Community Spotlight - John 'Kerrash' Virgo
As one of the first ever people to represent Elite Dangerous at a tradeshow event, John 'Kerrash' Virgo, is the type of person the word ambassador was made for. One of the longest standing livestreamers of Elite, John also takes part in popular Elite podcasts, is an active moderator on the Frontier forums, and was demoing the game for us as an ambassador even at the Premiere event (John took to the stage to take part in the 'big reveal' moment where the Imperial Interdictor was shown for the first time). So why does John put so much of his time and effort in to supporting our community?
"As merely a fan of the game, the entire experience has been wonderful to be part of. Elite Dangerous is to myself as Half-life 3 is to many, I have waited since I was a child for this game; to see it finally here is a dream come true. Seeing others enjoy it as I do fills me with joy and the community has been so positive," he said.
As the playerbase grows, John's favour has turned towards the burgenoing cooperative behaviour displayed by the community, and the technology behind the game. "I enjoy any kind of co-operative activity in the game. Multiplayer has brought the game to life in such away that I only dreamed about in the prequels. The recent Hutton community goal is a fantastic example of this. In addition to that, the technology behind the Cobra engine is fascinating; I believe procedural generation is a key technology for all future games."
John streams under the name Kerrash, and can be seen at least once a week on his channel at 20:00 GMT, Kerrash Landing. "I spend the majority of my time creating the weekly community live stream that I started. Kerrash Landing began as a challenge to achieve the Elite combat rank in Frontier: Elite 2 on the Amiga; before the release of the first Alpha of Elite Dangerous. It soon expanded into a weekly show where I like to highlight members of the community and their contributions."
As important as the streams are for John, the thing that he most enjoys are his ambassadorial duties. "Helping as an ambassador is the most important thing for me. Being able to help give something back to the team that has created the game for us, is both an honour and a privilege that I am truly grateful of. Helping demonstrate and to introduce people into the game is such a joy, the reaction from people when the try to comprehend the scope of the game is priceless.
"There is such a positive atmosphere from the community projects and events that the fans have organised. Everything from the annual LaveCon event organised by LaveRadio.com to facebook groups that pop up for events and player 'clans'. It's just marvelous to see people embracing a collaborative approach to enjoying the game like this. My first experience of the Elite franchise was watching my father play the ZX Spectrum version, later I bought and played Frontier: Elite 2 on the Amiga when I was 10, it's no understatement to say it changed my perspective on games. I backed the KickStarter for Elite Dangerous minutes after David Braben's first tweet and played the game as soon as the first Alpha hit."
Looking to the future, John plans to support the game in any way he can. "I see no end to my plans to continue to support the game in anyway I can. I will continue to live stream and be an ambassador as long as Frontier are happy for me to do so. With an entire galaxy to play in, this could be a very, very long time..."
The community team can't thank John 'Kerrash' Virgo enough for everything he's done so far. It's a pleasure to spend time with such an enthusiastic, hard-working and kind ambassador. See you in the void commander.