Shadow of Cerberus EVE Community Forum

Pining for the fjords

I'm sorry to extend this topic by another day, but I would like to clear something up.

Yes, this blog started as a means to publicize my run for CSM6.  But let's be clear: that run ended 17 months ago.  The blog has evolved quite a bit since then.  This is no longer a CSM election blog (if honestly, it ever was).  And yet people seem to think that I continue to be butt-hurt about a space election I was involved in almost two years ago.

The latest person to fall into this trap is Poetic Stanziel, who has written a very eloquent treatise about how the fact that I am criticizing CSM7 indicates that I am obviously planning to run for CSM8.  And that my run started this month.  And that I'm still butt-hurt about CSM6.  And that I won't run for CSM8 unless I'm guaranteed a seat.  Or something.  Never mind.  It's not that eloquent.

It is a common accusation, though.(1)  So I need to be pretty clear on this.  Back in January, I wrote two little posts wherein I gave a lot of very good reasons for me not to run for CSM.

Know what's changed between January and August?  Not very much!

That said, am I going to make some kind of Shermanesque statement guaranteeing that I'll never ever run?  Nope.  "Never say never" as the saying goes.  But I will say this: there is about a 98% chance that not only will I not be running for CSM8, I won't be running for any other CSM, either.  The reasons that I didn't run for CSM7 for the most part still apply, the most important of them being that I feel like I have the right level of influence on CCP doing just what I'm doing and I don't want my blog operating under a CCP NDA.

Guys: I like being a free agent.  That's not likely to change any time soon.

So, if I'm not presenting myself as the Second Coming or something, why am I giving CSM7 such a hard time?  That's easy: because so far taken as a group, they're not impressing me!  Individual members here and there?  Yes.  This CSM as a whole?  No.  That's what I do around here: if I see something that I like, I point it out.  If I see something I don't like, I point that out.  I don't have a hard-on for beating up CSMs.  If you read my posts regarding CSM6, you'll find that overall I was very pleased with the job they did.  Ditto CSM5 despite them (in my view) tripping at the finish line.

There's no hidden agendas here, I assure you.  If I like something, I say that.  If I don't, I say that.

A number of comments on the two posts yesterday agree with me about CSM7's performance thus far, and that's fine (and the CSM should read those comments!).  Some of you disagree and think that the CSM is doing a good job, and that's fine too.  I disagree with you, but good people of principle sometimes disagree.  Thank you to both sides for taking the time to post your thoughts!

When CSM7 was voted into office, I said they had their work cut out for them and I wished them luck.  I was disappointed when Mittens removed himself, but I felt the remainder was still a good, solid group.  Let's be clear: I don't have a vendetta against them individually or as a group.  But so far, I don't feel that they're representing the typical EVE player or taking the opinions of EVE players seriously.  This is strange to me because a number of them were on CSM6 and they did a much better job of it that time around.

I also don't feel like the group is really showing results.  Do they deserve kudos for the longer Minutes?  Sure.  But that's the only accomplishment that I can see they've made in their term to date, and as an accomplishment, its value is somewhat mixed.  CSM5 Chair Mynxee (who would know about this sort of thing) put it really well in her comment on my post yesterday:

I read the minutes. Lots of talking, sure, but if you analyze it, how many actual decisions got made and action items committed to? Didn't seem like very many for 160 pages worth of conversation.

Like I keep saying, measure results, not effort.  Doing a lot of work is great.  But the value in work is what it produces, not the work itself.  That's what my second post yesterday was about.  I don't want CSM7 to fail.  I want them to succeed.  And there's still lots and lots of time for them to do so.  But in my opinion, they're not succeeding yet.

Whew!  I was going to write one more CSM post this month, about the election process and the White Paper and that whole stake-holder thing, but you know what?  Screw that noise.  I'll write it next month when the topic comes up for public conversation.  Enough CSM stuff for a while.  Time to go finish editing my fun post for today.

Thanks for the interesting fiction, Poetic, but bzzzzt.  Wrong answer.


(1) I still smile when I think about White Rose Conventicle's article early this year proving I was going to run for CSM7... posted the day before my post stating that I wasn't running was published.
Source: Pining for the fjords