Background/about me:
I started playing EVE Online 19 years ago. Three years ago, I returned to the game and have been hooked ever since. I wanted to move to nullsec, but I was effectively a new player with established and trained characters from my prior forays into New Eden. So I joined Pandemic Horde, as the alliance had great new-player resources, a low barrier to entry, and had a diverse and robust social experience.
Over the past three years, I have been exposed to more of what EVE is actually about than during any of my prior stints in New Eden. I found the social experiences and connection provided by a large nullsec alliance to fill the void that other MMOs and games left. In my time with Pandemic Horde, I have been involved with many special interest groups; I have been a home defense FC, a capital umbrella FC, participated in deployments, planning and organization for operations, and served in leadership and administrative roles with my alliance.
I am most proud of my time as a member of Pandemic Horde’s Newbean Initiative–a program dedicated to providing high-quality and accurate information, guiding our new members through the transition to nullsec life, providing assistance to both new players and old.
As an NBI (the helpers dedicated to helping newbeans), I have been exposed to the hardships and complaints about the game from both new and old players. As a FC of both umbrella and subcap fleets, I learned about the challenges of complex fleet engagements. As a leader within my alliance, I have learned about the social and interpersonal issues that pop up in large organizations.
If elected to CSM20, will push for reasonable, iterative changes that do not completely cancel out one playstyle for the benefit of another. I plan to use both my EVE and real-world experiences to advocate for positive change–and not just in nullsec! I see the CSM as being larger than any of our in-game conflicts, wars, or friction points; I am looking to represent all of New Eden, not just a single group or perspective.
My Areas of Experience:
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Nullsec
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Mining (both subcapital and Rorqual)
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New player experience
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Corporation and alliance management
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Capital PVE and PVP
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Whaling
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Counter-whaling / umbrella FCing
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Home defense FCing
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Cross-fleet coordination (i.e., coordination between capital and subcapital fleets, between strat fleets, and supporting strat fleets)
My positions:
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Conflict drivers: With the ongoing Imperium/Horde war, CCP has a unique opportunity to fine-tune the current sov warfare mechanics. Sov mechanics have lagged behind the other changes to nullsec, and the current iteration leads to sprawl and stagnation. Even small changes to sov mechanics will breathe new life into null and provide opportunities for more record-breaking fleet fights over objectives.
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Mining improvements:
- Waste is… a waste. I want to see either a major reduction or complete removal of waste as a mechanic. Mining crystals can be adjusted to provide different effects, or have their current effects amplified. This would be an indirect buff to rock size, as it would make the teeny tiny rocks in space produce more ore.
- Bring back capital mining, within reason: Rorquals are phenomenal drivers of whaling content, so having more of them in space increases both the profit and fun for other players. I am by no means wanting to bring back Rorquals Online, but instead finding a reasonable middle ground that encourages their use (and eventual loss).
- Buff Expedition Frigates and Porpoises: These ships provide a much-needed a niche role for solo and small group mining, as well as danger mining in hostile space or wormholes. These ships are infrequently used and should be brought up to par to make their relative cost and training times worthwhile. Porpoises should likewise be buffed to give better defensive benefits to mining fleets.
- Mining Barge Survivability: The meta for dealing with threats in barges and exhumers has consistently been to immediately warp off grid as soon as a threat arrives in-system. This is not fun for the miners, nor is it fun for the hunters and content creators. Giving a reasonable buff to the survivability and combat effectiveness of barges and exhumers will ideally shift the meta to encourage actual combat and fights.
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Better use of available space: With the changes to sovereignty implemented under Equinox (and other major updates), large swaths of space are completely unused. In some cases, these systems hold little or no strategic or resource value, because of the distribution of workforce and power. Reasonable adjustments to the resources available, balanced against the location and surrounding geography/resources will lead to more valuable space being useable, giving further conflict drivers and opportunities for smaller groups to live in nullsec space that is not completely desolate.
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Quality of life improvements:
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ACL Hangars: This is a big pain point from the corp/alliance management perspective, as well as anyone who has many alts. While there are technical limitations that make ACLs unstable, reworking shared hangar spaces would provide a massive quality of life improvement for a large portion of the EVE playerbase.
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Better support for multiboxing: Multiboxers are the backbone of EVE. There are very few situations where vertical expansion with a single character will result in increased efficiency. Multiboxing brings in an enormous amount of monthly subscriptions for CCP, but CCP seems to be optimizing the game for single-account activities while failing to provide for stable multiboxing.
