Sean Smith, the US State Department official killed by "militia" in Libya yesterday, was a senior figure in the EVE Online community, and frequent member of the game's Council of Stellar Management (CSM), a fan-elected governing body.
A player of the sci-fi MMO from its early days, where he played under the handle "Vile Rat" (avatar pictured above) he was a long-time member of Something Awful's "Goonfleet", and was instrumental in some of the biggest political plays made in the game over the years.
A heartfelt post by The Mittani, one of the game's most well-known players and a good friend of Smith's, says that "You may have been a friend or an enemy or a pawn in a greater game, but [Smith] touched every aspect of EVE in ways that 99% of the population will never understand."
Our thoughts are with Smith's family, and his friends in the EVE Online Community.
UPDATE: It now turns out that Smith was one of four U.S. officials who were killed in the U.S. embassy in Libya in an attack that also claimed the life of America's envoy to the country.
RIP: VILE RAT [The Mittani]