Our EVE Vegas Talk: What Say You?

A few months back, Johnny Splunk and I submitted a proposal for a player talk at EVE Vegas 2016 on "Cultivating a Counter-Culture in New Eden." To our delight (read: terror), we have been granted a speaker's slot. Our plan is to (hopefully humorously) share how Signal Cartel grew from a crazy idea to what it is today, our impact in New Eden, and the factors that have contributed to our success so far. We hope that our talk will inspire others to think outside the box and decide to run with their own crazy ideas in the sandbox.

Prior to submitting our proposal, we started collecting our thoughts and ideas for talk topics and key points in a Google doc. Over the last few weeks, that doc has fleshed out considerably...now we begin the process of fine-tuning that rambling mess into a something that will be engaging, interesting, and perhaps even useful to those who attend our talk.

That is proving to be an interesting challenge--a lot has happened in the 20 months since Signal Cartel launched! However, two things stand out as I look back:

• Our foundation is rock-solid. All the decisions we made prior to launch about the corp mission, desired culture, credo, and policies continue to serve us well. Of course, we have tweaked things here and there as incidents or discussions have organically revealed a need to do so. But our vision remains steadfast and continues to guide our hand as corp founders and custodians of the credo. We hope to include in our talk some specifics about what our day-to-day in that role involves and why things have worked so smoothly since the start. 
• Human behavior is the most fascinating game of all. The way our own members and others navigate and respond to the challenges and benefits of our credo, culture, and reputation is always interesting. The loyalty and commitment of Signaleers in service to our ideals is a constant delight. The reach of our reputation and the completely unexpected interactions we get from outsiders continues to surprise us. The creative ways that Signaleers find to engage in nearly all activities in New Eden and remain within the bounds of the Credo is a treat. We have many fun anecdotes about these things to share in our talk. I hope our audience will be as entertained, delighted, and surprised by them as we have been.

We've gotten a lot of feedback from our own members but we'd also love to include perspectives (whether positive or negative) from other capsuleers in our talk. So, what say you, pilots? What's your take on our play style? Your opinion of our credo? Your expectation when you see one of us in Local or on d-scan? Our impact on your activities in New Eden? What surprising or notable interactions have you had with our Signaleers?

We would greatly appreciate any thoughts, opinions, stories, or chat logs related to Signal Cartel or EvE-Scout...and do let us know if it's okay for us to identify you or whether you'd prefer to remain anonymous. Send feedback to myself or Johnny Splunk via evemail, or email them to me via mynxeeofeve@gmail.com.

IC: Mud and Mountaintops

She meanders on a mossy stone path that curves gently to follow the perimeter wall of the combination warehouse and office space. Her fingertips brush a wall of live foliage to her right. Her eyes gaze across pristine mountain vistas displayed on the curving video wall to her left. A small fountain gurgles somewhere behind her. She is lost in thought, meditating on all the matters under her purview. As those matters relate to herself, they are dead simple. Magnified through the lens of 700 pilots, they become much more complex. Somewhere between the two extremes is a manageable balance. If only she can find it.

The door chimes. "Johnny Splunk", informs the room AI. "OK", she says.

Exiting the path, she crosses to a comfortable lounge area where Johnny is already seated and unpacking something that smells delicious.

"Hey, what's all this?!" she asks in surprise.

"Dinner! You have to eat, you know!" he says, smiling. Always smiling, this one, she thinks and can't help but smile herself. He jumps up to give her a friendly hug before sitting back down to continue setting out food on the low table between the sofas. She sits across from him.

"Smells and looks great! Yeah, um...I think I forgot to eat today. Thanks!" she says. Her stomach is rumbling with hunger, she realizes. When did she last eat?

They tuck into creamy fish curry, fruit and cheese, fresh-baked (!) bread, and a crisply sweet Gallente white. "Gallente wine, best wine," she declares after the first sip. "Agreed...and I admit I conned the corp AI a little bit to find out which one you favor at the moment," Johnny says. They both laugh. If anyone could con an AI, it was Johnny Splunk.

"So, want to talk about the wars, the spies, or the wormhole search services thing first?" he asks.

"Oh gods, let's save the war talk for last. Whatcha got for me on the spies?" she says, and so they launch into a wide-ranging discussion on fresh intel, observed activities, reports from members and actions being taken. The discussion moves onto corp program changes, tools to support the ever-increasing number of wormhole search requests, EvE-Scout service coverage, corp financials, member initiatives, staff positions needing filled, personnel matters, recent fleet ops, Helios Anduath's latest update from his brief sojourn planetside, and finally the current wars and how to best help new pilots cope with them.

"I just have to stop getting so mired in the day-to-day worry about the ones who insist on flying in high sec during the wars and lose ships because they don't know what they're doing yet," she admits.

"Right...look at it like this: we provide the information they need, they can choose to use it for their own benefit or not. Either way, they get the experience of learning about war firsthand. Trial by fire for some of them. It's their choice. And if they keep making the same mistakes, they're probably not going to stay anyway. So why worry? It'll sort itself out." Johnny shrugs melodramatically and signs their inside joke #freeshrugs by crossing the first two fingers on each hand across each other. They laugh in recognition that they are both prone to worrying and obsessing overmuch about corp things.

"Ok, lady, one last thing before I go get ready for the Vulfpeck fleet." He narrows his eyes at her. "When's the last time you undocked just for the joy of wandering through space to see the sights?"

"Errr...", she mutters.

"Mynxee, you need to go...and I got you something to take with you to help keep things in perspective!" He grins, handing over a small wrapped package.

"Uh oh," she says as she begins to unwrap it. And then she bursts into laughter seeing what is inside.

"Okay, okay, I get the message. It's all about the fun! I'll get the Astero prepped and head out for a few days," she says, still laughing. "You nut!"

"You know it!" says Johnny and with that, he's out the door. Vulfpeck business is serious business.

Smiling, she sends a prep order to her Hangar Chief, gives the bobblehead a tap, and closes every spreadsheet, every email, every Galnet post, and every comms channel before heading to bed with a good book and one last glass of wine.