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| Sup? |
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As expected, people haven't wasted time in diving right in and finding what's not there, dissecting the layers of meaning and whatnot. Unsurprisingly, my favorite prolific blogger Jester has already published his overview. Here's an even more succinct / humorous version on EVE News 24.
What's my overall take? Well... heh, it could be a lot worse. It almost was! I know some folks are pretty bent over the fact that the minutes aren't full of the CSM going full retard and raging constantly but that doesn't mean there weren't some very loud and heated exchanges at the summit. I've been reading a lot of the forum replies and I'm kind of freaked out that just because the minutes do not read like a Stephen King novel everyone assumes that the CSM quietly sat around and nodded our heads at everything. That's not the case at all; it just doesn't look good to anyone for the minutes to sound like Shadoo FC'ing a PL Fleet. Take this, for example:
After reading the CSM statement, Hilmar made some suggestions as to its tone. The CSM thanked Hilmar for his advice, but decided that it properly expressed their conclusions. It was released unedited.
It doesn't take much to realize that the CSM is trying to be nice here. I listened in on this entire session and we were all pretty much, "Huh? No. Dude! This IS the nice version."
I've seen these summits both as a CCP representative for Game Design and now as an elected CSM member. I can say with all honesty that the tension in the room for this summit and the level of, "No, that's bullshit WTF is wrong with you guys?!" far exceeded anything I've seen previously. It was a complete 180 degree difference from the much more cordial setting of the first official CSM 6 summit. It was a very emotional couple of days. So... like... relax. We raged when it was appropriate. Hell, I'm pretty convinced that Trebor performed a ritual that caused the volcano to go off that weekend.
So, moving on, something truly interestng / cool happened this afternoon...
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| CCP Zulu has the eyes of a serial killer. |
The Senior Producer of EVE, CCP Zulu, arranged to speak to the entire CSM (those available) on a group Skype call today. The official version of what went down was published on the EVE forums but I'll re-print it here because it will make this blog entry look longer:
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Hello Everyone,
Amidst the recent forum activity about reports of decreased subscriber count, discontent about lack of resources allocated to "Flying In Space" (or, as we know it, Eve Online) and, despite Gridlock and Team BFF's efforts, general stagnation when it comes to fixes and improvements, the CSM just met with CCP's Senor Producer for Eve Online: CCP Zulu.
During that meeting, we discussed the players' concerns with the man who has the ability to resolve them. We cannot share the details of the meeting itself because it is heavily NDA'd, but ways to resolve your concerns have been discussed and a follow-up meeting is planned.
Stay tuned...
Meissa Anunthiel, Vice-Chairman of CSM 6
So, that's the basics. WTF does it mean? Well, I made myself pretty clear on my stance on things in my Reality Check blog a couple days ago. This meeting was something of a surprise and the content of it was enough to convince me that CCP is taking the concerns of the CSM and the players very seriously. Beyond that I cannot say more other than Zulu doesn't tend to bullshit people.
It's times like this that I loathe the "NDA" and wish we could say more. I understand why it's not happening now, but it doesn't change the frustration factor for anyone. I believe that CCP understands the current situation is something they cannot stay silent or inactive on, hence why Zulu asked to speak with the CSM today.
I know it's hard for people to accept but the CSM is pushing very hard for complete and solid information to be passed along to the players as quickly as possible. We are scheduled to have another meeting soon and the CSM will continue to push for MORE SPACESHIPS and less Incarna Catwalks (holy shit, right?).
There is no reason in the world that the minutes could not be more descriptive about the tone and the dynamics between the parties at the table during the meetings. Transcripts of conversations are not needed, but more information about how it actually went down would have gone a long way toward giving these minutes the balls that they sorely lack. Even more concerning is that as a historic record of what went down at the summit, these minutes are in my opinion incomplete. The content of discussions is not the only thing that is important to document at summits...especially for the benefit of future Councils who will have to deal with the same problems as CSM6 (and CSM5).
ReplyDeleteThat said, I appreciate the hard work of everyone who is well engaged on CSM6.
I hope the meeting with Arnar yields some confidence-inspiring FACTS and details for the community and not just "we can't tell you cuz :NDA: but trust us, good things are happening". I also hope they are communicated sooner than two months from now and not subject to CCP sanitizing for sake of managing the messaging. But I guess we'll see.
The next time you speak to Zulu, tell him that his response is *required* on the forums, that silence is not acceptable, and that it talks all of 60 fucking seconds to post "yes, we did meet, I plan on meeting [1,2,3,several] more times between now and [tomorrow, Monday, next week, the end of September], and that a detailed, clear devblog will be published by Friday, September 15th, before the Winter Expansion]..."
ReplyDeleteBah. "takes all of", not "talks".
ReplyDeleteYou're going to have to deal with the creative director sooner than later, in the same way as with Arnar.
ReplyDeleteWithout that, you know from experience what the effective circumstances are like, and how they dictate events. Remember the Pendulum, essentially.
There is no CCP without EVE. There is - for the foreseeable future - no EVE without FiS. No company engaged in service models survives by putting their flagship on maintenance mode for merely polishing. FiS is going to require preset resource allocations, a clear mandate over those and all requirements in planning & execution.
Without that, there is no room for good people at CCP to do good work on FiS, nor is there room for "awesome" by those who do not understand the realities of business development (and who confuse the "us vs them") nor is there room for a revival of the potential.
"Hell, I'm pretty convinced that Trebor performed a ritual that caused the volcano to go off that weekend."
ReplyDeleteI did my best, but I needed more Eye of Dev.
It's nice to see you posting again Mark. I suppose I hope to see CCP making some frank evaluations of their direction, leading to some consideration of player needs. I won't say more, I'm pretty sure I could spout off enough for an epic blog of bittervetness all about how CCP 'should' have done things. :P
ReplyDeleteUnsubbed all my accounts some time ago, got tired of Eve's direction (I think I've been getting sick of said direction for a couple of years before I finally unsubbed)... apparently I wasn't alone by a long shot.
Not so strangely, I still take the time to read up on Eve news and my favored bloggers. Can't withdraw my interest completely.
Iterate that fucker. Iterate the shit out of them Mark. ;)
I hope what you are saying is right Seleene because CCP actions still show otherwise. I present, the fashion show...
ReplyDeletehttp://vimeopro.com/ccpgames/fashion/video/28784497