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TERA prepares for political machinations

Elisabeth Cardy — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, News items, TERA, Dev Diaries

If you've thought that a bit of political campaigning and intrigue was all that was missing from your complete enjoyment of TERA, have we got good news for you. It's almost time for the vanarch election wheel to start a-turnin', so start polishing your speeches!

Players elected to the vanarch position will reign for three weeks over their province. Vanarchs get to turn their whimsy into mandate by setting and collecting taxes and choosing which specialty shops to open up. They'll also be accruing fame (or infamy) for themselves and their guilds. Of course, not just anyone is worthy to rule o'er the masses: In order to be eligible, candidates must be the leader of a level three guild with at least 20 members, must have reached at least level 50 on their character, and must pay a fee of 3,000 gold and 100 Catharnach Awards.

Sound like you? Registration for vanarch candidates opens up on Friday, May 18th, at 9:00 p.m. EDT and runs 'til Friday, May 25th, at 9:00 p.m. EDT. After registration week comes a week of voting, and then three weeks of sweet, sweet power. Registration for the following reign opens up in the second week of the on-going vanarch's office, so if you're interested in getting to the top and staying there, you don't have a lot of time to rest on your laurels.

If the mantle of power isn't made for your shoulders but you still want to flex your political muscle, be sure to vote! Each game account gets one vote per continent on a given server. Are your fingers itching for a ballot? Next week TERA's game guide will be updated with some more juicy details on the political system. Knowledge, after all, is power.

TERA prepares for political machinations originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 11 May 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online's seventh CSM results are in

Brendan Drain — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items, Sandbox

EVE Online's seventh Council of Stellar Management elections have come to a close, and moments ago at the EVE Online Fanfest, the results were announced to Fanfest attendees and players watching the livestream from home. Although the CSM was originally put together as a way for players to submit specific ideas to CCP, it has become an essential part of the game development process. The council is now consulted on practically everything that goes into EVE, acting as a democratically elected advisory council.

Last year's chairman, The Mittani, secured the chair again this year with a record voting turnout of over 10,000 votes. Making it into the CSM as full council members are Two step, Elise Randolph, Greene Lee, Trebor Daehdoow, Kelduum Revaan, Seleene, UAxDEATH, and Hans Jagerblitzen. In the event of their absence or inability to continue as part of the CSM, alternate council members Meissa Anunthiel, Dovinian, Issler Dainze, Alekseyev Karrde, and Darius III will take over.

Read on for a full graphic summary of this year's CSM members along with their campaign information from our CSM roundup.

Continue reading EVE Online's seventh CSM results are in

EVE Online's seventh CSM results are in originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: CSM 7 candidate roundup

Brendan Drain — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Culture, Events, in-game, MMO industry, Endgame, Opinion, EVE Evolved, Guides, Sandbox

EVE Online is unique among MMOs, and nowhere is this more evident than in the political struggles that take place every day in New Eden. Just this weekend, I spent long hours negotiating the surrender of a friend's wormhole starbase with an Elysian Empire diplomat, only to have his CEO overrule the decision because he wanted to get the killmail for blowing the starbase up. For EVE's more ambitious political machinists, perhaps the greatest challenge of all is to be part of the democratically elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM).

The council functions as an advisory board to CCP and a mechanism through which players can get their views and ideas across to developers. Last year's CSM was instrumental in forcing CCP's hand and making the company refocus development on EVE Online. With this year's ambitious plans to revamp all ships and forms of PvP, and DUST 514 due for a summer release, the stakes for this year's council are even higher. Voting is now underway to select the team of players who will represent the EVE playerbase to CCP for the coming year.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I round up all of this year's candidates to help you choose whom to vote for.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: CSM 7 candidate roundup

EVE Evolved: CSM 7 candidate roundup originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 11 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online prepares the schedule for the next Council of Stellar Management

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, News items, Sandbox

EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management is about to change seats once again. On April 4th, the current council's term will expire, meaning that it's time for a new council to be formed among the game's players. CCP Games is starting the process for election early, posting a full timetable of the upcoming election as well as the requirements for candidacy. Applications for candidacy will be open from February 8th through the 22nd, followed by nominations until the 29th, with the election proper running between March 7th and March 21st.

Thinking about throwing your hat into the ring? Eligible players must be 21 years old or older by April 4th, able to travel to CCP's headquarters in Iceland, and have an EVE Online account older than 30 days. Anyone eligible will also be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, since the Council of Stellar Management frequently receives information not yet available to the general playerbase. Even if you're not interested in running yourself, it's going to be interesting for EVE players to take part in the election once again.

