1) Other than the forums how do you intend to collect and communicate requests, needs, POV of the community? In particular, those outside your corp / alliance.
Skype (participate in large discussion groups)
Twitter
Reddit
and connectionsAside from the forums, I use a few other mediums:
Skype
Twitter
Reddit
IRC
On Skype, I participate in discussion groups such as GÇÿDust ScussionGÇÖ, the channel that Hans made. I know youGÇÖre in that one, but IGÇÖll describe it a little for those reading who arenGÇÖt GÇô itGÇÖs a very large group channel (120+ people IIRC) where people can have live chats about various DUST topics. ItGÇÖs moderated to stop it from devolving into the type of mud-slinging that the forums unfortunately devolve into all too often, and the discussions there often consist of intelligent and well-thought out comments.
People are also free to add me on Skype at Zatara.Rought GÇô IGÇÖd love to hear from you.
I use Twitter as well, you can find me
here. IGÇÖm quite happy to engage anyone who tweets me here as well.
I also read Reddit very frequently. Admittedly I lurk more than I post but IGÇÖm a keen Redditor (I used to be in Subdreddit, actually) and itGÇÖs a medium IGÇÖm very familiar with. And finally I'll be rectifying my long abandoned activity via IRC.
IGÇÖm always open to opening more lines of communication though GÇô ultimately, I see communication as probably the most important part of the CPM role.
2) What level of interaction would you like to establish between the CPM and CSM?IGÇÖd love to see us working together and striking an unanimous cord on how to better the link, but there are a lot of difficulties facing both groups for co-operating over that.
Currently, the EVE-DUST link is limited. This is an unfortunate reality. TheyGÇÖre not very relevant to one another, neither has a significant impact on the other. So I feel that an expanded link is important for CPM-CSM discussion. To expand that link, itGÇÖs important to get both groups on board with suggestions as each side is likely to have a much better understanding of the impacts on the game theyGÇÖre representing. When DUST and EVE really start to link up I think itGÇÖs very important that any transitions go smoothly, and for that I feel that both the CSM and the CPM need to have discussed changes thoroughly with each other and CCP, to ensure a healthy link.
I plan on meeting as many of the CSM candidates (and the ones actually elected, once that gets announced) at Fanfest, which IGÇÖve recently arrived in Iceland for.
So to summarise: I think CSM-CPM interaction is very important if the games are ultimately going to have a real, solid link and itGÇÖs important to start building those bridges.
3) What are the top 3 short term (next 2mo's) changes you would encourage CCP to make? I'm looking for concrete examples that are realistic to achieve.
PC fixes, a handful of outstanding balance issues, and matchmaking.ItGÇÖs painfully obvious at the moment that PC is a mess. ItGÇÖs popularised as the GÇÿgreat blue donutGÇÖ and for good reason. 100% Molden Heath control is not something I want to see happening for any alliance, and at the moment DNS pretty much holds everything. There are a handful of districts held by OH and WTF (and I have to give
serious props to them, theyGÇÖve worked damn hard for them) but thatGÇÖs the exception rather than the rule.
There are two changes that I would like to see to PC. The first is a change to clone packs. At the moment, clone packs give you 120 clones and itGÇÖs not feasible to wage a war against decent corps and actually hope to take their districts with that many clones. If you lose 20 clones, you canGÇÖt re-attack. If you canGÇÖt re-attack, itGÇÖs going to cost you a lot more ISK to take that district and itGÇÖs going to be a lot more difficult. Taking districts with clone packs alone is mostly only doable by the elite corps, and I donGÇÖt think thatGÇÖs healthy.
The second is a re-shifting of the passive ISK to active ISK balance. At the moment DNS is generating obscene amounts of ISK just by sitting on a load of districts. I think that while there should be a reward for holding districts, it should place an emphasis on active combat rather than passive farming. Previously, there was a change to PC that increased the ISK value of a combat biomassed clone and reduced the value of a passive biomassed clone. I think that needs to go further, as otherwise the economy will end up completely wrecked once it develops because of the huge amounts of ISK weGÇÖre going to be able to throw around.
Shifting the balance to favour ISK gain through combat should hopefully have a fairly obvious effect GÇô encouraging actual combat and fighting rather than stagnant GÇÿblue donutsGÇÖ.
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