"Devs" (short for developers) is the nickname for the creators, designers, coders and developers of Skyrates. The initial team was comprised of students from the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After their graduation in May 2007, many of the original team members moved on to various jobs and locations while new talents joined.
Skyrates 1 & 2[]
The team responsible for the first incarnation of Skyrates was:
- Jeremy Bond (née Gibson) (Designer, Coder, Combat Specialist, Flash Guru) aka Archon
- Chuck Hoover (Designer, Producer, Artist, Skyland Architect) aka Icarus
- Henry Clay Reister (Designer, Coder, Script Monkey) aka Henri Clay
- Seth Shain (Designer, Producer, Whip Bearer) aka Archimedes (S1 only)
- Chris Daniel (Artist, Character Designer) aka Third
Skyrates 2[]
Members of the team added in the second incarnation of the game are:
- Howard Braham (Designer, Coder) aka Marquis de Bordeaux
- Bryan Cash (Designer, Coder, Morale Officer) aka Chesterfield Taft
- Sam Spiro (Designer, Coder, Server Lord) aka Thradius
- Phil Light (Statistician) aka phil (also plays as 'Mistress Mimsi Fancyfeast' and 'rip van crappycoder')
- Calvin November (Community Relations) aka Calvin
The Devs in the Game[]
Some of the Devs participate in the game itself. In Skyrates version 1, the Devs were the sole members of the Pirate Faction and competed with regular players for positions on the Rankings board. Following complaints that they had an unfair advantage in the game due to inside knowledge of the Skytopian economy, they removed themselves from the Rankings competition shortly before version 2 was released. When Skyrates version 2 debuted, the Devs were also without a Faction association.
On the Radio, the Devs' names (Archon, Calvin, Chesterfield Taft, Henri Clay, Icarus, Marquis de Bordeaux, phil and Thradius) appear in gray.