EVE Online prepares the schedule for the next Council of Stellar Management originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

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

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 Evolved: Your vote counts -- EVE's sixth CSM

Brendan Drain — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EST

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

Of all the groups involved in EVE Online, the democratically elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM) may be the most significant influence in the game's development. The council was originally created as a way to reassure players that the developer corruption exposed in the T20 scandal would not be repeated. Players voted for a list of representatives from the community, who were then flown over to Iceland to review CCP's newly created internal affairs department. Since then, the CSM has taken on a more advisory role to CCP, presenting itself as a conduit through which players can focus their ideas and any issues they're having with EVE.

With the fifth CSM term now coming to a close, voting has begun to choose the members of the sixth council. Players with active EVE accounts over 30 days old have until March 22nd to log in and register their votes. If last year's record 39,433 voter turnout is anything to go by, this year your votes will matter even more than ever. Competition is high for a spot on the council, and it's up to the players to determine who will best represent them in meetings with CCP. If you're having trouble deciding whom to vote for, stay tuned to Massively's EVE Online coverage this week for a breakdown of all the candidates in the running.

This week's EVE Evolved is dedicated to convincing you that your vote counts. In this article, I address a few common reasons people are put off voting, explain why the CSM is a force for change in EVE, and hear a few words from ex-CSM Stephan Pirson.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Your vote counts -- EVE's sixth CSM

EVE Evolved: Your vote counts -- EVE's sixth CSM originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:00:00 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 Evolved: It's election time in EVE online

Brendan Drain — Sun, 09 May 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Opinion, EVE Evolved

The month of May is election time for EVE Online as players vote for members of the game's democratically constructed Council of Stellar Management. Voting opened on May 5th for all players with an account older than 30 days and continues until May 19th. Once assembled, the council is tasked with bringing the concerns of players and ideas for game improvements directly to CCP. Players propose issues on the official EVE forums and the rest of the player-base can give the thread a thumbs up to show their support. Issues that get enough support from the general EVE community are elevated to the regular CSM meetings, in which the issue is discussed and voted on by the council members. If the council deems the issue important enough in a meeting, they'll add it to the list of items they plan to discuss with CCP.

In this week's politically charged EVE Evolved, I look at the role of the CSM, how it's changing with this fifth term and the impact the council has had on EVE's development.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: It's election time in EVE online

EVE Evolved: It's election time in EVE online originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 09 May 2010 18:00:00 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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EVE Online's 3rd CSM election results are in

James Egan — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Politics

The Council of Stellar Management (CSM) in EVE Online is a body of players elected by the game's subscribers to represent their interests before CCP Games. We've seen no small amount of debate on the CSM in the comments here at Massively, which is actually indicative of the lengthy and contentious discussions on the CSM that take place on the official forums and unofficial forums alike, as well as on player blogs.

We'd already mentioned that the 3rd Council of Stellar Management elections were under way but now those election results are in. Two council members from the 2nd CSM were-elected -- Vuk Lau and Omber Zombie. Dierdra Vaal, who sat on the first CSM, has been elected as well. In fact Vaal garnered the most votes in this election (2967) and is thus the new Chairman of the Council of Stellar Management. 9.7% of EVE Online's playerbase voted in the 3rd Council of Stellar Management election.

Continue reading EVE Online's 3rd CSM election results are in

EVE Online's 3rd CSM election results are in originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 29 May 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Election results from EVE Online's second Council of Stellar Management

James Egan — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Politics

EVE Online is notable among MMOs for having a system where players elect other players to become part of a representative body known as the Council of Stellar Management (CSM). The main purpose of the CSM is to represent the interests of the playerbase before the developers at CCP Games and, hopefully, keep the game of EVE in step with how subscribers actually play it.

All four of the first CSM delegates who ran for re-election were voted in for the second council. Eva Jobse (aka 'Ankhesentapemkah'), Charlie Eriksen (LaVista Vista), Sean Conover (Darius JOHNSON), and Marcell Tóth (Tusko Hopkins) are all returning for another term. The CSM's new Chairman, having garnered the most votes in the election (2033), is Vuk Lau from 4S Corporation, of Morsus Mihi alliance. Joining them are four new delegates: Valentine Obasuyi (Pattern Clarc), Jeremy Jankie (Omber Zombie), Michele Boland (Issler Dainze), and Ryan Hamilton (Bunyip). According to EVE developer CCP Xhagen, the CSM's first order of business is to elect a vice-chairman, secretary and vice-secretary.

