Empirical Evidence

If you are looking for CSM stuff, skip this one or use the csm tags feature of this blog.  I write fiction, live with it.

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She was beginning the think that the mission was hopeless when she was contacted by a broker.  -We have found someone who claims he may have a way to get to the target.-

“Credentials?”

-He laughed and refused.-

“Then why are you wasting my time with this?”

-He also described in detail how your interior teams was eliminated, the targets standard methods of evasion, and named two different clone facilities that we have confirmed occupancy.-

“But no credentials? Very well, commence negotiations and I will . . . “

-No.  He has explained that he would only speak with you directly.  Ma’am, he named you, your ship, and your current system.  Could this be a counter by the target?-

“Mr. Azariah is a little more direct than that.  The last time one of our ships tried to get a lock on him it was . . . what is the term? . . .ganked.”  She paused.  “Put him off for two days, long enough to slap a tail on him and find out who he is connected with.  Then contact me again and we will see if he is what he says he is.”

______

“Ah say this is Science.”  Mike yodeled as the ship swung about to release more damage against the sleeper Battleships arrayed against the fleet

“And I say you ought to be dead three times over.  That paper bag should not be able to survive this.”  His fleet mate was protesting against the mounting evidence that a Tier 3 ship could fly in a C5 escallation.

“Well, ya can’t argue with the evidence.”  The last ships exploded in the distance as Mike orbited the sieged cap and grinned at the comms.  “I have got to be getting me a noctis in here.  Taint right that you all do the cleanin.”

Riyu laughed.  “Shut up and take your ISK.”

The wallet icon flashed and another 100 mill arrived, just in time to balance out recent expences and donations.

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Lessons

Being told it is too hard or cannot be done . . . prove it, empirical evidence

Like Jonny Pew’s adventures in null.  Very cool work.  GBA donated 150 mill to his further explorations and vids . . . that good.

Tier 3 ships?  love them.

fly it like you won it

m

CSM Dream Team

“So”  He said, pulling up a chair in the coffee shop.  “Running again, are you?”

Mike grinned over at Scotty and nodded.  Number of open slots has been cut, gonna be interesting to see if the field of hopefuls diminishes in the same manner.”

“It won’t.  I’ve already seen some of the early hype.”

Mike laughed.  “Well for all the joke candidates there are also some good ones coming out to play as well.”

“If SHE catches you complimenting the competition again she is gonna line you up against an asteroid and shoot you.”

“Nah, she might get some organic matter on the rock and she wouldn’t want that.”

“Why do you compliment or give approval for the people who are supposed to be your competition?”

Mike looked off into the distance.  “Because . . . well partially because I like playing the long game.  I see the election as a short term thing followed by a much longer period of the elected having to work together.  Why would I want to burn bridges I hope to cross some day?  I was talking about that to some pilots the other day.  I asked them that if they could CHOOSE a CSM council of 7 and wanted to try to represent all of Eve who would they take?”

“Interesting way to look at it.”

“After the first answer I had to append that to limit the choices, seeing as Mynxee is not in the running.”

“Spoilsport”

“That is what they said.  But it is an interesting exercise.  What aspects of New Eden would you try to represent.  What voices would you want to speak your needs?”

“Did you tell them your choices?”

“They didn’t ask.”

“Maybe SHE will let you live after all.”

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Questions

OK< so you are trying to make a CSM that is not monolithic but a broad spectrum of players.  Read the platforms, if you have the patience.  Or at least let me know what you think are aspects of the game that need representation.  Do we more than one Null sec?  Would a bunch of Carebears ruin everything?

Who would you choose.  Give me a list and bet entered for a lovely Tier 3 BC of your choosing.

fly it like you won it

m

Campaign link

https://sites.google.com/site/mikeazariahcsm7/

Go there if you are looking for something about me and my thoughts on the csm.

 

Use tags to see what I have had to say about the csm in the past . . . tag csm of course

 

m

 

Be what they want

“So the key is,”  She said, stretching in a cat-like fashion, “To offer the target something that she wants.”

“What if I don’t have anything that she wants?”  He groused.

‘Then we did something wrong far earlier.  You know as well as I do that the preparation is everything.  So we take this dossier down to the bones and we reassemble it till you know her inside out and can be or seem to be exactly what she wants.”

“Not exactly honest, is it?”

“We are NOT looking for a long term relationship, here.  You want to get close enough to close the deal and then you walk away leaving nothing but a cooling corpse.  So let’s get at it . . . what do we know about her?”

“That if she wants just male companionship she has it in spades.  Former commander of Gods Light battalion and currently engaged as a Chainer in an Orca known as the Flea market.”  Seems like a fair number of her command retired at the same time and are now forming a merc command.”

“Hammer of God?”

