Val Auroris For CSM 20 - For Faster Content and Greater Activity!

[Val_Auroris]

**

Quick bits about myself IRL

• Fell in love with Eve in 2007 together with my then girlfriend now wife
• Am from sunny Singapore (the little red dot in South East Asia)
• In my 40s now - family man with minions I’m always trying to trick into doing industry or hauling.
• My professional background is in corporate finance, management consulting, and tech (both B2B and 2C).

My Eve Online Story:

I’ve always liked pvp games, but the rush in eve pvp I believe is far superior beyond any mmo out there. I moved to null decades ago and immediately fell in love with not only the fighting but the friendly community as well. I remember people years before being ultra helpful giving hidden nuggets of wisdom after exploding my ship - and so I endeavoured to pass it on.

At the beginning, I loved the fact that fitting your ship is such a personal thing, and that every ship is modular which means every encounter is winnable. Slowly as I progressed I appreciated the machinations of flying together in a gang, with each person having their roles and styles.

I joined Brave in 2017, fought daily both in organized fleets across multiple wars, small gang home defense (super fun - highly recommended for starting out), and content roams. I co-founded and eventually led a sig in Brave helped newbros get into pvp that had almost 200 members at its peak. For years I taught newbros daily how to fit, fly and FC-ed content wherever I could. Lots of dms, lots of personal chats, but well worth it when I hear the excitement in their voice on getting the killmail. Lots of friends, lots of great memories.

I then moved to INIT, continued mentoring newbros there and co-founded the smallest and poorest corp there at the time, Aurora (I think we’re still the poorest isk-wise :p). We’re wholly pvp focused - our gamut runs from solo roaming to small gang, whaling, wormholes, and mid sized organized fleets. Today the corp is no longer very small, we’ve teamed up with some of the best pvpers in the game, and its been #1 on zkill many times (as my alliance mates will attest to ), but the important thing is the spirit of friendship, community and selfless teaching we’ve built both inside the corp and within the alliance which is absolutely amazing.

My Expertise:

• I’m very familiar with creating and leading in pvp of all forms in null and lowsec, especially small gang.

• I have a very clear understanding of the pain points of being a newbro looking to get started with pvp (having personally taught 100s at this point), solo roaming, hunting, and FCing small to midsized fleets to find content.

• I am exceptionally clear on content triggers when it comes to pvp activity. Whether or not its skyhook raiding, ESS robbing, or Ansi camping - having been on both sides of the coin as the attacker and defender flying multiple ships in various scenarios.

• I am a family man with work commitments as well. I feel the tedium of living in null, the time sink to find content and getting fights, the agony of rolling a C2 wormhole with 2 praxii and forgetting to go 1 cold 1 hot.

• While I love solo roaming when things are quiet (fix filaments please), I also enjoy finding new ways to enjoy pvp content in the game for myself and my friends. I have hunted via drifters, setup bait traps, yolo-ed multiple ships in outnumbered fights against the larger fleets and very competent FCs just to satisfy the curiosity, “can this be done?”.

• A good number of newbros are actually younger - the next generation in their 20s. I hear their complaints vs other games, I know what draws them in and what makes them leave.

What qualities set me apart from other candidates?

1. I’m an independent candidate - which means my focus is on making the game as fun as it can be - creating awesome memories and removing the time tedium that can bring in and retain the latest generation of players.
2. I’ve personally taught and mentored 100s of new players (still on-going today) when it comes to living in null and pvp.
3. I can’t be bought with isk - my wife is super rich in game (remember how I told you guys we started in 2007? She did Indy.)
4. I speak to almost everyone when it comes to any form of pvp below tidi fests (fun sometimes don’t get me wrong). Lots of friends and enemies who share their concerns on mechanic changes, balances, and etc. Because even though we fight each other, we’re all eve enjoyers at heart.
5. I’m a big believer in small changes that can make large, positive effects on the game. Being a seasoned industry veteran, I know the difficulties that companies like CCP’s size face when dealing with multiple projects with a finite amount of resources.
6. I’m in space pvping and looking for content everyday with and against some of the best theory crafters and small gangers in the game, flying multiple ships in various scenarios.

Why am I applying for the CSM?

I know that this game can be as popular as when it launched as it is the only viable sci fi universe with a dedicated player base that loves it very much. We are all here to create memories with our friends, and I would like to contribute by making sure this universe lasts the next few decades and beyond.

I’m not well equipped to find perfect solutions as I am not the developer, but working together on the CSM I know with my experience I can help improve the game by highlighting pain points felt by newbros, null, and pvp community.

My focus areas are,

• Empty space. Areas in null have been extremely empty of late. Yes it is due to sov. But we also need more activity drivers in general to entice people to spread out. Making Eve feel alive is important for the long term health of the game.

• Sov for smaller groups. This ties into the above - if small groups are not allowed to spread out and grow, down the road there will only be blocs separated by timezone tanking. Stagnation is not good and this is a serious concern for content.

• Limited time and faster content. A lot of players are older with family and work commitments, with only 1-2 hours to play a day, for spending up to 80% of their in-game time in travel is a huge time sink. This also leads new players to dropping the game as they don’t have enough history to commit that amount of time.

• New blood and retention of new players with more skill points. We need more people in this game. Once you give newbros a taste of pvp, they will be hooked and become long term loyal customers. I know the game gives so much skill points than before - but it is not enough.