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Corp and Alliance Management improvements: While the corp and alliance management menus have seen many positive changes over the past two decades, they still are incredibly lackluster. Newer iterations (Freelance jobs, corp jobs) have missed the mark of how modern groups are forced to organize themselves using third-party tools. Significant overhead could be removed by abandoning and removing some in-game controls to add controls that provide more granularity and control for leaders and administrators. Further, better in-game tools means less reliance on third-party apps and websites, which may be a huge stumbling block for new players.
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Adding Alpha/Omega account status and remaining Omega time to ESIs: This will allow much better management of account status through use of third-party tools, such as the Excel plugin and SeAT and AllianceAuth.
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Remove deadspace from Drifter wormhole grids/prevent on-grid perches to Unidentified Wormholes: Either of these options (not both) would act as a check on the speed that groups can project fleets through the Drifter wormhole system.
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Getting more ships in space: While EVE is a sandbox with a broad range of activities available, ultimately all of these activities are supported through getting ships in space–and then blowing those ships up. Miners are incentivized to mine, industrialists have to refill stocks of destroyed ships and modules, and pilots get to have fun shooting at each other. Many classes of ships are so expensive that the only worthwhile time to use them is when a corp or alliance provides full SRP. Slight changes to mineral costs, availability minerals and moon products, and changes to materials needed will bring costs under control.
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Create more opportunities for the use of capital ships: Despite my niche role as a capital umbrella FC, I actually want more capital ships in space and more whaling to occur. While EVE has historically been a great example of bigger =/= better, capital ships are a very attractive option for many players. Creating opportunities for capitals to be involved in more fun activities, and eventually being lost to whaling, will result in a stimulated economy and a huge motivator for conflict.
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Modernize the mission system: The New Player Experience pushes new EVE players into running missions to learn how to play the game. But missions are terrible for isk generation. The rewards have not been updated to match inflation for over 15 years, and the SP requirements to scale up to higher level missions are enormous, while there’s only a marginal increase in reward. While Loyalty Points can be very valuable, there is no straightforward, sensible way to sell LP to other players without advanced knowledge. I want to see updated mission rewards, better diversity in mission objectives/types, and pushing new players to other activities.
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Creating more opportunities for whaling: The current meta for whaling is… lackluster. Either whalers must form large fleets of kikis or Redeemers effectively engage capital ships under an umbrella. I will advocate for more opportunities to get capitals in space, off tether, and engageable by whalers.
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Giving carriers a role: For many years, carriers have drastically underperformed. Repeated nerfs to fighter application, reduction in efficacy of EWAR support fighters, and drastic cuts to survivability have made them effectively worthless for anything other than skynetting. Adding capital MJDs and conduiting to carriers certainly gave limited utility, but these additions made no major difference in the regular use of carriers. I will push for reasonable buffs, nerfs, and changes to carriers to give them an active role in both PVP fleet combat and PVE activities.
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Adjusting carrier and supercarrier lock ranges and fighter mechanics: Skynetting sucks. It’s not fun for attackers, it’s not fun for defenders. Carrier lock range needs to be reduced to a much more reasonable (but still long) range. In the range of 300-1000km. This will have the knock-on effect of also removing the unbelievably frustrating fighter aggro problems for CRABs.
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Remove or rework Mercenary Dens: Many people feel like Equinox was a major rugpull for many reasons, but one of the more disappointing mechanics is Merc Dens. They serve more as an annoyance for entities holding space, and the lack of control or monitoring from the sov-holder perspective makes this problem worse. I will ask CCP to consider removing or adjusting Merc Dens to be less of an annoyance and more of a fun gameplay mechanic.
Why you should vote Machiavelian for CSM20:
As a long time player who has been through and seen the challenges and successes of this game and this community, I know that the lifeblood of this game is providing interesting sandbox content that appeals both to veteran and new players alike. I want to bring my hands-on experience in New Eden, my drive to encourage new players to engage with the game, and the input of players to drive informed decisions and recommendations to CCP.
I am a zealous advocate and I am willing to put in the work and effort to improve EVE and New Eden. A vote for Machiavelian is a vote for positive change, building up the playerbase, and making EVE into a game that will last another 20 years.
Communication with me:
I want to hear from all parts of the EVE community to discuss changes, ideas, and issues that should be brought to CCP and the CSM. I strive to be accessible to everyone–not just my alliance mates. As much as I can, I want to keep players in the loop.
My primary communications platform is Discord (@sierra415, “Machiavelian” on the EVE-Official Server and Pandemic Horde Services). Please feel free to send me a DM to discuss your ideas, provide feedback, and identify issues.
I will be in attendance at EVE Vegas 2025, and I am happy to meet with players over a drink, at the BBQ, or at the EVE Vegas event to discuss how I can best represent the players as a member of CSM20.
