we talk to CCP basically on a daily basis, if, nothing else, to just chat about our day and improve the relationship.

CCP gets a lot of crazy ideas, some great some not so great. In this instance we provide both something of a sanity check to CCP and to give our feedback on the situation. The devs also cant look at the forum all the time, so if there is a very serious bug or glitch, its a great way to get their attention to it asap.

We also see dev blogs before they come out so that we can stop any phrases or anything like that which may create cause for concern in the community.

We also constantly talk about various ideas that the community has posted and things here and there. Its a very difficult, time consuming and thankless job but its worth it as the game and the community do benifit in the long term. A lot of the stuff we do if behind closed doors so its difficult to talk about specifics, it also irritates me when people say that I or any other CPM isnt doing anything or is a bad or even good CPM because honestly they dont see whats going on beyond the forums.

Its not all sunshine and bunnies if you want to apply for CPM and its not going to let you have infinite power either.

+1 for the info Jenza. I really want to know why the current CPM thinks the next one will have it worse - i know, i know, NDA.

Is there anything NDA-safe you can tell us about that? Worse in what sense?

One question, though before I ask I ust want to say that I'm not all that famiiar with the CSM.

Is there a limit to the amount of times one person could be voted on to the CPM? And if so, would that apply to you and the others, considering how you weren't quite voted, would this time count towards the maximum you guys have?

I would recommend that anyone seriously considering putting their name forward for CPM join the IRC and interact with the current CPM and devs who pass by there to get a more realistic picture of what's happening that the typical "jenza hasn't adequately defended my particular playstyle; impeach! impeach!" mentality.

I'll tack on some thoughts here as well, I suppose.

Firstly, To echo Jenza's sentiment;

If you're expecting any part of this to be fun, you're horribly wrong. If you plan on being a GOOD council bro, you're going to spend a huge portion of the time you used to spend playing the game... just sitting there talking to people, reading stuff, and facepalming instead. You're going to have to deal with facepalm after facepalm, unable to discuss your anguish with anyone but your councilbros. You're going to help CCP avoid travesties, and no one will ever know what you stopped except for your fellow council bros. Meanwhile, the vocal majority of the community will spit on you, despite your efforts.

One of the dark realities of design is that most ideas are usually pretty bad. When people have been brainstorming for a while... pretty much any idea can begin to sound really good, until someone else enters the room and says "That's just freaking terrible.... Your ideas are bad and you should feel bad. - But if you changed them like X, they could be good!" That person entering the room is going to be you as a CPM bro. And the sad truth is.... The people in the room are probably not going to listen to you nearly as often as you think, despite how obvious the flaws in their ideas may seem.

If you're easily frustrated, impatient, and quite frankly not a masochistic optimist.... The CPM is not for you.

You'll be in for a lot of sleepless nights, as you try to have meetings not just with CCP, but your fellow council bros to prepare for meetings with CCP across multiple timezones.

You'll get forum hate of all kinds under whatever veiled reason satisfies those who just want to rage, and the CPM makes a good conduit for that rage.

You'll spend hours talking to dozens of different people who say the exact same stuff, in dozens of different channels/mediums.

To top that all off... You'll find out that the CPM doesn't have nearly as much influence, or find out nearly as many 'secrets' as you might think. Whatever benefits you may think the CPM gets.... I can assure you that for nearly anyone who applies it will not be worth it for them, and the frustration will get the better of them.

But, I would like to differ from Jenza on one key point.

If you ask yourself "Why do I want to do this" and "I just want to make the game better" is your only answer... You're probably full of ****. Keeping that in mind, anyone attempting to be self-serving and push for benefits for their own corp/alliance/friends/self will very, very quickly be called out on it by the rest of the council, and it's a very easy way to get yourself relegated to the 'kids table' while everyone else discusses stuff seriously :P Even if CCP makes some stupid decisions here and there, they are smart enough to know when someone is pushing for something for the wrong reasons and know that those people will pretty much just get a patronizing tap on the head whenever they speak.


In summary :

While I would definitely call being on the CPM illuminating, and a good way to peer behind the veil of the game design industry.... I would consider no part of this position rewarding. No part of it was fun. It takes away from your ability to enjoy the game, plain and simple.

