What was your first experience with the Elite universe and what keeps you playing it today?

I was introduced to ED by an acquaintance who mentioned off handedly that he was building a computer for “a game”. I asked, “A GAME?” He then told me about ED, being a 1:1 model of the Milky Way Galaxy. From there, he needed to say no more. While the game was downloading, I began absorbing tutorials and watching the myriad of content that was available. I remember being daunted, overwhelmed and more than exited. I was elated. This WAS the game that I’ve been waiting for my whole life

Tell a quick story about your favorite moment in Elite: Dangerous. Tough question.

I had been playing the game maybe a month and was out exploring in the SRV at a geyser site. There was a monster geyser in front of me and my Anaconda behind me about 500 meters. I sat there looking at the geyser, blasting into the sky and the roar of the material as it was escaping the vent while others burbled and belched around me, this one in front of me was epic. I thought to myself….. “Huh…, I wonder what would happen if I…” then I drove over it. I was blasted into the sky, tumbling higher and higher. Rocketing and tumbling higher and higher, I managed to fumble out my phone and take a video, then I saw my ship Take off uncommanded.

Now, looking back on the occasion, gyser jumping is rather commonplace, but being a new Commander, not knowing what would happen and then seeing my ship leave as I crossed the distance threshold that releases the ship to orbit as I careened into the sky, well, it was a thrill.

Tell the story of how you earned your callsign.

I wouldn’t say I earned it. Somewhere, there’s a video, documenting it in all its glory. But the short story is, I got “Clipped” by a “Clipper” 100 meters from the summit during a six hour team mountain climbing expedition.

Tell us about your favorite ship in the game.

It’s tough to answer this, each has her own application. I think the one I have the most enjoyment out of flying is probably my Fer De Lance, “Greenis Envy” She’s fully engineered with Super Penetrator Rail Guns and a huge Plasma Accelerator and a couple of efficient Thermal Vent Beams. Landing a trick shot on an enemy combatant at a fair distance is very satisfying.

What drew you to join The Fatherhood?

I heard about The Fatherhood, listening to a Sagittarius Eye podcast. Prior to joining The Fatherhood, I played mostly Solo or Private Group between my friends and I. I joined The Fatherhood Delta and brought with me all my friends, and my own Father, who goes by the name of Pops Ravendish.

What’s your day job, and how do you balance your home, work and gaming life (or do you)?

I am a traveling helicopter mechanic. I work for a company that builds and maintains power lines. The job keeps me on the road for the better part of a month at a time. When things are slow at work, i.e. helicpters aren’t broken, or if I no scheduled maintenance to perform I can be found in space. So, if I’m on the road, Elite: Dangerous-ing is what I do to pass the time. When I go home, my family gets all of my focus. I stay mostly in US eastern and central time zones.

Any fatherly advice for new CMDRs trying to make their way in Elite: Dangerous?

1. Play in open, and enjoy the social aspect of the game. Solo and PG’s certainly have their place. For example: going to Deciat in open, as a beginner assumes the risk of getting squashed by lonely scumbags who love nothing more than blowing up your ship.
2. Use the tools that were developed for this game, ED market Connecter, EDDB.io, Inara, EDSM EDtools.cc etc. I always run EDmarket connecter when I’m dangerousing, it helps keep the tools we enjoy up to date.

What was your first experience with the Elite universe and what keeps you playing it today?

Played a version of the original Elite on an 8086 compatible PC, quite a while ago. I bought Elite: Dangerous on Steam while in a sale, then didn’t have a PC capable of playing it for a good bit. The auto-dock music still remains the same tune. 🙂

The Fatherhood mainly keeps my interest up in playing. Other games I play for a while, then stop for a good bit.

Tell a quick story about your favorite moment in Elite: Dangerous.

I was on a station rescue in a T9 with another Commander behind me. I misaligned a bit on entry and got stuck in the toast rack. Incoming message:

Other Commander: Stuck?
Me: Yep! (laughing too hard to control the ship)

Tell the story of how you earned your callsign.

Haven’t managed enough stupid/silly/awesome to gain one.

What drew you to join The Fatherhood?

