Captains Blog: I love this Community!

I had something happen to me in a video game that I did not expect...Someone recognized me. When I say that it might not seem all that odd at first...after all if you know me and have played a game with me or at least been around me while I gamed, then you would know that I use my last name as a screen name," Abshire". I for a time used to play with some very successful streamers and I would use this last name as well. I even made a half-hearted attempt at being a streamer and YouTuber myself but found my talents at being entertaining exhausting and I was honestly just not very good at it...I am not one for pandering after all. So I am saying all that not to toot my horn, but to say that every now and then, and I truly mean its a rare anomaly, someone would ask "Are you the same Abshire that used to play with so-and-so..." and it gave me a tiny bit of a warm fuzzy. I can pretend and posture all I want but it really would make me smile and I would often gloat about it to my very understanding Fiance, who is NOT a gamer but placates me cause I am and its important to me. Why was this different this time? Why am I making such a big deal about this, so much that I have come out of hiding and return to writing about Cloud Imperium Game's greatest dream-slowly but surely-coming true "Star Citizen"? Someone recognized me...under a different name. A name that I have only reserved for Massive Multiplayer Online games and it's a name I have used for many years. Zebulon (Zeb) Vance. It is a name I use on this blog. That is how I was recognized. I was flying with my Organization last night doing some legit cargo runs from Magda over to Yela. We had been jaw-jacking, as we are one to do, and over the course of some horseplay, I managed to accidentally hit "enter followed by the apostrophe key. Which of course broadcast "ZebVance: ' " for the 50 person universe we were currently occupying to see.

I gotta be honest I didn't even think about it, it did not even register as something of any significance and I went back to doing whatever absolute slope headed dumb shit we were doing to pass the time while we made the 6 min jump back to Crusader. Not long after that, I was actually tabbed out of the game trying to find a movie quote video to make a reference to something we were jabbering on about like Tarintino characters in a diner, one of my org mates says "Are you done Fly fishing Zeb?...hey someone in Chat is talking about you and fly fishing...".

It took me a min, a wave a paranoia rushed over me. How the hell does this person know me and know that I fly fish. I never mentioned it in the chat, I don't post on Reddit under this name...so what in the hell who the hell knows me! WHO SENT YOU! The mind of a man with severe anxiety and PTSD is a spooky place sometimes, however rational thought soon took control over me and I started to put it together. All be it I was unsure if it was possible, I replied in global "I am never done fly fishing, I keep checking on Yela to see when the thaw is going to happen so I can catch some trout..." all the while I am thinking "Play it cool man, maybe he just knows you from the org or some other conversation, because no one could possibly know you from writing..." "I read your blog and really enjoy your style of writing a lot..." Are you kidding me? Out of the entire verse that is Star Citizen right now, and all be it limited in scale due to server size...it is not limited in scale by active players. So out of all the servers, in all the games, and all the players...someone recognized Dr. Zeb Vance and his stupid blog...and I gotta say that is a cool feeling. It is also very humbling, self-esteem is a mother sometimes. Now I assure you this entry into the Captain's Blog is not as self-serving as it seems. You stuck with me this long, trust me I am not tooting my own horn (too much) I am coming to a point which is simple, I love this community! This community is awesome. I truly adore everything this community has to offer, and no not because someone recognized me and complimented my writing, although it was nice to hear that from someone other than my fiance (who pretty much has to tell me my stuff is good) no it is something more than that. It was a series of comical errors that led to us having a random conversation, that made me reflect on countless others. It made me remember the service beacons and space Uber. It reminded me of the single service friends and enemies that this game dishes out to you on a regular basis. It reminded me when Levski was bugged and people conducted rescue missions to get people to Port O. When the same happened in Hurston the community responded with help! It made me remember how anytime anyone has any question about the game, a key or how something works, all they have to do is ask. It made me think really hard about a lot of aspects surrounding the community in this game and I came to a pretty damn good conclusion. Star Citizen is going to be successful because of its community.

We get called suckers, people that have been scammed, we get shit on, spit on, kicked and cursed for having the audacity to back Scam Citizen and Christ Roberts followers. We are often asked "why" or "how" we could part with money and time in such a way. We get made fun of, we get talked too like we are ill-informed fools that have been duped by an evil cash grabbing mastermind. They have their evidence, their talking heads, their bad press, and all their negativity...all of it combined...still cannot derail the hype train for us. We might bicker about what ship is "best" we might argue about re-works, re-designs, concepts, and ideas...perhaps we differ on what is piracy and what is griefing, we might not see eye to eye on anything outside of the fact that we all believe in what Star Citizen will become...and we all believe it for the same reason. The Community. The community is what drives this game, its what makes it fun and enjoyable. Right now its essentially a series of really cool tech demos showing off a taste of a few gameplay elements...yet with the right community its really a sandbox. If right now we can take what we have before us and play for hours on end, every day...pushing limits and exploring new and uncharted aspects of the game. I will give you an example. I saw someone on Global demanding payment to NOT destroy ships landed at Jumptown and attempted to extort them for money or face a fiery death. They responded and had a nice back and forth. Which kept them occupied long enough for people to show up and soon a fight took place. Which prompted me to organize my org to scramble Fighters and a HammerHead Gunship to deploy to Jumptown and establish a No-Fly Zone. Which we did and broadcasted over Global our intent. For the two that showed up to challenge us, I tip my hat to you. The 3 seconds you lasted against 3 Fighters a Stealth Bomber and a Fully Crewed Hammerhead were absolutely gorgeous. Even if one of you showed up, caught us with our pants down while we were trying to cross load a member from our Hammerhead over to another ship in a hover...pure jackass level stuff. Ya, while we were screwing around with all eyes focused on this circus stunt, a Cutlass flew between us...in our "No-Fly Zone". These unscripted experiences like this are why we play. (Video Below)

All of that started by a simple text on global. People in the community are doing all they can to make the most fun out of the current Alpha we are presented with, and for the first time, we can. Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) has done it, they have given us the building blocks of what will come.

So all I can think about now...with the community we have now, what will it be like when we actually have all the game. With all the loops and features...what will we have then? I think we will have at least a decades worth of content full of lasting memories. I am part of this community and as such, I want to continue to serve this community through writing. I am bringing back this blog in full force. This was something I have wanted to do since 3.3 dropped and thanks in no small part to being recognized I am making it happen. I owe the community a debt for making Star Citizen what it is...an unforgettable experience. So thank you for that, and thanks for noticing me. I notice you all of you too.