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EVE Online's sixth CSM election results are in

Brendan Drain — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, MMO industry, Endgame

The elections for EVE Online's sixth Council of Stellar Management have come to a close, and earlier today the results were revealed to both excited Fanfest attendees in Iceland and players at home. In previous years, the CSM's role was to collect issues players had with the game and bring them to the attention of developers. This role has morphed over time into a more advisory form, with CCP running ideas by the council and using them to help prioritise the development backlog. This year's elections were heavily influenced by political voting from EVE's nullsec alliances. Organised voting secured spots on the council for several big players in territorial warfare, and a few old faces returned for a further term.

Political voting isn't necessarily a bad thing for the CSM, as players who are heavily involved in EVE are still the types of people we want to see on the council. CCP employees can't also be power players in the game, so they miss out on the perspective that alliance leaders and other heavily involved players will have. Participation was huge this year, with a total of 49,069 votes being cast in a two-week period. This represents 14.25% of the total accounts eligible to vote, an increase over last year's 12.67%.

Read on for a full rundown of the elected members of EVE's sixth Council of Stellar Management.

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EVE Online's sixth CSM election results are in originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 26 Mar 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's EVE Online CSM 6 candidate roundup

Brendan Drain — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, MMO industry

Starting life as a humble indie MMO development studio, CCP Games was always noted for its close relationship to the players of its flagship game EVE Online. That relationship diminished a lot over time as both the size of the playerbase and the scale of EVE's development grew to immense proportions. Today CCP relies on players to guide development more than ever, but it needs a lens through which to focus feedback from such a large community of players into a form that the team can use. The democratically elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM) is that lens.

Fifty-seven players submitted their applications to join EVE's elected player council this year, and all this week, players have been voting to decide who will represent them in discussions with CCP. With so many candidates in the running and only four more days to make up your mind, it can be hard to pick one individual from the list. To help you decide, Massively has compiled a full list of every applicant in the running along with a short message about his or her campaign and handy links to available campaign resources.

When you're ready to vote, follow this link to the voting page, log in, and click the vote button to the right of your chosen candidate. Remember to get your vote in before March 23rd when polls close! The results will be published on March 30th, and we'll find out who will be representing the EVE playerbase to CCP for the coming year.

Continue reading Massively's EVE Online CSM 6 candidate roundup

Massively's EVE Online CSM 6 candidate roundup originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online's fifth CSM election results are in

Brendan Drain — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, MMO industry, News items

Voting season is over in EVE Online's fifth CSM elections and the results are in! The Council of Stellar Management is EVE's democratically elected liaison council between CCP Games and the game's player-base. It's their job to collect a list of some of the best ideas and game design proposals suggested and voted on by players in the council forum. Once every six months, the council will meet with CCP for a week of rigorous meetings in Iceland to put forward those ideas and discuss their feasibility with EVE's development staff. There's no doubt that the CSM has had a legitimate impact on EVE's development and with this fifth term, they're even being given the ability to assign some development resources as they see fit.

Skip past the cut for a breakdown of this year's voting statistics and to meet the new members of EVE's CSM.

Continue reading EVE Online's fifth CSM election results are in

EVE Online's fifth CSM election results are in originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 26 May 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup

Brendan Drain — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, MMO industry

This week is voting week for EVE Online players as the fifth edition of the democratically elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM) gets underway. 49 approved candidates are in the running for just nine seats on the council, with an extra five alternate candidates agreeing to step in should any members of the council be forced to leave during their term. The council's job is to act as a go-between to help EVE players communicate major gameplay issues to the development team. In the two years the council has operated, they've become an essential part of CCP's development methodology.

The CSM plays a vital role in EVE's development and it's important that the right people for the job are elected. For those that don't normally vote in the elections, figuring out what each candidate brings to the table can be a difficult and daunting task. In this absolutely massive three-page feature, we give a run-down of all 49 candidates entered in the current election, from previous CSM members to new active campaigners and the relatively unknown pilots with little to no campaign.

When you're ready to vote, follow this link to the voting page and click the vote button to the right of your chosen candidate. Remember to get your vote in before May 19th when polls close! The results will be published on May 28th, when we see who will be representing the EVE player-base to CCP for the coming year.

Continue reading Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup

Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 May 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup, page 2

Brendan Drain — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:00:00 EST

Continue reading Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup, page 2

Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup, page 2 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 May 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup, page 3

Brendan Drain — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:00:00 EST

Continue reading Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup, page 3

Massively's EVE Online CSM candidate roundup, page 3 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 May 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE's 4th CSM election results are in

James Egan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Politics

Election results for EVE Online's 4th Council of Stellar Management (CSM) are in. The CSM are players elected by the game's subscribers, given the responsibility of representing the collective interests of the playerbase to EVE Online's developer CCP Games. The hope is that future game changes and features will be in keeping with how the subscribers like to play EVE.

The announcement from EVE developer CCP Xhagen earlier today lists the election results by real name, character name, location and number of votes:

Continue reading EVE's 4th CSM election results are in

EVE's 4th CSM election results are in originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behind the Curtain: OH NOES POLITICS

Craig Withers — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Behind the Curtain, Politics

Before we get started, a few caveats. I'm no more politically aware than the average person, probably a little less. I've never studied politics in any seat of learning past High School, nor have I studied it on my time for fun. I may have made mistakes below, or came to false conclusions regarding the nature of the political systems I've outlined, so any mistakes are the result of that. That, or the fact that I'm loaded with the cold, and I've taken so much over-the-counter medicine today, that huffing paint is probably the next logical step in my intoxication.

