With the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) Elections coming up soon we at EVE NT have contacted all the running candidates who have announced their intentions to run and provided them with a standardised interview template. The goal of this is to give each candidate a set of standard questions for them to respond to with the aim of helping you, the voter, to choose a candidate who best represents you and your play style to CCP. The same questions have been asked of every candidate as to allow easier comparison. The responses posted are unedited and will be published in the run up to the opening of the voting period on February the 29th in the order that they have been received. You can find out more about the CSM elections here.
Today's candidate is Jin'Taan.
 
Please start by giving us a short introduction to who you are and your history within EVE Online. Include how long you have been playing and the groups you have been involved with.
I've played for approximately 5 years (Just after the release of Dominion). Started off in Hisec as we all tend to, doing primarily low-scale Industry work. Got introduced to PvP in a war-dec, funnily enough, and fought some pretty cool dudes with barely-fit T1 frigates. I got demolished, but I knew I wanted more. So I started PvPing in Lowsec with Rifters. And from there, a love was born.
I ended up moving to Providence, and eventually switching corps to my current home of Pentag Blade, after buying my way through a few different characters. I did leave, for various reasons over the years, to experience different parts of EvE. I participated in the purging of Cobalt Edge in Razor, got in on the very tail end of the Halloween War in Kadeshi, and landed in Diplomatic Immunity just in time for it to failcascade.
I've experienced more than just ?being a pilot in x alliance? however. I've tried my hand FCing everywhere I've gone, and applied myself to radically different parts of the game at the same time, just to see how it ticked. From hisec ganking, to building caps & stations, even FCing Nullsec Incursions.
 
Who would you consider to be your key constituents? Who you would best represent within the playerbase?
Primarily I will be representing alternative playstyles (i.e. Players not operating under NBSI, such as NRDS, or NPSI), but I hope to garner votes from all over EvE, as I believe candidates should. People shouldn't be voting for those they think will shove their playstyle down the dev's throats, as that has historically worked poorly for previous CSMs. Ideally, they should be voting for people they think will provide the best balanced and critical feedback to CCP, and be able to do so with enough experience on the matter to talk meaningfully about it.
 
Please summarise your platform. (Preferably using key bullet points)
My specialities in knowledge are;
-Non-NBSI Gameplay Awareness
-Fleet Combat PvP
However, I can talk with experience about many other areas of the game.
 
Why have you decided to run for CSM this year?
Because it is the first one I've been eligible to run for. In addition to this, I noted that no non-NBSI candidates had thrown their hat in the ring, despite the incredible popularity of NPSI within the EvE community, and the relative size of my own (admittedly small) coalition. I believe that these playstyles needed to be included in the conversation, just in case something akin to the attempted removal of fleet warps was pitched, which would have crippled NPSI FCing. There are many other arguments against it, such as increasing the ?alt tax? attributed to content creation, but none was in my opinion, so damning.
 
Have you run for or been a member of CSM in the past? If so please list each year and if you were elected.
N/a.
 
What makes you a unique representative when you compare yourself to other candidates?
In all honesty, I believe the biggest asset I bring to the CSM is enthusiasm for the game. This game has been a part of my life since I was 14, and I've got no intention of stopping now.
 
Do you have any out of game experience and skills that make you a good candidate?
Out of game, I am a Design Engineer. Meetings, critical feedback and reports are a part of my life. I know how to conduct myself professionally, and productively within them. I know that does sound like a lot of buzzwords, but it means that I am fully willing to consider the opposite side in every argument, no matter how much it might conflict with my own views on the game.
 
What areas of EVE are you weakest at knowledge wise?
Without a doubt this is Non-Incursion Highsec PvE. I have never enjoyed it, and (barring a few reasonably enjoyable tries at the Burner missions), haven't taken part in it since I moved to Nullsec.
 
