Featured Cmdr RecessiveHagis “Heimdall”

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

I first played the original Elite game in the mid-80s on a neighbour’s BBC Model B. I then had it myself on Commodore 64 and later the Amiga. I heard they were doing a modern version a few years ago, was really excited about the idea and then promptly forgot about it. It was only after ED had been out a couple of years that I picked it up.

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

A couple of months back, we had a new player join the squadron and I offered to jump my fleet carrier over near to the starter worlds to pick him up and bring him to our home system. What should have been a 30 minute task ended up being a 2 hour-plus epic that involved him having to do 9 jumps to meet my carrier, almost running out of fuel, re-routing, actually running out of fuel (needing me to jump my carrier again) and then having his Xbox crash as he was docking on my carrier.

At one point, I was laughing so hard I had tears running down my cheeks. In the end, I think about 4 or 5 members of the Green squadron ended up staying on the Discord past midnight to make sure that this commander actually got to our home system. He did in the end, I’m pleased to report.

Tell the story of how you earned your callsign.

I was furloughed due to the pandemic and had a fair bit of time on my hands, so I often handled the onboarding of new members in the Discord airlock. Hence Heimdal. I think it’s a character out of Batman, or something.

Tell us about your favorite ship in the game.

It’s hard to pick just one. I love the Corvette because it’s a Corvette. I’m also quite attached to my exploration Asp, ‘The Greyhound’, because I’ve spent months traveling all over the galaxy in it. My Cobra is something I like to dust off and use now and again for sentimental reasons. I’m still quite chuffed about getting my carrier, TFCS Thunderchild.

What drew you to join The Fatherhood?

I was half-interested in joining a squadron as I was getting a bit bored of the game. I saw many squadrons but they all seemed a bit serious, it was only when I saw the description for the FH on Inara that it felt like a squadron that it felt like a good fit. It’s funny how many people who apply to join the squadron say the same thing.

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

I work in IT as software development manager. I tend to balance things by getting on quite late in the day when the kids are in bed, the dogs have been walked and I have the TV to myself.

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

I’m not usually as miserable as I look. Not most of the time, anyway.

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

Hagis was a nickname from primary school. It causes confusion as people assume I’m Scottish (I’m English) and Scottish people like to tell me I’ve spent it wrong. The ‘Recessive’ bit was adjective suggesion from XBox Live that I settled on, having lost the will to live going through the previous 85 suggestions.

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

Join a squadron. ED is a complicated game and having a bunch of people to answer any questions and wing up with make it so much more enjoyable. I’ve been playing for over three years and I’m still learning new things about the game. The Fatherhood is a great squadron as there are so many people ready to help out. It puts a smile on my face when I help someone join the squadron and see them go from asking all the newbie questions to answering them for other new members a few weeks later. The dad-jokes and puns are an added bonus.