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.

I am Solidus Obscura and I’ve been playing EvE for close to two years (38 years based on the sum total of all of my characters’ SP at 2500 SP/hr). I was attracted to the game primarily from the ‘anything goes’ press - scamming, suicide ganking, etc. I fell in love with the mechanics, incredibly deep gameplay, and later the family I’ve come to have. I started out in E-Uni like many new players - learned the ropes, got involved with multiple campuses (AMC!), dealt with the frustrations of grinding it out and getting better at PVP. I wanted to participate in World War Bee so I joined some friends that moved to Mercenary Coalition after the fall of M-O. It was in MC that I found my family, primarily through the Alliance Tournament run and Eve Vegas experiences. It was also in MC that I lost my mind and started multiboxing like a nutter (see my campaign thread for further details) as well as preaching the greatness that is the Rorqual.

 

2. Who would you consider to be your key constituents? Who you would best represent within the playerbase?

Every constituent (i.e., player - alpha or omega) is key. I think it is important for all of the CSM to hear the voices of all. That said, I would best represent the multiboxing player base (primarily those that box more than 2-3 accounts concurrently) given my experience with it and platform (see below). I would also provide enhanced representation to mercs (from experience in MC), miners (PRAISE THE RORQUAL, BASK IN HER GREATNESS!!!), and PVErs (from experience in spawning “Mining Coalition.” or “MC.”).

 

3. Please summarise your platform. (Preferably using key bullet points)

• I primarily plan to represent multiboxers and multiboxing in general. I feel we are a group that has continued to garner negative press and changes from CCP. I want to help shift that mentality and better educate CCP on our style of play.
• Multiboxing is my expertise but I also have substantial experience with the various PVE aspects of the game (especially mining <3). Planetary Interaction changes are a common easy fix that is often proposed - well I once ran 165 p0-p2 planets at once, I got some strong opinions on how that can be improved.
• The Rorqual is the greatest ship in the game. Fozzie has betrayed the praise I lavished upon him at Vegas 2016 for the changes he made to it. She is not deserving of these nefarious nerfs!

 

4. Why have you decided to run for CSM this year?

My reason primarily comes from the heart - this is a game I truly enjoy and have invested a lot of time in (101 characters, seriously). I believe I could make a positive impact to the game based on the broad range of experience I have in addition to my expertise in multiboxing.

 

5. Have you run for or been a member of CSM in the past? If so please list each year and if you were elected.

No, this is my first experience with the CSM.

 

6. What makes you a unique representative when you compare yourself to other candidates?

Obviously, most of the CSM candidates multibox. But how many box over 10 accounts concurrently. 20? And then ask, how many of them have multiboxed at that magnitude more than one mechanic? This is where I can bring a unique perspective to the forum. Suppose CCP decides to make a change impacting Rorquals (hahaha >.>), I could provide an expert opinion on how the multiboxers would adapt to it.

 

7. Do you have any out of game experience and skills that make you a good candidate?

I am a professional services employee with daily client interactions, which are occasionally difficult. This experience would enable me to approach the CCP developers in a similar manner - with professionalism, integrity, and respect - while still being persuasive. This will help my positions be heard.

 

8. What areas of EVE are you weakest at knowledge wise?

Wormholes. I simply don’t have a ton of experience with them- primarily with respect to the PVE aspects. So I wouldn’t be able to bring an opinion regarding capital escalations and the like. However, as I’ve shown through the variety of things I’ve multiboxed, I can learn quickly.

 

9. If you were offered unlimited development time - what's the biggest change you would lobby for in EVE?

PVE, especially missions and ratting, has not received much love lately and has been relatively stagnant (I can’t really recall a major change to missions and ratting since I started playing the game). A lot of PVE activities are also done fairly passively (ratting/mining). I would like to see newer content, especially group-based content, that offer attractive rewards for being more engaged and doing them in lower risk areas (which would also attract PVPers and set up fleet based fights rather than single target ganks). A revamping of the mission system would also be helpful and should be linked to the NPE (many new players will go into missions if they stay in HiSec and it’s confusing as hell going from career missions to the L1-L4 missions available).

 

10. If you could wind back the clock - what feature or change would you remove from EVE?

Well, I’ve only experienced a handful of sweeping changes since I started playing EvE. The main change that I would like to see revisited (not necessarily removed) is the on-grid nature of mining boosts. It has simply become a debacle. While the Rorqual received amazing buffs to its offensive and defensive prowess, the addition of excavators and making it a solo-mining behemoth was a knee-jerk reaction to the increased risk profile of sieging out of a POS/Citadel and the economy has been permanently altered, for better or worse. The proposed changes coming in March will not fix the problem and will only make the income worse for independent miners (that don’t have the same protections as the large industrial organizations with better defensive fleet options) with higher degrees of risk (as PANIC will only be activatable in the belts). CCP needs to go back to the drawing board on this and quit putting significant, knee-jerk reaction nerfs on things players have invested a lot of capital in.

 

11. If you could pick one candidate to be elected with you who would they be and why?

Steve Ronuken. Third party development is an important part of my Eve experience and he is a strong advocate for more features and opportunities for such. I think he’s just generally too important a candidate to not be in the CSM.

 

12. What is your favorite memory in EVE and why?

It would definitely be the Alliance Tournament. I was very lucky and honored to be a part of MC’s 2016 AT run and have participated in multiple matches. There is no greater high stakes “shakes” experience. This is a little bit different from my platform, but I reflect on it as it forms part of my overall experience on this game and would allow me to speak intelligently on tournament play (an extremely important part of what makes EvE fun) - especially the API endpoints currently available for it.

 

13. 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 EvE reddit primarily, but I am also on Discord (Solidus#1465) and Tweetfleet Slack.

 

14. If people wanted to find out more about your platform - where is the best place to do so? (Include blogs, forums posts and podcasts)

I am a little late to the game so I’ve been catching up with regards to podcasts. Right now the best place is my official forum post.

 

15. What is your closing statement (no more than 500 words please!)

There is no doubt I am facing an uphill battle in getting elected to the CSM. There are a ton of big names on the ballots and fewer spots to fill. I hope that I can earn your vote not through notoriety but through the evidence presented above that I am highly organized, efficient, experienced, and most importantly passionate about this game. If elected to the CSM, I will certainly put in the time and effort to advocate for a game that is more fun and engaging, for you.