I guess most MMOs can be described as running under a benign dictatorship, with the game's developer acting as the dictator. However, EVE Online is shifting to a more democratic idea, setting up a Council of Stellar Management to govern the game's economy and society.
There’ll be nine people on the Council, with five reserves, and they’ll all be elected for six-month terms by their fellow players. The inaugural elections happen between 5-19 May, and the Council will also be an important conduit between EVE Online players and its publisher CCP, as the latter’s Hilmar Petursson explains:
“EVE Online has evolved from an MMORPG to a virtual world with a virtual society. It is our role as its caretakers to evolve our approach as well, through economics research, political science or other aspects of operations or development. A democratic election process of representatives is one of mankind’s greatest inventions. We are bringing a version of that to EVE now with hope of it allowing us to expand EVE Online in a similar way to what we’ve seen on Earth.”
I don’t want to be cynical about this, since it’s a brave and innovative move from CCP, and one that’ll fit well with the EVE Online community’s nature. However, it has to be said that where there’s democracy, there’s potential for corruption, despite those noble words about it being one of mankind’s greatest inventions. Having nine people in such positions of power will bring with it its own issues surrounding accountability and good practice.
I’m sure this is high in CCP’s thoughts, of course. But it’ll be interesting to see what happens if one or more of the Councillors turns out to be a wrong’un…
(via Eurogamer)
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