If you was offered one year of unlimited development time - what's the biggest change you would lobby for in EVE?
That is one hell of a question. For a start, I wouldn't go for any of the pre-Incarna mentality and attempt to introduce a ?Jesus Feature? with the intended goal of raising the sub counts, getting every newbie to stay forever and doing away with homework. I think iteration - proper, time constrained iteration and review - is one of the most important things CCP should be doing, and I really do think that CSM is an important part of that working properly.
If that was taken care of however, I'd give some love to the see design & balance devs at work on new ships. Ship introduction is one of the few things that can touch every aspect of the game, from Industry of making them, to FC's and Leadership theorycrafting, right down to the littlest newbro looking at one of the new Command Destroyers MJDing a fleet around and going ?I want to do that.?.
I don't have any specific suggestions, but there are definitely roles that need to be filled in the game with dedicated ships, and even weird points where ships are completely vacant, such as Pirate Battlecruisers, or a ship bonused to Smartbombing or ECCM/ReSebo-ing. We don't want ship bloat, but everyone needs a few more toys to play with from time to time.
 
If you could wind back the clock - what feature or change would you remove from EVE?
Another monumental question. I think some of the changes I'd like to turn back would have very little effect on the current state of the game, as they mostly remain in the simple social structure of the game. And whilst you can change the mechanic, you often can't change the players? psychological intertia towards a specific thing.
I think to give a reasoned answer I'd need to spend months really dissecting some of the most basic 'sacred cow? aspects of the game and tweaking them. Things like the gradual EHP bloat of the game, and DPS/Alpha creep to compensate for that, which leads to admittedly emergent, but sometimes less interactive combat during fleet fights. Of course, it would take a huge, huge amount of resources to balance and implement it in a way that didn't just turn EvE into more of an n+1 game.
A more specific thing I'd like to suggest however, would be the Medium Railgun nerfs that took place in Scylla. It was a perfect example of CCP nerfing something that was overall relatively balanced in an attempt to bring down an overpowered platform (Tengus/Proteuses) that weren't even overpowered due to specifically that system, but due to how it worked in conjunction with the nature of said hulls.
 
If you could pick one candidate to be elected with you who would they be and why?
Apothne. He is both a very professional and well spoken guy, but also has a quality that is rare amongst the people who sign up for the CSM, a direct and constant interaction with the population of New Eden who are trying to learn to PvP. He's worked with Pandemic Horde closely, and helped to train more than his fair share of FCs both there and in Sniggwaffe. If there's anyone who can bring a much needed set of eyes that can see the guy asking how to open broadcast window in fleet, it's him. And I think that sort of base realism is necessary to temper the more hardened veterans who've played for years and years, and might think of adding a layer of complexity to an idea.
 
What is your favorite memory in EVE and why?
This fight. It was the first time I'd ever lead an engagement against or with capitals, and by god, the first time you do that the adrenaline keeps you up for hours. It was against some of the people I long respected for their skill, and it was a brutal slugfest. I would do anything to experience that kind of fight again, with a little more composure and a better fleet. I?ll admit that the memory isn't particular poignant, but whenever I want to show someone what EvE is to me, I?ll pull up a video of that fight, or one like it, my voice coming through comms. It's something to be proud of, and something uniquely EvE.
 
What platform(s) do you use currently to engage with the wider player base? If someone wanted to contact you what is the best way to do this? (Include Twitter/Emails/Skype/Slack etc.)
The easiest way to get in contact with me is directly in game, through mails. However I have an out of game email address (jintaaneve@gmail.com) and I?m @jintaan on the Tweetfleet Slack. I?m also working on getting a blog sorted to go into more detail on specific questions I found interesting, the CSM process in general, and to keep myself accountable if I do get elected to ensure that the people who vote for me know I?m not just slacking off.
If people wanted to find out more about your platform - where is the best place to do so? (Include blogs, forums posts and podcasts)
Just ask me! I?m open to any questions, no matter how minor or major. Alternatively, check out my main forum post at https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=464401&find=unread , or keep an eye out for my upcoming interview on CSM Watch.
 
In short - what is your closing statement (no more than 500 words please!)
Well done for taking an interest in the candidates you choose to put forwards for the CSM. I urge you to choose the people you think will make the most professional, hard working, and knowledgable council you can, even if it doesn't include me. Don't just pick the people who?ll parrot your views back to you for your vote.