Fun facts and stats

• I’ve soloed the most number of vedmaks (all time), link here
• I’ve also soloed the most number of marauders and barghests in lowsec (all time), link here
• Have killed nearly 500 ishtars and vexors solo under a blops / caps umbrella with FCs that really want my killmail.
• Am all time #1 for kills in a vagabond, #2 in golems, #8 in paladins. Zkill here
• Even though I’ve had almost 15,000 kills in small gang, I have also lost a titan’s worth of subcaps (not #1 but its pretty up there ).
• I recently did a pvp interview with Loru (awesome guy) - link here

Thanks for reading and considering voting for me in CSM 20. I appreciate the support! If you need to reach me you can always drop me an eve mail in game or join my corp discord Aurora.

[Dujek_Oneye]

I have had the great pleasure of flying with Val for some time, and think he would be an excellent addition to the CSM. Val is the kind of PVPer who stands out in a crowd as one of the most active and hard working, who tops the leaderboards and loves sharing his success and hard work. I will absolutely be voting for him.

[XROM_AVRORIYS]

I’ve had the pleasure of flying with Val for almost two years, and in that time I’ve seen over and over his patience and willingness to help new players find their way. He’s always been the kind of person who takes the time to listen and share advice, whether back in Brave or now in The Initiative. Val’s steady voice and perspective would make a great addition to CSM 20!

[Charles_De_Hobo]

Voting Val Auroris for CSM is frankly a no-brainer.

[Oscar_Reginal_Gi]

Meet Val for 2 mins or more and there’s no way you won’t vote for him. Literally the nicest person ever, and so humble for someone who is one of the best at this game. Val has an understanding of game mechanics and their impact across economy, SOV, etc., and now he wants to give more? Just let the man work, you won’t regret it!

[DeadDuck]

I know Val from flying with him and from chat on comms. Always ready to help and very good knowledge of game mechanics. Being a PVP pilot he knows what would take to make EVE more pilot friendly and a better gaming experience.

He has my vote, for sure.

[Viribus]

Van is a genuinely great guy with limitless patience and very deep understanding of the game

[Rain_Lunam]

I’ve known Val Auroris since around 2020, since I was a newbro in Brave. Val became a mentor and a comrade, and over the years we have shared a great many grids: countless battles and losses in which I witnessed his vision for tactics as well strategy. There are few people I can trust in a fight like I can trust Val. But I also know him outside of combat, and while it may be easy to be fooled by his talent for violence, he’s one of the most approachable and helpful individuals I know. In particular, I strongly believe Val can be trusted to represent the small gang enthusiasts in this game—Not just those of us that are part of nullblocs(yes, there are small gangers in null too), but all of you who detest the status quo of nullbloc geo-politics, and how its prevalence and strength affects the small scale content we all love. Who better than one of the best small gang combat pilots around to be your voice in the CSM? Val certainly has my vote, and if you believe in a New Eden where a small group can thrive, you should consider lending him your vote, too.

[Revan_Slahka]

i will be voting for Val for CSM 20 forsho…. great and heartfelt with everything and no bs and no attitude is given when asking ? to him.

[Sere_O_Asis]

@Val_Auroris

lots of great memories

Memories are the only things that cannot be taken from you in this game.

I will vote for you.

Best of luck.

[Karenar_Corna]

Val Auroris…hmm…this will be hard (I kid…). I’ve know him for a long time now. Maybe from the time Brave was back in Pure Blind. He was a nice guy back then with Brave being a newbie alliance, helping people out with fits and piloting. I mean the guy comes prepared. He has some long ass files and documents he uses for a short course on pvp that takes like 2 hours (but in all fairness it’s hard to teach pvp mechanics). He comes well prepared and very organized to a meeting knowing all the points you will have about the fit or the situation before you even bring them up. He’s a very informative guy in all things related to pvp, you can just sit there and have a nice, long, relaxing conversation about pvp and you’ll forget the game is even running. It’s like he lives and breaths EVE.

All I’m trying to say is that he would be a great addition to the CSM and the pvp scene that seems to be requiring some attention. And by pvp I don’t mean 500 on 500 man fights that are only ti-di and pressing F1. By pvp I mean small gang. Engagements that build adrenaline as you go, being predator or prey, having a few members you know you can rely on, feeling the thrill of the chase and tasting the sweet reward at the end (obviously talking about some blingy ships we just killed). I think this is what pvp is and what Val Auroris stands for.

Basically if you like pvp you should vote for Val Auroris.

Vote Val for CSM!!

[Casual_Jesus]

There’s not much that I can say about Val that hasn’t already been expressed on this thread.

Soft spoken, humble, patient, insightful, and always willing to help you to understand your playstyle and guide your fitting choices.

I think what hasn’t been mentioned is his willingness to listen and learn. Val Auroris is not ego-driven, believing that his way is THE way, which I have seen with high-skilled players a lot over my time in EVE and other games. He has made mistakes or incorrect assumptions, taken feedback from other players, and learned or adapted. Just the same way that so many of us have from him.

I spent some time away from the game with IRL commitments, and what drew me back in was small gang home defence PVP in Fade and Pure Blind with Brave, including Val and others in the SIG that he was heavily evolved in, eventually making my way to The Initiative at the same time as Val. This candidate was extremely helpful in adjusting my style from the 2020 meta to the 2022 meta in just a couple of days of chats, without once telling me “you need to fit this”. A real teacher.

Now, I get the opportunity to celebrate the absurd feats that Val pulls off, like (essentially) solo killing that Archon that time. or managing to make it to every single hostile player in Fountain before the rest of the blob shows up, by virtue of a keen eye on player movements, or fitting his golem just enough tank for the entire enemy fleet, adjusting it minutes before based on the numbers and shiptypes reported.

In summary, Val is a contributor with game knowledge across most areas, a heavy PVP focus (which is what makes this game what it is), and will offer everything while expecting nothing.

Vote Val for CSM, you will not be disappointed.