Signal Cartel – Page 3 – A Home for Peaceful Explorers

July 19, 2020September 28, 2021

State of the Signal #14

Believe it or not, it has been nearly a year since our last State of the Signal. While we are a little smaller than we were this time a year ago, we are busier than ever and our pilots today are more universally active within the corp. In fact, I have worked consistently over the past several months to ensure that our membership roster reflects active and engaged pilots. I want for every capsuleer who joins our ranks to get a true sense right away of just how active we are as a group — and lately, that has been quite a lot! 😀

You’ll notice a few new names in the divisional reports that follow, and even a new or renamed division or two. While many details have changed over the course of Signal Cartel’s existence, the core of who we are has not. We remain one of EVE Online’s preeminent service corporations and a true counter-culture to the “gung ho” PVP traditions that are so commonplace. While we respect and applaud these valid playstyles, I am happy that New Eden is big enough and the sandbox deep enough to accommodate our unique approach to life amongst the stars, as well.

I celebrated my fourth year in Signal Cartel this past May. I can still say confidently and without hesitation that there is no other group in New Eden I would rather belong to. Signaleers are a rare breed: dedicated, consistent, passionate about their areas of expertise, always willing to share info and help our newer members — and they do it all with kindness, friendliness, and little expectation of acclaim. Our division managers are excellent examples of this ethos, and it is my hope that their reports which follow will encourage each of our members to step out boldly and, in the time-honored phrase of Mynxee, one of our founders, to “be the content they wish to see in New Eden and in Signal Cartel!”

Thanks to each of you for being part of the fun. Fly sharp!

THE ANOIKIS DIVISION
Manager: Tamayo
Assistant Manager: Maxwell Kurvora

As the manager of the Anoikis Division since the Spring of 2019, I, Tamayo, am pleased to report that the division is very active and in great shape. Currently, the division has 37 members. Our two structures in the C3 have been improved and now are fully rigged and module equipped.

Due to the implementation of the new shared bookmark mechanics, we now have a shared AD bookmarks folder for our wormhole connections and other signatures.

A new medal was created for division members, the “Anoikis Advocate.” It is awarded to those who embody the frontier spirit by actively living and working out of our wormhole. The medal has been awarded, so far, to:

Mia Rosseb
Sir Fiddle Sticks
Sanja Burus
Palis Airuta
Ano Nimus
Maxwell Kurvora

Maxwell Kurvora has been promoted to Assistant Manager of the division. I was the only person who had the roles to change modules and a few other of the day-to-day operations. Maxwell was an excellent choice to promote to address these issues and represent the division.

The division is financially sound. Between our wormhole Planetary Production (PI) and Null-Sec Ice mining, we are supplying our own fuel for the stations. We have back-up structures available in case we are ever evicted.

Members are active in PI, PVE mining, manufacturing/research/invention, reactions, and ESRC/SAR. We’ve had our first official mining fleet operation and have now started official AD PVE combat fleets. Our AARs will be posted in the forums for the corp to view.

The Anoikis Division has a great core group of excellent and enthusiastic pilots who contribute to the success of the division, whether it be through donations, organizing events and activities, advice, intel, Tripwire mapping, just chatting in our channel, or the Fedos.

Come and join the fun!

ENGINEERING
Managers: A Dead Parrot & Sky Diamond

The Engineering Division has been very busy pushing many buttons this past year. In case you were wondering, the Engineering Division (never to be referred to by our acronym, E.D.) supports all of our in-house programming projects such as Corporate Buyback, our Member Management Application, the 911 service, the Eve Scout Rescue division, Fleet Ops Division, Thera Scanning, the in-character OPSEC story lines, and Allison in all of her forms (note the Oxford comma).

The division is run by the “Odd Couple” of myself, A Dead Parrot, and Sky Diamond. Sometimes we let Thrice code a little bit, but only on small projects that aren’t flammable.

We are currently working on a new application aimed at helping inexperienced 911 operators as they learn the ropes. The application was the brainchild of Jehan Dante and we should have a beta version to show to the Rescue Division shortly.

A fairly medium project we are looking to complete this year is an application for supporting the Signal Cartel Academy’s (SCA) class offer and acceptance program, a single location where members can advertise a class they are willing to teach and other members can sign up. The program would automate and organize the current system taking place manually in the forums now. The back-end REST API for this is already written and we would welcome any volunteers who feel they might have the time to help produce the front-end for the ever-helpful SCA.

I would also like to mention the Thera Scan application , a project written in 2019 by Mzsbi Haev, which is a brilliant tool to manage the bookmarks and signatures for our Thera scanning volunteers. Though the application was not originally developed under the Engineering Division, we are now getting in position to support it in the future, should Mzsbi decide to win Eve or something dreadful like that.

And one last special mention to Arturon Megumi, who has been contributing to the Allison Discord bot as well as keeping Sky on the JavaScript straight and narrow. Arturon also recently brought us the automated #ccp-news channel on our Discord server. Thank you, Arturon, for “being the content you want to see.” Incidentally, Arturon is the same Signaleer that brought us this amazing animated visualization early this year which shows every one of the 46,672 sows and tends done by the Rescue Division in 2019… in just over 2 minutes!

So if you ever have questions or suggestions about our projects, or you just find yourself in need of advice on asynchronous recursive functions (or cats), look us up in the #developers channel on Discord.

Buyback
Buyback Business Report for 2020-07
The buyback program, currently run by Captain Crinkle, Katia Sae, and Sky Diamond, is now in business for more than 18 months and during that time:

4,071 appraisals were created
2,365 of these appraisals got approved by our customers
1,847 contracts got delivered to our offices
We bought goods worth more than 250b ISK
300 courier contracts to Jita were created
6b ISK got payed on courier contract rewards
290b ISK collateral were on the courier contracts we created
The profits of up to 20b ISK are reinvested within the corporation as working capital
When profits exceed 20b ISK, the surplus will be donated to Signal Cartel

EVE-SCOUT RESCUE
Manager: Igaze
Asst. Managers: Captain Crinkle, Xalyar

Since last time EvE-Scout Rescue has continued to grow thanks to the contributions of many, many, many enthusiastic rescue pilots!

Our coordinator team has grown a little more and now is comprised of Xalyar, Sydney Selket, Dagmar Maulerant, Miruxa, Catbriar Chelien, Angel Lafisques, Captain Crinkle, Triffton Ambraelle, and our newest coordinator, Ace Rimmer Midumulf! We now have pretty solid coverage around the world’s time zones. Their skill and dedication are crucial to ESR, so much so that Xalyar and Captain Crinkle are now Assistant ESR Managers and will be helping me with various tasks that have grown with the program.

Our 911 Operator program has also continued to grow. So much so, in fact, that our developers had to come up with a way to deal with too many operators responding to single calls. Allison now has a 45-second lottery program that randomly selects from requesting operators who gets to respond. Thanks to Arturon Megumi and Sky Diamond for this addition to Allison. We also introduced dispatcher medals for this team: 36 pilots now have over 5 dispatches, 18 over 50 dispatches, and five master dispatchers have over 100: pris Naari, Triffton Ambraelle, Xalyar, Catbriar Chelien, and Ace Rimmer Midumulf.

An amazing thing has happened with our rescue caches! Over the last three months our cache numbers have stabilized at over 2500 caches, around 97% of Anoikis. There are a couple of factors at play here, one being the changes to bookmarks that allows us to share bookmarks to cache locations. While long discussed, it took a CCP revamp to the bookmark system to make it possible. We then had some long discussions about how to implement this and the formal system went into place on December 10th, 2019. Cache numbers started rising immediately and eventually climbed to a record high of 2554 or 98.1% of Anoikis. This was helped along in no small part thanks to Jehan Dante’s Tender Games which created a huge spike in activity.

This increase has also led to an increase in our medals, with 12 Signaleers reaching UltraCacher status (over 1000 caches) in the last year. Aldar Roanaok and Troubled Watters both exceeded 3000 caches, while Tamayo, Mako Koskanaiken, and Renek Dallocort broke through the 5000-cache mark. They were all left in the dust by Captain Crinkle, who earned The Crinkle Crown with over 10,000 caches.

