Did you guys know we have a Space Pope?
I mention my friend Charles White (the Space Pope) to set the stage for the ludicrous post that is to follow. Recently I made the decision to start commenting on Eve Facebook posts again, which may be a sign of early onset dementia. But don't worry, I'm still steering clear of Reddit. I'm not an idiot. As always I approach my comments with my usual mix of humor, attitude, and aplomb. Which doesn't always go over the way I intend. One such back and forth recently brought into question my long-held title of Pirate Lord of Low Sec.
Which brings us back around to the Space Pope. Charles will be more than happy to tell you the long story about how he managed to gain that title and how players bestowed it upon him. I know, I've heard it a million times. (Love you Charles) In much the exact same way the Pirate Lord title was bestowed upon me over the past 12 years in various incarnations that eventually evolved into the moniker I adopted and made my own. It's even my in-game title if you show info on Rixx. I never set out to become the Pirate Lord, but it is a title that I've embraced. Because it is not only fun, but it also makes sense.
Over a decade ago I moved into Low Sec permanently and became a Pirate. Since then I have, without a break, maintained a -10 security status. (It does often vary slightly due to these free skillpoint NPC promotions, but then I go pod someone and everything is good again) So that makes me a Pirate. A long-standing, long-suffering scum bag living the hard mode life. Yarrr!
To that baseline we can add Eveoganda and the decade plus advocacy/soapbox energy I've put towards the Low Security, Pirating, Solo, PvP play-style here in these pages. If you know of anyone else who has written 2,500 posts over more than a decade about Low Sec, please let me know. I'd love to meet them.
And then, perhaps most importantly, I created and lead the largest independent group of Low Sec Pirates in all of New Eden - Stay Frosty (and the A Band Apart Alliance). Which currently boasts 166 players (313 in the Alliance) and almost eight years of yarring and maintaining a 50/50 split between small gang and solo PvP entirely in Low/Null space unmatched by any other group in New Eden. And that is said with total respect and admiration for other Pirate groups, of which some are older, some are bigger, and some have moved on to Wormhole space, or focus on Cap Drops, or any number of other things. I'm talking old fashioned Piracy here. Something for which we are extremely proud of.
So yes I think it is all a bit silly. All of it. But in a universe where someone makes a real-life living being a person called Mittens, and another guy is the Space Pope - it isn't any sillier than those two examples or any of a dozen more.
I undock every day and defend my title in combat. I lead a crazy and wonderful group of bloodthirsty Pirates who do all sorts of crazy, weird, and wonderful things. And until that changes, I'll be more than happy to be known as the Pirate Lord of Low Sec. Thank you very much.
Yarrr!