To anyone who is in the process of or has already drafted a generic "This is what is wrong with dust and how I plan to fix it" campaign posting : You're probably going to regret doing so long before your term is up. Fair warning.

Ha, no, not at all.

The NDA is super broad, a boiler plate sheet of paper that probably looks like a thousand others at many other companies. Basically says "dont share trade secrets". There's nothing specific ever named in the document itself.

The CPM doesnt share stuff if CCP asks us not to, plain and simple. It's really nothing to do with the NDA prescribing anything, just more of a professional courtesy.





Also....Its late and I'm tired but I'll happily echo all the thoughts from the above two CPM's, both Jenz and Nova gave a great summary of what incoming candidates should expect.

I'll add one more thing - in my mind, the winning candidates are already a known quantity. Ask yourselves this - "have I already been doing the work of a CPM as much as I can without insider access?" If the answer is no, don't run. I'll be personally trying to murder your campaign if I think you're full of hot air. There's easily more than the needed number of people who have already been forwarding feedback to us and to the devs, and working with the community intimately, and who know what the community wants from CCP.

The winners will be the people that are doing this work -right now-, and over the last several months. Not the ones who promise to, or who begin showing off their awesome usefulness in the next few months, they'll be the ones that have done it all last year and who people already think should run.

So yeah, that's what I'll add to the stack of reasons to scare the weak away from the position. :) You already know if you've proven that you belong on the council. If you're not already helping, put the banners and pins and brownies away and just don't run. Those that belong there are already doing the job and the community knows it. These winning candidates won't be making promises, they'll be the ones pointing at their proven track record

few questions, can anybody sign up or is there requirements ie skills qualifications, or time spent playing,
I havnt been activley playing for a few weeks?
Will this affect my chances or will i have to play more.
would it matter if i hadnt watched all the update videos and lastly what is the significance of the 1 in cpm1.

Also a good hint is https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/What_is_the_CSM#Candidate_Eligibility IMHO

Just a quick question. Do you guys get paid?

There are also some of us females that went to college for Computer Science with 300 guys and 7 girls. Bring it boys! Twisted Though I have to admit its not so much thick skin as it is just willing to sit in the mud and sling poop around like a 4 year old. Only certain days am I willing to sink down to that level and laugh about it, however I'm happy to say most days I don't have to as I play with plenty of level headed guys.

When you get your boat please post a picture of it.

My partners dad lives on one and may I suggest you name your boat the HMS jenzas pants lol

Also my partner was on Rosie and Jim and she should never have told me because I posted the link on Fb hahahahaha.

I Nominate "CaoticFox" CEO of "Axis of Chaos"... closed beta vet, rate 9/10 morals, 7/10 troll, 3/10 temper, 10/10 opinion vocalization... LOVES & HATES this game, and TRULY WANTS it to succeed.
currently banned from forums and unable to campaign personally.

I also possess the arcane ability to kill threads just by posting in them.

I hope you run Jenza, i'd hate to think you let the lady hating neckbeards get to you, theres much better reasons to dislike you for like when you'd drop into the asia server and mass drivered my partner and I into a cold fury, my partner hasn't played in months and he still frowns at the mention of your name :D

Yes, but the people who have been doing the work of a CPM as much as they can without insider access might not want to give up the work they have been doing to devote all their time to being a real CPM. The people who have been doing the work of a CPM without the insider access realize just how much work it is and how much of a time commitment is involved.

I expect it will come down to voting for someone who looks like they wonGÇÖt cave when they realize what they got themselves into.

I would really like to see at least one CPM0 in CPM1 for continuities sake and to get the rest of CPM1 up to speed faster. Since none of the other CPM0 seem to be even considering it, I really hope you run jenza.

For this reason, I vote for ReGnYuM. One of the trolliest people in the game since Mr. Z (excluding myself of course ) left as well as one of the most inventive posters in the forums. Like his attitude or not, like his ideas or not, when he makes a serious post about something it has real content in it. Solid ideas, solid arguments, and an overwhelming amount of in-game experience backing them up. (IIRC, he's been here since pre-Replication and in every build has held one of the highest K/D's of any assault player)

Reggy for CPM1!!!!