The increase in the number of our operators and the increase in the number of our caches has led to a massive increase in the number of rescues we are able to accomplish. Kudos to our team of 911 Operators!

April 1, 2019 – July 1, 2019
ESRC: 44
SAR: 44

April 1, 2020 – July, 2020
ESRC: 202
SAR: 103

Since formal tracking began, we have completed 1421 rescues (ESRC: 825, SAR: 596). Our total a year ago was 733.

Igaze, Xalyar, and Sydney Selket all earned SAR Golds for over 50 rescues, while Chaim Achasse became the first to earn the Beacon of Anoikis medal for over 100 rescues. There are a couple of other pilots very close to earning that medal now, too.

And a huge thanks to A Dead Parrot and Allison. They are the linchpin to this division. Allison’s continued growth is incredibly important to the success of ESR!

The last year has been a great one for ESR, and I am constantly amazed at the quality of our pilots and all the work they put into the program!

FLEET OPS DIVISION
Manager: Reynauld Lachapelle

Hello everyone! A lot has happened since the last State of the Signal! I will try to keep down to a few key elements, don’t worry.

Back in November last year, a new team comprised of Null Flare, Xalyar, Katherine Skysong, Aldar Roanaok, and myself, Reynauld Lachapelle, took over the management of what was then the Signal Cartel Fleet School (SCFS). We very recently rebranded the division as the Fleet Ops Division (FOD), which more accurately represents what it is that we have been up to since then: running and supporting fleets of all kinds. Jehan Dante and Vanessa Pacht Feng also joined the team on the occasion of our rebranding.

As far as content goes, here is a breakdown of our most popular activities:

We have continued expanding on the staple wormhole fleets you have come to know and love. We are now firmly with one foot in C5+ territory, which brings a whole new host of danger, frights, and excitement. These fleets are for the most part spearheaded by Null Flare and Katherine Skysong.
We have introduced new Abyssal Deadspace fleets to our roster of group content. These have been a lot of fun, and we are slowly but surely climbing up the difficulty ladder as we collectively get better at it! Vanessa Pacht Feng and myself are working hard on making these happen!
We have brought the Hugs fleet back to life with incredible vigor thanks to Jehan Dante‘s tireless drive to end all wars and spread the love!
We also have the pleasure of flying with our friends over at ARC or Vulfpeck (VP) every now and then and maintain great diplomatic relationship with them. If you ever want to get in touch with either of these entities but don’t know how, come have a chat with me, and I’ll introduce you. All the content they have provided so far has been Credo-compliant, and they make it a point that it remain so.

And now for some stats because you nerds love numbers:

Since November 23rd 2019 we have ran 18 fleets, with a total of 219 pilots.
Our most popular fleets are our wormhole fleets with an average of 20 pilots in each of them.
We have lost a total of 14 ships in the course of our regular PvE activities and 66 ships during Hugs operations.
Our total ISK earned is ~7 billion and the average payout is ~63 million.
Our current loaner fleet contains 149 ships, excluding Hug ships, for an estimated value of ~6.5 billion, without fittings.
We also have ~650 Hug ships spread around our various headquarters, as well as ~2,000,000 m^3 of fireworks ready to be fired.

SIGNAL CARTEL ACADEMY
Division Manager: Xalyar
Admin Team: Maxwell Kurvora, Dagmar Maulerant, Sloopy Noopers

This is the first State of the Signal contribution I am privileged enough to have to write, and the first one for the Signal Cartel Academy (SCA) altogether.

Since its inception and announcement on the 23rd of November, Y121 (2019), the Academy has started its wild run across the lands of the Corporation, spanning far and wide in topics and offerings.

It did not take long for the first class to be requested: just 4 days, with the first [NEED] request being posted on the 27th of November, by Emy Noxx.
Since then, in the two hundred and twenty-plus days that have passed from the creation of the Division, we have offered more than 52 total classes, spanning many topics and addressing many needs.

The SCA is just 32 weeks old, and some simple maths mean we have offered to the Corporation an average of 1.625 classes per week so far. That, quite frankly, blows my mind.

We have, with the passing of time, found ourselves with a consistent set of topics requested with regularity, but also with the flexibility to be able to respond to specific requests and to address specific topics on a per-need basis.

Many of you have taken advantage of the SCA offerings, and many have volunteered their time and energy to respond to a request and set up a class. I express my gratitude to both sides of this equation equally. Hopefully myself, and the rest of the SCA Admin Team, will be able to continue to provide the Corporation with an easy way to help each other and to share the vast amount of knowledge we like to call EVE Online.

The Discord Direct Messages inbox of myself and all the team are always there for you all.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” – Albert Einstein

Keep being willing to learn: I can promise you the SCA will be willing to teach you.

SPLUNKWORKS:
Manager: Null Flare

Splunkworks handles day-to-day running of ship fits and related questions in the Signal Cartel Corp. I’d like to say “we,” but as of this moment in time, there is only one member: Null Flare. That was the biggest change the Division saw, with the departure of the old admin crew: I got promoted and left to my own devices…

I’d be interested in accepting some new candidates if interested, but that’s for a later time! We, Splunkworks, and myself personally get a lot of day-to-day questions about fits and mechanics, and I love helping you all out! But rather than just fit a ship and leave it, I’d like to help YOU understand the fitting! So in my work with the SCA, I have run a few Fitting 101 Classes, to help both newbro and veteran alike be able to fit some basics and stop bombarding me with…

Um, I mean stop the need for asking me. I also monitor the forums for any fitting related questions but these don’t come in as often as they used to. There usually isn’t a lot of work involved, unless some big patches hit (Surgical Strike was fun!), but I’m always around if you need something helped with, be it fitting or just general ship advice. It’s a hobby! Pyfa as well is an important part, but I just scratch the surface where all these graphs and maths are concerned. As you all know, any questions regarding ships/fits/hulls/ammo/drones/prop mods, etc., I’m here if you need me! And if I’m not around, there’s usually someone to help on Discord or in Alliance chat.

RECRUITERS
Manager: Quinn Valerii

A lot has happened since the last State of the Signal: Mynxee stepped down as head of recruitment and has won Eve, I stepped up to try to fill the role she managed so effortlessly, and there have been other changes within our recruitment team.

I am happy to say that, supported by Tamayo and Sky Diamond and with the recent great addition of Aldar Roanaok to the team, recruitment continues to run well. Continuous improvement and development work by Sky Diamond and others has helped improve our day to day work and, thanks to Aldar Roanaok, who has become an invaluable addition to our team, our timezone coverage is now in a very good place.

My thanks go out to our entire recruitment team who work tirelessly behind the scenes and to those Signaleers who regularly step up in the absence of a recruiter in our public chat to signpost prospective recruits to our Joining FAQ and online application system and who answer basic questions.

CENTRAL SERVICES
Manager: Katia Sae

Station Quartermasters

Gelhan V – Moon 10 – DED Logistic Support – Vanessa Pacht Feng
Saisio VIII – Moon 4 – Perkone Factory – Asa Kansene
Zoohen III – Theology Council Tribunal – Void Raven
Thera XII – The Sanctuary Institute of Paleocybernetics – miruxa
QMs Helper – Billie Idol

Since we are The Exploration Corp, we try to keep in stock those ships and items that support that endeavor, such as free T1 starter exploration frigates, ESRC supplies, fireworks, and more. We do our best to keep the stocks up, but if you see something that’s not on-hand, please let your local QM know. And thanks to Jehan Dante being the content you wish to see, you should start seeing Hug Destroyers and Hugs Fleet packs.

Huge shoutout to Asa Kansene, for serving over a year now as our Saisio Quartermaster. Thanks so much for your efforts!

Also, special thanks to Void Raven, miruxa, and Vanessa Pacht Feng for stepping up and filling our QM vacancies when the call went out during our time of need. Can’t forget our very own Billie Idol either, rock on! We can’t provide these services without you!

