Inactive Fuel Rat here.<p>What they are saying is dead on. We will do what we can to rescue you, and the skill of some of the Rat's pilots is second to none. (I won't claim that of myself. But one of The Rats usually holds the Bubble -> Colonia speed record.)<p>The number of stories you end up with ratting is amazing... it is a wonderful thing to do. Especially when you have it all in Elite. Why not help others. Rescue can pretty challenging. And losing a rescue... really sucks :( (Code Reds - They are out of fuel, and on O2.)<p>"We've got fuel, you don't. Any questions?" - The Fuel Rats.
Years ago I ended up in a system with a star I couldn't refuel from and was S.O.L. I had vaguely heard of the Fuel Rats[0] and did a google to see if they were real and contactable. I put in a call to them and about an hour later a kindly pilot turned up, refuelled me and off I went with a warm fuzzy feeling. I was very grateful. It reminded me of happy times being in a corp in Eve with your comrades helping each other out.<p>Being reminded of this might make me give Elite another go.<p>[0]: <a href="https://fuelrats.com/" rel="nofollow">https://fuelrats.com/</a>
I wish I had known about this when I gave up on the game. After a really frustrating time trying to figure out how to progress in the game, I was given bad advice to buy some contraband alcohol in one system with the last of my money and try to sell it in another. It was advertised as a sure thing. It was not, as the contraband was confiscated (I should have seen this coming). I couldn’t find anything to do or any way to make money, so I tried to make it to the next closest station. Ran out of fuel in the middle of literally nowhere, shut down the game and uninstalled.
Reminds me of EVE, which similarly had a libertarian dystopia design but evolved into something a bit more civilised through the efforts of players. One of the most well-known and successful diplomats was an actual US state department guy (who was sadly killed on his day job doing diplomacy in warzones).
This is actually a lovely story. And not surprising.<p>People are naturally cooperative. Yes there are crap people in the world, but mostly not. Left to their own devices, people are kind.<p>Sadly, institutions such as government, religion, etc also exist, that seek to exercise control over individuals. "For good people to do evil things, that takes religion" or other overt control systems. Nice to see an example of the opposite.
I remember those guys. Guys in my old squadron told stories about them like it was in-game lore.<p>Elite Dangerous always had an amazing community. Flying spaceships is amazing but you can actually become part of something big in this game. Flying with a squadron is the most fun I've had in years.<p>I stopped playing after they dropped console support. I honestly thought the game was going to shut down within a year or so after that. I just looked it up now and it looks like development picked up again. Maybe I should start playing again...