Vote Bexey for CSM 20 you know it makes sense

[Bexey_Songweaver]

I am throwing my hat in the ring again as a non aligned candidate for the CSM.

My platform is a place where I catch trains :p, however having played the game for a number of years I have come to learn the plusses and minuses of the game and its mechanics. EVE is a unique game in that it has a market based on real life commodities markets and replicates bounty and shortages in its systems. This gives players many more styles of play than the usual FPS or shoot-em up MPRPG that is out there. For a developer this creates its own problems in ensuring that content is balanced and available to all, together with supporting the more casual player.

Personally, Since I have less time to play at the moment, I spend a lot of time in Hi Sec for my manufacturing but also have spent much time living in wormholes, still keeping in touch with WH players I interacted with. Both of these are areas which need attention in development to ensure player engagement and retention.

My focus in representation would be:

What is Hi Sec? should attention be given to its scope, size and risk/reward. What should be done to balance consequence free hi-sec ganking?

PI: It is painful most of the time. I will bring my UI/UX development experience to improve this:

• The time slide. Just why? it is awful to manipulate
• Replacement and changing production
• Improved formula lines

More UI. Fixing some of the more crazy UI elements in common play and lack of ability to move some important windows that become hidden

J-Space Delivering more content for the WH community. It could be more than basic PvE/ Gank space.

Making the game accessible for more casual players. A lot of players do not have time to play long periods of time. Improving short missions and PvE content would help encourage them

[Reslazia]

You had me at the platform, as traindriver I wholeheartedly support that.

Quite some questions asked about hi sec, what is your stance on those?

[Elinore_en_Divalone]

Hello Bexey Songweaver, first of all good luck with your campaign …and may the best will win ofc
(I will great every candidate this way )

Hope you find time to share your thoughts on below topics and game ideas.

1. EVE Vanguard Have you had an occasion to try it during Operation Nemesis or earlier? What was your impression if any? What do you think about bidirectional connection planned with EVE Online? Do you see it has a potential to attract more players towards New Eden? And do you think Capsuleers will benefit from it?

2. Information & ISK itemization How about being able to take a notes from your notepad and put it as an item into container or ship cargo? Same with an amount of ISK? Just like you can do with PLEX. More details https://forums.eveonline.com/t/information-itemization-put-notes-into-cargo-containers Would you pitch CCP to consider implementing it?

3. Production Plans Basically the idea behind this is to bundle all the BPOs (BPCs), required to produce some final product, say, an assembled Drake fully fitted according to some saved fit ready for duty, into a single BPO-like item, and internally arranged into an intricate production workflow. Complete with logistics tasks, if necessary, using delivery corp projects. It could use BPMN diagram editor to arrange. When installed into industrial job slot it will churn out those Drakes, provided there are required materials in linked containers or pause until they are become available again. More details https://forums.eveonline.com/t/feature-request-production-plans Would you pitch CCP to consider implementing it? Or at least expand ESI to allow 3rd party developers to do it?

[Bexey_Songweaver]

1 I am not a FPS player, I am terrible at it so have no comment
2 It is an interesting idea. Quite a nice one, although we will end up with EVE cluttered with adverts
3 I would support this. Given the number of parts it would require more runs than the current system allows, but there might be a way to do it as a daisy chain of Grouped Supply Chain Projects. Good Idea

[Rock_Zappa]

Greetings, Bexey.

Thank you for running for the CSM.
You are one of a small handful of candidates which I and my corp mates are considering.
Please respond to the following intentionally vague statements which I’ve come up with:
1.) CCP dishonors the sandbox by coraling players into lawlessness.
2) The resurrected Bounty System, without repercussions to participants, is hostility towards players.
3) Daily goals killed game play.

On behalf of my corp mates and associates, we wish you the best with your campaign.

Thank you.

[Bexey_Songweaver]

Thankyou for your comment.

I think that the original team wanted a game that allowed them to shoot at each other in space. And it is from there that the game developed. However I think that the overall balance is skewed to psychotic play where players can jump other players in HS without consequence. What HS is and how it works needs to be reviewed.
2. True. It should be got rid of
3. I have mixed feelings. It encourages players to log on which is probably a good thing. How the goals work needs to be worked on to discourage the lawless behaviour that comes from it.

[Bexey_Songweaver]

1. TBH I think it complicates the game making it difficult. It will become necessary to play Vanguard which will discourage those who don’t wish to play in an FPS. There are those who will love it of course. CCP will need to balance this aspect of game play.
2. There is the player transfer function. CCP might be prepared to do the same for ISK. Practically you could just buy plex and put it in a can. I suppose a sticker function could be implemented to create/manufacture something like the signs that you can loot in the winter events with your own message. Control would be needed to stop people making obsence or libellous content I guess
3. See my post thread here
   Queues for Industry

[Bexey_Songweaver]

Quite a few players I know have made representation to me about this.

HS should be the sandbox for people casually playing the game. Maybe it covers too much space. but it should be low risk low reward. Yes, I understand that the game is PvP, but in effect it has become two: an optional PvP space (J/Null/Low) and a fluffy casual mining/ratting space in High Sec. The sort of bullying and harassment that goes on there courtesy of a small cadre of players is inappropriate.

