 year request to bring back the old arena (and that event still happens every Summer nowadays). In Summer 2021 I really got into the Proving Grounds (which I initially mostly ignored as they replaced the old arena I loved so). Later in 2021 and then in 2022, I continued to build on my Streams and YT and always mentioning the old arena here and there.
In 2023, this continued, but sadly now also not with PG anymore. Instead I focused on the Frigate Multioxing Abyssals and made my first guides on that. In 2024, I started to professionalize my YT channel where I did the first commented guides and in 2025, I slowly get the content creation towards a point where part time and on the long term even full time could be viable.
My Areas of Expertise:
As I play for quite some time, I have expertise in many areas of the game, mostly PVE, but also some PVP focused. I have a lot of expertice in the Abyss and Proving Grounds, but also did FW and other stuff too.
To simplify it, I think its enough to say where I have the least expertise, and that would be anything related to Industry and Mining. I know how to use a blueprint or how to activate a Mining laser, and thats it.
What sets me apart from other candidates is that I am currently not in a Nullbloc and that I have over 15 years of experience in the game.
Why I am running for CSM:
Because I want to be somehow involved in the development process and be able to give some solid feedback on various things. I want to help make this game a better place for everybody.
What can players expect from me?
I try my best to bring up whatever concerns you, be it bugs or some broken game mechanics or unbalanced ships that need some love (or the nerf hammer). Communication between the community and CCP (as long as it falls within the NDA) is a key part.
But wait, its not just about Proving Grounds:
There are many other things that should be done in EVE, such as, but not limited to:
- Bringing seasonal events back: The Hunt and Guardians Gala should return, they were fun and enjoyable events for a large part of the community.
- More Module balance (make faction & officer actually worth using): Why does the Pithum A-Type Multispectrum Hardner and the Thon’s modified one have the exact same stats?
- Improving quality of Customer Support: For example, if a ship reimbursement got refused, it would be nice to know why it got refused and so on.
- And more, such as QoL changes and Bugfixes etc.
Contact
Twitch: Twitch
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GustavMannfred
Discord (CSM DIscussion channel): Polarized Wormhole Exploration (If link does not work, try using Edge or Firefox)
Lets finish this thread with some Arena Forum Posts:
(Yeah the last two Threads are active for over 5 years now!)
Hmm and how about some old arena content?
