I recently had the pleasure of interviewing White 0rchid, a Sniggwaffe Director and FC who was recently a candidate for the twelfth Council of Stellar Management. I know White from my time with EVE University, and I reached out to him to get more information about himself, his CSM bid, his plans, and the recent merger of Waffles with Pandemic Legion.
INN: Hi White, thanks for agreeing to meet with me. INN readers are interested to hear more about you – as a CSM candidate – and about recent news in your world. For those who aren’t familiar with you, can you start by telling us a bit about yourself?
White 0rchid: Sure, I’ve been playing EVE since around 2008 now. In that time I’ve done pretty much everything in game bar high end industry and mining. After spending some time out in Fountain in my early years, I had some on and off periods of EVE where I ran missions/DED sites mostly in my spare time. On returning ‘full time’ almost 3 years ago now, I rejoined E-UNI to both catch up on things I’d missed and also help with teaching others what I could remember. Following the year I spent there, I joined Sniggwaffe (Waffles) and over time took on enough responsibilities to be made a director at the start of this year.
INN: What are your thoughts on your time at EVE University, and what they bring to the game? Was there anything in particular which you gained E-UNI that has helped you during your time with Waffles?
White 0rchid: E-UNI gave me a casual environment to ease back into the game. There was no requirement on activity and it allowed me to experience all aspects of the game (with their various campuses) to better decide where I wanted to spend my time. I think for someone in that position, E-UNI is great. I believe in what they do and still mentor newbros there. I wouldn’t say there is a single thing in particular that helped me in Waffles, more that I feel the game is only as good as the people you play with, and I met a bunch of good guys there that made it even more enjoyable for me.
Without those guys I could well have un-subbed and never found my new friends in Waffles and PL.
INN: Tell us a bit more about Waffles. Why did you decide to join Sniggwaffe over other groups in the game?
White 0rchid: A lot of the other groups just didn’t cut it for me. I didn’t want to sit in my little castle and build an “empire” like all the sov holding groups do. I also didn’t feel like letting drama and politics get in the way of what I wanted to do. All I wanted was PvP with no strings attached in a environment that pushed you to be the best you could be. I knew a few people who had already moved onto Waffles (and who suggested I should join) and the rest is history.
INN: Speaking of history and Null, I suppose that’s a convenient place to segue to Sniggwaffe’s recent move to join Pandemic Legion. What can you tell us about the merger?
White 0rchid: There’s probably not much to tell that hasn’t already been told to be honest. The game was changing and we had to adapt. Better that than die/fail-cascade like other groups have. Waffles and PL have been family for a long time now, it was a good move that will be mutually beneficial.
INN: What has the move to PL changed for you, if anything? Has it opened any doors which weren’t available to you before?
White 0rchid: I suppose it has given some of our members in strange or remote timezones more access to content (late US/AU tz specifically), along with the ability for all of us to learn from some very good FCs and vets. It’s going to be a change for us all in terms of day to day mentality but we have been flying with PL for quite a while now so fleet ops are very much the same.
INN: Is there any part of the change in particular which has been personally beneficial for you?
White 0rchid: Aside from the above, the other main benefits for me is that I knew quite a few people in PL beforehand from various UK EVE meets and Fanfest so it’s great to fly with them (properly) now. After all – the players make the game, right?
INN: You ran for CSM in the last election. Do you plan to pursue election again? Do you think that membership in PL will help?
White 0rchid: I do very much plan on running for CSM again. I’m not certain whether being in PL will be a help or a hindrance though. A lot of people dislike the larger groups when they vote for CSM candidates so that may harm my campaign and as PL isn’t really a group that tells their members who to vote I have to rely on my own merits I think. I’m hoping people vote for me for the right reasons (my desire to help improve the game), rather than discount me due to my in game ticker.
As an aside: Oh man, some of this (r/eve/ stuff) has really blown up. Hah. Waffles are the bad guys now.
INN: What’s the focus of your platform going to be for next CSM?
White 0rchid: From what I’ve heard, going into the CSM with a particular agenda is not beneficial. I think the approach I will be taking if elected is to make sure that, when asked, I provide an unbiased and fair point of view. I hope to bring a little of my real life experience into the CSM – asking the five whys is something I’m familiar with doing and it can quite often get to the root of a problem.
INN: How do you think that Waffles is perceived in-game, and how does that different from your reality?
White 0rchid: If you are to believe reddit, we are the bad guys. I’m not hugely bothered by that though, to be honest. I’ve only really felt at home in 3 corps in my 10 years of playing. Sniggwaffe in the most recent of those 3 (the first one dissolved, the second was EVE Uni). I’ve been here for almost 2 years now and I feel like I have a second family. I know everyone in the corp and have met a bunch of them in person (with another meet up planned next week in EVEsterdam). With us recently joining PL, my nerd family has only grown.
INN: Any advice for people looking to join PL?
White 0rchid: It honestly depends on the individual corporation, but when recruitment is open for us I’d be looking at:
- Experience (good history and killboard)
- Mentality (the right mindset to a situation with no drama)
- Enthusiasm (willing to put in the extra work)
- Teamwork (happy to work together to achieve our collective goals)
- Loyalty (the corp/alliance is your new family and you should give it your all)
INN: Alright, that wraps up my questions. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me.
White 0rchid: No problem. We’re not all as bad as reddit says. 😛
