Greetings! Thank you for doing your civic-cosmic duty and checking out your candidates for CSM 17!
Before I get into what I’ve done, I want to tell you who I am and why I am running for CSM 17. I am a gamer, like you. I’m not a famous streamer, an Eve politician or the Darth Vader of Eve. I’m just a guy sitting in my chair trying to make the pixels blow up. Or, at least, that’s who I used to be.
This past year, something changed. I saw old friends leave our community for good. I saw our world upended as our economy was ripped asunder by a faceless entity. I watched scores of players posting in Reddit and on these very forums that we had lost them for good. I saw our content appearing to stagnate while our prices went up. All of this while part of this beautiful world rages in conflict and the rest of it sits on the very precipice of economic collapse. I cannot sit by idly while one of our sole sources of stress relief seems determined to Lemming off a cliff.
I am no miracle worker and I don’t pretend to have the answers that will suddenly part the clouds and bath the servers of our great game with the holy light of redemption. I wish that I was. What I am, is a dedicated servant. A man who will work for you regardless of your race, sex, creed or national origin. I intend to make myself available on the forums, in game or however I might serve you best. I will be your voice, together with the rest of the CSM team. Together, let us forge forward into this uncertain future with our heads held high, courage in our hearts and determination in our soul. Let’s do this together.
**The Creation of Moce**
My toon name is old. I have been gaming online since 1998 with Ultima Online. I played UO from 1998 to 2003. By 2003, the Dev team had obliterated what made Ultima Online Unique. The unrestricted PvP, the unrestricted looting of your fallen foe. There is something viscerally appealing as a game that allows you to be who you really are. It’s fascinating how many people choose to go the route of the evil player killers, versus a noble hero. Ultima used to allow for a perfect expression of that.
I couldn’t resist the launch of Star Wars Galaxies in 2003 and I was there when it launched. I was a Wookie named Moce and I led a rebel clan on Corellia. The imperials had overrun our server and I loved every minute of it… Until the developers ruined our game.
I played Everquest, Everquest 2, World of Warcraft and World of Tanks. I was forever seeking that high I got from Ultima Online when I would successfully overcome an evil player. A chance to be a hero, even if only in pixelated form. In 2014 I found Eve Online.
Eve was over a decade old when I started playing. Back then, I used to get really attached to my ships. I’d name them something unique and think that my Merlyn or Moa was some kind of killing machine. We were all newbies at some time. I flew with TEST in 2016 and again in this recent war 2020.
I have played this game in high sec, null sec and wormhole. I even tried faction warfare long enough to decide that the system needed a lot of work. This past year, I founded my own alliance under my philosophy of real life first and under the idea that we would be a family. A big digital family. I was successful in that endeavor. I have a large group of online family to compliment my real life one. We are a member of the FIRE Coalition, so if you vote for me, I will be representing one of the smaller coalitions. I will definitely be representing the little guys with regard to alliances.
My guys started pushing me to run for CSM. I think they want to see how much I can take before I collapse. I guess we’ll find out!
**Who am I in real life?**
25 years of online gaming has conditioned me to avoid telling anyone who I am or where I live. I find it rather difficult to part with that habit, but if Brisc can do it, so can I.
My name is James Sawyer. I served in the United States Marine Corps for 4 years as an active duty infantryman. Currently, I am a police officer from Wyoming in the United States of America. I have been in law enforcement for 20 years now. I hold a bachelors degree in Criminal Justice Administration. I also attended law school, although I crashed and burned a little bit past halfway through.
I have a wife and four kids. I have horses, chickens, ducks, goats, cats and dogs. I live a simple life without a whole lot of stuff. But I have love, a roof over my head and an honorable job that allows me to serve my community.
I have literally dedicated my life to service to my country and my community. It follows that I would want to keep serving in the community that I love in Eve. Give me a chance to serve you in CSM 17.