Signal Cartel Group Blog
Since our last State of the Signal, our SC Group blog has been doing very well. We’ve had 33 blog posts, broken out as follows: 2 1420. Life, 2 Announcements, 4 Art, 5 EvE-Scout Rescue (ESR), 6 In Character – Roleplay, 1 Poem, 5 SC Fiction Competition, 7 Signaleers,
1 State of the Signal (not this one 😉 ),

The posts for 2019 have been indexed and you can check them out here.

Also, if you’ve ever thought you’d like to try blogging or enjoy writing and wanted to post your work publicly, then be sure to check out this post on how to get started and submit your work. If you’d like to participate in our Signaleers series then check out this post.

TripTiks 2.0
We’ve had a great response to our rebooted Expedition TripTiks. With the reboot we’ve already added 10 new TripTiks, which has doubled our content! We have another 6 in the works. To see all our current TripTiks you can check them out here.

New Services!
Here’s just one of the many things I love about Signal Cartel and that is our motto of “Be the content you wish to see.” Most, if not all other corps, have the mentality that leadership is responsible and must provide the content for its members. Not so here. We are not only a service corp to all of New Eden, we are also a service corp to each other. If you see a need or content you’d like, then step up. It can be a rewarding experience for you, and I’ve no doubt others will appreciate it.

With that in mind, along with Jehan Dante mentioned above for the hugs ships, we had Xavec step up and offer the following two new services. Great stuff and thanks to you both!

SCRAMS
New member and want to relocate to one of our corp stations? Then be sure to check out our Signal Cartel Relocation and Moving Service – For New Signaleer Recruits!

Since the program launched, Xavec has averaged 1 contract per week. Seeing how many new members we get, that seems low, so if you’re new and have stuff you’d liked moved, reach out to Xavec !

Period 1: 6 contracts for 305,000m3 and 40 jumps
Period 2: 2 contracts for 120,812m3 and 32 jumps
Period 3: 3 contracts for 964,621m3 and 53 jumps
Period 4: 2 contracts for 119,590m3 and 43 jumps
Period 5: 2 contracts for 134,894m3 and 28 jumps
Period: 6 2 contracts for 520,729m3 and 39 jumps
Totals: 17 contracts for 2,165,646m3 and 235 jumps

SCRUBS
BPC buyback Service for Signal Cartel
To date, the program has paid out 2.5+ billion to 25 contracts plus 125+ million in donations to Signal Cartel.

There have been 7 Punisher and 5 heron hulls donated to Signal Cartel as well, with another 33 more Punishers on the way. Currently the service has broken even, with the possibility of a small profit which will be used to cover time and expenses associated with running the program.

Observatory
The EvE Scout Observatory has for the most part found a permanent home on our Discord server’s #eve-observatory channel, after having moved away from Flickr and the limitations imposed there for free photo storage. Please visit, share, and like your favorites!

THERA SCANNING
Manager: Johnny Splunk
Asst. Manager: Captain Crinkle

Eve-Scout’s Thera Scan service was formed before Signal Cartel itself, and this year we have set about increasing the profile of this service across the corporation, and the number of our members who take part, for the aid of all pilots across Eve.

Beginning in March this year, we began to send out weekly summaries of Thera activity in the recent week, including relevant links to forum topics, and latest developments. Additionally, some basic information on Thera activity was added to the corporate Co-Pilot tool. Our latest development has been the announcement of new corporate medals for contributions to Eve-Scout Thera Scan. These medals are designed to recognise consistent contributions over an extended period of time, and we look forward to awarding the first.

To aid with promotion of the service amongst our newer members, Tekufah has made a giveaway offer for a free Covert Ops frigate to qualifying pilots. This has proved popular, with twenty-eight new pilots already claiming their prize.

To aid with the process of scanning Thera, Mzsbi Haev has created a webtool , including full instructions and integration with Tripwire through bookmarklet integration. To help our pilots learn how to use this tool, Maxwell Kurvova has held training classes as part of work at Signal Cartel Academy.

To conclude, we would like to thank all who have contributed to the service in the past, and encourage the curious to try it out. Our work to improve the profile continues, but significant progress has already been made in a short period of time. In May of this year, we had 42 different pilots contribute to Thera scanning, the most we have had in a single month for over four years.

July 12, 2020September 22, 2021

Promotion

Editor’s Note: Signal Cartel (SC) is an EvE Online counter-culture in more ways than one. One of our motto’s is “be the content you wish to see”. In other words, leadership is not expected to provide content for its members, but rather members are expected to step up if there’s something they’d like to see. Likewise, members are expected to request promotions, training, and other needs as they qualify or want. I should also mention that Signal Cartel takes advantage of the in game medals nominated by members for members as well as awarded by leadership to members for their efforts and hard work.

In this particular request for promotion, a new member of Signal Cartel – Geek Explo, who’s an executive of a large healthcare company in the US in real life, shared how SC has impacted him since joining. Talking with him in Alliance chat, he mentioned he’s used SC as an example in a doctorate paper about organizational leadership. Basically saying, and I’m paraphrasing here, having a strong culture around behavioral expectations drives success. In the case of Signal Cartel, the Credo really helps to drive the mission. So, from an organizational leadership perspective, holding people accountable to behavior, giving them the tools, and mentorship to be successful will lead to better outcomes toward the mission.

Also, what’s not to like in his bio! 😉 “Space travel is life-enhancing, and anything that’s life-enhancing is worth doing. It makes you want to live forever.” – Ray Bradbury

Note: Some wording edited for clarity of terms and what not’s. 😉

Promotion
From: Geek Explo
Sent: 2020.07.04 13:07
To: Thrice Hapus,

Thrice o7,

I’ve been with Signal Cartel now for over a month. I have to say that I am thoroughly impressed with the culture of the entire SC community. I’ve played Eve for several years, and in a past life have been in Null Sec, Wormhole, and High Sec corps. None of them felt the way that SC does. It might just be because I’m partial to the exploration life and that was never a focus in those corps, but I think part of it is also that SC really tries to make a difference for good in Eve.

I mentioned in Discord last week that I have played MMO games for over 20 years. Not once have I ever been publicly awarded for the time and effort I have put into the game. Something as simple as a medal for sowing is an incredibly powerful recognition for effort and dedication (and more satisfying than ISK). I really appreciate you having that be a part of what SC is about. One last thing on that: I run a large healthcare company in the US, and while I understand the value of culture and recognition, I often times lose focus on this. Because of my experience this month with SC, I have put a renewed focus with my team on employee engagement and recognition.

Last thing: I have sown 7 rescue caches and tended 263 others since joining. I love this activity and want to be a part of its growth and leadership moving forward. I am available for whatever Igaze needs with this division of SC.

I’m asking for a promotion not because I need access to hangars and free ships, but I want to get my hauler alt into the alt corp to start helping with running things. I’ve been very fortunate to not have to worry about ISK, I just like to do activities that help others.

Thanks again for leading a great online community, I know how hard that is and the time it takes to manage all this stuff (and you aren’t getting paid to do it). Thanks for being awesome and making a difference.

Geek

From: Thrice Hapus
Sent: Jul 5, 2020, 10:27:00 AM
To: Geek Explo
Subject: Re: Promotion

Your application for C1 is technically a day early, but I think we can let that slide. 🙂

This is a terrific email and I am very moved to learn that your time in SC is having some real-world impact. It has been the same for me in so many ways. I am by far a better human being today than I was 4-5 years ago, and my time in SC has played a role in that development.

Would you mind if I shared your email to me on our blog and/or the EVE forums? This is the sort of thing that I love to share with the world and our wider EVE community: This game makes a difference IRL, all the time. It is far more than a mere escape from reality for a few hours each week. it is more of a hobby, at least, and an actual life-changing experience, at best!

Thanks again for being part of Signal Cartel. And welcome to C1!

Thrice

Of course permission was given and here we are! Thanks Geek Explo for sharing your story, it’s great to see how EvE is Real. <3

July 5, 2020September 22, 2021

Zoohen Fireworks

Editor’s Note: This is an after action report (AAR) by Signaleer Sloopy Noopers for an in corp Fireworks event held on March 28th, 2020.