“Right, they . . . .wait aren’t they the ones who . . . “

She flipped through the file and started to curse.  “I am gonna erase each and every one of those smug bastards.  This is not a mission for you, you were just the leverage.”

“I am not going to have to . . . “

“Oh we still have work for you but our shadowy bosses know that there is an easy way and a hard way to go about this and were too chicken to order me to take the easy way.  So they set me to train you in hopes I would . . .”  she jabbed at the comm and grumbled, “where is he now?”

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I have had a few friends tell me that they have had applicants who are just ‘perfect’ for the position.  Every time I hear that I wince.  I wince even writing it.  Corp theft is common and the skilled ones know exactly how to social engineer their way in.  They bocome the ‘right guy for the job’ long enough to get close and then they leave your cooling corpse behind them.

We had one, wayy wayyy back in an early corp I was part of,  but the thief got bored since the CEO did NOT hand out privileges like candy.  As a result he settled for shooting up a few corp mates before dropping and moving on to the next target.  I contacted him and asked what he had planned and he laughed telling me he could play his game and there was not a damn thing I could do about it.

PvP is like that, isn’t it?

Nope (Chuck Testa)

I tracked him (and his alts) and would contact each corp he joined warning them of his M.O.  I got quite a few thanks from CEO’s and the thief would be moving on again (having been tossed out on his ass).  It became a hobby of mine that I did for a few months until he found a corp that I thought he belonged in. (Wicked smile: they deserved each other)

The greatest beauty of this game is not ships, not the graphics, it is the people and the fact that we are all on a single ‘shard’.  Your reputation follows you.

and I do pvp my way . . . with information

fly it like you won it

m

 

OOC: Interview with Marc Scaurus . . . lowsec

Marc Scaurus is trying to find a decent candidate for lowsec voters.  He sent word out to people who he already had heard were running and a few of us answered.  Here are the questions and my answers.

You can see the others here

What single part of the game do you feel requires the most work in terms of iteration by CCP?
Faction warfare

Do you feel that lowsec is ‘broken’? If not, explain why. If so, explain what you want to see done to fix it.
I don’t like the term ‘broken’. I would rather say it is underutilized or not fully developed into what it could be.

I’d like to see it become a vibrant area for the solo pvp (or small gang) player to be. Somehow there needs to be ways to stop hotdrop o’clock from ruining simple small gang fun.

Do you have any plans to push CCP, if elected, to iterate on lowsec in general?
Jack Dants ideas on a shift in sec status made me think a lot about how we could change the life and decisions that lowsec dwellers make.

I keep returning to the visage of the wild frontier towns where ‘anything goes’. Boosters, gambling, make Mos Eisley look like Vatican city

In your opinion, where should lowsec rank in terms of priority for iteration by CCP?
Gah, make me go politician on you, eh?

I like the way the teams at CCP have not chosen one space but broad sweeps and ‘little things’ I don’t see that they have to prioritize so the step child gets fed and the fat and sassy hisec gets left in a dirty diaper. I don’t want to choose . . . but if you press me . . .

Null has gotten a lot of iterations and changes, supers, sov, etc. ALL securities have received incursions but it mainly is being played in hisec. Rumors put lowsec and wh space next on the ‘changes’ list and I would be all for that.

Lowsec is home to around 8% of the playerbase. What, in your opinion, are the main factors that make it more attractive to its current residents than other areas of space?
The freedom to be in a small unit and not anchored to a space or a dictator. To be doing pvp on your own terms.

When I flew in OUCH I enjoyed the adrenaline rush of Tama and the area about it. Sure I lost ships but it was an entirely different game from being a mission runner. Later, in null I honestly did not get the same rush. It was all intel channels and standard practices.

I do wonder if some of the players in low are there to be the counter culture, they would go all hipster on us if folks started crowding in sayin ‘I was here before it was cool, I was underground/lowsec’

Some might say that 8% is proof that lowsec is not worth the effort since so few players are there. Bull. Make it better, give the people the mechanics and the ability to carve out a living there and see that % climb.

What are your thoughts regarding Faction Warfare, particularly the idea that FW is the key to revitalizing lowsec?
I don’t know that FW is the key.  I think it is another niche in the sandbox but I also think that low has a lot of niche play that is not dependent on FW at all.

Would you support using Faction Warfare as a test bed for future Nullsec Sovereignty Mechanics?
No. Faction warfare should be its own thing, not a cheap knock off to make someone elses life better.

What is your thinking regarding piracy in lowsec – is it good, bad, or ugly? Would you like to preserve it in the face of upcoming tweaks and possible expansion to Faction Warfare, or would you like to see lowsec go in a different direction?
Good, but there must be a way to make it better.

Piracy is a part of the game and should be made better, not tossed over for some other vision of lowsec. I would fight to find ways to allow piracy to continue and maybe even expand on that lifestyle choice.