I was looking for a shortish expedition while waiting for Distant Worlds 2. I came across Lost Souls 1 by The Fatherhood and liked their ethos, so I ended up joining the squadron – this was before in-game squadrons.

Now running two Commanders: one in The Fatherhood – Alpha (R.Seaton) with more of a bubble focus, and one in The Fatherhood – Pioneers (Madproforg) – more exploration focused.

How did you come up with the name of your Commander?

Madproforg has been a name used for a long time, so just stuck with it for my original commander.

When I created the second, I tried to think a bit differently and picked the name of the main character in E.E. Doc Smith’s Skylark series which I had just re-read again.

Any fatherly advice for new CMDRs trying to make their way in Elite: Dangerous?

Try to have a bit a patience. Especially with the inital steep learning curve, it does get easier but the learning never stops.

What was your first experience with the Elite universe and what keeps you playing it today?

My first experience was on Xbox actually, it popped up on the marketplace and it looked really interesting. I was immediately blown away by the scale of everything. I spent about a year playing on it, just getting around selling goods, seeing stars, seeing planets. I knew then I found a long-term game. I made the crossover to PC and really started getting into being a space tour guide — nothing too crazy because I didn’t have a lot of engineering unlocked. Elite keeps me coming back because there’s always something else to do, whether it be to search out more systems that no one else has seen, or assist in the community goals. And as a member of the BGS team being involved with The Fatherhoods expansion is a major factor.

Tell a quick story about your favorite moment in Elite: Dangerous.

That’s a tough one… but the one that always sticks out in my mind was during the original Lost Souls expedition. We had come to the point of crossing the Formadine Rift and I was in a very under equipped Asp X. I ended up having to do some FSD boosting and planning jump for jump almost running the fuel dry more than a few times, but just as true space madness was starting to set in a ‘conda dropped in and lo and behold it was Cmdr “Mc” Drazkul who spent a few hours short jumping along side of me and making small talk until I had made it to a point that I could plot more than a jump or 2.

Tell the story of how you earned your callsign.

I have kept my accidents and mistakes to myself and try to keep out of trouble so no call sign for me….yet.

Tell us about your favorite ship in the game.

Ahh, that’s a easy one… hands down my Corvette Golden Pernicious. It took me quite awhile to unlock it & get it to it’s current state but it is the ship that I’m the most comfortable in, if it had a little better jump range I’d never leave it.

What drew you to join The Fatherhood?

Like so many others, the motto, I joined up and got to know some of my fellow CMDR’s and since then I’ve moved to PC Delta and never looked back, The squad has become more than just a group of people I game with, we are a digital family, I have CMDR’s that I talk to on a daily basis, know about kids and wives and vice versa, elite is so much more than a ‘ game ‘ and The Fatherhood truly shows that. I have never regretted my choice to join up and advance through the ranks

What’s your day job, and how do you balance your home, work and gaming life (or do you)?

I work for a automotive lighting company on a weekend swing shift, I try to give my wife cover on Saturday nights and through the week, but she’s always very understanding if something comes up and I have to jump on, once in awhile I’ll take some time off to balance everything back out but for the most part we’ve found how to make everything work out. My flight times are kind of crazy but I’m always willing to make plans to try and help out CMDR’s from helping build up some credits or lend a hand with wing missions or provide over watch to miners I always try to make myself available to the wing.

How did you come up with the name of your Commander?

It actually was a random pick from Xbox and fit very well and now it’s become my alter ego.

Any fatherly advice for new CMDRs trying to make their way in Elite: Dangerous?

Don’t get discouraged, there’s so much to learn about Elite Dangerous no one expects you to be a master right away it is very much like chess you can learn it quickly but it takes much longer to master, ask questions, so many of us do really enjoy answering questions and helping out, and don’t be afraid to take advantage of that, ask the ship guru’s, wing up with the combat CMDR’s, multicrew with the long jumping group, there’s a lot to this and it can be overwhelming trying to take it all in, This is one of the best groups for not making anyone feel out of place no matter what the question.

What was your first experience with the Elite universe and what keeps you playing it today?

