My recommended candidates based on my personal opinions & ideals:
Khador Vess
The RvB Candidate. Khador is a fine member of this community, and a hardworking member of RvB Command as well as a somewhat capable FC.
Khador is an individual who has experience in many aspects of EVE gameplay and the wider interactions around the game itself. Almost a generalist if you will, and in this age of rapid development such an individual will serve the community well alongside more specialised, narrowly focused Delegates.
Jayne Fillon
Founder of Spectre Fleet - one of EVE's main NPSI communities; Theorycrafter extraordinaire, excellent public speaker and a guy with as much on focus on content creation as myself. Has a true love for the game and what it can be for as large a number of us as possible through increased social interaction and integration.
Bam Stroker
Yes he's a dirty Crim, but he lives and breaths community, and as our sad news yesterday demonstrated, this community is at the very heart of why we play EVE. Having a such a dedicated chap on the CSM will be a boon for all of us. Along with this, he is a Sov focused player which is the real hot button topic now, having a front line soldier on the CSM will be as valuable as having coalition level FCs and leaders sitting alongside him. Having met him and seen the passion he feels for EVE, I really want as many votes as possible to go his way.
The Incumbents:
Sugar Kyle
Easily the most hardworking, well respected CSM member to date. Sugar has been stunning to work alongside this term. From her binders full of questions, answers, information and so much more at the summit to her well run and successful mini town-halls in game, she has been on the ball all year. Even better is, while she hails from the often fractious low sec community and therefore holds lowsec closest to her heart, Sugar is as eager to see improvements to the rest of the game.
Steve Ronuken
Steve is an industrial player, but even more importantly he is a third party dev. Having seen him at work over this term, he has been a constant touch stone for CCP in their work with crest and other technical applications. With more third pary apps appearing, and CCP being more willing to work the community on such things, Steve is a must for the CSM going forward.
Corbexx
THE wormhole candidate you must vote for this year. As with Sugar he has been a trooper this year, working hard for both his community and the rest of us. He knows exactly how to get what he wants and how to use what he gets to the benefit of his community. As with Steve & Sugar CSM X with Corbexx will be good for EVE.
Sion Kumitomo
While Sion really does not need an endorsement from me, nor your votes (Go Go CFC Ballot), I do feel he is worth the votes of people outside of his obvious constituency. His push for more transparency on the CSM (between CCP and the CSM, and between the CSM and the player base), his ability to see the wider, meta implications of game changes both small and large all point to a guy with the health of EVE as one of his core interests.
Mike Azariah
Mike is a tremendous communicator, with a wide depth of knowledge about EVE and a totally steadfast advocate for the casual player regardless of where they call home. I know I said this last year, but I'll stick by it. My only gripe with Mike is at times I cannot see precisely which side of the fence he is on about a given topic, even if his viewpoints from both sides of that fence are often enlightening.
Corebloodbrothers
I started the year thinking Coreblood was a joke. His CSM 9 campaign thread was just a bunch of provi guys mindlessly +1ing and in some cases out right insulting a fellow candidate over in game conflicts. However as the year went on (and despite a small language barrier), Core began to demonstrate why he deserved to be on the CSM. From a null pov that isnt quite the same as those from other blocs, to his experience as an FC, he often offers thought provoking opinions on whatever is presented to the CSM. I'd like for him to get a second term just to see how he grows, especially if some of my next recommendations are there along side him.
Xander Phoena
Despite his work forcing him away from both the game and his CSM duties for a weeks at a time, Xander has given his all to the CSM this year. Yes, some may say having a media personality onboard is not necessarily a good thing, but you know what, Xander is also a great community rep BECAUSE of that media presence. Since COMMUNITY is my song I cannot find it in myself to ignore Xander.
Specialist Voices:
Psianh Auvyander
Psianh is a member of our old frenemies NoirDOT, he is the leader of their Noir Academy arm and so like us here in RvB understands that new bros are hugely important to EVE. Obviously he is also a merc, and unlike other candidates from "that side" of EVE, he isnt on a "grr HS is too safe" trip. He just legitimately wants more gameplay options for mercs, so they truly can be mercs.
Gorski Car
Small gang pvper, neophtye - but knowledgeable blogger - and former RvB member. Gorski has a wealth of information on ship fitting, balance and how future changes will affect the combat meta at many levels of play. If you love pvp, you have to vote Gorski.
Manfred Sideous
With 2015 shaping up to be a year that either makes or breaks null - if changes come it either changes or dies, if they dont, the status quo may well kill it - key players like Manny (as he is known) are an absolute must for a place on the CSM.
Endie
Another "GRR Goon", but as with Manfred he brings to the table a depth of knowledge on nullsec that is damn well unrivalled. With Sov a multitude of voices singing in harmony is much better than 1 or 2 singing out of tune and from different songsheets. Endie knows the words!
Cagali Cagali
A member of BNI, head of their recruiting and education section. Cagali lives and breathes new players and their interests. While everyone can claim to have new players as an area of focus, no other candidate can really mean it. New players are a key to keeping EVE alive, so the experience Cagali has will benefit the CSM and CCP greatly.
Tora Bushido
The "other side" of the merc playstyle in EVE. Often seen as the underbelly by many given that entities such as those led by Tora often refuse to take "proper fights", preferring to kill the undefended, unaware and I say this with love, the just plain stupid. This does not mean that Tora is unworthy of consideration for a CSM seat, in fact having read some of his ideas, he shares many viewpoints with me, at least when it comes to particular aspects of Wardecs. I trust that if he is successful, he ignores the loudest of his supporters and gets on with working with the CSM for the betterment of EVE, not a return to days gone by that CCP rightfully want forgotten.