Continue reading Election results from EVE Online's second Council of Stellar Management

Election results from EVE Online's second Council of Stellar Management originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE's Council of Stellar Management elections end tomorrow

James Egan — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:30:00 EST

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

Tomorrow is the last day for EVE Online players to cast their vote for the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) candidates. Members of the player-elected council act as representatives of the playerbase, bringing issues with the game before the developers and working towards keeping EVE Online a game that reflects the interests of those who play it.

EVE's Council of Stellar Management is one of the first significant implementations of a democratic process impacting both the players and developers of an MMO. Other titles and developers have taken smaller steps towards this in the past, but the first CSM was a first for the industry as well.

Continue reading EVE's Council of Stellar Management elections end tomorrow

EVE's Council of Stellar Management elections end tomorrow originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Voting for EVE's second Council of Stellar Management begins

James Egan — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:30:00 EST

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

This has been an important week for our American readers in terms of elections, but now that the minor distraction of real-world governance has been dealt with, it's time to focus on governance in the MMO space. You've got to keep those priorities straight, after all.

The polls are now open in EVE Online's second Council of Stellar Management (CSM) election, where players can vote for candidates to represent their interests before CCP Games... and potentially impact how the game evolves. We can already sense the impulse someone, or several someones, out there has to comment below: "But why should I bother voting? What do they even do?" And to be fair, it's not been very transparent what the CSM has been up to (aside from the meeting minutes), but more so what effect they've had on EVE and its development pipeline.

Continue reading Voting for EVE's second Council of Stellar Management begins

Voting for EVE's second Council of Stellar Management begins originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE's second Council of Stellar Management applicants announced

James Egan — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:45:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Forums, MMO industry, News items, Politics

EVE Online differs from other MMOs in a number of ways. Differences in game mechanics and setting aside, even the dynamics among the players is different than with your standard sharded MMO. The single server approach puts all of the players in one world, sometimes creating a tense social dynamic between the players, and especially between CCP Games and the EVE subscribers.

The player-elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM) is an attempt to have a group of players bridge this gap, and represent the interests of the playerbase as a whole by advising CCP on how to keep the game in step with what the players want. Although the first CSM is still in office, the next election process is well underway. EVE dev CCP Diagoras posted a breakdown of the applications for the second Council of Stellar Management, listing statistics and information about those who have their eyes set on a place among the CSM, and plenty to read about each of the individuals in the running.

Continue reading EVE's second Council of Stellar Management applicants announced

EVE's second Council of Stellar Management applicants announced originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:45:00 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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EVE Online's first CSM term ending, next approaching

James Egan — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST

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

The latest EVE Online dev blog deals with the forthcoming changing of the guard, in terms of the player-elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM). EVE dev CCP Xhagen touched upon the fact that in the nearly 4 months that the first CSM has held office, it became clear(er) to the developers that their own views on some aspects of the game can be differ from how the players see it. While CCP Xhagen didn't list the CSM's accomplishments, he said that some of what the CSM brought to CCP Games won't be implemented until well after the new Council is elected, due to the time it takes to implement changes in the development pipeline. However, some of their efforts "will start to become visible in WAR 1.2 and the winter expansion."

He also announced the dates and details for the second Council of Stellar Management, with a few changes made to the rules. CCP Xhagen said, "... the chairman is eligible for the chair-position again should he decide to step down as such and have the CSM vote a new one; 25% of actual voters are required to force a topic up to the CSM; the biggest change is the 21 year age limit to be a valid candidate." In addition, the timetable for the existing CSM stepping down and the newly elected Council moving into their role is as follows:

Continue reading EVE Online's first CSM term ending, next approaching

EVE Online's first CSM term ending, next approaching originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE dev blog: Council of Stellar Management Summit recap

James Egan — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, News items

The latest developer blog posted at the EVE Online site is a brief report to the community about last week's Council of Stellar Management (CSM) Summit, the first meeting between the player-elected council of representatives and CCP Games. The CSM Summit gave the delegates a chance to discuss, face-to-face with CCP, how the players they represent would like the game to change. CCP Xhagen reports that CCP views this first meeting as being a 'resounding success.' The CSM delegates were well-prepared and clearly put a lot of time and effort into the topics on the agenda, Xhagen says.