What are your thoughts on the notion that increased protection for PVE players in lowsec will result in a better lowsec?
bullshit

What are your thoughts regarding the introduction of a PVE activity or item (minerals, manufacturing certain items, etc) that would be lowsec-exclusive?
YES!

But make something new. Do NOT steal minerals or choke-point materials from other security spaces. This is not about nerfing them to strengthen us. it is about making everything better without a balancing loss.

This attitude needs reinforcing, too often I see ideas like ‘take abc’s out of wormholes, too little risk for isk. Bull. Add something new, something people will want to go see and buy. Look how many people went in after ORE blueprints for the Noctis.

What is your opinion on the Jack Dant proposal (link below) and the general belief in some sectors that improvements to lowsec should focus on entry-level, casual PVP?
doh, not fair.  I commented on this, above, before I read this question.  For repeating . . .yeah, I think it is a great starting point

If elected to CSM7 and subsequently informed by CCP that lowsec was the ‘hot topic’ for iteration in the coming year, what input and advice would you have for them?
Seriously?

Look, I spent a few months in lowsec with OUCH. I have flown with the Bastards and been ransomed by the Tuskers. But I do NOT consider myself a lowsec player, it is not what I am trying to be.

What I would be doing if told the above by CCP is come right back to the players and try to be what I am running to be. A Representative. This is not about electing MY ideas. It is not about ME being the voice that makes decisions. It is about having someone who is willing to ask, to represent. That is what I am trying to be. Someone you will vote for because I WILL represent YOU

I’d be contacting you and people like you who have a set interest in possible changes to lowsec. I sure as hell would try to find Jack Dant and people who have made the effort to make changes to the game in the oft ignored assembly hall and Jita park.

I would not be giving advice to CCP until I got advice from the player base that it would be most likely to affect.

What lengths are you willing to go to in order to make pirates flashy red on overview by default again?
What? When did you guys lose that?

Seriously.

OK, so it has been a few months since I spent a decent amount of time in low. But they took that away?

wtf

Mike Azariah is a two-time candidate for CSM (5 and 6). You can find out more about him at his blog.

If people from hisec have similar questions send them in.  I do not ‘polish’ my responces, you get what I think, not what I think you want to hear.  I was the first to answer Marc and I will try to be prompt on answering any other questions sent in.

But take ONE thing away from this. I am running to represent players, not grind my own axe over issues.  You can ask me what I think about things but you should also tell me what you think.  Convince me you have a good idea.  I will tell you I like it or call bullshit on it.  I’ll represent players of Eve, not trolls.  (Though at times the differentiation gets tough)

fly it like you won it

(prowler and 2 wolves given out yesterday in channel)

m

Election around the corner

“She’s right, you know.”  Jarod nodded at Kry who was storming off after having given Mike  piece of her mind.

“I know.  She usually is.”  Mike sighed.  “This election thing is getting me wound up more this time than in the past.  Probably for all the wrong reasons.  Smaller field, nomination process, and sealed records.”

“Sealed records?”

“Yeah.  A whole bunch of good things have happened in the past year and the current CSM will be taking a bow for all of it.  A whole bunch of bad things happened and they will say it happened on someone elses watch or they all argued against it.  Thing is, since they published no minutes and kept quiet as church-mice until the dreams became reality there is NO way to prove what they actually had a hand in doing and what was gonna happen in spite of them.”

“Ah, so the fact that they only took bows after something good happened. . . “

“Yup.  Like me taking credit for sunrises.”

“You don’t want to go that way.  You want to accentuate the positive, not throw mud on your opponents.”

“I know, I know, they do a good enough job of that, themselves.”  Mike ran his hand through his hair and sighed.  ‘Positives, eh?”

“Yup, and get a platform out there soon, don’t wait like you have in past years until the nominations are confirmed.  Everyone but you took a headstart last time and the race is going to be tougher this time around.”  Jarod poked a finger at Mike.  “You have to get moving now.”

“Why do you and Kry do this?  Help me along in the elections.”

“Because we believe in you.  In what you stand for.  But we are not the ones running, and you better tie your laces and get out on that trail.”

“Fine, fine.  With your support I will be fairly sure of two votes and that is a start.”

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Lessons

I will be making a more cohesive platform but here are some of the basic planks

1) There is no ‘endgame’  Play as you wish, where you wish.

2)  While some features to be driven for are long overdue I think a major portion of the player base would like some good short term content.  Only have an hour?  Eve should still be the go-to game.  And not to click a thousand clicks for PI or 0.01 isk games.

3)  There are a lot of rp players, folks who live and breath the background of this game.  Something new ought to come to them as well.  It is not all spreadsheets and overviews.

4)  This is from eve encyclopedia

The purpose of the CSM is to represent society interests to CCP. This requires active engagement with the player community to master EVE issue awareness, understanding, and evaluation in the context of the “greatest good for the greater player base”. The scope of issues is restricted only to EVE, its ongoing development, and limited meta (out-of-game) issues which have direct relevance to the EVE universe.

