Your EVE Online story.
Hey duders!
I started playing eve back in around 2005/2006 way back in ancient times when Gamespy arcade and X-fire were the main online gaming hubs. I had been trying out eve online with trial accounts here and there, as the gameplay was drastically different from other types of genres. Eve online was a different wheelhouse back then, with fancy learning skills that I used to min/max to try and fly different ships with the 3 week trial duration’s, with the assistance of Eve-mon helping with managing what to train in that tiny queue window.
I ended up seeing an ad on X-fire “Eve - Beauty Never Fades” one of the only videos on YT I can find see linky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5LdPf2J_hs&list=RDe5LdPf2J_hs&start_radio=1
Which inspired me enough to join for real, I ended up cracking out my first credit card back in December 16, 2008 and have been going at it ever since.
Like most started out in high sec training into ships that I had always dreamed of getting into like the Raven! A few months of learning how to fit ships and hording mods from missions I joined a Corp with friend-O’s that I played BF2 with. After a few jaunts into low sec, a bunch of us yeet’ed out into null sec instantly immersed into sovereignty warfare, back when the # of POS’s in space dictated who got sov.
For the next 7 years I flew under several different flags, living and fighting in almost every region. I’ve had peeps in my corp/ alliance who I got along with so well we did many activities within and out of eve, creating some great friendships? Even though when later on some of those same pilots began flying on the other side of combat “baddies” I always enjoyed seeing them in space playing the game especially when we got on each other’s km’s.
During my time in Null sec I grew tremendously learning how to use in game & external tools to review data to asses fluid information on “hot spots” or to gain intel for planned operations. Went from essentially pressing F1 to FCing in maximum Tie-die madness fights. Was able to work with amazing minds during sparring matches on the server Thunderdome for Alliance tournaments, the amount of work that goes into being a captain is genuinely like a second job. For those who know who your AT alliance captain’s are this year send them some isk or a nice eve mail as it will be a nice morale boost for their efforts.
In 2014 I had a random goal of traveling to every k-space system in eve, which took MONTHS! However, back then I believed that all systems registered as entering, this year I did some revising of locations to create a complete map. Looking forward to seeing it in 2D in the near future!
While I was very active in the PvP side of Null sec I was just as active in PvE, chaining belts, A-Noms, DEDs and incursion fleets. While loving my time in Goonswarm, living out of Deklein, was part of a group called Lucky Runners were we helped pilots who didn’t want to take the risk of running some of the more challenging escalations that CCP has to offer. Absolutely loved running those sites, and I guess the isk was a nice bonus. Choo Choo Choo anyone?
Alongside playing with amazing people I started a in-game channel in my home city called ottawa-canada where us nerds would hit up local restaurants and bars talking about space pixels online while also confusing the heck out of our servers. There’s nothing quite like participating in huge fleet fights and sharing brews with “blues and reds” a few days later.
From these epic conversations led to recruiting players who were interested in aspects of Null sec and took time to foster growth in their success with their development in our region of space. Interestingly enough, a few years later these conversations led to me joining my current corp. I was flying exclusively logi love for SC back when living in null sec on Chandaris fleets. Using wormholes to traverse to multiple regions seamlessly was impressive compared to static jump bridges of the day. After 7 years of amazing adventures, I took a jump into low sec “ba-dum-tss” and have been loving it ever since.
When I left null sec I placed my FC cap on the wall and have been participating in other aspects of eve, such as smooth brain market seeding (sometimes loosing isk to keep things seeded over time), making and moving ice cubes around eve, and assisting FCs with fleet activities.
I have gone -9.9 +/- a few times from non and consensual pvp in low sec, however I’m not sure I would be considered the most pirate candidate, as I enjoy going into high sec for a multitude of reasons. Meaning will normally be climbing back up high enough to toot around in 1.0 systems, #pain.
TLDR: Liquid bread leads to opportunities.
Your areas of expertise. In which areas of the game do you feel you are the most knowledgeable? What qualities set you apart from other candidates?
I would consider myself an all-rounder, approximate knowledge of a great many things. While I currently have been living in low sec for the past 9 ish years I’ve continued to engage in Null and High sec activities for PvP and PvE, keeping myself immersed in the content over the years. I don’t know about you the reader, but when I look at my loss mails I can remember almost every engagement or potential mistake that led to them being generated. The ability to review and assess information from events and learn from them is an important part of this game, along with being humble. Ever experience loosing your favorite ship you’ve had over several years as an old pal on the other side of combat helped turn it into dust? Haaaa! Glad to see that person still playing more than anything!
I’ve stayed active since 2008 with several years of experience to draw from that can help improve player retention and hopefully help tweek some core challenges we all face when playing. Since I’ve been immersed in most activities High, Low, Null, Triangle land (Povhaven), AT, abysals, Incursions, mostly probing wormholes (with some pvp) and events.
Why are you applying for the CSM?
In IRL I’ve been working in the essential services side of public infrastructure for the past 7 ish years, being part of the on-call cycle the entire time. While still in the industry I no longer have these duties of waking up in all hours of the night to respond to spicy alarms. Along with being in-between weewoo FDs this has given me a window of opportunity to participate in helping shape this wonderful game I’ve been a part of for many years.
I have noticed hurdles that lead to potential content generation not occurring due to multiple factors such as the challenges of starting and managing fleets, finding combat, and the types of activities your fleet is willing to participate in due to security status changes. I have a number of ideas that would help improve these scenarios.
Ever form into a massive 200+ man fleet to sit on a teetan only to dock back up an hour later? What if there was content that your FC could get into that would be potentially just as fun and rewarding as jumping into that system?
Just spent an hour roaming and not finding any takers, maybe you want to try to do some Pve with your fleet, but several of your members want to keep their -10.0 intact. What if you could choose to not take sec status increases on an individual level and only bounties. Null bears, once you have 5.0 sec status what if you could choose to accept only bounty payouts at a x % or vise versa, have bad sec status? Don’t care about isk right now, only gain a x % higher status bump. This mechanic could have a cool-down and the change takes place next down time.
Do you manage a corp hanger? Where did those 20 ships go you needed for the fleet you are about to run? Hanger logs would be a game changer for everyone involved.
My goal has always been to ensure that players have the gameplay they want out of eve. I’ve had peeps I’ve recruited leave to other pastures or have pointed them to places to ensure they enjoy the content whatever that is for them. Being able to advocate for changes to help you the player enjoy this game would be amazing!
What can players expect from you?
Will be a contact point for areas of concern for your type of gameplay, regardless of what that is. Eve mail me, I do read things especially if you use colours!
Leveraging years of station spinning while engaging the social and diplomatic interactions with pilots aka working together to solve common goals.
Having some experience with game development, will work with CCP Devs to implement easier achievable goals prior to more ambitious changes that tend to take longer than a single life cycle of the CSM.
While never being on the CSM before, I’ve represented my peers three separate times in a democratic process for school as a class representative, advocating and interacting with directors and senior elements to improve or fix issues. This would be an easier transition compared to others who’ve also never been a part of the CSM, as the core engagements are similar.
Thank you for your consideration,
Jan
…and may the best will win ofc 
)