Your EVE Online story.
“You can’t solo in EVE”
“You need alts to play EVE”
“You need to be in a large group to play”
All common things I heard when I started playing EVE in 2011. I’ve been through highsec, grinding level 4 missions in my infancy. Moved to null and lived there for a couple years, participating in fleet fights, home defense and also anomaly PVE. Left nullsec and joined an NPC Faction Warfare (FW) corporation, played in lowsec FW and lived a nomadic lifestyle in non FW lowsec for over 3 years on my own. Now, i’ve moved to wormhole space and joined a wormhole group (Tuskers), which i’ve been a part of for almost 2 years.
I’m part of no major null block or large alliance powerhouses.
Everything I’ve done through my years in EVE has been done through this 1 character. This character hauls, does industry, explores data/relic sites and can fly anything from frigates to dreads. I feel like I’ve experienced EVE on hard mode and adapted through every change, but in the end, it has given me a better understanding of game and ship mechanics through all facets of the game and also in a strange way, makes me an EVE “casual”, since I don’t rely on alts to fill in the gaps.
During this time, I’ve cataloged and recorded a lot of fights and created a Youtube channel showcasing the funner fights and interesting fits i’ve created in the areas i’ve lived in. I often fly battleships and battlecruisers solo, ships that most people claim to be high risk to fly solo, which i’ve flown with varying degrees of success.
In EVE, the things i’ve enjoyed most has been flying, fighting and fitting spaceships. EVE is very unique in the freedom it allows for ship fitting and how you want to build/fly your ships, which is what drew me in. I’ve spent an equal amount of time theorycrafting new and unique fits as I do flying those ships. I often spend a lot of time on lesser utilized ships to find their hidden strengths and their weaknesses to get a better understanding on ship balance.
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?
The areas of the game I’m most knowledgeable and have expertise in would be:
Ship Fitting and Balance
Solo/Small Gang PvP
Lowsec
Exploration
While I do currently live in a wormhole (lowclass), the way I use it is probably different than most other wormhole entities. I’m familiar with the mechanics, but less so for the in-depth details on them, I have decided not to list wormholes in my list of expertise this year. That being said, that doesn’t mean I would just ignore them if a situation arises where they need representation. I just feel there are better candidates to represent wormhole space than I.
I’m not trying to push a specific playstyle or buff my ships and try to nerf ships or playstyles I don’t like. I’m open minded and will work with people to find common ground and come to a resolution. The game should be fun for everyone and I think we can all work together to compromise to better the game.
I’m very technically focused and often find things that most people may overlook, whether its from a balance perspective or in general. I’m also willing to change or adjust my ideas when presented with equally technical and logical discussions on things I may have missed. I’m not afraid to be wrong, as long as the the data/discussion is rooted by facts and not feelings.
Why are you applying for the CSM?
In a perfect world, I’d like there to be better representation of all playstyles in the game. There need to be more voices on the “casual”, small gang or solo pilot that just wants to login and enjoy spaceships. Whether that is PvP, PvE or Exploration. While I have no doubt that previous CSM members helped make good changes possible, some changes that relate to ship balance sometimes feel a bit muted for other playstyles. Having one or multiple CSM’s on that have an intricate knowledge of ship fitting relating to solo or small gang can help balance and provide a more all encompassing discussion from people with direct knowledge, instead of trying to resort to 3rd party help to understand the problems.
This is a game about spaceships, in space, blowing each other up. Whether that is for empire building goals, FW goals, or just for fun to kill the 1-3 hours of time you have per day, focusing on ship balance to make those goals more entertaining would be my focus and why I’m applying.
What can players expect from you?
-A non-biased approach to ship balance, I want what is good for the game and to generate more fights, not prevent them. I’m almost always available for communication, whether it be through EVE mail, the forums, discord or reddit. I’ll be willing to discuss any concerns you may have and help provide your feedback/concern to CCP. Other than that, the following are some accomplishments or my thoughts/standings on various situations.
-I have already had impacts on ship balance suggestions. If you have enjoyed battlecruisers in their current form, I made a forum post about providing range buffs to battlecruisers to help them meet their anti-cruiser role. While I can’t say this directly influenced CCP, the timing, discussion and end result all point to either 1; CCP liked my idea and adapted it, or 2; CCP already planned to do this and my own thoughts of balance parity with theirs. The post can be found on the old forums, here.
-Increasing battleship scan resolution has been a subject I’ve been pushing for over 2 years, and with the “Surgical Strike” patch released, all battleships got a 30% scan resolution bonus. This was most likely a combined effort between the CSM and CCP, but may not have been pushed to the front lines of balance without consistent reminding.
-I’m adamant that a lot of balance and fun/engaging fits can be made with soft stat (Fitting, Turret/Launcher slots, slot arrangement), role bonuses and ship trait changes, rather than resorting to gimmicks. While I understand I have no say in how CCP balances in the end, I’ll still voice my opinion on gimmicks and provide alternatives to those who are willing to listen.
-Lowsec FW holds a special place in my heart as its where i’ve spent the bulk of my time in EVE, getting the most fights and learning a lot about PvP and the solo life. FW should be a stepping stone for newbro’s to go once they want to dabble in PvP and it should be engaging for them and fun. There are a lot of issues in FW space that can potentially stifle a newbro learning and even prevent veterans of the area from enjoying the gameplay. This would include, but not be limited to:
- bots in complex
- Creating a truly novice plex, such as a “rookie” plex, that only allows T1 frigates and not pirate or faction frigates so newbro’s can get a foothold and try to learn from fights, instead of being completely dominated by a ship that is already 1 or 2 steps above theirs. Once they feel comfortable, they can throw themselves to the sharks in standard novice/small/medium/large plex.
- Citadels and how they make owning space feel worthless in FW
- Faction LP rebalances, making some items actually desirable so some factions aren’t heavily favored over others
- FW mission removal or rebalance to reduce LP payout, LP should primarily be done through complex capture/defense and not through grinding out PVE missions.
- Create “beach heads” of conflict on border systems through the FW zone to create incentives on fighting, instead of people moving into some abandoned system to plex and not drive conflict. Scale LP payout on these beachheads or vacant systems.
Keep in mind, these only reflect my views and knowledge of faction warfare, not that I have the power to force CCP to adopt these ideas. However, for you FW/Lowsec people reading this, hopefully this gives you a better idea on how I understand FW. I’ve also worked with and am still part of the FW Discord group.
-An actual voice for the “little guy”, as you can’t get much smaller than a single account/character.
In the end, EVE is about spaceships, and you can expect me to represent making spaceships fun to fly in all areas of space. Whether its frigates, cruisers, battleships or capitals, lets remember EVE is a game that revolves around these ships and fittings. While people rally behind their area’s of space and playstyle, I rally behind the ships, because without the ships and balance, none of those areas of space matter, and in the end, what is the point of playing a spaceship game without fun and engaging spaceships?
. The hard drive i had all my videos on got corrupted, then i was dealing with computer crashes for a bit and couldn’t play EVE. Then my recording software just straight up stopped working properly, so i had some new fights that didn’t get recorded. Been a rough few months. Got everything fixed now and have finally gotten some footage (not enough for a new video, but making progress).