Thoughts On The CSM 14 Election One Week Before Voting Begins

With 6 days remaining until the Council of Stellar Management elections begin next Monday. I think I am all CSM'd out for this year. I still have to check for updates on the forums, although I think the odds of any additional candidates creating a new threads in the CSM Campaign section of the forums ranges from slim to none. Both Jin'taan and Talking In Stations have additional interviews due out this week. Between the two, 9 out of the 44 candidates have interviews posted so far. I need to keep listening, as some candidates have foot-in-mouth disease. For example, don't say, "I don't care if CCP sells bullets that do a little more damage, frankly. I don't see that as completely destabilizing the game." Wargaming removed gold ammo from World of Tanks for a very good reason. If a game publisher wants to attract players, a reputation for pay-to-win items like gold ammo is counter-productive to that goal.

I also am hearing some big talk from some of the null sec blocs about how they plan to win seats. Legacy is an interesting case study. No candidate backed by Brave Collective leadership has ever lost a CSM race. In Dunk Dinkle, Brave once again has a very strong candidate. Conversely, Test Alliance Please Ignore has never had a candidate win a seat. Last year, Creecher Virpio would have ended the drought but not for some meta-gaming by members of Pandemic Legion. Will Vily break the curse?

Another question is the fate of two incumbents, Sort Dragon and Killah Bee. Last year, the pair benefited greatly from the disqualification of Pandemic Horde's chosen candidate during the application process. With not only the leader of the Horde, Gobbins, running, but Aegaeonos and Arqui Nurbs as well, I don't think Killah Bee can count on help from those quarters. Sort Dragon has the additional handicap of fighing against PanFam at this time, so a big chunk of his support from last year is unavailable for his run for a fifth term on CSM.

The other question is whether high sec, low sec, or wormhole space can elect a representative. High sec's best hope is incumbent Steve Ronuken, who is running to win for a sixth time. Three-time CSM member Mike Azariah is also running, with Lorelei Ierendi, a candidate who's come close with a few strong showings, a dark horse candidate. Low sec only has one candidate, Matthew Dust, lists faction warfare amongst his current credentials to rally around. In contrast, wormholers have several candidates running. If the wormhole community can get together and vote for all 6 at the top of their tickets, in whatever order they choose, a chance exists for w-space to sneak a candidate on. The question is, can the residents of spooky space find that unity of purpose as they did in the CSM 8 election?

One other observation. I won't write an endorsement post or announce who I've voting for until after the election, if then. Like I said at the top of the post, I'm all CSM'd out, and I still have several interviews to listen to. Two more weeks until I leave for EVE North in Toronto and this whole election is over. I think I'll drink to that.