When did they become play-testers and a sounding board.  What happened to representing us?  Do you think you were represented?  How can you tell?

5)  I want to return to a simpler time where there were meetings with minutes so you could see what was being discussed, who was fighting for things you believed in and who did not even bother to show up.  I do understand that there is an NDA and that some things cannot be discussed but the issues proposed in the assembly hall, in Jita park . . . who among the current CSM championed them, anybody?

6)  I am a casual player and that is who I want to represent.  I do not have a block of voters in some huge nullsec alliance to call on.  I fly in hisec and in wormholes.  As of the time of this writing I am in a C5 but I have spent months in incursions.  I have a family, a job, a life outside of the game and I would like to stand for others who are trying to balance reality and the game.

7)  I need your votes and I need you.  Talk to people in your corps and alliances,  make them understand that their vote does count if they can rally and stand up together.

stand with me

fly it like you won it

m

Very short stint in the Navy

“You have been saying you would for months now.”  Riyu said.  “We have a hisec exit that is only a short hop from Amarr.  What do you say?”

Mike looked at the incursion alerts and nodded slowly.  “Not much to do here, right now.  I ‘spose I can head on in to visit.  I have to pack my toothbrush, sleeping bag, and a good ship for the job.  Ask your folks what they would like to see.”

There was a pause and then Riyu asked.  “They want to know what you can fly.”

Mike chuckled.  “Well any bc, strat cruiser, BS, ,command ships, got all sub cap guns up to T2 specs.”

“All of them?”

“Specialization is for alts and insects.  Ask for some fits and we will see what I can bring.  I am leaning towards a laser boat so I don’t have to wory about logistics of ammo.”

An hour later and Mike was following a set of bookmarks through three wormhole systems to the destination.  The Navy Apocalypse was new to him but it was nice and stable and well founded, even if he had fit it for a shield fleet. His hosts had been waiting for him and they got under way right when he arrived to investigate a sleeper site. 

“Funny, I remember these guys being harder, before.”

Riyu laughed from his Dread.  “You were a lot less trained, then, right?”

“Yeah, and in a Drake.”

“Not to mention the fact that lately you have been fighting Sansha.  After them these must seem tame by comparison.”

Mike looked out at the wave of six Sleeper battleships and smiled.  “Well, slightly tamer, yeah.”

In the aftermath Koni asked if anybody had run a clock on the site.  Mike checked and reported “Looks like right about 38 minutes, give or take.”

‘Well, not bad work for less that 40 minutes, here is your cut.” 

Mike looked at his wallet flash and whistled softly to himself.  Just shy of 100 million.  “Thank you very much.  Now, where can I hunker down for the night?”

The pos password was entered in and he warped under the prove umbrella of shields and defensive and offensive arrays.  Telling his crew to get some rest and thanking them for a job well done he slept.

The following morning.  . . “What?”

He groggily watched as the ship bounced off of the shields and the defensive array that had protected him last night now was opening fire.  Quickly he resent the password but the guns kept firing and his warp was locked down.  “Abandon ship, people, this is not going to be pretty.”

It wasn’t.  There is something seriously wrong with losing a ship not even a day old.  His capsule swam right through the force field, same password accepted without a hiccup. His host were apologetic and helped rescue the crew and salvage the ship but Mike followed the path back to hisec in a ship far far smaller than the one he had entered in.

“Not your best first day.”  Riyu said.

“Win some you lose some.  I have not given up and I will be back, after I earn a bit of isk to cover the loss.”  Mike laughed.  “Maybe later this week.”

÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷

“I do not want excuses.  Use one of those finder agents and tell me where he is.”

“The agents are not miracle workers.  He is out in a wormhole right now and until he surfaces again we cannot do a thing about it.”

“This is not tolerable.  Every day he is out there increases the risk of contagion.  Report as soon as we have a fix.  The next time we go after him will be The last.”

÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷

“Tell me this is some sort of joke and we will laugh and switch envelopes in a minute.”

“Shut up, I am reading.  This is not a training mission, it is a hard target and we have to get it right.”

×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

Lessons. 

Hands up if pos passwords have ever gotten bad for you.

Wormhole earnings exceeded incursion earnings.  But. I was running with a good crew who are very experienced.

If you are looking for me to moan and wail about the null folks trying to rush incursions, you are goigntmo wait a long time.  Part of the GAme and from an rp standpoint probably a lot more honest.  Pilots would not farm while planets were being upkifted.

On the other hand.  . . Csm elections are around the corner and it looks like candidates will need a certain number of supporters to even get into the election.  You can let the organized null take the board again or hisec and wormholers can start to get organized.

Yes, I will be running again.  (Even with an arrow in the knee)

M