When times are dark the best defense we have is each other, and what better way to celebrate this than to get together and make a proper racket! This was the idea at the core of the fireworks in Zoohen on the 28th of March. No one was getting a send off, there was no national holiday or historical event to mark, it was simply a celebration of the companionship we can offer through this unique community.

I started my day by stocking up on supplies and purchasing a ship for the finale of the event. Using a number of alts to haul these through High Security space, a chore which took considerably longer than expected (more on that later), I deposited the required goods at our offices in Zoohen.

The plan was to make a ship go boom towards the end of the event. With this in mind the ship in question had to be of appropriate size and pretty enough to mark this particular celebration. I’d decided that this should be a battleship, what with these being the biggest ships available in High Sec, so I opted for an Armageddon. These are, in my opinion, a very attractive looking ship and I had a couple of swanky skins knocking about in my hanger.

*What this button? Sporting the Lava Core skin*!

Having not flown anything larger than a cruiser since my mission running days, long before I joined Signal Cartel, I’d forgotten how slow and cumbersome these ships were, a situation made worse by my decision to haul this through over twenty systems using a very, very low skilled alpha alt. The journey was painful!

Having extracted myself from J-Space for the first time in eight weeks, I clone jumped to Zoohen, and prepared for the festivities. I always enjoy the build up to an event, watching corp members slowly filling up local and the last minute planning is strangely exciting. Katherine Skysong was good enough to set up a fleet for the event. After begging up some extra supplies from some lovely Signaleers, it was time to go!

As I undocked I saw my overview was already populated with a number of eager Signaleers who were getting the show started. Eager to get into the thick of it myself, I set a course to orbit my corp mates. However, having completely forgotten how slow an unfitted battleship actual was, I started my crawl towards the party at a speed comparable to an asthmatic slug and promptly got caught in the station structure. After some off-comms, family unfriendly language, I managed to cajole my lead footed ride free of the station and headed out with all launchers blazing!

It wasn’t long before my overview was a sea of purple fleet-mates and the fireworks were coming thick and fast. As I crawled my way further out into space more and more Signaleers appeared and I quickly found myself targeted multiple times. Someone decided to web my ship, as if I needed slowing down any further! Effectively immobile I took the opportunity to take my time getting images.

After around an hour of bangs, whizzes, and chatting in comms, it seemed time to blow my Armageddon and free myself into a more agile ship. I jettisoned what was left of my fireworks, set the two minute timer, and readied myself to pop out in the Navitas I’d stowed in my frigate escape bay. Sadly I didn’t catch the exact moment my ship blew, but below is the last photo as the explosions started.

Finally as the celebrations came to a conclusion and people started signing off from comms, I headed for home and fired off a few final pretties.

This gathering was a massive amount of fun and a very welcome distraction from the events currently consuming everyday life. It was a pleasure to see so many fellow Signaleers together, a rare event due to the nature of exploration. Hopefully more events will come in the near future to bring us all together again!

June 28, 2020June 19, 2022

Signaleer Orlando Bruxt

Editor’s Note: We’ve not had one of these in a while, so very thankful for Orlando Bruxt, a new member of our corp, for stepping up and submitting his!

Once again Katia found herself at the Armateur, an upscale restaurant at the Theology Council station in Zoohen. If it wasn’t for the view, she would have been more comfortable elsewhere. The secluded tables that were nearly completely bubbled in glass offered one of the best views in Zoohen which enabled a guest to feel as if they were floating in space. It was a fair approximation, only lacking the no gravity feeling, of what it was like to be connected to your ship as a capusleer.

She was pleased to hear a newer member of Signal Cartel, Orlando Bruxt, was interested in taking part in the Signaleer interview series, which was optional of course, but it was encouraging when her corp mates opted in. On a more personal note, Katia preferred the one on one talks rather than the large social gatherings which always made her uncomfortable. Hearing the maître d’ approach with her guest, Katia stood, smiled, and nodded. She offered her hand in greeting. “Orlando? Pleasure to meet you.”

After what was an enjoyable meal, Katia relaxed with a glass of Achurian wine, her favorite from home, before starting the interview. “So tell me, why did you become a capsuleer?”

“Well, I grew up in the Aulbres System in Placid, which is not exactly a popular vacation destination, for obvious reasons.” Orlando chuckled.

“My mother did her best with what little we had, but unfortunately she succumbed to illness when I was 14. My uncle took me in and put me to work on his mining rig.” He shifted somewhat uncomfortably in his chair.

“Needless to say, port towns and refinery rigs have their own special forms of hospitality, so dangerous and unforgiving environments are kind of in my blood at this point.”

Katia wasn’t one to press, after all the interviews were meant to be casual, so she didn’t press on what seemed to be an uncomfortable topic. Rather, she wanted her corp mates to be relaxed and share only what they were willing to. So, she moved on to the next question, “What is your piloting background? Or I guess what I mean to ask is, how’d you go from miner to explorer?”

“Eventually I caught wind of a distance study program through the University of Caille and enrolled in their Anthropology program while continuing to harvest rocks. It was through that program that one of my professors, Dr. Patrice Smolden, made a recommendation to the Federal Naval Academy on my behalf. I honestly hadn’t ever considered being a capsuleer prior to working for Dr. Smolden. Where I’m from, something like that is a pipe dream, not realistic at all. And I didn’t think acceptance to the Academy would be an option through the distance study program.”

“Nevertheless, Dr. Smolden was convinced that I would not only be accepted, but would thrive at the Academy.” Orlando raised his eyebrows and looked down at the floor with fond recollection. “I eventually caved to her persuasions,” a grin crossed his face, “applied to the Academy, and got accepted.”

“I… see.” Katia replied, not sure if there was more to the grin or not, but she smiled in return and moved on to the next question. “Right… so what attracted you to exploration? Do you have goal you’ve set your sights on?”

“Phew, where to start!” Orlando chuckled. “Well, I found out pretty quickly in my tenure as a miner that mining was perhaps not a good long-term career path for me. It wasn’t that I was necessarily bad at it, I just found it mind-numbingly boring. To address my boredom, I would often navigate off-grid to see what else I could find. This resulted in… well… let’s just say I would be shocked if my uncle was breaking even on my production versus expenditures.”

He continued to chuckle. “I was pretty much relegated to manning the lasers, while taking advantage of getting into the cockpit any chance I got.”

“As for goals? For right now I’m just focused on mastering the basics of exploration and keeping up on my studies. Eventually I’ll get involved in some more intensive projects with the corp, but for right now I’m content with just learning the ropes.”

“Speaking of the corp, what attracted you to Signal Cartel?”

“After I finished at the Academy, I applied for and accepted a grant through their Expeditionary and Discovery division to start my own exploration corp. It was pretty short lived and didn’t end well.” Laughing, Orlando continued, “That was when I realized why my uncle took away my piloting rights early on!”

“Anyways, one of the stipulations of the grant was that the corp had to remain active for at least 4 years and host internships for the school. I fell a little less than 4 years shy of that obligation.” His smile widened as he shook his head, “So, I was on the hook for several million isk. With no way to pay my debt, I took the first job I could land, which turned out to be a marketing position with Aliastra.”

Orlando sighed as he continued, “One day on my morning commute I saw a leaflet for Signal Cartel and reached out to one of the recruitment officers, Tamayo. I explained my situation and she assured me that I wouldn’t need to worry about my existing debts, and that they would be thrilled to have me on board. It seemed too good to be true, but I applied to the corp and was accepted into their ranks. It’s been nothing short of a dream job ever since.”

Katia smiled on hearing Tamayo’s name, “She knows how to pick’em and you can trust her and her instincts. She literally held my life in her hands for a time, but that’s another story. Instead, let’s talk ships, do you have a favorite that you use for exploration?”

“My experience has been limited to just a few hulls, all exploration-focused as one might expect. That said, I am in love with the Astero. It’s just a solid, versatile platform that allows everything I could hope for in an exploration ship. The covops cloaking is a godsend! My current fit is called ‘Fast Warp/No Tank’ and should be pretty self-explanatory.” Orlando chuckled. “It essentially relies on being able to run before the enemy can lock on and is the brainchild of the Cartel’s very own Null Flare.”

