I get your point and you are entitled to your opinion. However I think it has derailed the discussion from something which seems more concerning to me, and that is CCP gifting isk to EVE players because they think that their gambling site is nifty.

my soul is torn on this issue but good to see the community discussing this like adults.

As much as i agree with all the rest of your post, which is excellent, i don't agree about the CSM : it is linked.
If there is, as you say and as we are a growing number of players saying, a very concerning problem with CCP, it's the CSM's job to stand and fight at our side, for the CSM has been precisely created in similar circumstances to avoid that it happens again.
The answers the CSM members have given to us so far are very disappointing. But don't worry, i think that no one here forgets that the top priority is to make CCP stop their shady practises and start to respect their paying customers.

An issue arose. Mistakes were made. The community voiced its concerns [in its own uniquely charming way]. Our representatives did a great job representing our views. There was communication between the player base and the publisher of this here awesome content.

CCP have shown themselves amenable to a rightful grievance and is addressing the issue.

It stands to reason for CCP to reward fan sites that are important to many players, as Somer Blink arguably is.

At the same time this -is- a player-run for-profit enterprise. It's really not that smart of CCP to give even the appearance of favoritism.

Here's an alternative: instead of always handing out these legacy/super expensive and rare ships to interested parties, why not give them something else instead? Why not, as a for instance, a clutch of battleships, t1 versions. 2 of each faction to all the people who are entitled to them.

That's still a really nice prize, and they're really only good to be fitted and sent out into space, there eventually to be blown up. It's not so expensive and rare that it hurts our sensitivities, it's also a meaningless prize. These are actual battleships, a lot of them. The prize has value, but nobody's going to start a devious ploy that lasts a year to get hold of these puppies.

CCP may want to consider prizes that are 'good enough', a nod of recognition "Good job, people. Here's some encouragement as a token of appreciation for your hard work." It's the thought that counts. "I was involved in [community experience] and CCP gave all of us a string of [space frame]." If you get a Ford F-150 as a prize, it's not exactly a Ferrari, it's still a car, right?

By handing out the really fancy space candy CCP runs the risk of showing preference, where they really only wanted [or so I presume] to promote community. A clutch of battleship space frames would have worked just as well for that purpose. It's an action that resulted in the exact opposite of what they wanted to achieve.

Maybe they should hire me to offer a voice in these matters. I wouldn't even mind living in Reykjavik [far from it].

An issue arose. Mistakes were made. The community voiced its concerns [in its own uniquely charming way]. Our representatives did a great job representing our views. There was communication between the player base and the publisher of this here awesome content.

Then there is this pile of apologetic gold:

First it should read "another issue arose" not just an issue like this is the first time. Then there is your little condescending remark about the community response highlighting your own ignorance. Then there is the ass kissing statement about the CSM when several members in this thread were prepared to handwave away what happened. And no communication has been absolutely awful because it wasn't a CCP employee or CSM member that broke the story. In fact I would say we have absolutely no communication between CCP and the player base and no one knows just what the CSM stands for in light of recent comments.

But you should move to Iceland you would fit in rather well with the group think taking place up there.

Maybe they wanted a cheap easy way to add over a trillion isk to the game from out of thin air.

No ISK was injected into the economy (that we know of).

So what I hear is that

1. Somer Blink is important to people
2. Somer Blink is large enough to have a decent effect.
3. CCP wants to reward fansites and people who add content to the game.

So, why didn't CCP argue that BoB was big and important enough to the game to hand out free **** to; surely their forums were somewhat large and added content to the game? Their current attitude suggests that this would have been a reasonable answer.

CCP has given players an in-game advantage (a bunch of rare ships worth a lot of money to raffle off), denying it to others, with some rather flimsy excuses. They backed down enough to not step on the toes of a couple of ship collectors like entity, but have shown disdain for other groups and favoritism.

Oh, and CCP did not inform the CSM, again? Are they incapable of learning from their mistakes.

CCP, this is bad. Stop. Roll back these plans, remove anything that has already been given to somer, unless you are intending to give every 3rd party service the same ships.

progodlegend put together an entire coalition in order to destroy gsf

but they had to leave test to die because they needed renter isk to fight gsf

give progodlegend 10 supercarriers more worth of stuff tia

No ISK was injected into the economy (that we know of).

Obviously you don't know.

Isk = asset. trillion isk worth of ship = asset. Net worth = assets - liability

If I have a billion isk, and someone suddenly gives me a 15 billion ship out of thin air, i'm now worth 16 billion isk. For doing no work whatsoever or spending $$$.

The entire Net worth of the game has just been increased by a potential value of a trillion isk. Maybe call it Asset Inection? But Asset=Isk .....

Yes, but remember, people in EVE like to look at things in terms of isk sinks and faucets in terms of how it effects the economy. In those terms, the effect is minimal.

Totally unfair and blatant favoritism, but this was not an isk faucet, and no isk entered the economy (unless it dies and there is an insurance payout).

Well the good news is that not only was Navigator unjustifiably declaring a particular in-game, for profit group as legitimate and 100% trustworthy, and handing their in-game, for profit group unique items for them to use as part of their in-game, for profit business

he was also directly giving members of somer special gifts worth hundreds of billions as "thanks"

hahahahaha this is unfuckingbelievable

No wonder the CSM were kept out of the loop, this is the exact same t20 crap all over again

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

I'm done with this game.

CCP should have just cut out the middle man and give SOMER a gigantic pile of timecards to sell

CCP, CCP Navigator is making a bloody mess of your game. Where's internal affairs on this?

Where was the CSM?

Did you learn NOTHING from the t20 scandal?!?

The foolishness is ASTOUNDING.

Like, I seriously can't believe how quadruple, game-ruiningly stupid this whole thing has become.

JUST STOP SHOWING FAVORITISM.

STAHP!

Or cash. Because if anyone doesn't believe Somer will try to turn as much of his estimated 120 TRILLION isk (FunkyBacon estimate) as possible into real money, whether it's already happened or will in the future, lol. Just lol. When you can afford to buy 100 officer fit titans and 100 characters to fly those titans and still barely notice, there's only one reasonable thing left to do with that space money.

If CCP wants Eve Online to be a casino with a spaceship game attached to it, which seems to be the case, I am puzzled by why they don't just make it official and put Somer on the payroll. Make it honest.

Fck you just got me before I could do it, well I'd be a bit less comprehensive and bit ruder. Mkay I'm out don't ban me yet