Featured CMDR “Q” Ryanmarc

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

My first experience was trying to dock a Sidewinder manually at an outpost, taking large chunks out of my hull in the process. I quit in frustration for 2 weeks before giving it another go, and the rest is history. My initial months were spent mostly in a Dolphin and an Orca because they look vaguely like Starfleet ships. I didn’t even start combat until I had explored and traded my way to Elite. I continue to play because there’s something just fundamentally cool about flying through space.

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

Using SRVs to body slam an NPC Viper IV with CMDR Legion_r917th on the surface of Achenar 3 (a high gravity planet) until the Viper drunkenly did a loop and then frameshifted into the planetary crust. Equal parts absurd and ever so much fun.

Tell the story of how you earned your callsign.

I spend a great deal of time tinkering with engineering in the game to find unusual but effective ship builds. I also spend most of my Discord time in the Ship Crafting channel answering questions and posting about my latest ships and ideas. I was named for James Bond’s quartermaster. “Please return the equipment in one piece.”

 

Tell us about your favorite ship in the game.

One look at my fleet would tell you have I have lots of favorites, but pound for pound it has to be the Chieftain. My combat style is up close and personal, orbiting larger ships and shooting out modules, and the Chieftain is well suited for that style. My best one is TFS Defiant, named for the Deep Space 9 ship. Like its namesake it’s far more powerful than it seems to be. “She may have flaws…but she has teeth!”

What drew you to join The Fatherhood?

They moved into my backyard! I spent my first few years in the game based in the LHS 28 system and was allied with every faction in a large radius around there. When a new faction called The Fatherhood showed up I first said “Hey, get out of my house!”. Eventually I had a look at the website and found that they fit me very well as a father of two kids.

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

As Howard Jones sang in New Song, “Don’t crack up, Bend your brain, See both sides, Throw off your mental chains.” Try new ways of doing things because you never know what you might find.