OOC Entry 75 - In case you were considering to vote for James315

In the past I have done a lot of head-shaking and jaw-dropping while reading posts by James315. Now this man is running for CSM8 and I was eagerly awaiting his interview on Crossing Zebras.

It has occurred that people come across way differently during an interview as CSM candidate than they do when writing blogposts, forum comments and even when compared to their in-game behaviour. You know the type: "I am only behaving like that in-game. I am actually a nice person."

The most glaring example of this is maybe Xenuria. A man who generally comes across as quite the crackpot and is often admittedly trolling. In his interview he suddenly steps back from all of this, claiming that it was in-character.

Not so James315.

He openly declares that his self-assigned title "Saviour of Highsec" is no less ridiculous than calling yourself CEO of a corp in EVE. He says he is the only honest, non-trolling candidate because he really means what he stands for. All the other "politicians" are just unwilling to say the truth about what they really think - according to him - because they are afraid to lose votes.

Well, I am pretty sure that Mynnna does not have to be afraid about losing votes if he were to take an extreme stance. After all, at least all of Goonswarm is going to vote for him, if not a major part of the CFC.

Also I am pretty positive that Mike Azariah is not being double-faced when he says that he thinks suicide ganking should be made even more difficult.
Actually, I am sure he loses more votes by saying that than he stands to gain.


Really James???

Now, for the sake of the argument, I will take James' statements in exactly the way he says he means them: As the pure and honest opinion that forms the basis of his platform.

Let's look at those statements:

It starts with him saying that the risk vs. reward ratio is way out of proportion in favour of highsec and has become more and more so in the past years. CCP needs a reality check he says.

Ok, reality check time.

So, loot tables were adjusted and now less valuable things drop from highsec rats than before. Mission rewards were reduced and PI is mostly useless in highsec because of the recently introduced fixed high tax rate on customs offices.

Sure, there were a few things that made suicide ganking a bit more difficult and ninja griefing too, but they did not make those things impossible nor did anything happen that would offer the potential victims a possibility to defend themselves more effectively.

Buffed mining barges you say?

Well, James315 was talking about reality checks. An in-game reality check would include ORE making their ships more resilient as they are getting killed more.

Also, I dare you to tank a Skiff well enough so it can't be suicide ganked.

Actually, recently a change has happened that opened a new possibility for suicide ganking: Scannable Orca cargo holds. I know first-hand that quite a number of professional CFC suicide gankers rejoiced.

In that segment of the interview he also makes the statement that things begin to go wrong as soon as you can earn ISK while being AFK.

While that has become significantly more difficult for the mission runners due to the new AI, and no more easy or safe for miners, I want to point out here that the biggest AFK earners are the holders of moon mining POSes.

They are not only AFK making ISK, they are actually not even logged in while their riches increase.

So that whole argument does not work out.


Now let's assume ...

Let's say you don't care about all that and find his further arguments more nuanced and convincing.

On the first impression, he seems to make a good point by suggesting that more and more people from nullsec go to mine in highsec while that is not true the other way around. According to James315 that creates a pressure for people to move out of nullsec while that pressure should be working the other way.

I do not agree with him at all there. I am more on the side of Xander Phoena and his "what the hell do I care about those people in highsec" statement, but I will indulge James and imagine a New Eden where people are forced to either quit in rage or otherwise be forced to go out of highsec into nullsec.

Sounds great, right?

No, it sounds horrible!

What it would mean is, that masses of intrinsically risk-averse players who only want to make ISK and are not interested in the least in community-based emergent gameplay will flock to nullsec.

What do you think they will do there?

Of course they will make the already risk-averse nullsec establishments even more boring.

These days nullsec is already a wasteland watched over by a minority of PVP players who man the choke points with gatecamps and supply the intel channels with warnings about intruders. The chance of actually catching a mining gang or some ratters there is reduced to Black Ops ships, and even then ratters and miners will hide in a POS, a station or even log out once you appear in local.

I have been there, I have seen it. It happens all the time. My last experience was a whole mining fleet supported by ratting battleships hiding in their POS when I came into the system alone with a covops frigate.

After all, I could light a cyno!

Now imagine nullsec with even more miners and ratters who begin to form the majority of the players out there. James315 does not only not think this through, he even says mining and ratting should be more lucrative in nullsec so that more PVEers come to live there. All the while passive income through moon mining should remain the same.

Welcome to SimSpace.

EVE is now officially dead. Nobody is left in highsec except newbies getting victimized until they quit. Nobody lives in lowsec anymore either because there is no reason to go there. After all, nullsec is now the most rewarding and safe space, held in a stranglehold by a majority of super-rich industrialists and other PVEers who have all the money to hire themselves PVP pilots who will watch over them better than CONCORD ever did in highsec.

That will last for some time until all the PVP enthusiasts quit because they are bored out of their wits.

Well, maybe there will still be some fun in wormhole space. James315 does not seem to know that region exists, so it may remain safe from his "improvements".

So, if you were considering to vote for James315, don't.

Except of course if you want to troll the election and go for a candidate who is beyond all reason.

Actually, even if that is your goal, I'd suggest to vote for Xenuria instead, he is much more amusing.

I sincerely hope James315 is trolling, because if he is serious he is either not quite right in his head or he has a severely distorted view of the in-game and metagame reality.

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P.S. In my eyes suicide gankers are cowards anyway. Go and wardec some people at least. Even then you are a loser if all you kill is carebears. That makes you no better than a mission runner who shoots at targets that don't really fight back.

Yours is not a playstyle, it's a declaration of your own inadequacy.

There. I said it.

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P.P.S.

Q: You mad?
A: No, I have never been suicide ganked, killed by a griefer, scammed, bumped or otherwise successfully victimized.

Q: Are you a carebear?
A: No. I do some PVE, but not even enough to really support my habit of losing ships in fights.

Q: Do you live in highsec?
A: No. I don't even live in New Eden. I only go there to shop or to try and fight people in nullsec (Many of them are not really up for it though)