This question got me thinking for a bit. I came to Elite 2 years ago and spent a few weeks flying in open before I met first player. Sadly, I can’t remember their name. We had a friendly chat, traded a few jokes. I received a some advice, an unexpected credit boost… and that person just went off. To me, they were forever lost in the galaxy full of stars. In that moment, I realised that I absolutely loved this game and this community. Now, I’ve achieved almost everything I wanted. So, I busy myself with BGS work, designing new ships, and helping new commanders, when needed.

Tell a quick story about your favorite moment in Elite: Dangerous.

It’s not a moment, more like an event: the expedition to save our very own Sloth. To be honest, when I saw his message in Discord and decided “Yeah, I can do that”, I didn’t count on it to be so big of a deal. Like, you’re supposed to help others, especially your squadmates, right? So, it was very unexpected when somewhere in the first half of that journey I was contacted first by CMDR Ryanmarc and then by CMDR Iri “Herder” Reinhardt with words “Ok, that sounds fun. We’re going with you.” CMDR Madproforg just showed up silently at some point, surprising all of us. So, this journey and meeting of a few dozen TF commanders that came to see us return was a very heartwarming experience for me. We had a lot of fun during the trip. We had even more fun when we returned and I am glad I was part of it.

Tell us about your favorite ship in the game.

I dont have “favourite ship”, I love all of them, from my little Sidey “Karliah” I got at the start to the killing machine that is my Corvette “Clockwork Dragon”. Though, I do have most used ships; those are already mentioned Corvette, shiny and beautiful Cutter “Aurora Borealis” and luxurious Beluga Liner “Here Be Dragons”. Of cource I dont exlusively fly only those 3 ships since I have a bad habit of taking “rearming” dirung fights to a whole new level.

What drew you to join The Fatherhood?

I hadn’t heard of The Fatherhood until I was quite far into the game. I was running out of things to do and just before I embarked on my journey to Sagittarius A*, CMDR Andip mentioned this squadron to me. It took me a few days of deliberating and, well, here I am, in Alpha Squadron. Don’t regret a thing.

What’s your day job, and how do you balance your home, work and gaming life (or do you)?

I’m an engineer in the science division of a refractory ceramics factory and that’s about everything I can say on the matter.

How did you come up with the name of your Commander?

“My name is Legion for we are many.”

It’s a reference to the character from Mass Effect trilogy — a Geth, named Legion. He has a very interesting and somewhat sad storyline that really drew me in. Also, my friends tell me that sometimes I can be as oblivious as Geth are. The “r917th” stands for runtime 917th. Legion’s platform is controlled by 1183 individual Geth programs, and I am but one of them.

“Does this unit have a soul?”

Any fatherly advice for new CMDRs trying to make their way in Elite: Dangerous?

In the past year, The Fatherhood grew to become the largest squadron of Elite: Dangerous. In a group this large conflicts are bound to occur. We’re different people from different countries all around the world. So, here is my (a bit rude) advice that never let me down: Don’t behave like a d*ck and you won’t be treated like a d*ck. Use it wisely. 🙃

What was your first experience with the Elite universe and what keeps you playing it today?

My first experience? I thought it looked cool, so I got into the game, back just around the launch, but just a month after the Cobra MkIV. I used to do a lot of bounty hunting, flying around in a Cobra MkIII. That was quite the time. Credits weren’t as easy back then.

Tell a quick story about your favorite moment in Elite: Dangerous.

I’ve had a lot of moments in Elite. I’ve had Thargoids swing me around in an SRV. That was a fun time. Another moment was when I was on a voice chat with a friend, and they just had their first Thargoid hyperdiction (they were relatively new back then), and they screamed. Though I think my favourite moment is just being a part of The Fatherhood. I’ve never had a better gaming experience than with being a part of this community.

Tell the story of how you earned your callsign.

So, this occurred over about a month, September 2019, I think. I was just coming back from a long time in the black, while carrying a dozen different bounties on my ship. I cleared them at an Interstellar Factor, no problem. Then I earned more bounties while working some Classified BGS work. I had forgotten when that happened and made the assumption that when I had went to the IF, it didn’t clear my bounties. So, for a few weeks, I was under the impression IF weren’t clearing my bounties. I ended up going to every minor faction, and turning myself in, to clear my bounties. Spent a lot of time in prison ships by doing this. After I was all cleared, I checked my logs on a third party software, and it showed that my bounties were earned after I had visited the IF. It wasn’t a bug after all!

