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.
Today's candidate is Tora Bushido.
 
1. 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.
The character I'm running for CSM with is Tora Bushido, highsec mercenary and alliance ceo of The Marmite Collective. During my 5-6 years of Eve I've also been active in 0.0 pvp with one of the best alliances in Eve, pvp/pve/industry in wh's and currently active with lowsec industry. Big chance our lowsec corp made the ships and modules you bought in Jita and my highsec merc alliance blew them up again.
I would like people to understand I'm running for CSM as myself and not the characters I roleplay (Tora Bushido, an evil man, who only wants to see death and destruction). I keep my private life and Eve separated for reasons I can't explain here. In real life I do the opposite of what Tora Bushido would do. Everything should be in good balance.
 
2. Who would you consider to be your key constituents? Who you would best represent within the playerbase?
As a not native English speaker, I had to read the first part of the question at least 3 times, then skipped to the second part. I want to represent highsec balanced evilness and the industry in Eve, but I also just want to be the guy who helps out where needed, as I love playing Eve.
 
3. Why have you decided to run for CSM this year?
I ran last year for CSM and came close enough to try again this year. Wasn't 100% sure I could fully dedicate myself to being a CSM, as being one is hard work. And when I go for something, I want to do a good job. I also seen the problems the CSM had this year and wanted to see how this would evolve and who else would be running this year.
 
4. What makes you a unique representative when you compare yourself to other candidates?
I would never say I'm unique, that would be arrogant. All I can tell you is, I'm love this game, I'm dedicated, I listen to what others have to say, I'm believe in straightforward communication and will call bullshit when I see it. I'm used to working with confidential information and follow "Need to know, nice to know" on a daily base. One of my strong points is organizing and analysing complex problems and bringing them back to the basics.
 
5. Do you have any out of game experience and skills that make you a good candidate?
Yes?.. need to know nice to know ? sorry :)
 
6. What areas of EVE are you weakest at knowledge wise?
Lore, incursions, PvE.
 
7. If you were offered unlimited development time - what's the biggest change you would lobby for in EVE?
I would like to add some more randomness to Eve, to make it a bit less predictable. Disabled stargates, devices that would let you bypass hotspots by a few jumps (mini cynos, even highsec), more interaction between ganking attackers/defenders, etc.
 
8. If you could wind back the clock - what feature or change would you remove from EVE?
Jump Fatigue. I would like to see it somewhere between what we have now and how it used to be. Currently as a small group or single player, it's to hard to move capitals around.
 
9. If you could pick one candidate to be elected with you who would they be and why?
I wouldn't mind being in the CSM with Xenuria. A lot of people see him as some kind of strange object in space (shoe gate etc), but they often forget he is a smart and dedicated player too. Smart dedicated players is something that can only be good for the CSM and the player base.
 
10. What are your favorite memories in EVE and why?
Being scammed by Goons (4-5 years ago), which made me start The Marmite Collective. No crying, just effort and get even. Or the time we were camping a wh with 2 carriers and some shiny backup ships, then got owned by Norcorp (5 years ago). But also the times I surprise newbros we just killed and SRP their loss plus a bonus and the things we as an Eve community do for others (Broadcast4reps, Care4kids, Plex4good, etc etc).
 
11. 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.)
I'm on Twitter (@blowfish70), on the Eve forums and sometimes on tweetfleet Slack.
 
12. If people wanted to find out more about your platform - where is the best place to do so? (Include blogs, forums posts and podcasts)
On my forum post here.
 
13. In short - what is your closing statement ?
Vote for Tora Bushido if you want someone who finishes what he starts, who is dedicated and loves this game we call Eve Online !