Shadow of Cerberus EVE Community Forum

Conflict diamond

Back in June, I wrote the following:

I don't usually enter EVE-related contests with prizes and such, particularly if there's a judge.  All I need to have happen is for me to win the thing, and anyone with sour grapes is gonna say "Oh sure, give it to the famous guy.  Of course."  I don't need that hassle, and the guy running the contest doesn't need that hassle.  So I try to stay out of the way of EVE-related contests.

Apparently, I'm not taking this far enough.  Not only do I have to stay out of the way of EVE-related giveaways but I also have to stay out of the way of sharing a corp with or having any association with anyone who receives EVE-related giveaways.  Or at the very least, apparently I have to disclose if anyone I know has ever received a CCP giveaway.

The fact that I didn't apparently infuriates Xander Phoena of the Crossing Zebras podcast and has made me the topic of discussion at TMC.

OK.  For the record, I know 14 players who have received Ishukone Watch Scorpions (iScorps hereafter) from CCP.  None of them work for SOMER Blink.  I share an in-game corporation with six of them, all six of whom received theirs for either being part of the Syndicate Competitive League staff, winning a Fanfest PvP tournament, or both.  I know two other players not in my corp or alliance that received one the same way.  The other six people received theirs either through community events or for contributions to the community.  This part of Xander's post is true.

Every other single thing he writes is nonsense.  It's surprising, because I really really like the guy.  But good Heavens is he frightfully off-base here.  I'm not usually in the point-for-point rebuttal business but this post really deserves it.  If you don't care, feel free to skip the rest of this post.  For those that do care...

The thrust of the Ripard's post seems to be that a lot of the community who are making the most noise are complaining because another site has been given something they haven't. And, after all, CCP are free to give those sorts of things to whoever they so wish. The implication is that the community is somehow jealous.

Not true.  What I actually wrote was "But I couldn't help but notice that there seems to be a good deal of jealousy in the threadnaught, as well as a lot of accusations directed at CCP Navigator personally."  Emphasis mine.  You'll note I limited my statement to a percentage of the people participating in the threadnaught, not "a lot of the community."  At no point did I direct that comment toward the community at large.  Within the threadnaught, I see a lot of the same faces over and over...  The center statement, that CCP are free to give these ships to whom they wish, I agree with, and said so in my post.

Now I strongly disagree with Ripard on this. It goes without saying that CCP can give these gifts to whoever they wish, however they wish. But to do so quietly rather than making a public announcement that ?Hey, this website is awesome and as such, we are rewarding them with this cool stuff' is an incredibly strange decision.

The first sentence of this paragraph should have been the last sentence of the previous paragraph.  This is poor editing on Xander's part, and because of his poor editing, he implies that I think CCP keeping this gift private was a good thing, when I do not.  I agree this gift should have been public, and said so in my post. 

Xander points out that some iScorps were given to the SCL staff (true) but then says...

Yes, that's the same organisation in which Ripard has been a long time supporter of, a some-time guest host and now, the recently promoted main studio host.

The first part of this statement is true: I do support the SCL.  The implication that I'm part of the staff is false.  The statement that I was "promoted" is also false.  No one has asked me what my direct association with SCL is.(1)  But that hasn't stopped them -- including Xander -- from writing about that association without any facts.  Those of you who have read my blog know the facts:

• I was an in-studio guest for a short segment of SCL 1 in February and that's all;
• I was the "expert commentator" for host Arydanika in the studio for SCL 2 in April, asked to join as a last-minute replacement;
• I was nearly completely uninvolved with SCL 3 (I wrote some trivia questions); and,
• because of Dani leaving EVE Online and leaving the SCL team in the lurch, I was asked (again at the last minute) to be the main studio host for SCL 4 in September.

You'll note that I'm not listed among the SCL staff on their website, nor have I ever been.  I do not consider myself staff, and the SCL team does not consider me staff -- in fact, I was not added to their staff discussion channel until a few days before SCL 4.  But yes, I was a commentator and in the studio for SCL 2.  So, why didn't I get a iScorp when the other in-studio hosts and commentators did?  "You were the one SCL person who didn't get one because we didn't want you having conflict of interest issues," Bacchanalian told me this afternoon.

This seems to have worked out really well, don't you think?

That's the same SCL which, should CCP decide to reward them after SCL6 for a job well done with another gift, Ripard would be a direct recipient of.

This accusation is beyond ridiculous.  To start, it implies that CCP will be giving the SCL staff a reward after every three SCLs.  Not only is that both unlikely and completely unpredictable, even if it were somehow true and even if I were somehow one of the recipients... so the hell what?  I can hardly disclose a conflict of interest that doesn't exist yet!  And that assumes that I will continue as the studio host for the SCL team in the future, something that -- quite frankly -- is unlikely.

On top of this, we have yet to hear any other response from any other members of CSM8 yet as the time this piece is published.

Not true.  Mynnna and Ali Aras have tweeted about it, James Arget has posted on Reddit about it, and several CSM members have posted in the threadnaught with their opinions.  My opinion just happens to be the most public because there's an easy way to find it.  That said, you're almost certainly not going to see a joint CSM statement about this.  Not all of us agree what that statement should say, or even if there should be one.  Xander's implied position that the entire community is outraged about this is simply ridiculous.  Some people are very unhappy, I will grant you.  I understand that.

My job as a CSM member is to represent EVE players.  The word "angry" is omitted.  I am not required to agree with every issue that every EVE player is angry about, even if there are a few hundred EVE players angry about that issue.  I am allowed to understand their position without agreeing with it.  And on this particular issue, that's still where I stand.


(1) This includes the quotes attributed to me in the TMC article, by the by.  I volunteered that information to The Mittani in the CSM Alumni channel, a Skype channel set up for past CSM members as well as CCP devs that wish to participate.  The quote then found its way into the TMC article under Sun Win's byline.

EDIT 6/Oct/2013: At my request, the quote has been removed.
Source: Conflict diamond