Searching for Salvation in All The Wrong Places

I am an American. This background influences my perspective on events. This is going to be important later on, so I wanted to lay this fact down right from the get-go.

You see, a lot of things need to be said regarding some of the very concerning commentary emerging out of the Eve casino ban. Frankly, I’m somewhat disgusted by some of the attitudes I’m seeing.

I debated on whether I should post this article, but in the end, I decided I had to, because it isn’t as much about an American perspective as it is about how we perceive Eve. And that most assuredly relates to the game we all love.

There are two kind of people in the world: those who meet resistance and choose to strengthen themselves, and those who run to others to save them.

I Swore I Wouldn't Write about the CSM…

Mike Azariah put out an article today offering an opinion on why players should care about and vote for the CSM. In it, he spends a little time talking about some disagreements on the purpose of the CSM according to the CSM white paper. He also makes a parallel between voting for the CSM and voting for politicians in the real world.

Now, I swore I wasn’t going to make a post about the CSM this year. At first, I used to be all-in with the importance of the CSM. Now, my attitude is very much, “Who really cares?”

And I am provide some context behind that. Mike makes two popular arguments that are, at their core, deeply flawed approaches to the CSM. So popular, in fact, that even CSM candidates seem to misunderstand what the CSM is.

And I’m going to make some parallels with my own career in marketing, as well.

All of a Sudden, We're All Talking CSM

I don't talk about the CSM that often. It's not out of any specifically strong feelings. In fact, I've recommended that folks vote for CSM in the past, and mentioned how important I thought it was. But I typically don't follow their exploits with bated breath, or even read CSM summary posts by other bloggers.

Part of that is my firm believe that we as a society apply democracy a bit too liberally. Not everything needs or deserves a vote. Sure, I think it's the finest system in the world for organizing a government for citizens who are location-locked into a specific country. The key, though, is that everyone involved in that country and in that democratic system has equal amounts vested into the success of the enterprise, and equal amounts to lose if they get it wrong. Democracy needs seriousness and a deep familiarity and awareness of the issues, as well as no readily available and easy-to-access escape plan.

That said, it's a terrible idea for a lot of other things. While you may take your kids' feelings into account, you make decisions about them bilaterally (or unilaterally in single-parent homes). They don't get a vote, because they don't have the context and knowledge necessary to make an educated decision. Nor do you give airplane passengers a vote on the route the pilot should take.

When all parties aren't equally vested, you also don't utilize democracy. My mother wants to redesign her living room. I used to live in that house, and have somewhat of an interest in keeping it looking good. I also want her to eventually move out to where my family is located now, and I want to keep the house in good repair for them to sell it at a profit. But while I am slightly vested in how the living room looks, she's the one who owns the house, and she's living in it day-in and day-out. Her level of vestment is much higher than mine. It'd be ludicrous of her to give me an equal democratic vote with her in how the living room looks. Nor am I going to make career decisions because two of my friends - outnumbering me - feel I should.

Then, there's the "bail option". When you're tied to the success or failure of an endeavor, you'll take it much more seriously than when you're passing through. I shouldn't have an equal vote as a hotel owner about how their room looks. I have to live there for one night; that hotel owner's very livelihood depends upon making design decisions that ensure profitability for decades, potentially. She's not going to let my wife and I out-vote her about how her hotel is designed.

Along the same lines, democracy is a ludicrous method for a gaming company to choose a trusted user group.

A Quick Note about the Sion Drama...

Just a quick note... the art of holding your tongue is a delicate one. Sometimes, drama erupts that is so amazing that you want to become involved, but shouldn't. So, I'm not going to weigh in on the drama currently erupting on reddit, among several other blogs, and TMC.com in regards to Sion's continued self-assassination and attempt to demonize reddit as a means of keeping Imperium members from reading and being influenced by that community. I'm going to just sit back and watch. Sorry, guys.

Schrodinger’s Die

I want to mention what I’m not going to talk about.  I’m not going to discuss what I think all the TMC.com and RMT stuff means.  I’m not going to weigh in on my opinions about deriving RL profits from Eve Online.  I’m not going to discuss Endie’s supposed leak.

That doesn’t come from a lack of opinions about it.  On the contrary, I have very strong opinions about it, what it means for the game, and what each of you should think about it.  No, I’m not going to discuss it because – ultimately – none of that matters.

In the end, each of us establishes a sense of what we believe is right and what we believe is wrong.  We each identify what we believe benefits and what damages the game as a whole.  And we each make judgments about what we want to be part of.  I’m not going to get up on a soapbox and declare why I do what I do in this matter.

I made the choice to simulcast some articles for TMC.com for 250 mil each, the same agreement I had made with EN24 previously.  I’m not going to sit here and criticize their business plan if I’m participating in it.  I can tell you that I’ve never witnessed or heard about anything even resembling RMT through the Trello, Slack, and web portal discussions, interactions, or posts.  Admittedly, my “level” is at the very bottom, so don’t take that as a statement that no RMT is going on; I simply haven’t seen any evidence of it first-hand.

But that’s not why I’m refusing to write about it; that decision comes from the fact that nothing you, I, or anyone else says about it matters.  The only opinion worth a fig is CCP’s.  It’s their game, they control the rules, and they adjudicate through an impenetrable wall.