The next step in the process is for the discussion topics from the CSM Summit to be sorted in terms of viability and priority. This involves a few factors, namely the time and work required by CCP to implement the game changes. From there, the CSM will prioritize the topics in light of the technical feasibility already established through talks with CCP. Afterwards, the proposed changes will enter development pipelines; future patch notes will indicate which issues or changes are the result of the CSM's efforts. CCP Xhagen cautions that some requests will take longer than others to realize in the game, but stated that the devs will do their best to roll out the changes and communicate timeline estimates. Xhagen finishes by saying, "The most important results of the Summit may not be immediately evident, but the seeds planted by the CSM into the minds of the EVE dev team members are already sprouting."

Continue reading EVE dev blog: Council of Stellar Management Summit recap

EVE dev blog: Council of Stellar Management Summit recap originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WarCry interviews EVE Lead Designer Noah Ward about the CSM

James Egan — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, News items

EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management (CSM) is the title's first attempt at having elected representatives work with CCP Games on improving the game as well as the company's relations with its player base. The initial idea behind the CSM was that it would act as an oversight committee on behalf of the players, in the wake of the 'T20 incident' when a CCP developer unfairly provided a player corporation with certain resources. But this first CSM is largely tasked with improving the transparency of CCP's inner workings, while shaping the game to better fit the play styles of their constituency. The CSM has met online in recent weeks, and with mixed results, but they've now met in-person in Reykjavik, where they also had face-to-face time with the creators of EVE Online.

Jordan Deam from WarCry interviewed EVE Online dev Noah Ward (aka CCP Hammerhead) about what this experiment in 'democratic community management' has yielded thus far, and what it may yet become. The interview focuses heavily on the dynamic between players wanting features added to the game and the undertaking necessary on CCP's part to make these changes a reality. Factional warfare has only just been realized in the game and was four years in the making. Ambulation, or 'Walking in Stations', is slated for a launch in the coming months, after three years of being in the pipeline, Ward said. Have a look at the WarCry interview, and decide for yourself if the CSM is living up to its potential, and if CCP is recapturing the transparency of a small, independent game company as it grows into a much larger entity.

WarCry interviews EVE Lead Designer Noah Ward about the CSM originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is WoW a hotbed of political activity?

Chris Chester — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Culture, Politics, Academic

Earlier this week, USA Today published a lifestyle article that made the claim that the population of World of Warcraft has gotten swept up in the political fervor of the day. According to one frequent WoW-player quoted prominently in the article, the buzz over the race between Hillary and Obama has reached such an ever-present crescendo that it's bled into our most prominent avenue for fantasy and escapism.

While it is particularly interesting the way that the political dialog has overcome more tradition fare in /general and guild chats (and by traditional fare we mean Chuck Norris jokes), we'd hesitate to call this phenomenon an exclusive product of this election cycle. The fact of the matter is, this is really the first presidential election cycle that has taken place during World of Warcraft's life, so there's no way to tell whether this amount of election buzz is peculiar in any way. Are marches through the streets of Iron Forge in support of marginal Republican candidates par for the course? We honestly haven't a clue. Ask us in four years!

[Via GamePolitics]

Is WoW a hotbed of political activity? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New MMO: Luminary: Rise of the GoonZu

Akela Talamasca — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Real life, Dofus, Game mechanics, New titles, Free-to-play

Now, before you say anything, just bear in mind that sometimes a name just doesn't translate well outside of its country of origin. Obviously, this is one of those names, and it's unfortunate, because Luminary: Rise of the GoonZu sounds like an admirable attempt at something completely new.

Check it out: an MMO in which you play in such a way as to rise through the ranks of society, gathering supporters and momentum to attempt to attain the highest rank. From the press release: "Simulating a real world society, players in Luminary: Rise of the GoonZu can become an artisan and create their own items. Sell these items in the market and build your wealth. Purchase town stocks, lease buildings and even employ your own workforce. Have you earned the respect of your fellow players? Run for office in the residential election and become the GoonZu and control the server's future."

That sounds totally amazing, and a breath of fresh air, frankly. No mention of combat, monsters, level grinding, etc. Looking at the game's website brings all of that stuff in force, but I'm still very interested. However, I can see its name working against it; do you want to become the GoonZu? Though what do I know? Tons of people play Dofus all the time.

[Thanks, Robin!]

New MMO: Luminary: Rise of the GoonZu originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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