Community Spotlight: CMDR Abacus (Ambassador Reinhard)
You get involved in the Elite community a lot – what makes you feel like you want to do so?
My involvement really begun when I was invited to be part of the wonderful EDDE team, the admins and moderators of elitedangerous.de, the fan-forum for the German-speaking community.
This was when I realized how amazing the elite community really was and still is. Very kind and welcoming to new members and full of creativity. Supporting the elite community always takes first place simply because the Commanders are well worth every effort.
In 2015 I even made it to Lavecon and loved every minute of it. So many famous Commanders, so many interesting activities and so precious few time available. It was like being a kid in a toy shop that is completely overwhelmed by the display.
Tell us about your time as an ambassador? How did you first start?
Any highlights from your time as an ambassador?
For me it started when Eddie Symons called for a German-speaking ambassador for Gamescom 2014. As soon as I read about it my application was on its way.
At that time I was already part of the EDDE team and had some contact with Eddie on our forum. At Gamescom 2014 I instantly felt at home with the Frontier family and made first contact with journalists from all over the world. It surprised me that I had to do a lot more presentations in English than in German and sometimes even in front of a camera!
My highlights there were the evenings after the show where we all sat together and enjoyed our well-deserved rest and chatted for hours.
For me it was out of question to get back for Gamescom 2015. This time we had a stunning big booth in the public area starring the Cobra model. It was an absolutely crazy and intense time with thousands of visitors. Witnessing a new Commander realizing the insane scope of ED for the first time is priceless.
I enjoyed my time in Cologne very much (again) with all the Commanders from the elite meet, Frontier and of course my fellow ambassadors.
Fun highlight for me was being on the XBox stage with Eddie each day and trying not to screw it up flying with a Gamepad.
The same year I managed to sneak into EGX - officially as group contact for the United German Commanders (UGC) - but I just couldn't resist to side with the EGX-ambassadors and support them a bit over the weekend.
Fun highlight (besides meeting the Frontier crew, the ambassadors, all the old and new Commanders...you get the point) was being welcomed with a warm 'You are crazy!' from Zac and some others from Frontier.
Being an ambassador for Elite is a privilege, an amazing experience and a nice way to say 'Thank you' to all at Frontier and the ED-community.
Are you involved in any of the amazing groups and sub communities within Elite?
Together with more than 130 Commanders I am a member of the UGC. This is a very humorous and welcoming player community whose members engage in all aspects of Elite except piracy. We already organized or helped to organize several events like the 'Leornard Nimoy Memorial Run' where more than 150 Commanders all over the world participated or a joint racing event from the French (elite-dangerous.fr) and the German
(elitedangerous.de) communities. We are evaluating racing events organised by AURA (Aulin Racing Association)[greetings to Commanders Schmutzhuhn [UGC] and Razoas [UGC-DF]] at the moment and will probably invite other interested CMDRs soon™.
We have friendly contacts to most - if not all - of the other player groups that are active on the EDDE-forum...not necessarily in-game but at least on the forum.
Many thanks to former, current, future council members (currently CMDR Luchslistig [UGC], CMDR ICHO TOLOT [UGC], CMDR Von Awesome [UGC]) for organising the community of UGC-Commanders.
What sort of player are you in game?
I am especially fond of any sort of cooperative play in the galaxy and try every aspect of the game. Exploration is something special for me as this is the only activity where you get a glimpse of how mindboggingly huge Elite really is.
How long have you been playing Elite for?
My first Elite experience I made with the good old wireframes on the Commodore 64. The kickstarter for Elite Dangerous took me completely by surprise and I needed some time to realize that this is really the successor of the worshipped Elite-games. I guess ED and the community will keep me busy for many years to come and I am looking forward to it.
Do you have anything else you’d like to tell the Elite community about?
Elite meets are always special for me. I have met a lot of wonderful people from Frontier and the Elite community at numerous occasions like the premiere event, Lavecon, Cologne Elite Meet and several smaller meetings organized by members of the EDDE-forum. Sometimes I know the names, sometimes even the voice but it is always fun and different when I can have a great time in real life with other Commanders.
It never ceases to amaze me how passionate, welcoming and creative the community is. So many Commanders record or even stream videos, write stories, record music, design ED-themed items or even games and so on.
Finally I want to send a big hug to the EDDE team for the fantastic time we had so far and looking forward to more on the Horizon, right on Commanders!
The names of these amazing Commanders are Ecodrive, Kaito, Higgs, Atlas, Exiter [UGC], Frame, Friedrich Nix [RoA], Hans von Stoffeln, Irrstern, klein Meme, Knoellchen, Luchslistig [UGC], Mc Cloud 2K9, Rabbit-HH [UGC], Saber Rider (Link: http://www.elitedangerous.de/forum/memberlist.php?mode=leaders)