Community Spotlight: Toshiro 
How long have you been a part of the Pirates community? What brought you here in the first place?
Wow that is a tough one! It seems so long ago now, I joined the old forums back in Aug 2005 but I had been lurking around for a few months before that. I was lured here by a link posted in a thread on the old VN Asheron’s Call boards, just one look and I was hooked.
What server do you play on, and what’s your favorite nation and career to play?
A couple of easy ones, I am truly a Rackhamite pirate through and through! There is only one career the original Cutthroat, in fact every character I have played since live has been a Cutthroat!
How did you get involved with our User Content system?
I have always been a bit of a wiz with Photoshop, having quite a rep with my friends for manipulating photos and also an interest in Heraldry. Once I read about the UC system I found an outlet for both my interest and talent. The rest as they say is history!
There are probably lots of players out there who want to see their own flags and sails in the game, but are too scared to start. What advice can you give to them?
First off, don’t be scared, the UC system is fun. Read the tutorials and the guidelines, go to the forum and look at other people’s flags, then jump in and start creating. Make yourself a thread for feedback and post your work in progresses there before you submit them. Don’t be afraid to PM people for help, just about everyone in the forums will have no hesitation in helping you. Finally, don’t be put off by criticisms and negative comments, they help to show you where you are going wrong.
Here’s a tough one: What’s your favorite design you’ve ever seen on a sail or flag?
That is a tough one! I have seen so many good ones that choosing one is almost impossible. So as not to single out anyone in particular I will choose one of mine. Although, with 172 submitted designs, that’s not easy either. Actually, my favorite of mine is a rejected design called ToastyO. This one has a history dating back to the closed beta and the first battle Royale event.
You’ve also formed an interesting society. Tell us more about its origins.
Ah, the DOA (Disciples Of Aether). Actually this all started in the old closed beta IRC forum. The night before live a few of us were still debating which server, nation and society to join. Just joking about we were discussing forming a society for all us undecided, we were tossing some silly names about which had daft or funny acronyms when I threw in DOA… It kind of snowballed from there, within a few minutes Jarvel had bought the domain. A day later, we had a fledgling forum and a group of players headed up by me, Xaphod and Jarvel. What started as a joke became DOA, a small society mostly made up from old IRC beta channel players whose main or alt lives on Rackham.
Why the Disciples of Aether?
Because on IRC where we were born Aether has god-like powers to kick and ban, as well as announcing new and exciting stuff with the immortal words ‘New News has been Newsed’. Anyone with these God-like powers needs disciples!
