As a fuel rat we have incredibly high morals and honesty! 
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Out of Fuel? - Explorer Rescue Service, The Fuel Rats
- Thread starter Surly_Badger
- Start date
Back in my day nobody verified the paperwork, we trusted our rats implicitly. Besides, there was nothing*1 to gain from being further up the leaderboard apart from Rat Pride, and falsified Rat Pride ain't no kind of Rat Pride at all, it's "Reap Dirt" - I checked.
In these tougher and less idyllic times things may have changed ... I expect there's a bot that will hunt you down and spoil your day.
[I]*1 : yeah OK ... there was a really nice T-shirt for those with more than 50 rescues to their name[/I]
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Diplomacy:
It is a fact that occasionally we Fuel Rats engage in diplomacy; some of us more than others. There are a handful of us that get asked stuff, and reply stuff, and that's "diplomacy." And -- not that I think the Fuel Rats have a problem with it -- I think it's important that diplomacy be practiced publicly and honestly. As Voltaire said, "engaging in secret diplomacy is what corrupts government." We don't have a government to corrupt (yay, us!) but I think it would be bad if I started making agreements on behalf of the Fuel Rats. So what I am going to do is, if I get engaged in diplomacy, is share it here. After all, I made statements that affect the collective; I owe you openness.
This is posted with permission of the sender. I offer my commentary at the bottom.
Escort/Protection proposition - The Winged Hussars
My reply on behalf of the Fuel Rats collective:
Re: Escort/Protection proposition - The Winged Hussars
I salute you!!!
Thank you for your kind and interesting offer!!!
Our ad hoc policy in the Fuel Rats is to remain noncombatants and to rely on our wit, humor, and thrust boost whereever possible. We've had a few organizations come forward and offer to help us when needed, and we always are very appreciative. We historically don't plan on getting in fights, which would be when we'd want a warship along. So it makes it difficult to know when to ask for escort or when not. We default to not asking and see what happens.
I hope this makes sense to you. Many of the rats fly unarmed (I fly with shields 2 classes lower than my ship was designed for...) to increase our speed and distance. In my experience, anyone who can catch a Fuel Rat probably deserves some glory. What we don't want is to have Fuel Rats showing up places with armed contingents. It scares our clients. Most of our clients are new to the game, remember.
If your crew wishes to send an ambassador to hang out in #RatChat, we welcome anyone. They'd probably wind up getting recruited But my suspicion is that they'd be unfulfilled. In my time ratting, we haven't run into a situation where we needed to bring in armed force. So it doesn't happen very often. We did have on client who was being attacked by NPCs and a rat dropped in and refuelled them while they were getting hammered on and they jumped out; it was very dramatic indeed.
We (I think I can speak for the collective, on this at least) greatly appreciate the spirit in which your offer is made. We reciprocate in the same spirit - if any of you need fuel, we will come find you and rescue you if we possibly can.
Sincerely,
Badger
My commentary:
I like the cut of this fellows' jib, though I don't expect us to need escorting. On the other hand, I think it's a good idea - which additionally motivates me to post this exchange here - to know we have at least one group that has offered to come aid us, should we need it.
There may come a time when an individual rat may genuinely find that military support is necessary and is the best thing. That's a difficult decision, not to be made lightly, but such decisions are often confronted when there isn't a lot of time to ask and consult. Remember that when you call upon warriors, you are invoking forces that you cannot control, and the consequences may be difficult to unwind. That said, the collective trusts you all, as individuals, to do what seems to make sense at the time.
I wouldn't say to put the hussars on your speed-dial, as it were. But if one of them shows up in #Ratchat, ever, now you'll understand why.
My comment about "We'll refuel you..." of course contains the unspoken subtext, "We'll refuel anybody..."
It is a fact that occasionally we Fuel Rats engage in diplomacy; some of us more than others. There are a handful of us that get asked stuff, and reply stuff, and that's "diplomacy." And -- not that I think the Fuel Rats have a problem with it -- I think it's important that diplomacy be practiced publicly and honestly. As Voltaire said, "engaging in secret diplomacy is what corrupts government." We don't have a government to corrupt (yay, us!) but I think it would be bad if I started making agreements on behalf of the Fuel Rats. So what I am going to do is, if I get engaged in diplomacy, is share it here. After all, I made statements that affect the collective; I owe you openness.
