14 DAY TRIAL // The Council of Stellar Management is in session. The elections in EVE Online's democratic experiment have taken place and nine representatives of the various factions of the MMO have been elected to serve the Council. As CCP - the creators of EVE - promised, they flew to Reykjavik to meet the developers and make decisions related to the future of the game, which now has more than 200,000 active players.
Jade Constantine, the guy who got the most votes in the elections, declared for the New York Times, that "There have been a whole lot of aspects that were very much like real life in terms of the electioneering process. It was about saying you are listening to the voters' concerns, being able to make presentations, managing and balancing various interest groups and presenting your ideas in an imaginative, attractive package".
Agust H. Ingthorsson, who is the director of the research liaison office at the University of Iceland, has a background as a moderator, with plenty of experience working with the European Commission and the European Parliament in Brussels. CCP brought him in to moderate the first meeting of the Council of Stellar Management and he had a very good opinion about the process and the aims of the new body.
Here is what he said, "I have to tell you that I have been involved in E.U. meetings where the participants were not as prepared and professional as what we've seen here. These players have approached this meeting with what seems like real understanding of their roles. They are not just fighting for their particular interests but seem to be very socially responsible in wanting to represent all the players of EVE. Perhaps some real-world politicians could learn from them".
Could we consider this one more step videogames take to the forefront on important issues nowadays, like good policy implementation and citizen participation in government? Some will say that it's just a game and that the whole thing does not matter to anyone but EVE. I think that this is just the beginning.