“Null! Another fine corpmate. I might be biased, but I really do think we have some of the best talent New Eden has to offer, but we could go off in billions and billions of directions, so let’s get back to exploration and your travels. What has been the most interesting fact, amazing sight, or other aspect of New Eden that has surprised you?”

“Being a newer capsuleer, my experiences are pretty limited. I would say stumbling into a Drifter system was a pretty wild experience. I had only read about them so warping in I didn’t even know what I was looking at.” His eyes widened as if he were actually seeing the results of his initial scan, “Wormholes… everywhere! I counted 64 on my console. Eventually I figured out where I was and hightailed it out pretty quickly!” He laughed.

Katia laughed with him, “Oh I know, it can be overwhelming the first time, but with experience, you’ll be fine. So let’s wrap this interview up with what have you learned or what advice would you give to someone interested in exploring New Eden?”

“Join Signal Cartel!” He laughs again. “But no, seriously, the wealth of knowledge, experience, and support from this corp has been absolutely invaluable to me. I can’t say enough good things about them. Even if you don’t join SC, finding a good corp is paramount to your success as an explorer, or really in any line of work you might be doing as a capsuleer.”

“Again, I might be biased,” Katia laughed as well, “but I couldn’t agree more. Thanks so much for the interview and welcome to the corp!”

June 21, 2020September 22, 2021

Some Propaganda

Editor’s Note: This week we’re highlighting one of our resident Signaleer graphic artist, Jehan Dante, with some of his Signal Cartel propaganda.

Quote from Jehan Dante’s Bio:

“Pax in bello,” said the Eddystone lighthouse. “We may as well observe, by the way, that this declaration of peace did not always disarm the ocean.” – Victor Hugo in The Man who Laughs

May 24, 2020September 22, 2021

Damocles Trigonometry

Editor’s Note: This week we’re featuring Signaleer Yankee Sullivan and his first blog entry. To summarize in his own words: “An in-character take on returning to flying in EVE, discovering new dangers and perhaps finding a new home…”

Damocles Trigonometry, no one told me about them.

Wait, that’s not what they’re called is it? Drama Thespians, no one told me about them.

I mean, I knew that some group had come along from dead space or the abyss, that they had come on the heels of the Drifters or were Drifters of some kind or another. But what nobody had told me was that these jerks would come and blow you up in High-Sec.

I can hear you ask now: “Well Yankee where have you been? They have been attacking for a couple of years now. You’ve been a capsuleer since YC-113. What were you doing?”

Well I was drunk, for about five years. After some adventures and fights I ended up involved with a fire haired pirate who roamed Low-Sec. I began running hulls and guns for her. Then that stopped, the work and the involvement. So, I began drinking. That was around YC-116. If you have four jump clones, and the right training you can drink almost non-stop and never really have that much of a hangover. So that’s what I did, I drank for five years. Drank in the ways that I had only dreamed of when I was still a mortal, fighting bare knuckle in the back rooms that had cost me both my natural eyes and earned me the favor of the man who repaid me with capsule compatibility tests. The kind of drinking that a man like me can be prone too when the heart is shattered, and purpose is lost.

If I am being honest, the purpose had been lost long before Reese podded my heart. Though I am not sure I really had a purpose before then.

Never mind, this isn’t about why I wasn’t paying attention for five years. The point is, I wasn’t. Then one day, when one of my clones had to be replaced because it had suffered catastrophic liver failure, I hit bottom. As close to bottom an undying Capsuleer can get. That and a brief communication from Reese: she had gone to fight the Amarr and help free her fellow Minmatar from the shackles of slavery or some such thing. She said that she realized that was her purpose and she knew I could find mine somewhere out deep in the black.

Paying out for a new clone and looking at that communication right next to my shrinking bank account made me realize I needed to do something. I won’t give her credit; it was a fiscally based decision I swear. I looked over the assets I still had and outfitted myself an Imicus with a probe launcher and a full suite of scanners.

We all know there’s no fortune to be made in High-Sec. But if you’re in a cheap ship and you’re looking for lost sites to exploit, no other capsuleer is going to risk the swift and complete wrath of CONCORD to blow you up. So maybe I admit I was being a little lazy. I’m no stranger to the art of safes, deep safes, perches and jump clears. But as I said before, no one told me about the Donation Tricycles.

So, I went, and I warped myself over to a star and began to leisurely fly away from it while I launched my probes. I’d never been great at probing down signals or ships. Plus, I think maybe the map and probe interface have been changed, it all seemed different than I remembered. Soon I forgot about all my other sensors and scanners. I was focused on guiding little probes around the system while I searched for Angel or Serpentis treasure. Getting that signal percentage up to one hundred percent in those moments became my sole obsession.

That was when the little buggers popped up, and I didn’t catch it, because in all my time in High-Sec the only things that had ever posed a threat in open space was another Capsuleer, and there weren’t any around. By the time I realized what was happening my power capacitor was being neutralized and an alarm told me my shields were down. I watched for a second…a stupid peer had decided shooting an Imicus was worth losing their ship to CONCORD. I waited another second and I was still being attacked. Too late I switched my readouts filters, it was no Capsuleer. That awful shrill sound filled my ears as the last of my ship’s armor was blasted away. Then a moment later the old familiar sensation of my pod being hurled out of my dying ship. I warped immediately away and put into the nearest station.

A short time later I was getting my insurance pay out sorted. Over and over I thought to myself never had I ever been attacked by something like a Domestic Troubadour in High Security space. My lips curled up as I realized I needed to catch up. That years of drinking and lonely heartache hadn’t just cost me ISK and a clone, it had cost me my edge, my awareness. A new determination filled me to become not just competent with probes, but a master. I would also learn who the Dental Triumphs were and where they came from, and how to fight them. I began to cycle through the GalNet when I saw an advert for Signal Cartel and saw that they were a group of explorers who eschewed aggressive action and sought the riches of both relics and knowledge throughout space. Not really the type of people I figured to want a former bare-knuckle fighter turned capsuleer gun runner. But I figured they could at least tell me who the Dancing Triglycerides were, so I hit the apply button.

Now, some small corner of myself feels a glimmer of hope that maybe this is where I belong.

For anyone else like me, maybe crawling out of the bottom of a bottle, or some sort of prolonged sleep, perhaps a decadent vacation, let me tell you this: Damavik Triglavians exist and they will kill you if you’re not paying attention in even the safest corners of space.

May 10, 2020December 3, 2022

Stranded in a wormhole? What now?

Editor’s Note: Click on the images to see full screen (in most cases 😉 )

Has this ever happened to you?

“I had recently discovered gas mining and was making good ISK at it. Normally, I was careful to mark my entrance into a wormhole, but this day I [was] super excited to get mining. I warped away from the wormhole entrance to make my first safe spot and was about to start scanning for gas sites, when I realized I did not save the entrance location. I freaked out a little at first, but then I got on Google to see what I could do. There it was! A link to evescoutrescue.com. Who knew! Anyway, I joined the EvE-Scout channel and typed HELP! Within a minute someone was responding and organizing a rescue. I was safely out of the wormhole in about 20 minutes.” – Sue T’Que

Or maybe one of these other testimonials is similar to your circumstance?

For this blog post let’s go over the steps you should take when you’re stranded and along the way I’ll share some behind the scenes magic of our EvE-Scout Rescue service.

EvE-Scout Rescue PSA

The first thing a stranded pilot should do is ensure they are in a safe location in the system, then request immediate in-game assistance by going here and logging in with their EvE Single Sign On. The only information that we need authorized is the capsuleers current location.

Providing the location does two important things for us. First, it confirms that you are indeed in wormhole space as our service is only provided for that mysterious realm of New Eden. Second, the location is needed for our 911 Operators to determine if there is an EvE-Scout Rescue cache in the system and/or if ALLISON is aware of any wormhole chains to get there. ALLISON, or Allison as we like to call her, is our AI (artificial intelligence) onboard navigational assistant that many of our Signaleers fly with. Her name is an acronym meaning Artificial Life Limited In Scope to Onboard Navigation.

