4 ms·

This morning for no obvious reason, I remembered the Fuel Rats

176 points by panic 2y ago

Titan2189 2y ago
I had never heard of them. What a great re-telling.
moribvndvs 2y ago
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.
- Titan2189 2y ago
  Great lesson for life if anyone ever gives you "sure thing" financial advice :)
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
teh_klev 2y ago
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. Being reminded of this might make me give Elite another go. [0]: https://fuelrats.com/ https://fuelrats.com/
- tjwds 2y ago
  Thanks for posting a link to the site; their Grafana dashboard was cool to see.
lmm 2y ago
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).
- philwelch 2y ago
  Specifically, he was killed in the Benghazi debacle.
- mcmcmc 2y ago
  Eve similarly has Signal Cartel (and possibly some other corps too), who offer free assistance to pilots trapped in wormhole space without a way to scan down an exit hole.
- dec0dedab0de 2y ago
  I’m not really into politics, but I always thought one of the main arguments of libertarians was that you don’t need government mandated social programs because people would help each other out on their own. So maybe it still is a libertarian design?
  - lmm 2y ago
    The ingame groups ended up creating structures that look quite like governments. It felt almost like a recapitulation of real frontier history. Which is something that always felt self-defeating about libertarian ideology to me - like, we know what happens when there are no rules and governments, people make them, and without a government you can't stop that.
    - notpushkin 2y ago
      I’m not sure these structures are exactly like governments, in the libertarian sense. Do they demand taxes from people in their area? Do they set arbitrary laws?
ilc 2y ago
Inactive Fuel Rat here. 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.) 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.) "We've got fuel, you don't. Any questions?" - The Fuel Rats.
- Numerlor 2y ago
  Shameless plug for my Python app that automates pasting routes with neutron stars, that boost your jump range, from https://spansh.co.uk/ https://spansh.co.uk/ into the game, which is used for some of those records to my knowledge. It was one of my first "real" project and it shows, at least I now know that Qt is pretty great in Python for cobbling something together. https://github.com/Numerlor/Auto_Neutron https://github.com/Numerlor/Auto_Neutron
  - ilc 2y ago
    Already using it fine sir, and yeah... it is used for record setting ;) I know I set one with it... I'm pretty sure Rav uses it. Many Rats do.
notpushkin 2y ago
This is so wholesome. Really a testament to people’s ability to self-organize. I do wish they accepted (in-game) tips/donations though.
verisimi 2y ago
This is actually a lovely story. And not surprising. People are naturally cooperative. Yes there are crap people in the world, but mostly not. Left to their own devices, people are kind. 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.
- CaptainFever 2y ago
  It's really interesting to see your comment in the context of another thread in this topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42113511 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42113511
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
matheusmoreira 2y ago
I remember those guys. Guys in my old squadron told stories about them like it was in-game lore. 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. 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...

176 points by panic 2y ago

I had never heard of them. What a great re-telling.

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.

Titan2189 2y ago
Great lesson for life if anyone ever gives you "sure thing" financial advice :)

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

teh_klev 2y ago

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. Being reminded of this might make me give Elite another go. [0]: https://fuelrats.com/ https://fuelrats.com/

tjwds 2y ago
Thanks for posting a link to the site; their Grafana dashboard was cool to see.

lmm 2y ago

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).

philwelch 2y ago
Specifically, he was killed in the Benghazi debacle.
mcmcmc 2y ago
Eve similarly has Signal Cartel (and possibly some other corps too), who offer free assistance to pilots trapped in wormhole space without a way to scan down an exit hole.
dec0dedab0de 2y ago
I’m not really into politics, but I always thought one of the main arguments of libertarians was that you don’t need government mandated social programs because people would help each other out on their own. So maybe it still is a libertarian design?
- lmm 2y ago
  The ingame groups ended up creating structures that look quite like governments. It felt almost like a recapitulation of real frontier history. Which is something that always felt self-defeating about libertarian ideology to me - like, we know what happens when there are no rules and governments, people make them, and without a government you can't stop that.
  - notpushkin 2y ago
    I’m not sure these structures are exactly like governments, in the libertarian sense. Do they demand taxes from people in their area? Do they set arbitrary laws?

ilc 2y ago

Inactive Fuel Rat here. 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.) 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.) "We've got fuel, you don't. Any questions?" - The Fuel Rats.

Numerlor 2y ago
Shameless plug for my Python app that automates pasting routes with neutron stars, that boost your jump range, from https://spansh.co.uk/ https://spansh.co.uk/ into the game, which is used for some of those records to my knowledge. It was one of my first "real" project and it shows, at least I now know that Qt is pretty great in Python for cobbling something together. https://github.com/Numerlor/Auto_Neutron https://github.com/Numerlor/Auto_Neutron
- ilc 2y ago
  Already using it fine sir, and yeah... it is used for record setting ;) I know I set one with it... I'm pretty sure Rav uses it. Many Rats do.

notpushkin 2y ago

This is so wholesome. Really a testament to people’s ability to self-organize. I do wish they accepted (in-game) tips/donations though.

verisimi 2y ago

This is actually a lovely story. And not surprising. People are naturally cooperative. Yes there are crap people in the world, but mostly not. Left to their own devices, people are kind. 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.

CaptainFever 2y ago
It's really interesting to see your comment in the context of another thread in this topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42113511 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42113511

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

matheusmoreira 2y ago

I remember those guys. Guys in my old squadron told stories about them like it was in-game lore. 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. 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...