Character Narrative
CMDR Bow Lof Petunias is a player character in the game Elite Dangerous, specializing in stellar cartography, remote cosmic exploration and prospecting on behalf of Scarce Enterprises Ltd. As a long time Hutton Trucker, Bow has assisted the Co-operative with the liberation of the Epsilon Indi system, his galactic wanderlust saw him deliver Galactic Travel Guides to Colonia and become a co-founder of HotCol as humanity’s presence grew towards the center of the Milky Way. Having experienced four or five tours of duty between Colonia and The Bubble which included the Distant Worlds 2 expedition; HAX Wing’s defense of humanity from the alien aggressor; and the Phileas Fogg inspired ‘Around The Verse in 80 Days’ long distance time trial, Bow now finds himself craving the simple things of life in Colonia where the majority of his fleet is now based. Currently his time is mostly spent chasing round the galaxy as part of the Canonn Challenge event. Once that Notable Stellar Phenomenon expedition it complete, CMDR Bow is looking forward to spending his time between Colonia and his D.S.S.A. Fleet Carrier moored in the Aquila’s Halo region.
The 400B, formerly known as 400B in 34C (or the 400 billion star systems in the 34th century blog) is a journey into Bow’s mind as he traverses the galaxy looking for fame and fortune, as well as a record of encounters and experiences.
Beyond the Galaxy
There are just a handful of sections on this site that deliberately break the fourth wall and ignore all the galaxy building which occurs each and every time I load up Elite Dangerous. This is one of those sections.
In spring of 1985 a group of friends huddle round a ZX Spectrum computer and load Elite. An undisclosed amount of time passes while each commander wrestles with the task of undocking and exiting the station. Each of the friends return to their homes to hone their skills and regal each other with tales of daring do at school the next day. Time passes. Friends disperse to follow individual pursuits. The world of work beckons for some while others pursue academic study. Life happens. Some semblance of adulting occurs. Family, careers and an abundance of life ensue making the ZX Spectrum days a distant memory.
April 2015 rolls around and while on holiday I visit an old friend, who we’ll call CMDR CitizenSmith, and he does a play through of Elite Dangerous on his PC using an X-Box controller. Returning home I create an account on the Frontier Store, purchase and download the game and become accustomed to flying using a keyboard and mouse. Unlike its predecessor, this new version is an MMO as there is now this thing called the Internet that all the cool kids are doing these days. Wait! What? I can interact with other players in real time? [note: I work in technology infrastructure. I understand these things and know the theory of operation, but nothing can replace the feeling you get when 10 friends get up to shenanigans together. I did mention that it had been a while since I’d done any gaming. If you sit in front of a computer for work, it’s somewhat of a challenge to rinse and repeat once you get home]. The Sidewinder is soon upgraded to a hauler which, in turn, makes way for an Asp Explorer and the race to acquire wealth is on with rare goods runs around the Bubble. Factions are introduced and after a while Hutton Orbital Truckers develop a certain notoriety for events and Player With Player (PWP) play styles. A succession of player based events arrive and the passing of time is marked by the goings on in Elite in addition to the happenings of the real world.
This is my one and only Elite character account. It it precious to me. It has a reputation and standing in the galaxy. It’s not that I begrudge contributing further to Frontier Developments bottom line, but rather I wanted to show everything that is possible with a single account. To be honest if I had an alt account I would never have time to do anything else so it’s probably good I am where I am. If you have an alt account then good for you. There are certainly advantages to having one.
If you’ve made it this far I just wanted to say thanks for taking this time to read this short summary of my return to the galaxy of Elite.
See you out in the void Commanders. o7
