Interview with Larkonis Trassler

Do you have a website and forum thread? If you've got links that would be good.

http://larkonisforcsm.com/blog/

So, how long have you been playing?

Nearly 4 years with a couple of longish breaks, but I've been there for all the major revisions in that time.

What have you done in Eve during that time?

Everything... I've mined, run missions, fought in large scale battles in 0.0, killed capitals, lost capitals, killed poses, lost poses, lofty scammed, can flipped, pirated, ransomed etc etc. I think my biggest achievement would be my corp Neo Spartans, a great bunch of reprobates.

What real life experiences do you have that will aid you in your elected position?

Politically... not many. At the tender age of 16 I ran for youth mayor in my city and came third in the election, not a bad showing if I say so myself (ISTR there being 8 candidates, not 3) and it taught me that a pair of breasts and some fluttering eye lashes will get you far in the world of politics.
I've served in the Army (hello ladies) and been to a couple of hot (and downright freezing) sandy places. If I can get my point across to a few dozen pot smoking Afghan National Army soldiers then I shouldn't have too many problems with the Devs (I hope).

What's your favorite thing to do in Eve?

Extract carebear tears... But seriously, it's some good old fashioned small gang/solo PVP that gets my bodily fluids going. Ganking haulers is all well and good but I do enjoy a good challenge now and again.

What changes do you believe could be made to make it easier to do that?

The ECM changes are a good start, but a solo player coming up against a small gang with a competant ECM pilot is still going to have a very hard time combating them. But I digress. I don't think there is much to be done to improve small gang warfare. It's human nature to strive to win and that means bringing more mates than the other side and having bigger rocks than the other side. Space bushido is all well and good... but at the end of the day most people would rather have a killmail with ten of their mates on than a lossmail with one person on it.

What do you think of the recent Bob/Goonswarm fiasco?

I think it's pretty cool that Goons found and exploited that mechanic. Should that mechanic be changed? Definately... for one man to destroy an entire alliance like that, well, it shouldn't have been allowed to happen. Still, a very good play by Goons (not that I have anything against BOB/Kenzoku).

Do you have an opinion on the Renaming of KenZoku to Bob Reloaded?

LOLCCP. I think there are times when the GMs are struck down with some sort of temporary retardation. This was a name change well after the Alliance was created (what was it, a month?), not to correct some lulzy spelling error (I'm no weeabo but Kenzoku isn't the worst Alliance name in the first place) and well, it's BOB for Christ's sake. After the T20 debacle they should have made some effort into researching the possible ramifications. Personally I don't care and I found the fallout on the forums to be quite spectacular. I do suspect that CCP was just trolling the game's population given that they rolled back the changes pretty quick.

What do you think of the re balancing of ECM?

A good start. The mechanic still needs a rebalance... above all some sort of stacking penalty.

What do you think of the re balancing of Stealth Bombers?

Looks cool, haven't tried them yet, but one friend commented that 'they made his dick hard' so I think they might work out ok.

Does it bother you that Veldspar is more profitable than any low sec minerals?

Absolutely. Two reasons for this (in my eyes) T1 meta 1 loot from missions and Drones. Obviously nothing can be done about drone loot without pissing off a lot of people, aside from maybe adjusting the refine rate so you get less mid ends and more lowends. I would like to see T1 Meta 1 loot removed from missions and rats though. That stuff can be produced and it also goes a long way towards 'rebalancing' level 4's where a small but significant chunk of income is earned.

What is the single largest imbalance in game, and how would you fix it?

I would like to say the Highsec/Lowsec risk reward ratio, but then I just look like someone out for easy kills. Though I have little experience of it the Sov mechanic really needs a look at. Currently it's pretty easy to hold space once you've taken it. Cyno Jammers up, bridging Titans around, having fun etc. I would at least like to see jump bridges and cyno jammers mutually exclusive. The idea that a Capital can circumvent the cyno jammer by using a bridge it pretty irritating. If you want caps for your home defence then keep them there or plan an op to lower the jammer and get them all in. With the addition of Jump Freighters, Jump Bridges etc etc 0.0 has become far far too small. It's no longer the wild west frontier that it used to be.

Anything to add?


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