This is posted with permission of the sender. I offer my commentary at the bottom.
Escort/Protection proposition - The Winged Hussars
Hello, Cmdr Surly_Badger
This is Commander Mathias Shallowgrave, Grand Hetman of The Winged Hussars.
A few good months ago I got distracted while on a run across the populated space and found myself stranded without any fuel. Fuel Rats have saved me then and I was able to continue my endeavours. Was it not for the members of your fine group, I would have to gone bankrupt, loan a Sidewinder from the Pilots Federation and start anew.
Fast forward nearly a year and I am commanding a group of nearly 170 Commanders, ready for action. In fact we even have a Fuel Rat amongst us, Cmdr Pueblo with his Rat Paw, an Asp Explorer class refuelling vessel. A little bit about us... We are a cooperative group of loosely connected pilots, all hailing from different parts of the Galaxy and flying under different banners. Our roots dig deep into the history, almost 1800 years back - to the tradition of heavy armoured assault units fielded in the pre-space era by Earth's ancient nation of Poland. Pilots joining our faction declare that they want to capture the spirit of all-out bravery and unparalleled courage and efficiency of these ancient warriors from the times long gone. Our base of operations is Maskelyne Vision Coriolis Orbital Starport in HR 8444 system.
I have not forgotten about what the Rats did and now I can return the favour. We would like to propose you an official combat support and escort during your rescue missions, if you are willing to accept our help. Any time that a Fuel Rat is on mission they could contact us and request escort for the mission or assistance if things have gone south already.
We can discuss more details if you will accept our proposition. One way or another, you (or any other diplomat, if you have them) are most welcome to register on our forums and establish an embassy to discuss any other matters. We'd be honored to have you there.
Fly safe,
Cmdr Mathias Shallowgrave
Grand Hetman, The Winged Hussars
This is Commander Mathias Shallowgrave, Grand Hetman of The Winged Hussars.
A few good months ago I got distracted while on a run across the populated space and found myself stranded without any fuel. Fuel Rats have saved me then and I was able to continue my endeavours. Was it not for the members of your fine group, I would have to gone bankrupt, loan a Sidewinder from the Pilots Federation and start anew.
Fast forward nearly a year and I am commanding a group of nearly 170 Commanders, ready for action. In fact we even have a Fuel Rat amongst us, Cmdr Pueblo with his Rat Paw, an Asp Explorer class refuelling vessel. A little bit about us... We are a cooperative group of loosely connected pilots, all hailing from different parts of the Galaxy and flying under different banners. Our roots dig deep into the history, almost 1800 years back - to the tradition of heavy armoured assault units fielded in the pre-space era by Earth's ancient nation of Poland. Pilots joining our faction declare that they want to capture the spirit of all-out bravery and unparalleled courage and efficiency of these ancient warriors from the times long gone. Our base of operations is Maskelyne Vision Coriolis Orbital Starport in HR 8444 system.
I have not forgotten about what the Rats did and now I can return the favour. We would like to propose you an official combat support and escort during your rescue missions, if you are willing to accept our help. Any time that a Fuel Rat is on mission they could contact us and request escort for the mission or assistance if things have gone south already.
We can discuss more details if you will accept our proposition. One way or another, you (or any other diplomat, if you have them) are most welcome to register on our forums and establish an embassy to discuss any other matters. We'd be honored to have you there.
Fly safe,
Cmdr Mathias Shallowgrave
Grand Hetman, The Winged Hussars
My reply on behalf of the Fuel Rats collective:
Re: Escort/Protection proposition - The Winged Hussars
I salute you!!!
Thank you for your kind and interesting offer!!!
Our ad hoc policy in the Fuel Rats is to remain noncombatants and to rely on our wit, humor, and thrust boost whereever possible. We've had a few organizations come forward and offer to help us when needed, and we always are very appreciative. We historically don't plan on getting in fights, which would be when we'd want a warship along. So it makes it difficult to know when to ask for escort or when not. We default to not asking and see what happens.
I hope this makes sense to you. Many of the rats fly unarmed (I fly with shields 2 classes lower than my ship was designed for...) to increase our speed and distance. In my experience, anyone who can catch a Fuel Rat probably deserves some glory. What we don't want is to have Fuel Rats showing up places with armed contingents. It scares our clients. Most of our clients are new to the game, remember.