I have coupons for Detention Centre Delta -7, if anyone is interested.

Tell us about your favorite ship in the game.

Type of Ship? This isn’t a real question, is it? But, not everyone knows me, I suppose. Federal Corvette, and of my fleet, it’s the FNS Cassandra, named after my wife. It’s sleek, beautiful, and dangerous (She’s got two huge… guns).

What drew you to join The Fatherhood?

Squadrons had just got released into the game, and I was a recent new father at the time, so as I was browsing what was available, I came across The Fatherhood. Seemed like a natural fit. So for a long while, I was part of PC Alpha, since they had space then. Now a Member of Delta Squad.

What’s your day job, and how do you balance your home, work and gaming life (or do you)?

I work as an accountant and system administrator for a property management company. Home, work, and gaming life is not always in equilibrium. I had to drop out of the PvP tournament to take a step back and focus on family. It’s a constant work in progress to find a balance.

What is one thing most people don’t know about you that you wish they did?

This is a tough one to answer. Sometimes I may act like a jerk, or say something stupid, but usually its just meant to be a sense of irony, for humour’s sake. I never mean ill towards anyone. Not everyone may know that.

How did you come up with the name of your Commander?

My original CMDR name (you are allowed one name change by Fdev) was Necromonic Angel. Just username I used, a holdback from an old MMO. However, my character had a story, lore, background, and a sense of roleplay. My CMDR name is a reference to Mass Effect, with some similarities in persona.

Any fatherly advice for new CMDRs trying to make their way in Elite: Dangerous?

Fatherly? Do your homework first before playing games. School is still important.

What was your first experience with the Elite universe and what keeps you playing it today?

Elite: Dangerous has been my first and only experience with the Elite universe. It was back in 2016 when my interest with the game first began, spurred on by various talks with CMDR NecronomicAngel (now known as Jack Harper), who kept going on about this game and how amazing it was that eventually his enthusiasm convinced me to try the game out myself… and I fell in love. The vastness of it, the quality, the endless possibilities, there was so much to do it was honestly a little overwhelming at first and I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it, so I set it aside for the time being until I was in the right mind set to truly enjoy what was in front of me. I don’t know what possessed me to get back into it, but eventually I booted it back up, got into the cockpit and the rest is history, or so they say.

Tell a quick story about your favorite moment in Elite: Dangerous.

Ooo, there’s a few, honestly hahaha. If I had to pick one? Hmm… probably the time I visited Le Monde de la Morte during Lost Souls 2. Or maybe the time I flew into my first ever Black Hole event horizon. Or maybe that time I discovered my first earth-like world. I’m still undecided on that one.

What made you decide to join The Fatherhood?

Joined for the cookies and the promise of a free Anaconda, stayed for the friendships and the family-like atmosphere.

Tell the story of how you earned your callsign.

It happened during the Lost Souls 2 Expedition, actually. Somehow I’d ended up leading the charge on the PC side of things whenever we got together for the Sunday mass jump events. It was a nightmare, for starters. Commanders flying backwards, some flying forwards, some accidentally boosting forward and frame shift driving into the next system… I’d probably of had better luck herding a bunch of cats. In fact, no, I’m pretty sure I was herding a group of cats. Anyway, at some point Draz pulled me aside during a voice call one night and mentioned he was so impressed with my herding skills he’d like to give me the callsign “Herder”. And that’s how I became “Herder”. Most of you know the “Twitchy” story so I won’t go into that one.

Tell us about your favorite ship in the game.

Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait. Just… Kraaaaaaaaaits. TFS Centennial Falcon was my LS2 flagship and I loved her. She was fast, she had nice turn speeds, she could jump just as far as the rest of ’em, she was a beaut. I also just love Kraits because of how versatile they are. They’re amazing little ships. Mining? Krait. Fighting? Krait. Exploration? Krait. Passenger missions? Might be a bit of a tight squeeze, but still a Krait. Wouldn’t trade ’em for anything… except maybe a Beluga… but only for the cockpit.

