Establishing Trust

Being a Capsuleer means one is forced to live by different rules. Capsuleers are, first and foremost, immortal. Punishments for crimes are severely limited in their effectiveness. Capsuleers also have much more mobility than humans have ever had in the past. Not only do they have access to faster-than-light ships and access to instant point-to-point jump gates at much higher rates than non-capsuleers, but they have access to jump clones. Capsuleers can literally move from one end of known space to the other at the speed it takes him to step into the medical facility.

All of this gives Capsuleers a level of untouchableness. They can exist above laws. However, this is not the end of it. Every Capsuleer may be tied to any number of capsuleers at a level that can not be tracked anywhere in New Eden outside of the super secret internal workings of the medical facilities. This means that any Capsuleer could potentially be willing to sacrifice himself to biomass reclamation, because he knows his mind can live on in a new Capsuleer. The only thing lost is the skill training, agent standing, and the scarlet letter of the crime they are seeking to absolve themselves of.

This makes Capsuleers paranoid.

This makes Capsuleers who are CEOs even more paranoid.

I live by a, "Don't trust me, and I won't trust you" motto. It is really is manifested in more of a trust, but verify manner.

When I was with Sturmgrenadier I rose to the position of Director of Industrial Logistics. I was in charge of all of the internal corporate manufacturing, mining, and POSes. The latter two had very dedicated assistant directors. This let me focus on the former. SG offered, for free to all regular members, all T1 frigates, cruisers, ammunition, and modules. We had battlecruisers, barges, industrials, and, occasionally, battleships, to loan to members. We had three offices that had to be stocked, and POS hangars.

We had thefts. The mechanics available to capsuleer corporations and station hangars is simply inadequate. We could not prevent the thefts without making everything entirely too cumbersome to maintain. The best we could do was set up firewalls. If someone did steal, audit trails made it obvious who stole. The limited amounts available at any time limited what could be stolen. This put more work on my team, but it was a balance. If anyone were to steal, they would have to do it on the way out, and they couldn't get but so much.

After leaving SG, I started a couple independent ventures. Odinsdagrting [ODNDT] is my most recent one, but I'll speak more on that in a moment.

One of them was Prydwen Technology Group [PRYD]. Even after leaving SG the corp, I was still in the syndicate, and still had close ties with them and their alliance, Fountain Alliance [FA]. I offered a limited stock purchase to SG and FA members, and paid modest dividends. I also offered small, unsecured loans to SG and FA members. This was all a bit risky, thus I limited it to people that I thought I could trust. In the end, I had no loans default.

But in the end, I burned out. I had one outstanding loan, and before anyone could ask for another, I paid off that loan from my own wallet and closed up shop. I liquidated the company, selling off all of the BPOs the corp had (manufacturing was one of the revenue streams). I then paid out the entire corp wallet as dividends. Because the corp was now worth more than it was when it started, those that bought stock now received their initial money back, plus some, on top of the dividends they had been receiving.

There was nothing that made me do that, though. I did that because I thought it was the right thing to do. There is no mechanic to enforce that. I had to ask people to trust me, and I don't like doing that.

There is also the matter of, what if I couldn't liquidate and repay? What if, instead of a burn out, it was 'hit by a bus'? I thought I had a solution for that with my latest venture, Odinsdagrting. I had a friend that I got into a capsule. I see him every week, and I've known him for years. I know I can trust him as a partner in a corp. If I get hit by a bus, then he can try to continue alone, or he can pull the plug and pay everyone back.

He is leaving the capsule, though. It just isn't for him. That is fair. It isn't for most people.

I have instructions for him, though. If I'm hit by a bus, it is my hope that he'll get into the capsule long enough to melt the company down and divide the capital up among the owners, the stock holders.

Blog Banter #14

Welcome to the fourteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

The first banter of 2010 comes to us from the EVE Blog Father, CrazyKinux himself, who asks the following: As we begin another year in New Eden, ask yourselves "What Now?" What will I attempt next? What haven't I done so far in EVE? Was it out fear, funds, or knowledge? Have I always wanted to start my own corporation, but have never dared doing so? Is there a fledging mercenary waiting to come out of its shell? Or maybe an Industrialist? What steps and objectives will I set myself to accomplish in order to reach my ultimate goal for this year? EVE is what you make of it. So, what is it going to be for you?

My answer has to come in three parts: The Possible, The Hopeful, and The Wildest Dream.

The Possible

My primary focus is my corp, Odinsdagrting. I would like for it to remain open this entire year. I would like for it to grow not only value, but in membership. I'd love to have at least four main inventors and builders with people responsible for selling and procurement. I'm not against a mining division, worm hole activities, and high sec POSes. I also want to push into low sec and, along with United Trade Syndicate, build markets.

I've tried running my own little corps, and I've been in a senior position in other people's big corps. I'd like to try running my own big corp.

The Hopeful

I've often tried to find a ship that would define me. I don't have to be in it all the time, but it would be the ship I'd use most of the time. The ship that I'd specialize in. The ship that I could be known for.