If your crew wishes to send an ambassador to hang out in #RatChat, we welcome anyone. They'd probably wind up getting recruited
But my suspicion is that they'd be unfulfilled. In my time ratting, we haven't run into a situation where we needed to bring in armed force. So it doesn't happen very often. We did have on client who was being attacked by NPCs and a rat dropped in and refuelled them while they were getting hammered on and they jumped out; it was very dramatic indeed.We (I think I can speak for the collective, on this at least) greatly appreciate the spirit in which your offer is made. We reciprocate in the same spirit - if any of you need fuel, we will come find you and rescue you if we possibly can.
Sincerely,
Badger
My commentary:
I like the cut of this fellows' jib, though I don't expect us to need escorting. On the other hand, I think it's a good idea - which additionally motivates me to post this exchange here - to know we have at least one group that has offered to come aid us, should we need it.
There may come a time when an individual rat may genuinely find that military support is necessary and is the best thing. That's a difficult decision, not to be made lightly, but such decisions are often confronted when there isn't a lot of time to ask and consult. Remember that when you call upon warriors, you are invoking forces that you cannot control, and the consequences may be difficult to unwind. That said, the collective trusts you all, as individuals, to do what seems to make sense at the time.
I wouldn't say to put the hussars on your speed-dial, as it were. But if one of them shows up in #Ratchat, ever, now you'll understand why.
My comment about "We'll refuel you..." of course contains the unspoken subtext, "We'll refuel anybody..."
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It's prone to falsification because the only person who would be cheated by a cheater is the cheater.
Eventually (if someone falsified enough reports) it would be noticed, and they'd probably get completely wiped from the leaderboard. So falsifying reports would eventually be self-defeating.
I won't do verification beyond my memory for the rats' honors badges, either. Mostly because if there's someone out there so low that they would wear stolen honors, they're deserving of pity, nothing more.
About the paperwork stuff, I actually brought couple good sniffers to our offices, but they didn't seem to pay much attention to the paper. Instead they gnawed a hole onto one of the corners of the Velvet wall, and started hoarding Snickers bars and right-handed socks. So that didn't work.
(Don't go too near the corner of the Velvet and Pistachio.)
(Don't go too near the corner of the Velvet and Pistachio.)
Welcome to the Fuel Rats. I find it interesting that our leaderboard is already prone to falsification. Very few people have access to the data after it is entered. Some of it is verified through IRC chat logs, others through manual review. But as the Boss said, if someone wanted to they could probably falsify enough reports to get through. I even questioned Radlock's progress as he was coming up through the ranks until his prowess overcame my queries. Don't know the value of cheating though as we only have so many Snickers to hoard, I mean, share.
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I'm happy the rails don't fire instantly when i forget to switch weapon-groups...
I wanted to point to this nice video a recent client posted from his point-of-view:
https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDange...m_here_to_sing_the_fuel_rats_praise_saved_me/
Fly fueled, Cmdrs! o7
Pardon my dumb question, but why does no one talk to him ? like "got visuals, incoming" or "hey, there you are ! I'll be with you in a jiffy" ?
Well this was a really well-written roleplay, but he's not the first one to propose to us.
Blue velvet ?
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Two reasons here - client was in IRC with us (you can hear him write there) and i think all 3 rats had to circle around a ring near a planet, so busy with flying... distance given to station tricked us to the wrong side of that ring.
ATTENTION ALL COMMANDERS URGENT PUBLIC SERVICE ANOUNCEMENT
Recently we have been getting tons of people on emergency oxygen. I urge everyone following this thread when you run out of fuel do not wait till it gets too late please call the Fuel Rats before you end up on emergency air. Pls spread the word we are being bombarded by nothing but case red.
You cannot super cruise to another system due to server set up please do not try it thank you. We now return to your regular programming.
Recently we have been getting tons of people on emergency oxygen. I urge everyone following this thread when you run out of fuel do not wait till it gets too late please call the Fuel Rats before you end up on emergency air. Pls spread the word we are being bombarded by nothing but case red.
You cannot super cruise to another system due to server set up please do not try it thank you. We now return to your regular programming.
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Hi Guys, Just wanted to send you a MASSIVE Thanks for saving my bacon on my EPIC journey:
[video=youtube;W-lly8G8JPo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-lly8G8JPo[/video]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
(26:25) in the video!
PS. One of the Dev's saw my video on Steam and suggested I leave a link to it here!