What with Election Day fast approaching for my estranged colonial cousins across the pond, my thoughts have turned to politics of late. I got to thinking about the conjunction of politics and MMOs, and indeed if there even was such a thing. Do any modern MMOs have a recognisable political system? Is there even a place for politics to play a role in MMOs? What I thought I'd do is have a look at a handful of forms of government and imagine how they might be applied to MMOs, and see if that can't get a discussion going. In short, I want you to do my work for me.

Continue reading Behind the Curtain: OH NOES POLITICS

Behind the Curtain: OH NOES POLITICS originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE's second CSM election process begins

James Egan — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:15:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Guilds, MMO industry, News items

CCP Games announced that it's time for EVE Online's next Council of Stellar Management election process to begin. Here's the message from the Council Election page: "The second democratic elections in EVE will start the 7th of November. Here you can enter your application to run as a candidate for the election. You will run under your real name with an EVE identity for others to relate to. You will have to be ready to appear in public or in mediums. Your account has to be older than 30 days. You are required to put effort into your position. Yet serving the EVE population is well worth it. Get all the necessary information here. Throw your hat in the ring and make history."

Interested candidates will need to have their information submitted to CCP no later than October 17th (extended from their previous announcement that stated October 10th). The application, which requires a candidate to scan and submit an image of their passport, states: It is important to notice that your real life name, country, character name, campaign webpage and campaign message will be made public and available for everyone to see. Players elected to the Council of Stellar Management may also be required to appear on EVE-TV (should it make a comeback) and E-ON magazine, in addition to being willing and able to make the trip to Iceland.

EVE's second CSM election process begins originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linden Lab honored as top democratic workplace

Shawn Schuster — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, Second Life, Academic, Virtual worlds

The face of business is changing daily. Long past are the days of the ego-driven business model, as organizational democracy rises up through the ashes of the last five years in business. So WorldBlu, Inc., an Atlanta-based business specializing in organizational democracy and freedom-centered leadership, recently compiled an unranked list of the "Top 25 Most Democratic Workplaces". Among those on this list is Second Life's Linden Lab.

It is reported that employees of Linden Lab are encouraged to choose their own work based on company objectives, which can be changed weekly. In addition, employees can show appreciation for each other by "sending love" through their Love Machine software application. Important company data is openly shared among all employees throughout the company in real-time, allowing a more open environment for sharing ideas and concepts.

Linden Lab honored as top democratic workplace originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Paper explains EVE's quasi-democratic council in extreme detail

Samuel Axon — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:14:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Expansions, Game mechanics, News items, Politics

If you had any doubt at all that EVE Online is the thinking man's MMO, you won't any longer. CCP has released a 20 page paper in PDF format describing the new Council of Stellar Management, and you know you're in for something good when the paper starts off with the social theories of the Greek philosopher Aristotle.

This is one of the times when it's particularly clear just how bizarre and interesting it is to be writing about virtual societies. This is the stuff of cyberpunk novels and Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes. CCP has produced something like the first draft of a constitution (with notes) for a representative government, with references to John Locke's social contract theory and everything else you'd expect from such a document. No doubt EVE's scheming political players are already looking through the document for loopholes and potential abuses. It may not be long before EVE players are having debates about campaign finance reform and separation of powers.

Richard Bartle doesn't think this will work. Whether it works or not, though, it'll be damned interesting. At the very least, it will be more fodder for discussion relating to Hardcore Casual's EVE Challenge.

[Via MMORPG]

Paper explains EVE's quasi-democratic council in extreme detail originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WarCry's "War on the Impossible" part 4 details EVE's Trinity expansion

Samuel Axon — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:15:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, Expansions, Previews, News items

The folks at CCP are nothing if not ambitious. They're more willing to take risks and try new things with EVE Online than a lot of other developers are with their respective games. So far it's paid off; EVE has a very large and passionate fan base. So large and passionate, in fact, that they annually hold a huge Fanfest in Reykjavik.

We provided a list of all the best coverage of the event, but one item on the list stands out enough to warrant a plug of its own. WarCry has been rolling out a series of articles on EVE Online as coverage for this year's conference. All together it's called "The War on the Impossible" after CCP's new slogan. Part IV of this series was just launched. This time the focus is on the Trinity expansion, which includes a graphical overhaul, a revised voice chat system, and many new or tweaked gameplay elements.

In case you missed the earlier articles; Part I was an introduction to CCP's big moves and plans for the game. Part II was about the panel debate between Richard Bartle and Jessica Mulligan on CCP's plans to democratize the world of EVE, and Part III described "Ambulation" in detail. The articles aren't purely informative; WarCry weighs the consequences of each change. If you play EVE, you'll find that this series is one of the best summaries of the changes on the horizon. If you don't play EVE, it's exciting reading anyway because of the audacity of some of CCP's plans.

WarCry's "War on the Impossible" part 4 details EVE's Trinity expansion originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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