The importance of our rescue team knowing the location can’t be stressed enough and yes, you’re going to have to trust us. It has taken years for our reputation to get where it is today and it’s all because we have proven ourselves to be fair, neutral, and trustworthy in our interactions with our fellow capsuleers of New Eden. The EvE Single Sign On is safe and secure to use and our rescue team are the only ones who will know.

Along with the request, additional details can be provided in the “Message” box which is optional and not required, but can be helpful and useful to us (such as an ALT that could be contacted or your Discord handle if you have one). Once you submit the request, you’ll be taken to a confirmation screen, then once you confirm you’ll be instructed to join our “EvE-Scout” in-game chat channel as well as our Discord server channel #stranded-pilots-lounge. In both cases, those chat channels are PUBLIC, so DO NOT SHARE your location, we already know. 😉

Behind the scenes, the request pings our 911 Operators and Rescue Coordinators on our Discord server. We have pretty good worldwide coverage these days and I’m not kidding when I say if you’re in prime time US or EU time zones, one of our Operators will likely reach out to you in under a minute. In other time zones there may be some lag, but even then I’d say you’re likely to hear back in just a few minutes or at the most in under an hour.

This is where the magic truly begins and there’s usually simultaneous things going on about now. As you’re talking to one of our Operators who’s been through a training class and follows a Rescue Flowchart to help determine the best course of action, a Coordinator is already working with Allison to see if there are any known routes, or “active chains”, to your system. If there are any chains and even before an Operator has determined the best course of action for your case, a team is likely already on standby to head towards your system. If there are no active chains, part of our Operators process is working with you to see if you have the chain, but I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

Generally our Operator will determine one of three scenarios your rescue falls into: 1) That you are in need of supplies, such as probes, and there’s an EvE-Scout Rescue Cache in your system, 2) Allison has located a chain to your system or you’re able to provide one, or 3) Giving you a series of options including to wait until we find your system which could be up to a week, possibly longer.

Option 1: EvE-Scout Rescue Cache

One of Allison’s main functions is to maintain a database of active rescue caches that have been deployed by our Signaleers. What is an EvE-Scout Rescue Cache (ESRC)? It is a secured, anchored container located somewhere in the system. It contains (1) Core Probe Launcher, (8) Core Scanner Probes, and often a few “hugs” or other trinkets for fun. These containers once anchored can last up to 30 days before exploding unless they are “maintained”. Not only do our Signaleers deploy these in systems that need one, they also open them when passing through to extend their life expectancy and reset the 30 day countdown to explode as well as restock items as needed.

We currently have an active ESRC in 97.5% of all wormholes! That’s 2,539 systems out of 2,603 (not counting Thera) and simply amazing! So, it’s almost assured there’s one in the system for you. We have a lot of Signaleers that participate in this amazing service which you can see some of our Heroes here.

If our Operator has determined there should be an ESRC in the system with you, which you may want to confirm via D-Scan if you’re within range, then you’ll be provided some information on where it is, the password to open it, and how to get to it. With the fairly recent expansion of capabilities of shared Bookmarks, our Operator may be able to give you one to go directly to the cache. If not, we have a “Bounce” method and instructions to get you there. Once found, open it with the password, take out what you need, and you’ll be equipped to scan your own way out.

Hot off the presses and starting today, we’ll be adding a Noise-5 ‘Needlejack’ Filament to the ESRC container. This is an optional item that our Signaleers can include in the rescue cache and since we’re just now starting to roll out this option, it will take some time before we see any substantial coverage of wormholes that have it. These, once activated, will teleport you anywhere in space to a random Nullsec system. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! But, it at least provides you with another option to get out if you need to in a hurry and the probes or launcher are of no use to you. Keep in mind, we will not come rescue you from Nullsec…

Option 2: Active wormhole chain

In some cases, the stranded capsuleer knows a chain that leads back to known space, but they’re unable to scan it back down due to forgetting to bookmark, lost probes, etc, or Allison was able to find one in her database. How does Allison know? Well, she’s a fairly advanced AI, don’t tell her I said fairly, and she can track our Signaleers that utilize her while piloting day to day for ESRC operations or other activities, if our pilots allow. By doing so, she builds chains of her own and our Coordinators are able to access that information and see if they can be used to get to our stranded pilot. If so and our Operator determines this is the best option, then the green light for a live rescue is given. Behind the scenes it becomes a fun race, with several Signaleer Rescue Team members trying to be the first to get there. For EvE-Scout Rescue, this is our content, this is our fun. With the immediate response of our Rescue team and perhaps some luck, the determined chain is still active and you’ll be guided out.

Option 3: Patience, all is not lost yet

Unfortunately, there are times when an ESRC is not in the system, the chain has collapsed, or our Rescue team is unable to get to you. If that’s the case, all is not lost yet. If you’re not in a rush and can be patient, then your case will be marked as waiting for rescue. Here again is when Allison comes into play. As mentioned before, she keeps track of our Signaleers that fly with her and should they enter the system you are stranded in, our Discord channel is automatically alerted, our rescue team will immediately get in touch with our corp mate, and the race is on to get to the rescue system! (Fun Fact: This is the technology that was tweaked and utilized to help me locate the last 600 wormhole systems I needed to complete my journey – Katia Sae.)

We’ll ask our corp mate to stay in the system until someone from the rescue team can join them. Most of us have Alts to hold systems for these occasions and we’ll try to get several in there to hold until we’re able to get back in touch with the stranded pilot. The rescue team will keep the system connections scanned down and chains determined back to known space and once contact has been reestablished with the stranded pilot, the rescue team will coordinate a time and guide them out. The average wait time is around 5 days with 45% of all rescues occurring within 24 hours.

Option 4: All is still not lost

Did I mention there are more options? 😉 If the stranded pilot is unwilling or unable to wait, believe it or not, all may not be lost yet. In some cases our stranded pilots have reached out to the “locals” or someone passing through the system and have found them to be friendly. Yes, it happens, they are helped out and safely returned to known space. At this point, if the only option left to you is self-destruct, then you might as well give it a chance. If they destroy you instead, you’re still taking the express return to known space, so what is there left to lose?

Option Boom: Okay, all is lost

Well, if none of those play out, then I’m truly sorry to say we have reached the worst case scenario and your option is to self-destruct. ☹ We hope it doesn’t come to this, honestly, as rescuing stranded pilots is our game play. As I said before, this is our content and what we find fun. Hopefully, it means you flew by EvE’s golden rule, don’t fly what you can’t afford to lose. If that’s the case, then this option may not be so bad after all.

Fun Facts and Stats on our ESR Program

In closing I wanted to share some fun facts and statistics about our Rescue Program provided by Allison’s creator, A Dead Parrot, and the manager of our Rescue Division, Igaze.

ESRC

Oldest ESRC container in space was sown on November 3, YC120 (2018). It has been tended 54 times to extend its life and resupplied if needed. Signaleer Ace Rimmer Midumulf used it to save a pilot in November of YC121 (2019) and it’s still active today.

Our second-oldest cache was sown on Christmas Eve YC120 (2018), and it was last tended just 3 days ago, by bouzinsky Ozran so it should be around for a little while longer.

Since the spring of YC119 (2017), Signaleers have collectively sown over 34,000 rescue caches and performed over 132,000 maintenance visits (tending the cache).

Allison

On April 3, YC122 (2020) Signaleer Renek Dallocort jumped through a wormhole with Allison marking her 500,000th logged jump through a wormhole by one of our corp members.

Allison speaks to our pilots approximately 1.1 million times each year, and with that information in hand, Signal Cartel, as a corporation, typically visits about 1,300 unique wormholes each week, with our pilots covering almost every system in Anoikis (wormhole space) every 30 days or so.

ESR

The wormhole with the highest number of 911 calls is J110145, the Drifter hole named Barbican.

