Ryan Moloney
CMDR Name: “Ripper” Moloney
Ambassador Duties: PAX East
– What’s your earliest memory/experience with the Elite franchise?
One of my first experiences with E:D was when I first started to play the game, I would take my little sidewinder right outside of the starting Coriolis Station and position myself at the furthest reaching corner of the station. I would then try to inch forward and see how close I could get without getting hit by the massive section of the station as it swept past me. I was amazed and immersed by the heavy creaking noises that it made as it passed by.
– What ship set-up do you go with when playing the game?
I currently have a Type-6 that’s setup for trading with cargo bays and pirate repellant, but the opportunity to go back my bounty hunting roots has arisen with the recent Wings update, so I expect to be picking up a Cobra with dual gimbaled burst lasers and dual gimbaled multi cannons in the near future using the cash reserves made from trading.
– What’s your faction of choice? (If you have one)
I do not have a faction of choice, since I’m just a hired gun at heart, however I do find myself getting into hot water with the Federation every once in a while whenever a Wanted Federal Dropship crosses my path…
– What’s your preferred method of play?
I consider myself a professional that will do the right thing for the right price. I generally try to stay on the good side of the security forces. If a misplaced stash of valuable stolen cargo finds its way into my hold, I will do what it takes to sell it to willing buyers, but I would never forcibly and knowingly steal from a innocent ship. I only target wanted criminals, so I’m one of the “good guys”.
After a while of playing, my apartment kind of turns into the interior of my ship. So sometimes during a long voyage, I’ll get up from my cockpit seat and make myself a coffee. I’m sure glad Lakon has a contract with Keurig!
– Do you have a favourite moment from Elite Dangerous so far? If so, tell us about it.
My favorite moment was the first time that I came across (what was) the largest ship in the game. I had the volume cranked up to fully immerse myself in the sound detail inside the little sidey, minding my own business inside a station, when out of nowhere my speakers erupt with the sound of a giant wild beast huffing in through the letterbox. I turn and look to find the Anaconda gracefully planting itself on top of a large docking platform, which then took it underground. I stayed docked and waited for it to surface again, blow up my speakers and leave. Happy moment.
– Why did you apply to become an ambassador.
I’ve always been interested in contributing to the gaming community, especially with E:D. No other game has kept me as interested in development or taking part in the community quite like it. Just by subscribing to the development newsletters or navigating through the forums, I’ve gotten a feel for the direction the game is going as well as the community’s response to it. When the opportunity came up to physically take part in an event in which I would be helping introduce the game to others (the same way it was introduced to me) I literally jumped at the chance.
– What were your ambassador experience/s like? Any highlights?
My ambassador experience was phenomenal. Every person who played the demo and left the cockpit victorious or not had a smile on their face. There was one highlight actually. On the last day, a kid came up to one of the my stations that had the Oculus Rift DK2 with his mother, and she explained to me that he was deaf. Using sign language, she tried to communicate with him as best as she could, repeating what I said as I explained the game a little. Seeing that she may have been struggling a bit with the terminology I was using to describe the game, I decided to just throw him into it to see for himself. Once he had the Oculus Rift on though, I realized that now he can't see me to explain the controls the same way I had everyone else. I had to improvise, so I put my hands over his and played the way I would. He picked it up in a flash, and within seconds I could take off the training wheels. He was a natural at the game so by the time I had finished setting up my other station, he had already beat the demo. As he left the station I gave him a high five. This might have been the one time that my smile rivaled that of the player’s.