Most of the time, I'm in my Mastodon, Holtby, or my Prowler, Bisycmaplinis.

I do really like the Jaguar. I would've liked it even more if the AF speed boost had been included in Dominion. I can't see the Jaguar being a ship that could be used in enough situations to be a signature ship, though.

My past performance would indicate an affinity for the Blackbird. I do like it. It would make sense to make the Falcon a more permanent choice, but it is slow.

And Caldari.

I love the Typhoon and the Bellicose (mini-Phoon), and should look into the navy variants.

However, I think fate sealed it during the Hellcats Party. I was there for less than five minutes, and then was wifed. My name was drawn for the Loki, and I wasn't there.

Not only is it Minmatar, and badass, and works great in a group or solo, but it is very versatile and could be a ship one uses most of the time. Thanks to some gifts after the party, I am on my way. Once my corp is more stable, I'll likely save up enough and get myself into a Loki. I've never flown anything more expensive than a Tempest.

The Wildest Dream

I have an idea for a meta-game website. Something like Eve-Metrics or Eve Online Hold'em. I think it would be wildly successful.

I also think the Bellicose is a fun ship, so clearly my opinion doesn't mean much.

My wildest dream for this year is to talk some others into my idea, finding crazy amounts of free time, and coding up a web site that would add one of those real-world industries to a game that clearly wasn't built for it. I have an idea like EBank, just built with better safeguards.

p.s. A list of participants. I have to admit to not having had time to read all of these. I feel linking to content that I haven't looked at, but it has taken me so long to have the time to post this list that I feel I should post the entire list:

1. CrazyKinux's Musing - A beginning is a very delicate time...
2. The Wandering Druid of Tranquility - Words, words, words…
3. My God It's Full of Stars - What Now?
4. The Elitist - Plans for 112yc
5. Into the unknown with gun and camera - Show me the money
6. Ecliptic Rift - Enabling the future
7. Inanity and Doom - New Year's Resolutions, New Eden Style
8. Break Vol - Blog Banter #14
9. Guns Ablaze - What Now?
10. Adventures in Mission Running - The Way Forward
11. Diary of a Pod Pilot - Things I want to do
12. Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah - The Year That Will Be
13. Roc's Ramblings - WordPress ate my blog
14. Vive Virtual - Frontier Living
15. A Mule in EVE - Next on the chopping block
16. Prano's Journey - I Peer Into My Crystal Pod...
17. Life in Low Sec - Expanding the Franchise
18. The Light of Stars - Testing the claims of CCP
19. A Memoir From Space - A New Direction
20. The Chronofile - Blog Banter 2010
21. FlashFresh - What now for Flash?
22. EVE Opportunist - Fyreite in 112
23. Mike Azariah - Jiorj
24. Yarrbear Tales - Year in Review
25. The Independant Analyst - The Year Ahead
26. The Travels of Black Claw - Where ma I going?
27. Warp Scrammed - What to do this year
28. Sered's Lives - Searching for directions in 2010
29. Finders & Keepers - New Tears, Same Great Taste
30. The Captain's Log - To Dream of the Future
31. The Lathspell of Mithrandir - Resolutions
32. The Midnight Sun - EVE Blog Banter #14
33. EVE What? - New Heights to be Reached
34. The EVE Chronicles - New Year – New Blog – What a way to start the Year!

[ Delicious Tags: eveblogbanter14 ]

Odinsdagrting

It is official, I have gone nearly completely carebear.

Well, completely carebear.

Well, I still make runs into low-sec to get BPCs, but I do it in a Cheetah, so... yeah, carebear.

I had mentioned before that I've been trying to get some friends into capsules. I managed to get three (though only one actually used the 21-day key). To make their transition into capsuleering pleasant, I've formed a company around my T2 production. They are going to invest time and capital so we can expand this and share the profits.

I present, Odinsdagrting [ODNDT]. It doesn't have a web site, yet.

We are still establishing our offices, and we may even move our headquarters as things get settled. Our immediate goals are to improve our Republic standings and our standings with a few choice corporations. This will require me getting more into mission running than I have in the past.

We hope to have two stock issuances. One will be to ourselves as a mechanism to pay our profits. Once we get things very well established and we are ready for more capital, we will have a public stock offering. We will sell no more than 49% of the company. To make that as smooth as possible, I am looking at ways to make our operations more transparent. I'm even looking at sites such as Buxfer or Budget Pulse. If anyone has any other recommendations for ways to keep our books open, I welcome them.

Just before the public IPO, I'm likely to open recruitment to Minmatar auditors if anyone would like a chance to inspect the books and corporate hangars more closely.

I'd also like to look into building markets. It is an idea that Casiella Truza has mentioned. I'm interested to see how well she does. I'm even interested in helping.

Long-term, we hope to either move into wormhole exploration or join a larger alliance. I personally will miss combat and wouldn't mind if this moves us to 0.0.