Our operators have fielded 779 calls to our 911 service so far this calendar year (as of May 9, 2020)

Our top ten client corporations

49 The Scope
43 Center for Advanced Studies
36 Strategic Exploration and Development Corp
31 State War Academy
29 School of Applied Knowledge
28 Federal Navy Academy
23 Pator Tech School
22 Deep Core Mining Inc.
21 Science and Trade Institute
19 Pandemic Horde Inc.
18 Caldari Provisions

Signal Cartel Rescue Report for May 3, 2020 to May 9, 2020

Total rescues for this period:

ESRC: 7
SAR: 6
Capsuleers saved from certain loss, thanks to your efforts!

Rescue Stats

EvE-Scout Rescue Cache (ESRC)

Highest active (non-expired) cache total this week: 2251 of 2603 eligible wormhole systems (98% of W-Space) set just after downtime on May 5th. Record levels are being maintaining with the 98% level holding all week!

SuperCacher (100 sows/tends)

Louse Merkeen
Hain Ekumen

SAR/ESRC Dispatch
Whether someone is rescued or not there are many dedicated Signaleers responding rescue requests, either through our 911 page or in the EvE-Scout channel. These are our dispatchers. This week our dispatchers were: Ace Rimmer Midumulf, Bang N’ Donk, Captain Crinkle, Catbriar Chelien, Dagmar Maulerant, Jehan Dante, Maxwell Kurvora, Maya Laya, pris Naari, Salmon Putter, Woldrof Baloc Thingold, Xalyar, and Xavec.

Weekly Ship Giveaway
Each week (while supplies last), a fitted T1 explo ship will be awarded at random to one of our ESRC pilots. This generous giveaway is being sponsored by Xalyar. This weeks winner is Zinov. Be sure to check your contracts to see if you are the next lucky winner!

Search and Rescue (SAR)
The following Signaleers helped complete successful rescues of pilots stranded in J-space during the snapshot period. True heroes of Anoikis! (Note: ESR Coordinators are generally excluded from this listing)

Troubled Watters
Renek Dallocort
Bang N’ Donk
Maxwell Kurvora
Sir William Hillary (SAR Bronze for first successful rescue!)
Jehan Dante

New?
If you are new to EvE-Scout Rescue (ESR) (took part in any Rescue or sowed/tended rescue caches) in past week and have not received a new member welcome gift, please leave a comment on the Signal Cartel Services Welcome thread in the forums, and we’ll make sure a welcome gift is sent your way.

Thanks again to all our participants. I trust the week ahead will be a great one for you!

Igaze
Director, EvE-Scout Rescue

April 19, 2020September 22, 2021

Stuck in a Clone Jump

Editor’s Note: This week we’re featuring Signaleer Vladimir Korff and an entry from his blog titled “Stuck in a Clone Jump”. If you enjoy this story then please be sure to check out his blog, Encapsulated which has been going strong since 2018!

The Forge Region – Onirvura Constellation
Poinen System – Planet IV, Moon 13
Nugoeihuvi Corporation Development Studio

10 September YC 121

After leaving my body with expensive implants in the safe hands of clone bay workers at Expert Distribution Retail Centre I came to at NOH station and went to the dock to board the capsule. On my way there I woke up Aura to let her know that the clone jump was successful. Before I could utter a single word she overwhelmed me with a stream of blabber.

“Vlad! Where have you been!? Are you okay? What happened!? What took you so long!?”

“Long?” I asked, surprised. “It’s been just half an hour or so.”

“What half an hour? Look at your watch! No, look at the calendar!”

I checked my datapad – it showed 20 February YC 122.

“What the f—?” muttered I.

At first, I thought there was something wrong with my datapad but then I checked a few GalNet news sites and they all had the same date. That could mean just one thing – my clone jump, instead of minutes, took almost half a year!

20 February YC 122

Five minutes (and 163 days) later I was standing in the clone bay and screaming at the tattooed guy behind the counter. I don’t remember all the swear words and their combinations that I used but the essence of my expletive-laden tirade boiled down to a simple question – why did my clone jump take so long?

The guy was not offended (I guess, he expected a reaction like that from me sooner or later) and said good-naturedly, “Oh, it’s all bloody auditors. If they didn’t delay the audit we would have brought you back much earlier. They planned to come to us in December but what with the festive season, most of their employees took leaves and they only managed to come back in the new year.”

I stared at him blankly. What he had said made zero sense to me. It was like he was talking to someone else on a completely different topic.

“What in seven Hells does the audit have to do with it?”

“But it was them who discovered that your clone jump was not completed. You see, the brain snapshot went through fine but then as the brain imprinting job was queued there was a power outage and the whole system went down. When we brought it back the job was gone. It was only when the auditors compared the list of brain transfers and imprints, that the discrepancy was found. As soon as they produced the report, we ran that job on your clone and woke you up. So, you see, if they came to us in December we would have finished your imprint much earlier,” he concluded triumphantly.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, “But aren’t you supposed to deliver your service in time without audits?”

It was a stupid question to ask but I wanted to plumb the depths of this cheerful idiocy.

“Oh, of course, of course. Since then we have implemented the end-to-end, what’s the name,” he knitted his brow, “recollection… relocation… Hey, Yoshiro, what is that thingy that the audit asked us to do?”

A dishevelled young fellow who was playing a video game in the corner of the office replied without turning to us, “End-to-end reconciliation.”

“Yes, reconciliation,” brightened the tattooed receptionist. “That’s our computer whizz-kid,” whispered he. “Now, if something like that happens again we will know straight away.”

“But… what about me? I’ve lost half a year of my life!”

“Yeah, right… that wasn’t pretty, was it? You know what, as a token of our apology, next time you jump from us I will offer you not one hundred year warranty but, say, one hundred and fifty! How about that?” said the guy and beamed at me.

It felt surreal. It was like I didn’t really finish my clone jump and was stuck in a dream. A bad dream.

“What are you talking about? What 150 years? The average clone storage time is just one month! No, you are not going to get off that easy. Do you know how much a capsuleer earns a month? You will have to compensate me for the loss of my income caused by the breach of the service level agreement!”

The receptionist looked nonplussed, “Breach of agreement? What agreement? All we promised was to store your clone for a hundred years but there is no defined timeframe to revive it after we receive the brain snapshot.”

“Doesn’t matter. Surely, you have to execute a reasonable duty of care and any court would consider a five-month delay excessive!”

The receptionist shrugged, “These are standard SCC terms; we didn’t invent them.” Then he leaned over the counter, put his heavy hand on my shoulder and said confidentially, “My advice – don’t waste time on court proceedings. You’ll spend more time on hard court benches than you’ve spent in our comfortable clone bay, and to no avail.”

I threw his hand off my shoulder and stormed out of the office.

An hour later I was sitting in a bar, looking mindlessly through the rows of bottles behind the counter, again and again replaying the conversation I had at the clone bay.

“Ha, a capsuleer, a pod pilot, an empyrean, a god of the skies!” scoffed I, “And all that glorious existence can be paused or even terminated by a press of a button by some snotty baseliner.”

I shot a glass of whisky, put it on the bar with a thud and gestured the bartender to refill it. I heard a similar thud to my right and turned to see what caused it. The next bar stool was occupied by a male Achura capsuleer who also finished his drink and was demanding a top-up. I recognised the look on his face – it was a mirror reflection of myself. That guy was not enjoying himself.

Feeling my gaze the capsuleer turned to me and acknowledged my attention with a faint polite smile.

I raised my glass by way of greeting and asked a straight question, “Lost something?”

The guy sighed and replied, “A Loki.”

I whistled – that was an expensive loss.

“To Loki,” said I and downed my whisky.

“To Loki. She was beautiful,” repeated the Achura capsuleer and shot his glass. Then he extended his hand and said, “I am Null.”

I blinked. Well, I knew that capsuleers took some crazy names on graduation but Null was rather special. Outside programming languages its usage was normally confined to legalese such as ‘If you peel off this sticker then the warranty will be null and…’

All those thoughts, it seemed, plainly reflected on my face (and I was not in the mood to control my body language anyway) because Null raised a corner of his mouth in half-smile and said, “I know what you are thinking, but Void is another capsuleer in our corp.”

