Yeah I think batch install is just as important to allow scalability.

Hmmm.. Not sure on your dates, as CSM 7 will be in office until April afaik? v0v

As for the white paper changes, they should be finalized around / after the December summit but CCP Xhangen is the man who will make the final call and publish.

That schedule probably needs to be updated due to the fact that the 'winners' are announced at the FanFest keynote, which will be taking place later in April as part of CCP's 10 year anniversary.

About the barges/exhumers, don't you think they kinda rushed it? IMO It looks a bit ugly. There were less ugly solutions possible by just switching the models, or just using Hulk/Covetor model variations for all the ships. Here, let me explain by linking this post of mine.
Combat pilots, who have a far larger field of ships to choose for get new ship( model)s quite frequently, and now the miners, who mostly have only a few ships designed for them and only have Orca as something new, have to do with badly repurposed, "second hand stuff" with old models that no longer really fit what the new designs are about.

http://gaff.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/thats-a-big-spodumain/

It is kind of funny to look at. Reading the article makes it sound, like everyone is too greedy down there for better ores. Be a hard problem to fix.

Ahhh good point here - but keep in mind the UI issue wasn't just because there was threadnoughts. It was because it was clear internally, as well as between the CSM and CCP, and the players, all parties agreed that this was pushed out too soon. In all of these cases where a mistake was made or a situation is so broken it needs immediate attention, its the situation itself and the need that drives the decision, not the accompanying and inevitable threanought. Association does not imply causation, make sense? Part of that awareness of the need, and the seriousness of the situation, involves player feedback and CSM involvement, but its these elements that make the difference, not the public spectacle.

Even the Jita riots, as monumental as they were, and as much as they were a turning point for the company and the CSM, I sincerely doubt that this act alone would have cause the company restructuing and the change in attitude towards the value of the CSM. Remember - it was the hard line, the stagnating subscriber numbers, that forced CCP's hand. Money will always talk louder than the forums will, so even in the case of outstanding player reaction there is always some other underlying weight driving the actual decision. This is why I strongly caution players not to look at the fact that riots take place at the same time as big decisions and make the assumptions that riots CAUSE big decisions to be made.

Malc's quick SpodfixGäó: Add a bunch of low-end minerals to it, sufficient to make it the 4th or 5th most valuable ore. This simultaneously makes it worth mining and increases the quantity of low-end minerals locally available to 0.0 industry.

Well Rev, probably sad to most players to hear this but.......

I am a miner, and I did buy a monocle. Perhaps ya saw the recent mining buff. Don't want to say it was all on the monocle, but come on it costs like 70 dollars or some ****. Of course it was the monocle.

You can take my skill at playing EVE away, but you can never take my MONOCLE AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The CSM can't promise to get anything changed, they can only promise to ask CCP to get it changed. I really have no desire to go back to their election posts and/or blogs to see if they promised to get spod fixed. If they did, then go ahead and keep holding their feet to the fire about it, but if they merely stated that they'll push for it to be changed with CCP, then you need to let it go. He's already said he's brought it up with CCP, so either you think he's a liar, or well, since you keep going on about it, you think he's a liar.
Stomping your feet screaming "BUT THEY PROMISED!" isn't going to get CCP to change it any faster.

I +1 the hopes for ongoing statistics, not only economic but like the amazing Twitter feed by Diagoras.

Then, for next expansion, I'd really hope to see CSM working together with CCP to completely overhaul drone UI and fix drone AI and base mechanics and rebalance some of the stats. The NPC AI changes brought the old known issues into attention of larger audiences, affecting PVE now as well.

Although this is an AMA thread, here's a shortlist of most important required changes:

- new UI allowing full individual control of drones with custom hotkeys, with visual indication of which drones are targeted
- new AI, with some simple customisable settings if possible (prioritize closest targets/of certain size/ewar etc)
- the chase/orbit needs to be changed so that also MWDing drones shoot, and drones need to be much faster across the board
- drone signature size is simply way too big, making them way too easy to kill

So, do you think we have hopes of seeing drones fixed in the next expansion?

Oh, I fully agree with you but AFAIK those are already confirmed to be on the table. Could well also be different teams tackling the issues.

What? I'm not sure what you just said / asked?

On another note, I just want to be able to look out of a window and see if BAD PEOPLE are waiting for me. v0v