I think anyone who puts this all on Falcon's shoulders and thinks this is some sort of vendetta on his part is making a huge mistake; not only does it let people dismiss any good points you might actually make as being the ramblings of someone who can't let things go, but it also trivializes the issue.
With respect to your perceptions of what those not on the "Falcon will fix everything" side of the argument, that's not what anyone is saying. No one is blaming Falcon for "everything". He's being blamed for what he has done. I'm not claiming that Falcon is responsible for TonyG's stuff, I'm saying that the stuff that has come out since Falcon became the face of Eve story is precisely the same kind of stuff we got from TonyG, and the statements coming from CCP Falcon ("things will get better", "we have tons of amazing stuff in store", "we have to fix some things before we can be fair", etc) are the same exact things we got from TonyG.
And yes, CCP Falcon is not TonyG. But whether he has control over the story or not, whether these are all his ideas or not, he IS the face of CCP when it comes to story, and he's certainly presented himself as having at least some major influence on the story. And keep in mind that if you want to defend Falcon by claiming that he's not in charge, then you also toss out any hope of him being able to effectively change things.
So the question is not "are things as bad as they could possibly be?", but rather, "could the events and story since CCP Falcon took charge have been written and directed better than they were, and more fairly?" And the answer to that is, in my opinion, yes. And I understand that Falcon has other responsibilities, but it doesn't appear that hard.
Also, I comprehend that I'm not that actual one doing it. But that only goes so far, because I
could do the work, writing, and research necessary, and have done similar projects for other things. And it doesn't take too much too plan it out. To wit:
Step one: Consider the current state of the story, list the problems and potential resolutions, outline a rough storyline with potential alternate paths for decision points, construct basic scenarios, discuss with colleagues.
Step two: contact RPers of the various factions involved, discuss how they see their faction, ask what they would be willing to give up, and what they would like to gain. Make no promises or offers, but use information to balance actual and potential wins and losses across storyline.
Step three: Roughly plan out the actual news items and events for each story event and decision point. Create carry-over conditions from an event's win/loss for each faction. If possible, maintain a fairly even balance between sides in any event, but tilt slightly to the side that lost last time, to prevent discouragement. Plan scripted events for only the most vital plots.
Step four: Communicate to players (any good DM of a PnP game does this, BTW) the essential nature of the arc, the rough end goals ("both the State and the Federation are growing restive about Heth - who is going to do something about it, and how?"), and ask for any final feedback.
Step five: Execute. Plan each actual event a week and a half to two weeks out, providing initially just a warning, and then fleshing in with pre-written news articles and IGS posts. If manpower is a problem, offer certain actor positions to trustworthy community members during an event. Reward faithful execution of an event with a minor but special item. After the event is finished, analyze for any potential carry-over effects to the next event (hey, some of the enemy ships got away from the players - maybe they show up in the next event!) and start posting the news articles written for the success and failure of each side (these should be written before the event, with blanks for event-specific details). Begin preparation for next event.
It's probably incredibly arrogant to post this. I am, after all, not privy to all the details of CCP Falcon's job and responsibilities. But, that aside, is there anyone who thinks that the above
would be worse? And, if so, why?