Oz’s House of the Evil Dead

Mandrill from I Am Keith Neilson is conducting CSM interviews. Here’s tyhe questions/answers that I’ve sent him…

Do you have a website/blog, if yes what is its address? If not, where can people go to find out what you stand for?

yes, Omberzombie.com

How long have you been playing?

I started in eve in Beta 6 and when the beta finished I was put into forced hiatus from the game for 2 weeks while I waited for the game to arrive from the UK. So pretty much from the start.

What drew you EVE in the first place?

I stumbled across the CCP/Eve website while I was searching for mods for Space Empires IV. Intrigued by what looked like an online version of that game, I signed up to the beta and eventually got accepted. I downloaded the client, loaded it up and then spent the next week locked in front of my PC only leaving when there was a down time or a random crash. Eve was like nothing I had ever seen. I still get that sense of awe now and then.

What are your main activities in EVE, what do you spend most of your in game time doing?

Primarily I guess you could call me a carebear. I’m mostly interested in the industry/trade side of the game currently, but I have spent varying amounts of time on pretty much every aspect of the game (piracy, anti-piracy, RP, mission whoring, etc.)

What is the thing that you like most about EVE?

Single world. This is the one major defining aspect of the game that makes all other MMO’s seem utterly pointless to me.

What is the thing you hate most about EVE?

Lag followed very closely by the UI

If you could have one thing guaranteed to be implemented in EVE what would it be?

No lag :p
On a more serious note, a complete UI overhaul would be great, but for a long lasting ‘wish’ it would have to be that CCP adopts a policy of maintaining their expansions. The recent devblog about Planetary Interaction seems to indicate a step in that direction by having one of the teams permanently assigned to it, I just hope that continues.

Do you participate the EVE blogging community and the associated twitter ‘tweetfleet’?

If by participate you mean throw out random comments and make snide comments to people – yes
@omberzombie is my twitter name, omberzombie.com is my blog.

What is your opinion of the above?

It’s great, MMO players tend to adopt new technology and adapt it to their needs. My corp recently started a twitter feed to alert us about things coming up in the corp .

What is your position on the current ‘No Local’ exploit and what would you recommend CCP do about it, and to those that have used it?

Well, CCP have fixed it already, and unless they have a way of proving people were using it, they can’t do too much about it. As for my position on it – I’ve always been a fan of having full Local access in empire, delayed local in low-sec and no local in 0.0

What would you most like to see changed about  hi-sec, lo-sec and null-sec space?

That is a very difficult question to get into details simply because we could be here for days discussing specifics. I’ll just tackle the industry/sci/market side from a very high level.

Ideally I see the split as being:
Empire – easy to manufacture, high volume end products going to market
Low sec – harder to build end product, but lots of low-level/intermediate (parts etc.) and research improvements etc. Smuggling/trade protection would have a role here
0.0 – open slate, you just have to build the infrastructure. all raw materials are there for you to build up as you see fit.

How CCP would accomplish that (or even if that is the ideal scenario) I have some thoughts on, but as I said, we’d be here for a few days discussing it

Do you think the Sovereignty changes in Dominion were a good or bad thing, and did they achieve the aims that CCP set out for them?

They were well overdue and overall they were a good thing. I think they have achieved some of the intitial aims, but like most things CCP set out to do, there are always unexpected circumstances and effects. It was definately a step in the right direction, now they just need to keep walking.

What affect, if any, do you see the current lag situation having on the ability of the 0.0 alliances to prosecute their wars?

Lag is definitely limiting, but it’s a battle condition that effects everyone equally, so most alliances take it into account when they plan their ops. If anything it actually helps stabilise a few things that would otherwise be in a state of constant chaos. (can you imaging roaming fleets of 200 dreads just shooting stuff randomly because they feel like it? with no lag to worry about ever?)

How would you encourage a shift from big fleet battles to small gang warfare, in order to combat lag, and also to allow more players to play a more meaningful role in 0.0 warfare?

I wouldn’t, it’s a pointless task. People group together in large numbers because it’s more efficient. The more lag you kill, the bigger the fleets will get – it’s a proven cycle over the lifetime of eve. While everyone keeps going on about ‘small gang wafare’  not being relevant, it still happens every day in eve. You just shouldn’t expect to take on entire alliance fleets with small gangs and live.

What makes you different from those that went before you and how do plan on maintaining some for of continuity?

Well, other than CSM4, I have been on the council in some fashion (Alternate in CSM1, Secretary in CSM2, and Vice-Chair in CSM3). I like to think I’m fairly open minded, and don’t try to pander to specific ideals. I’m happy to read any proposal and evaluate it on it’s merits, and it’s effects on the game as a whole rather than just the specific area of interest the proposal is dealing with.

How do you intend to publicise and promote the work of the CSM?

I have a large cricket bat that I am willing to swing at certain people in the CCP office should they not implement a way to advertise the CSM and vote ingame.

What would you consider your top priority as a CSM member?

To keep a balanced view of both what the players want and what CCP can do. CSM’s role is that of the player point of view, all of the players, not just specific groups, and we need to be able to convey that point of view to CCP in a way that they understand the underlying wishes of the players, not necessarily the specifics.

If you are one of the candidates who has been on the CSM before, what would you do differently this time around?

Personally I think I’ve been fairly successful in what I tried to achieve the last few times, so I’m not sure I would change anything. I consider myself fairly adaptable though, so I’m keeping an open mind.

Crazy Kinux recently posed the question of how to encourage more female gamers to play eve as part of his monthly Blog Banter.  What do you feel EVE is missing that would encourage more women gamers to play, or is it simply a case of changing the marketing and not the game?

I think it’s a marketing thing rather than the game. Every corp I have been in since the start has had at least one female member in it, so there are plenty of women out there that would play eve if they knew about it. If they wanted to market to women specifically, they should probably hire Mynxee as a spokeswoman

If you could only pick one issue currently on the  first page of the Jita Assembly hall forums, which one would it be and why?

[Proposal] Eliminate T2 BPOs – Not because I am either for or against it in any significant way, but I think the time has come to sit down with Dr. Eyjo and the statistics team and figure out exactly what effect the T2 BPO’s are having on the eve economy as a whole, and if they are having an effect, what steps (if needed) should be looked at to remedy that effect.

Purely hypothetical, and only because its a question that was put forward by a lot of people when I asked the tweetfleet what they would ask each of the candidates; how much do you think a vote in these elections is worth (in ISK or otherwise)?

How much does a plex cost? I come from Australia where our voting system is mandatory, so I have a bit of a skewed view on democracy in that it is both a right and a duty to vote for your elected officials. Granted most elections here I tend to find the most insane candidates I can to vote for because it would be hilarious to see them get elected, but there is never any question of whether I should vote or not – I vote because I must. I’m not sure where I was going with all that, but I think it has something to do with I don’t think I could in good conscience vote for someone who is willing to outright pay me to vote for them. If the policies/ideas are unappealing to begin with, it just makes them look desperate and would probably make me think even more about not voting for them.

So yeah, a vote is however much it costs to keep your account active for long enough to vote.

Is there anything else you would like to say to prospective voters?

Vote. Preferably for me, but if not just vote for someone.