[video=youtube;W-lly8G8JPo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-lly8G8JPo[/video]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
(26:25) in the video!
PS. One of the Dev's saw my video on Steam and suggested I leave a link to it here!
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Yeah ! That's the kind of "mishaps" I like to read about in a glorious tale of frantic ring circling ! get me moar details !
LOL!! When i use an armed rat ship I have the weapons and the limpet controller on completely seperate fire groups, 'just in case'
One of the reasons I fire my first limpet when having the client targeted, but pointing my ship away from them
Additional safety precaution: Not extending hardpoints (and having the hardpoints set to NOT auto-deploy on fire)
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To be honest it was an unusual circumstance. I was busy tinkering in the outfittng hanger of a station when I was scrambled and hadn't set up the fire groups and auto-shutdowns properly, when I got to the hot end of the stick nothing was set right so easily selected the wrong thing ending in a mishap, it didn't do any damage though so all good. Pointing the ship away from the client is a good call though!
FUEL RATS DATA UPDATE - Jan 3302
The main Fuel Rats database, including the charts, now pulls data from the temp sheet so your rescues will continue to be counted in the totals on the webpage.
Negative Trends:
() Incorrectly adding "system" to the system name on the form.
() Mistaking O and 0. Remember that the procedurally generated names are created such as "AA-A A1-1" so the first group (AA-A) will be all letters. The second group can be a mix.
() Misspelling system names. Areties (Arietis), Alara (Alrai), Piscuim (Piscium).
() Not including the system name at all. Even a Code Red happens somewhere. However, if you don't even get to the system before the client explodes (client doesn't follow protocol by logging out) or other strange things happen, it is up to Dispatch whether you log it at all. If you do, put the system where you were going. My advice to Dispatch is; if you received a r*tsignal and a system name from the client, log it.
Kudos:
John Slow, kilo363, Astrobleme for submitting detailed information in the notes section.
Here is an example:
Rescuee: xxxxxxxx
Rescuee's ship: Type-6
Distance: 20J, 7Ls
Dispatch: Tradam
Distpatched with: N/A
O2 left: N/A
Comms: 2-way
Instancing: SC hop
Client scoop: Yes
Client knew filtering: No
Client reaction: Thankful
While we don't currently use most of this information, it is good to have for future scientists among us who like to use words like "statistically" and "probability tables."
Bottom line: Continue the trend of professionalism and patience as we save the galaxy, one limpet at a time.
The main Fuel Rats database, including the charts, now pulls data from the temp sheet so your rescues will continue to be counted in the totals on the webpage.
Negative Trends:
() Incorrectly adding "system" to the system name on the form.
() Mistaking O and 0. Remember that the procedurally generated names are created such as "AA-A A1-1" so the first group (AA-A) will be all letters. The second group can be a mix.
() Misspelling system names. Areties (Arietis), Alara (Alrai), Piscuim (Piscium).
() Not including the system name at all. Even a Code Red happens somewhere. However, if you don't even get to the system before the client explodes (client doesn't follow protocol by logging out) or other strange things happen, it is up to Dispatch whether you log it at all. If you do, put the system where you were going. My advice to Dispatch is; if you received a r*tsignal and a system name from the client, log it.
Kudos:
John Slow, kilo363, Astrobleme for submitting detailed information in the notes section.
Here is an example:
Rescuee: xxxxxxxx
Rescuee's ship: Type-6
Distance: 20J, 7Ls
Dispatch: Tradam
Distpatched with: N/A
O2 left: N/A
Comms: 2-way
Instancing: SC hop
Client scoop: Yes
Client knew filtering: No
Client reaction: Thankful
While we don't currently use most of this information, it is good to have for future scientists among us who like to use words like "statistically" and "probability tables."
Bottom line: Continue the trend of professionalism and patience as we save the galaxy, one limpet at a time.
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Hey! I'd love to join up with you majestic Fuel Rats. I'm on XB1 and can help anywhere since I tend to wander all over the Galaxy with no real purpose lol
Let me know if I could be of service!
Let me know if I could be of service!
Hop into our IRC and we'll get you up to speed. FuelRats.com, click as if you need fuel and tell our dispatcher, they'll direct you into our chat channel.
Hooray .... it was working (i saw it) but now it seems to be back to pre-merge values?
curse you all this science my head hurts.