I blushed and protested lamely, “I didn’t think anything like that,” and then shook his hand, “Nice to meet you, Null. I am Vlad.”

“Nice to meet you, Vlad.”

After the introductions my thoughts returned to what Null said earlier.

“I’ve never had a Loki. In fact, never had enough money to buy one. How much time do you need to recoup its cost?”

Null shrugged, “Dunno. Maybe a month or two. And what’s your loss?”

“Five months,” I replied glumly.

Now it was Null’s turn to whistle, “And you’ve said you have never had money for a Loki! What were you flying? Naglfar Justice Edition?”

“No, this is not a money equivalent; it’s pure, irreversible loss of five months of my life,” said I and told him my sad story.

“Yeah, nasty business,” nodded Null and patted my shoulder sympathetically. “And I agree with that receptionist – don’t try to sue them. You’ll probably waste more time and, even if you win, money won’t be able to return your life. By the way, how come your corp mates didn’t try to find out what happened to you all that time?”

“Corp mates? I hardly know anyone in that Science and Trade Institute.”

“Oh, so you are in one of those default government-run corporations? No wonder they didn’t care about you. But then you probably didn’t miss much – fleets, corp functions…”

“True,” agreed I, “but I missed the New Year fireworks in Jita.”

“Oh, so you like fireworks…” Null made a pause thinking about something, then smiled and asked, “What if I told you I knew a corporation which specialized in fireworks? And did it much better and more frequently than the Jita crowd.”

I looked at him with disbelief, “Is there such corporation? What’s its name?”

Null turned towards me and pointed at a round badge on his chest, “We call ourselves Signal Cartel.”

April 5, 2020September 22, 2021

Helped Out By Locals

Editor’s Note: This week we’re featuring Signaleer Xavec who wanted to share another aspect of our Rescue Service.

Earlier this year, Signal Cartel and our Eve Scout Rescue program logged its 1000th successful rescue within just a few days of the 5th anniversary of the founding of Signal Cartel.

Whilst we’re on milestones: last month also marked the 11th anniversary of the Apocrypha expansion, giving us access to a vast, ever switching network of wormholes filled with content of varying levels. Most pilots will work on the reasonable assumption that anyone else in a J-space system is there to turn them into metal scraps and a frozen corpse. A mistake can render you trapped, which might mean you are dead, whether courtesy of some scourge light missiles or the big red self-destruct button. Eve-Scout Rescue exists to help these people escape and save their ship and pod, either through the Eve-Scout Rescue Cache system or the Eve-Scout Rescue Search and Rescue programme.

Sometimes of course, pilots that are lost don’t want to wait to be rescued – understandably they want to play – rescue can take days. Around a fifth of pilots who contact us choose not to wait and take the explosive way back home. Of course some pilots waiting to be rescued aren’t given a choice, being generously sent to their medical clone bay by a passing battleship.

Our systems for rescuing pilots over the years have enabled us to gather some unique data sets which offer a unique insight into the behaviours of pilots in New Eden and Anoikis.

When we close a search and rescue record we also note the reason: hopefully “rescued”, sometimes “destroyed” or “self-destructed”. There is another group though – those who were “helped out by locals”. This group is, perhaps surprisingly, 50% larger than the group who were destroyed by locals. Since Signal Cartel began keeping records, roughly 300 pilots have escaped this way, generously given equipment, or docking & fitting rights, or a bookmark to the nearest wormhole to K-space, courtesy of helpful Eve Online players.

This seems at odds with the reputation of J-space: hostile, unforgiving and deadly. These small acts of kindness and selflessness may embody the values of Eve-Scout and Signal Cartel, but they clearly also embody the values of many of your fellow Eve-Online wormhole residents. They take place with reassuring frequency. For all of the hostility and aggression that Eve is famous for, acts of kindness, generosity and fraternity are all around us. Long may they continue.

March 28, 2020September 28, 2021

Where to turn in these Unprecedented Times

Editor’s Note: These are unprecedented times we’re living in as the world deals with the Covid 19 pandemic. Signaleer Sloopy Noopers shared the following post on our internal forums and I wanted to share with our larger EvE Online community as well.

Disclaimer

Please be advised that all of the information in this post is provided for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you have or suspect you have a health problem, consult your family physician. If you have or suspect you are experiencing a health emergency, please visit a hospital Emergency Department in your area. Reliance on any information provided by SignalCartel.com appearing in or provided in relation to this post is solely at your own risk. SignalCartel.com assumes no responsibility or liability for any damages, claims, liabilities, costs or obligations arising from the use of this post or any other website to which this post is linked. Your use of third-party websites is at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such sites.

We are all lucky enough to be part of the amazing Signal Cartel community and this will no doubt help many of us cope with the current situation and isolation (it’s certainly helping me!!). There are a lot of amazing people here who are more than happy to chat and help you alleviate the boredom and stress that may come your way. However, it is important to recognise, as Thrice said in his post, that we aren’t medical professionals and we can only offer a friendly ear and some fun distraction. If you or someone close to you is suffering with mental health issues, or you suspect that they may be, it is important to seek professional guidance. With that in mind I have put together a list of useful links to resources which you can use or direct people towards. This list is nowhere near complete so please add links and any useful resources to this thread as you see fit.

These are some links to some sites and organisations you may find useful for you or those close to you. Hopefully these will guide you in the right direction. However, by no means is this a comprehensive list so please check that these are right for your situation.

General Links

This is the Rethink Mental Illness site dedicated to Covid 19 and mental health. They offer a massive amount of advice which is specific to the current situation. They are based in the UK but there is a lot of general information which will be useful to everyone.

The official US government mental health website has a very useful guide to the basics of mental health. This includes information regarding the early warning signs that someone may be suffering with poor mental health.

The NHS have a very useful guide to anxiety and mindfulness. Anxiety can creep up on you out of nowhere so this general guide can help you identify the symptoms as well as suggest some simple coping methods. The NHS have more advice and guidance on their Every Mind Matters page.

UK charity Mind offers up some excellent advice on coping with loneliness on their site. Loneliness is a growing problem in our world which is likely to be heightened due to the current situation. Hopefully Mind’s guide will help you support yourself and those close to you.

Just Answer is a live chat service with medical professionals who can offer advice and guidance on a wide range of issues. This is an excellent site but I would imagine that they are somewhat over run. If you are unsure as to your situation or that of someone close to you contacting Just Answer can help by giving advice and also freeing up already strained medical services.

Childline has an excellent online toolbox with ways to cope with stress, anxiety and a range of other issues. Although aimed at children (this is very useful for people with children who may be scared and anxious) there is some excellent guidance which everyone can use.

The BBC have a useful article with tips on protecting your mental health during the outbreak. They have also produced a short video in partnership with Anxiety UK.

For an EvE Online community based support group, please reach out to Broadcast 4 Reps. They have a Discord server as well you can check out.

Regional Links

We have members here from all over the world so it would be difficult to give a complete list of mental health services for every region. I’ve put together a list of useful agencies for some of the big regions. Please, by all means, add to this for your region.

Australia

Beyond Blue – Support and guidance for all mental health issues

Kids Helpline – Support and advice for people aged 5-25

France

Fil Sante Jeunes – Advice and support for children and young people

SOS Amitié – Support for those in distress or struggling with mental health

Croix Rouge – Red Cross mental health support

USA

Samaritans US – 24hr phones with people who will listen and help you through

Mentalhealth.Gov – US government mental health organisation

Warmline.org – Peer-run mental health and crisis support lines

Please Live have a pretty comprehensive directory of US support lines here.

Mental Health America is a community-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and promoting the overall mental health of all Americans.This site contains information about mental illness, warning signs, and other resources.

Samaritans UK – As with the US group

CAMHS – NHS mental health support for children and young people)

Mind – UK mental health charity

Other

Here’s a link to a Wikipedia page containing details of a range of mental health support groups around the world. Although not a complete list this should give some great starting points.

Stay safe and see you in space!!