I really enjoyed it, it's definitely not for everyone but it's a very nice group of people in every sense of the word.
The pros:
-Nicest people ever*
-Something different in game and out of game
-Ability to dip in and out at will, no obligations/commitments etc
-Tons of experience on offer from years of learning and experience. Also if you need to know it someone will know and will help. I once flew a couple of Meta alloys for a fellow rat from Maia to Farseer because I had 65ly jump range and they had 25 and asked for a boost. No big deal, we chatted as I travelled and talked them through the neutron star supercharging process which he was keen to try whilst near Jacksons Lighthouse.
The Cons:
-It's like that for a reason. Seriously don't suggest Discord or combat escort ships or whatever, it's been asked many times before and it's usually that way for several good reasons. You can ask but expect a collective eye-roll
-It's not as easy as it looks but we will help you get there. The rats have high standards and we drill/test everyone before they get their "tail"
-Sometimes it's hard to get onto a rescue call when there's a few people with Anacondas and really high jump ranges who will always be quicker to a client. (There are ways to mitigate this like parking yourself in the busy areas or logging in at peak times but it can happen). I wouldn't rat in anything less than 25ly, it's possible to get a Cobra III there without engineering but anything less makes it significantly harder.
-PvP rules, when you are a rat we don't PvP. When off-duty it's fine but if you are on a rescue representing the group then it's a "run away or die approach".
*Like seriously, I've seen on more than one occasion a rat use their time and/or dip into their own pocket for people they don't even know. One guy was new to the game, really enjoying it but finding it frustrating. A rat stayed for 3+ hours with them on voice chat helping them through the basics and at the end the client was so happy they understood and was thrilled to keep playing, that rat then dropped the bombshell that they'd just upgraded the clients game to Horizons and proceeded to throw the store code over.
A few weeks later said client has since clocked up several hundred hours and was doing his rat drill. This isn't isolated either.
As others say hit up the irc by pressing the black "I want to chat" button
https://fuelrats.com/i-need-fuel
Ask any questions, chill and chat with the Rats and see what goes on, even ask if you can observe a few rescues (usually they say yes provided you don't interfere, we keep the rescue channel strictly to rescue talk only). If you like what you see then consider joining, if at any point you dislike you leave and there's no hard feelings.
Anything specific you want to know, I've not been online in a while but back in the day I was pretty much full-on into it?
