CSM8 Results Announced

CCP has just announced the results of the CSM8 election! You can view the names of the winning candidates here, but why go to the trouble? I'll just copy-paste them on this post for you. The members of CSM8 will be (in alphabetical order):

Ali Aras, Chitsa Jason, James Arget, Kesper North, Korvin, Malcanis, Mangala Solaris, Mike Azariah, mynnna, progodlegend, Ripard Teg, Sala Cameron, Sort Dragon, and Trebor Daehdoow.

If you want to look up more information on the candidates, the page I linked lists the winners' names, corp/alliance membership, and links their EVEgate profiles. Now let's take a closer look at the CSM8 results. How did the election go?

Long story short, it was a knockout win for organized voting, especially nullsec bloc voting. Nullsec bloc candidates took the lion's share of the seats. The highly-organized wormhole community took an additional two seats. Of the few "independent" candidates who won, Mangala Solaris of RvB was also included on the nullsec bloc lists.

I wouldn't be surprised if these results trigger another overhaul of the voting system prior to the CSM9 elections. Carebears have already begun the waterworks on EVE-O. Many observers predicted nullsec dominance, but CCP had other ideas. Remember CCP Dolan's analysis of the STV system?

"One of the things that's wonderful about Wright-STV is that it greatly, greatly lessens the advantage of being organized... It greatly decreases the power of 0.0 blocs."

What was a bit of a surprise to CSM-watchers was the sharp decrease in turnout. Voter turnout had risen over the past few CSM elections, but CSM8 suffered a drop of about 16% in raw numbers. Since EVE subscriptions have risen quite a bit since the last election, the turnout drop as a percentage was even more severe. You might recall that Xander Phoena of CrossingZebras frequently debated CCP reps on this point, warning that the complicated voting system would depress an already-low turnout. This election's drop seems to vindicate Xander, as well as other CSM skeptics, such as The Mittani.

What else can we glean about the character of CSM8? A lot of good candidates won, including mynnna, Malcanis, and Chitsa Jason, among many others. But not all of them did. Psychotic Monk, a MinerBumping favorite for his highsec shenanigans, didn't prevail. Though nullsec bloc voting was overwhelmingly powerful, it was not omnipotent; candidates like Kaleb Rysode and Banlish didn't make it on, either.

Though much less carebear-friendly than previous CSMs, the bears weren't entirely shut out. Mike Azariah, perhaps the only true "wildcard" candidate who defied the conventional wisdom with his win, is a proponent of nerfing suicide ganking. Meanwhile, notorious carebear champion Trebor Daehdoow won reelection, as expected. And popular blogger Ripard Teg, of course, had no trouble winning a seat of his own. He has described himself as undecided as to whether "unfair" wardecs should be removed from the game. Now he'll have the opportunity to make up his mind--to see reason or to become a "+1" for all of Trebor's bad ideas.

The chairman of CSM8 was not announced, since that will be determined by a vote among the CSM8 members themselves. When I was invited to be included on the CFC bloc lists, I was told that the bloc candidates who won CSM seats would also be organizing to maximize the chance of picking the chairman. It might be interesting to see who wins the chairman seat, though in the past it has generally been viewed as a figurehead position.

CCP did announce the winners of the two "permanent" Iceland seats: mynnna and Ripard Teg were the two top vote-getters. As the official Goonswarm candidate, mynnna was expected by all to get the most votes. Ripard's win shouldn't come as too much of a surprise either, since he has the most name recognition of any of the candidates. (Indeed, one might say he was the only candidate who carried a lot of name recognition among the EVE community at large--though I still think he would have gotten even more votes had he run on an alt named "Jester Trek".)

As a side note, Trebor has expressed his desire to be chairman. He would presumably hope that his friend Ripard, whom he has mentored throughout this process, would repay his loyalty by supporting him in that endeavor. But since Ripard got more votes than Trebor (probably a lot more votes), shouldn't Trebor be supporting Ripard for chairman instead? Especially since Trebor has already had several CSM terms to prove his worth by now? Actually, forget I asked. We don't need to be encouraging any infighting among the carebear contingent.

So there you have it! A hearty congratulations to those candidates who won seats on the CSM (aside from the carebears, who needn't be encouraged). For those who ran but didn't win, my condolences (again, unless you're pro-carebear). If, after observing the activities of CSM8, you are still eager for the job, your experience in running this time will have built a good foundation upon which to make a second attempt.