Rummykins
Rummykins can be found on every ocean, but considers Midnight his home. He is mostly known in-game for his PvP obsession and talent at navigating in blockades -- for which he has also given public instruction. On the forums he is known for being a prominent opponent of Babylon and supporter of player conflict and high-end game goals.
Contributions and Accomplishments
- Captain of Misfit Marauders
- Former captain of Azure Knights
- Former prince of Ruby Phoenix
- Former prince of Black Sheep Brigade
- Former king of Death Before Dishonor
Biography
Rummykins started playing in July 2004, shortly after Midnight Ocean opened. He had the good fortune of falling into the tender care of Dustybottom and his Azure Knights within days of starting to play. Through Dustybottom's leadership and encouragement, he soon learned much about the game.
Ruby Phoenix had long had its eyes on its ancestral home from Azure, Islay of Luthien. When it opened for blockade in the fall of 2004, Rummykins - despite being almost completely unversed in the intricacies of blockading - took an active role in leading his flag's preparation for the blockade. Ruby Phoenix (along with No Homers) ended up losing in a crushing defeat to Carpe Noctem, but for his role in the preparations, and his leadership on the day of the battle itself, Rummykins was made royalty in his flag.
Shortly after the blockade, in October, 2004, Dustybottom ascended to the kingship of Ruby Phoenix, and asked Rummykins to take over his role as captain of the Azure Knights. At Dustybottom's insistance, and in spite of his own reservations about his leadership ability, he agreed to take the helm.
Much of Ruby Phoenix lost direction and interest after the loss at Luthien. Rummykins tried to motivate both his crew, and the flag, but found the stagnation in both disconcerting.
In January of 2005, after several discussions about his future and that of the Knights, Rummykins handed captainship of his crew back to Dustybottom. He then formed his own crew, the Misfit Marauders, along with several of his most trusted mates, cheif amongst them Blackwood and Suggyhoppy. The Misfits joined with the Corsairs to form the new flag Death Before Dishonor, with Rummykins as king.
The new crew and flag both grew swiftly and, under his leadership, challenged Allied Foundation for Remora Island. Death Before Dishonor resoundingly won Remora V on April 16. Despite this victory, Rummykins was finding his taste for flag leadership waning. Soon after, due to personal conflicts in the flag, he and the Misfits left Death Before Dishonor.
Although he intended to keep the Misfits independent for a while, Stuyvesant and Bendeall soon convinced him to join the Black Sheep Brigade. It was during his time in BSB that he gained the most prominence in ocean politics, growing to be recognized as a powerful leader of the new paradigm. His forum and game antics during this time period included the genesis of the victory carambola; initating the agitation against Sexilord that lead to the eventual destruction of Sexi Star Flag and rebuilding of Cnossos Island; arranging, with Notorious Fandango, the popular War o'de Carambola; and being one of the three instigators, along with Sweetiepiepi and Kaykordeath, of the Lilliputian Alliance, a failed attempt to unseat Avalon in a simultaneous four-way blockade.
His constant battling on the seas during this time caused him to become renowned for his navigation abilities in both PvP and blockades, and he was invited to speak about blockade navigation at one of Jacktheblack's lecture series on battle nav.
To be sure, this outspoken nature and love for conflict gained him many detractors, and he has variously been called misogynist, xenophobic, and hypocritical - all in one thread, at that - as well as arrogant, elitist, and self-serving, three charges to which he gladly admits culpability.
Eventually tiring of the stresses of yet again being a prominent figure in a famous flag, and captain of a rapidly growing crew, Rummykins found himself playing less, and liking the game less when he played. Although he flirted with quitting entirely, he was unable to - not in the least because of the continued presence of Ishtar, with whom he had fallen madly in love. Rather than quit, he handed control of his crew to a trio of his most responsible senior officers, Kryst, Fyora, and Greeble, and he and Ishtar left the Misfit Marauders, forming a private crew of their own, Five Tons of Flax. The public surprise at his departure was such that he felt compelled to post an explanation on the forum, so people would stop asking him about it in the game.
Five Tons of Flax was almost entirely a PvP crew, and within days Rummykins and Ishtar together had gathered enough fame to form their own flag, Eschaton. They remained closed, though, and used the flag only to allow themselves to declare war. It took only 12 days for Rummykins' battle navigation to raise Five Tons of Flax to Imperial rank.
Soon enough, however, stagnation set in again. Rummykins had moved across the country to be closer to Ishtar, and no longer needed to play to spend as much time with her. This, plus a growing unhappiness with what he perceived as the dumbing-down of the game and a loss of high-end goals, led to his final decision to truly retire from the game. True to his nature, however, he decided to make a lengthy post on the forum, explaining his reasons, and spawned a lengthy discussion about the past, present, and future of the game.
Current Activities
Although not currently an active player, Rummykins still logs on now and then to harass hearties, play poker, and nav in the occasional blockade. He has no current plans to return to active play, but does admit to feeling the occasional twinge of nostalgia and desire to start over again.