What was your first experience with the Elite universe and what keeps you playing it today?

Elite: Dangerous is my first foray into the Elite universe. I have enjoyed talking to others about their connections that go back several decades to the older games. It brings perspective to the passion some people have about Elite: Dangerous today.

The player community is one of the best parts of Elite: Dangerous (but also sometimes one of the worst parts). It greatly contributes to the game’s engagement for me, though. The game would not be as enjoyable for me as a completely isolated, single-player experience.

There is also more than a touch of the gambler’s fallacy in the explorer mentality — that belief, however misplaced, that a system will have something nobody has ever seen in the game, and one more jump will be all it takes to find it.

Tell a quick story about your favorite moment in Elite: Dangerous.

My first trip to the core, before jumponium and engineers, was in a Cobra Mk III with around 20 Ly range. Running out of fuel in the Aucocks Pocket was a real danger then if you were not paying attention to your jumps and scooping, plus there was a much higher chance of a jump going horribly wrong.

The first try I slammed into a supergiant about a quarter of the way and was promptly converted to ash. The second try I ran out of fuel only a couple of light years away from the next scoopable star. On the third try I finally made it. I must have spent at least an hour just staring at Sagittarius A*. That journey was nerve-wracking, exciting, frustrating, and yet an accomplishment at the same time. It was also lucrative — six weeks out and back for an amazing 90 million credits!

Tell us about your favorite ship in the game.

I am a big fan of the Clipper. It may not be as iconic as the Cobra or Krait, as versatile as the Anaconda, or as deadly as the Corvette, but it’s filled nearly every role in the game for me and is a real joy to fly. Now if it could just land on a medium pad!

What made you decide to join The Fatherhood?

Exploration is a lonely profession by its nature. Months can go by between sightings of other commanders. There are many exploration squadrons, and I have acquaintances in several of them, but they can become ultra-focused on one aspect of the game and very quiet in between expeditions and special events. With its myriad personalities, playstyles, and conversation topics (both about and outside the game), The Fatherhood has made a great companion on my long exploration tours, and I’m glad I have been able to be part of it for as long as I have.

What was your first experience with the Elite universe and what keeps you playing it today?

So I grew up playing X-Wing and TIE Fighter. Back in 2017, I found them on GOG.com on sale, and decided to play them again. For this, I needed a new flight stick (I’d just gotten rid of my old one!)

After playing for a bit, I decided to see what modern games I could play with it. That’s how I found Elite Dangerous (oddly enough, I’d never heard of any of the Elite games growing up).

I was hooked right away. I loved the simulator feel of the game, and the missions/trading/etc. reminded me of a similar game I’d played growing up, a top-down 2d game called “Escape Velocity” (which I now see was somewhat modeled after Elite).

Tell a quick story about your favorite moment in Elite: Dangerous.

My favorite memory in Elite Dangerous came after joining The Fatherhood and getting involved in BGS. We had just been inserted in Hajangai, and had our eyes on next door LHS 197 for the RES bounty hunting. We’d been having trouble forcing two factions to retreat, and our Ops team had just about given up on the system. That was when I decided to test the limits of the new Crime and Punishment system, and took my trusty Chieftain, the TFS Major Jacob Brown on a killing spree of the unwanted faction in LHS 197’s Haz Res. After maxing out my notoriety, I managed to drive the two unwanted factions both into retreat. That was how I earned my callsign, “Rambo”.

What made you decide to join The Fatherhood?

I started following Elite: Dangerous on Twitter, and saw when they promoted The Fatherhood. The motto, “When the Kids Go to Bed, We Go to Space” immediately appealed to me. As a father of 3 small children that had been my gaming ethic for a while.

Tell us about your favorite ship in the game.

My favorite ship in the game is hands down the Krait Mk II. It’s my all-purpose, multi-role, mission runner. My Krait is the TFS Phoenix. While most of my ships serve a specific purpose (AX, mining, hauling, exploration), if I don’t have a particular task in mind, I grab the Phoenix because whatever comes up, I know I can handle it.