Hi sec miner ganking is a problem. It kills the game for new players, I was in a new bro’s corp at the start of my EVE career; many new players gave up after being repeatedly attacked by one person who had a stack of catalysts in a system or two away and podded back there. The problem is the classic law problem, can you intervene before someone does a crime. My (controversial) thoughts on this.

• Gate/ station access should be locked for 1 hour in 0.5 space to 1 week in 1.0 space. Spoil other people’s casual game play and the game will spoil yours. There is plenty of the rest of the galaxy to fly in. Go there if you want to randomly shoot people up.
• The flip side of this is that HS should probably be smaller. Make the routes between the main empires route through lo sec. I know this will hurt HS players who trade between, but there are such things as blockade runners and warp capable transports. This would have the effect of reviving local trade hubs and reducing the somewhat malign influence of Jita 4-4. For the player: you want to make ISK, go to J/null/low sec.
• Finally. Make serial HS ganking a corporation linked activity. All alts in the corp will be effected

[Rock_Zappa]

Thank you, Bexey, for taking the time to respond and for sharing your ideas.
I will elaborate a bit upon the points I made -not that I require a response. Yet, I do hope that the next CSM will keep the ideas in mind.

I left Eve Online for ten years because of the original non-balanced bounty system. Yet, I don’t think the revived bounty system (i.e. corporation projects involving termination of other players) can go away. Instead, it must be balanced. Lawlessness must be accompanied by a proportionate cost upon the instigators of it. I would prefer that such cost be, primarily, in the form of substantial standings losses… for placing a bounty / contract killing, and for completion of the contract by all involved participants.

Regarding the daily goals…
My game-play, since returning, has comprised, mostly, of completing daily goals. The temptation of skill points is too great to pass up -causing de-prioritizing of other goals and ambitions.

Lately, it seems that CCP is shaping Eve Online into a Hell-scape (as you stated, “….psychotic play….”). Examples of this include 1) encouragement of piracy/ganking (e.g. the latest Vanguard event which spawned convoys for players to attack and loot and, on the ground, robbing Upwell while destroying Upwell contractors (i.e. Modu’s Legion) and 2) Allowing dropping of cerebral implants / augmentations during Crimson Harvest -something which might only have occured one other time during the history of the game. Whichever game developer smugly thought that trampling upon CCP game culture and tradition would be a neat idea, ought to be put on probation.

Rather than CCP releasing the next expansion as Eve Online Hell-Scape, I think the pendulum needs to swing back a bit in the opposite direction -away from rewarding destruction, piracy, and general hostility and towards cooperation, diplomacy, and construction.

Finally, It seems that if CCP wishes for Eve Online to continue being regarded as a sand box, staffers should abandon their manipulation of players (i.e. paying customers) into CCP-preferred game play styles. If players don’t want to un-dock… well, that’s their choice. If they wish to create their own empires…fine. If a player doesn’t want to be a pirate, they should not be forced into piracy (i.e. the only option in Vanguard) or the radical incentivization of ganking by breaking taboo and allowing implant / augmentation drops). If a player doesn’t whish to escalate hostility between empires (e.g. faction warfare, there should be an equivalent option for those who wish to engage in cooperation trade and diplomacy (i.e. win-win versus zero-sum).

Thank you, kindly, for taking time to reply.
Best wishes to you.

[Daiyu_Kumamato]

As a HS nominee, where do you stand on PVE missions from agents in HS? The last time these were updated were in 2014 which were burner missions in lvl4s.

I can early between 600-800m p/h in Abyssalls that take me out of the game away from people where I have zero risk (since the spawns are gameified now), but if I do a lvl 4 mission I can easily loose ships to other players either in mission or travel and only earn 200m p/h, the risk versus reward for these are off.

What would your opinion be on putting a handful of lvl 5 missions in HS that only Marauders can access which are harder but give more reward. Gankers will still have their fill as it will be easy to find mission runners but the rewards may make them worth the risk? Current lvl5’s would then just be lvl6’s.

[Bexey_Songweaver]

I am completely neutral on this. There are escalations that a marauder suits, but as I mentioned before, HS should be high safety low reward.

Having said that storylines and HS missions deserve an update. They have had some in the form of player missions which is a good thing, but some more variety could help

[Amarrian_Broker]

I think Daiyu is on to something, Abysals takes people out of the game away from people making it zero risk against other players but has a massive reward. HS has too high risk for LVL5 for such a low reward. I like the idea of content for a casual solo player that has a Marauder, it allows people starting in Eve that want to stay in HS to aim for something high and a agent mission would do that. 50% of all players live in HS after all.

If you think HS should be high safety and low reward then higher Abysals filaments shouldn’t be allowed to be used in HS?!?

There are no missions create by players like agent missions and their reward track. Something to ponder on I think.

[Daiyu_Kumamato]

I appreciate the response and hope you do well.

I’m note sure your response to my question fits with the last line of your OP, “Improving short missions and PvE content would help encourage them”. Escalations are not short unless the chances of getting one are drastically increased by a huge amount.

But good luck I hope you get in as too many nullers are on the CSM and too many people that are space rich that now want to turn off the ISK faucets!

[Bexey_Songweaver]

I agree this is something that should be looked at. Filaments are already restricted in some systems. Note that Abysmal are not entirely risk free, and the exits can be camped as well

[Kshal_Aideron]

Bexey is officially my last interview for CSM20! It was a pleasure and best of luck!

Voices of New Eden CSM20 Edition | Bexie Songweaver