CSM 7 Update #3

New week, new updates. Not a lot of big news so I'll just hit the basics.

~News~

First CSM 7 'Dev Blog'

We've turned in the draft for our first 'official' dev blog and it should hopefully be published by this weekend or soon after. There are a few new bits of info in the blog but it is mainly intended as an introduction of CSM 7 to a much larger audience that probably doesn't follow these updates regularly.

May Summit Planning

The past few days have seen scheduling for the May summit start to take shape. We have submitted our requests for summit sessions and are now waiting for CCP to get back with us. Typically a certain number of the session slots are taken by ~normal~ things that CCP updates the CSM about. The rest are open to requests by both the CSM and teams within CCP that wish to meet with us.  We should know early next week the rough shape of the summit and once we get a finalized schedule we will publish it.

EVE LEGO Ships hit 10k Supporters

While it might not be CSM specific, every one of us has been pushing this initiative for a few weeks now. I made a blog post that helped spread the word and I'm very happy to have woken up this morning and see that the goal has been achieved! Apparently we hit 10k in 51 days which has impressed the LEGO folks.

Three Big Questions

1.) Why aren't you covering [insert issue] in these updates?!

These updates are intended to be just that - a brief overview of the 'little things' going on week to week. I might answer a particular issue from time to time, but not all the issues all the time. Also, not every issue may be in a state where I am allowed to comment on it substantively. One of CSM 7's major commitments was to improve our visibility and transparency to the community. We are working on developing a more detailed overview of our activities involving specific issues in the future. For now, I am focused on at least letting people know some of the basic work we are getting done and linking the community to interviews and blog / forum posts that put a face on our work.

2.) So, how's the Dust 514 beta coming along? Do you guys all have special access? Are you getting to play it already??

Nope, we're still waiting for the beta to kick in just the same as you.  Those of us that were at FanFest have keys but the server goes up when it goes up. Regardless of the fact that this is a completely seperate game and platform, many of us on the CSM will be following the Dust 514 development as close as we can and playing the hell out of the beta the minute CCP allows us in.

Two Step and Hans won't shut up about it on Skype; they are diligently bugging the devs about it every day and asking for as much detail as they can get their hands on but it will be a challenge for the CSM this year as Dust 514 is being developed by a completely different team of CCP staff that we aren't in any direct contact with (yet). We can get some word of mouth news here and there if a dev talks to a dev that maybe knows something, but just as the EVE-Dust 514 link has yet to be established, so does the involvement of the CSM.

We do know one thing for sure: we very much want to be a meaningful part of the feedback process and serve as a voice for the players during the coming year. Your representatives are looking forward to shooting you all in the face!

3.) Did the CSM read through those recent proposals by CCP Ytterbium in Features & Ideas, they were CRAZY!!  Do the developers even play this game?  Why aren't you all freaking about more about this kinda stuff?

Actually, I think this stuff is great and I hope to see more of it from the developers in the future. CSM members love hearing about ideas as early as possible, and Ytterbium goes a step further to toss new ideas to the players directly even if they have some major flaws to work out. This is so much better than hearing about a set of changes so late in the development process that asking for feedback seems more like a token gesture. 

The important thing here is just for the communication to labeled a little more specifically so players know what to expect. Seriously, there needs to be a 'Mad Science' sub-section of Features & Ideas where CCP asks questions like Ytterbium did. I think a lot of the flaming comes from the fact that, historically, requests for 'feedback' tend to be about things that are already in the pipeline or in some stage of actual development. Players aren't used to seeing devs just ask, "Yo, we were eating fishballs at lunch and had this idea; what do you think about it??"

On the Web

Pod Goo is back on the air with a new podcast after a long break and they have done an interview with Two Step!

• Pod Goo Podcast Episode 33

Tactical Entertainment Network (TEN) continues to track down and interview the individual members of CSM 7. This updates sees three new shows added to the list:

• TEN EVEning News 4/25/12 “Interview with the Secretary of VICE: Hans Jagerblitzen!”
• TEN EVEning News 4/23/12 “News Updates & Interview with CSM Secretary TWO STEP!”
• TEN EVEning News 4/18/12 “Interview with CSM Delegate Issler Dainze”

Past Interviews:

• TEN EVEning News HOT DROP! Interview with CSM Chairman Seleene!
• TEN EVEning News 4/9/12 “Interview with CSM Delegate Alekseyev Karrde”