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[Ken]

The Roden Shipyards Outpost is a popular stopover for Gallente citizens willing to partake in some of the more notorious activities in the Federation, such as gambling, prostitution, drugs and the like.

We know Jacus Roden is going to figure heavily in Templar One and the DUST 514 background story, but he's not a new character in the EVE universe by any means.  In fact, the guy has been in office for more than 18 months and was around even before that.  Unfortunately, those have been a relatively quiet 18 months on the PF/news of interest side of things.  What do we know about the Federation's current president?  What are your opinions of him?  Your characters?  Where does he fit in with the rest of the Federal political tapestry?  Can we compare him (or his public image) to historical figures (accurately or not)?

His current portrait reeks of Lex Luthor, and I see him as a cunning and resourceful cutthroat who bootstrapped himself to wealth and power: respectable, even admirable, but not very likeable.  He certainly fits my imagination of the Chessmaster.  At least that's how I rationalize his very hands-off approach to governance as compared to Foiritan who appeared in the news often and enjoyed a great PR image as a man of the people, cutting through what was until his first term a history of presidential puppetry in the Federation.  And maybe there's something darker afoot.  Sarpati's men have managed to steal a great deal of Federation property in the past.  Have they perhaps at last stolen the presidency?

Roden Shipyards apparently has a history of aggressive (and successful) business practices and is probably the single biggest space industry corp in the "free world", having cornered the shuttle market early on.  Boeing meets LexCorp?  However his domestic competition (the CreoDron and Quafe "blocs", primarily) sees him, they were clearly willing to accept his leadership during the arms nationalization scandal that brought Foiritan down.

I raise my voice, and Satan himself is on bended knee. I am the leader of the free world, you impotent little psychotic. I've had the most powerful beings on this or any planet gunning for me for years, and you think you're going to scare me?

and yet...

President? Do you know how much power I'd have to give up to be President?

An important question in a universe full of villains might be whether Roden is truly meant to be President Evil or if he is simply misunderstood, and perhaps a victim of his own success perpetually hounded by (yet largely disinterested in) the propaganda aimed at him by those he's bested.  He's got a bit of Kane in him as well, and I suppose if the truth turns out to be that Roden is rotten to the core, he could certainly fit the role of spider at the center of a vast media conspiracy rather well.  Perhaps not so literally as the Bond baddie from Tomorrow Never Dies, but definitely a Villain with Good Publicity.

Luthor? Kane? Putin?

Here is a man.  Bald.  And without eyebrows.  Doing his best Voldemort impression.  I submit him for your consideration.

[BloodBird]

President Roden(t). Un-deserving, false little pretender. There is not one of my characters who like him, if they have an oppinion at all, that is.

* He led the corporations in their selfish revolt against one of the most needed changes in Federation nation-wide organization methods to best combat the union's enemies, prioritizing his own lust for power and corporate greed over the needs of the various peoples.
* His election was not in accord with Federation laws and regulations and his rise to precidency was thus illegal - he is an illegitimate rules in a position he has not earned.
* His corporate methods is known to not be entierly ethical. He has shown he has no problems dealing with shady means if it furthers his own power, regardless of who is the official head of his own corporation, or not.
* There are indicators that says he may be connected to the Serpentis drug sydicate. If true, this would make him a traitor of the higest order, scum who should be sentenced and punished like the criminal drug-pushing friend he would be.

The lsit goes on, but the above is from my oldest toon's list of reasons not to like him, a list that was lost over a year ago along with sources. These few are the only ones I recall in any detail.

Somewhat beside the point though, is there anyone else that are annoyed with CCP's need for shady pricks as leaders of the nations? There is not a single national leader now that has a non-special-case/spectacular-and-shady history until arriving in their current position. Foiritan earned his spot in legitimate means. Midular was elected legitimately. The CEP was the corporate heads by Caldari customs. The previous Emperor was 'normal', his care-takes was a blooder, but he was not exactly emperor, 'merely' the stand-in.

No, I don't like roden much OOC either. To much of a shady old schemer who slitered his way into power by less-than-honest means. Rigging an election was just the start.

[Seriphyn]

I think the idea with Roden is a President that ignores the personality cult and just gets on it. The President NPC corp description says he leads with "extreme cunning and a steely resolve". Seriphyn publicly attempts to remain apathetic, regarding him as the highest order of individual to be saluted as commander-in-chief. Privately, he is somewhat intimidated, and thus passes no firm public opinion for this reason.

I get the vibe is that you certainly dont want to cross the Federation led by him, because even in an apparent defeat there could be something he's up to. I hope he isn't too crooked, because CCP risks alienating the Gallente RPers in a similar fashion to Heth. Though, its not like you RP the Federation in service to the President (not Amarr etc), so it should be a non-issue. Perhaps the new head of senate will be the "good guy" to contrast.

[orange]

Sadly, like much of the fallout from EA, there is little development of these stories.

2.5 years on and no real changes; no outspoken criticism, etc.

What is the Federation's, (Roden's) stance on Incursions?  (and all the other leaders).

What does Roden believe is needed before he can fulfill his campaign promise of removing the Caldari from Caldari Prime once and for all?

I am sure there are plenty of additional questions.

