The US official killed in yesterday's Benghazi attack was named Sean Smith. He was an EVE player, a member of Goonswarm, and a good friend.
Yesterday a group of armed militiamen stormed the American consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi. According to BBC reports, the attack was the culmination of a protest over the anti-Islamic sentiments seen in a low-budget film produced by American Sam Bacile and promoted in the middle east by an unnamed Christian Egyptian expatriate. The attack left one American official dead and another wounded.
Though the identity of the deceased American official was not initially released by authorities, the man’s online friends have since decided to eulogize his memory. According to this blog post, Sean Smith (aka “Vile Rat”) was a long-time online gamer who was working as an IT consultant in Benghazi when the attack occurred. As a result, Smith spent a lot of time on the ‘net, doing the sorts of things anyone else might: conversing with friends, passing the time and playing video games.
Specifically, Smith was a huge fan of CCP Games’ EVE Online, and a long-standing member of the infamous Goonswarm. For those of you who are unaware, Goonswarm is an amorphous group of gamers who initially came together on the forums of Internet humor site Something Awful. Many will claim that Goonswarm exists purely to infuriate other players in whichever game they happen to be playing — Goonswarm is most prominent in EVE Online, but has branched out to a number of other online titles — but even these people can’t deny the group’s ability to affect change on a massive scale within a game due to its sheer numbers, dedicated player-base and surprisingly well-coordinated actions.
As a result, it seems fitting to eulogize Smith by praising his abilities within the game’s universe:
If you play this stupid game, you may not realize it, but you play in a galaxy created in large part by Vile Rat’s talent as a diplomat. No one focused as relentlessly on using diplomacy as a strategic tool as VR. Mercenary Coalition flipped sides in the Great War in large part because of Vile Rat’s influence, and if that hadn’t happened GSF probably would have never taken out BoB. Jabberlon5? VR made it. You may not even know what Jabberlon5 is, but it’s the smoke-filled jabber room where every nullsec personage of note hangs out and makes deals. Goonswarm has succeeded over the years in large part because of VR’s emphasis on diplomacy, to the point of creating an entire section with a staff of 10+ called Corps Diplomatique, something no other alliance has. He had the vision and the understanding to see three steps ahead of everyone else – in the game, on the CSM, and when giving real-world advice.
While that’s easier to understand if you too happen to be an EVE player, the end point is that Sean Smith had a huge impact, not only on the people he played EVE alongside, but also on the game as a whole. As a result, since the attack a number of in-game space stations have since been renamed in Smith’s honor.
We recommend you read the blog post in its entirety. It’s equal parts mournful reminiscing and raging at the state at the world for ending the life of such a well-liked member of the EVE community, but in sum the piece is a touching memorial to a man from those who called him “friend.”
Source : digitaltrends[dot]com
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