[Vieve]

I've always wondered why there wasn't more anti-Roden sentiment being expressed in the State.  There's at least one Caldari Faction mission (the one I'm thinking of is a mission chain) where Federation Navy assets are supporting the building of a Roden Shipyards factory within the State, at the expense of the lives of some civilian Caldari miners.

And, yes, this ostensibly official support of ongoing foreign clandestine operations was happening even before Roden became Federation President.  I've always thought it put an interesting little spin on his 'selfish revolt' -- that his becoming president was actually the result of a discreet military coup.<sup>1

1</sup>Though more likely it was just another case of mission designers and storyline writers' not being on the same page.

[Senn Typhos]

I imagine the reason there's not more outspoken anti-Roden rhetoric from the State is because you can pretty much safely assume a Statist's position on Roden and his policies.

It's sort of like having an outspoken group protesting the negatives of being shot in the face. Agreeable, but entirely unnecessary.

[Ellis Croix]

Whenever I see that picture of Roden, I always think...

...what unusually green eyes he has.

Then again, three characters (edit: four I mean) in The Empyrean Age also have green eyes... Téa (Caldari), Jamyl Sarum (Amarrian), Ameline (Minmatar) and ::cough:: The Broker ::cough:: (at least in the beginning of the book).  There's also an obvious green tint to the picture of Roden.

So... yeah.  Just throwing that out there.

Also, I absolutely love Chess and psychology.

[Bong-cha Jones]

* He led the corporations in their selfish revolt against one of the most needed changes in Federation nation-wide organization methods to best combat the union's enemies, prioritizing his own lust for power and corporate greed over the needs of the various peoples.
* His election was not in accord with Federation laws and regulations and his rise to precidency was thus illegal - he is an illegitimate rules in a position he has not earned.
* His corporate methods is known to not be entierly ethical. He has shown he has no problems dealing with shady means if it furthers his own power, regardless of who is the official head of his own corporation, or not.
* There are indicators that says he may be connected to the Serpentis drug sydicate. If true, this would make him a traitor of the higest order, scum who should be sentenced and punished like the criminal drug-pushing friend he would be.

Counterpoint:
*He led the mega's in a concerted act of defiance against an unprecedented (if technically legal) government takeover of private enterprise.
*His election was legal, even if it was less than optimally executed.
*He's kinda shady!
*He might think the Serpentis are sometimes useful!  If true, this would make him awesome!

Yeah, I kind of like him.  He seems like the sort of guy who's generally up to some good, but isn't afraid to get his hands dirty, and who's willing to weight practical benefits over ideological purity.

[Akrasjel Lanate]

* He led the corporations in their selfish revolt against one of the most needed changes in Federation nation-wide organization methods to best combat the union's enemies, prioritizing his own lust for power and corporate greed over the needs of the various peoples.
* His election was not in accord with Federation laws and regulations and his rise to precidency was thus illegal - he is an illegitimate rules in a position he has not earned.
* His corporate methods is known to not be entierly ethical. He has shown he has no problems dealing with shady means if it furthers his own power, regardless of who is the official head of his own corporation, or not.
* There are indicators that says he may be connected to the Serpentis drug sydicate. If true, this would make him a traitor of the higest order, scum who should be sentenced and punished like the criminal drug-pushing friend he would be.

Counterpoint:
*He led the mega's in a concerted act of defiance against an unprecedented (if technically legal) government takeover of private enterprise.
*His election was legal, even if it was less than optimally executed.
*He's kinda shady!
*He might think the Serpentis are sometimes useful!  If true, this would make him awesome!

Yeah, I kind of like him.  He seems like the sort of guy who's generally up to some good, but isn't afraid to get his hands dirty, and who's willing to weight practical benefits over ideological purity.

[lallara zhuul]

Someone up to something good in New Eden?

Even the Sisters of EVE are crazy doomday cultists.

[orange]

Someone up to something good in New Eden?

Good is relative.

[Alain Colcer]

Someone up to something good in New Eden?

Good is relative.

hahah i was about to say something similar but the above clearly describes my view.....EvE is always gray, with really shady dashes on top.

I see Roden as Putin rather than Lex Luthor, Lex character is ambitious to the point of not only looking to develop his multiple investments but to also dominate mankind.....not sure Roden is in the same page on that specific point, and he certainly does not seek to dominate the Federation either, as it was shown in the multiple chronicles that described his actions.

He is however cunning, ruthless when neccesary and a bit intimidating in his look obviously, but he is also the prime example of how such traits can get you high on the social strata of the Federation, a dream that everyone has in this ultra-futuristic democracy, aspire for MORE whatever that is.

The issue that i agree the most and is mentioned on the previous posts, is how silent he has been since assuming the role, i would really expect someone in his position to always be on the news feeds, interviews, press conference, senate speeches, he MUST stay visible and active for the general population to empathyze with him.....regardless if he truly achieves changes or not. So his absence from the media, the silence regarding incursions in high-sec or even the current state of the Militia Proxy wars is cause of concern.

Thought that probably applies to every NPC leader....since they all went silent.

[Z.Sinraali]

* Z.Sinraali dooms Lallara.

[Yoshito Sanders]

Roden wishes he was as cool as Lex Luthor.

[Seriphyn]

I wonder what makes the President "the most powerful individual in New Eden", compared to say, the Emperor? I wonder if CCP forgot what a federation is, and is just going for monolithic power. Probably the extensive economic, cultural and resultant military influence (nullsec regime changes?) the Fed has?