Dispatching is a job often taken up by rats who aren't able to be in-game at the moment, or as a break from the rat racing to deliver fuel to the client. It is not a promotion, but it is an important job, and one that can at times require a cool head, a capacity for multitasking, and attention to detail.
Dispatch is the client's primary point of contact, and handles coordinating cases and rats in IRC, while the rats take care of the actual fueling and debriefing of the client. As the first person to interact with the client, your choices will impact their experience greatly. We won't say that Dispatching is the most important job, but it is important to do it right. While the only thing that is required is that you have read, understood, and are able to implement Rat and Dispatch SOP prior to dispatching live cases, there are a lot of highly recommended activities that you should check out here: link to Dispatch Guide
| Info | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
Dispatching is a job that requires experience in both procedure and game mechanics. Although some rats are capable of learning simply by watching, it is strongly recommended that you gain ample rat experience before picking up the hat. |
| Warning | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
We never practice on live cases. In order to utilize dispatch commands, you must have completed your rat drill. |
Philosophy of Dispatch
Not only does the role of dispatch revolve around an amazingly stylish hat, but the Philosophy of Dispatching is slightly different than other roles.
Use of tools and aids
Official Tech Stack
The Fuel Rats tech stack has grown large and feature rich over time, and provides a number of tools and automatic aids to dispatchers to ease the case flow. However, there is a very important thing to remember with regards to this:
Your primary tool is yourself, and the source of truth for case information is IRC!
What our automated systems may miss, you, as the dispatcher, should be able to notice. This means that when you are dispatching, your focus should primarily be on what IRC is telling you - what the client and the rats are saying. Mecha may crash, the API may go down, or the dispatch board might not receive an update. As long as IRC is working, it is entirely possible to run cases. The list below describes our tech stack for case handling, in order of resilience and authority.
- IRC chat:As long as our servers are up and running, we are able to receive clients in chat, and they can be handled completely manually. You should be able to handle a client entirely without the use of additional tools.
- RatMama announcements: The client submits information using a form that RatMama announces into #fuelrats when the client arrives.
- MechaSqueak case listings: MechaSqueak has an internal system that works independently of any backend systems. There are MechaSqueak commands to interact with the cases in this system. Even if system information or the API is unavailable, Mechasqueak can still track cases using manual commands. If MechaSqueak goes down, cases have to be tracked entirely manually, either in memory or using pen and paper.
- MechaSqueak facts:Canned responses and instructions for how the client should proceed on various points of the case flow. If MechaSqueak becomes unavailable, you must understand the case flow and what the client and rats need to do sufficiently to manually instruct the client.
- API: The main API stores our paperwork, and various other APIs provide such things as system information and distances to landmarks. If these systems are unavailable, paperwork cannot be filed until they are once again available, or system information may not be available in IRC.
- Dispatch web board: Tied into the API, the dispatch board presents a graphical view of active cases. It also tries to collect relevant information to each case from #fuelrats. This tool is useful for when there are a lot of cases going on at once, as a reference for keeping track of multiple threads and not having to scroll back and forth in chat to keep everything in mind. It is NOT a substitute for paying attention to IRC!
- MechaSqueak translation tool: A link between MechaSqueak and GPT which allows a dispatcher/rat to opt in to receiving client message translations automatically. It also allows rats to send translated messages via a command.
Be aware of the priority of these systems. You should be able to dispatch using only the first item on the list - IRC.
| Info | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
During times of high caseloads (by default 6 or more), the queue system will automatically queue clients and instruct them to log out. As cases are cleared, additional clients will be dropped into the channel. For more information, use !help queue in Mecha DM. |
Additional, Unofficial Tools
Over the years, many rats have created tools which may assist them in completing rescues. The reliability and validity of said tools vary, and they should be used at your own risk. It is your responsibility to ensure that the quality of your dispatching is not negatively affected by any additional tools you decide to use. It is highly recommended that beginning dispatchers limit themselves to the official tech stack above to avoid becoming dependent on other tools. Some examples of these include but are not limited to aliases/macros, case flow guides, and voice-attack styled applications.
Client's Preferred Language
When connecting through the Kiwi IRC, MechaSqueak and RatMama will announce the language that the client's internet browser is set to (it is not selected by the client manually). It's advisable to confirm with the client what language they are comfortable using for the rescue as many players are comfortable with English. If a language other than English is preferred, Mecha has built-in translations for commands/facts and translation capability if you’re opted-in.
It's a good idea to utilize a rat that can speak the client's language as dispatch and for the debrief when possible (the IRC channel #debrief can be used for this). Mecha Translations should only be used in the event a native speaker is not available and English is not acceptable for the client. Google Translate or other translation providers should be an absolute last resort for a variety of reasons. Its translations are nowhere near perfect and can lose important information. Many languages do not have a local translation of the game, so CDMRs are often playing the English version of the game (translating in-game commands can cause more confusion).
Currently, Mecha has translations for facts in the following languages (add -xx to the end of the command or fact for each language).
Language | Command Suffix |
Chinese | -zh |
Czech | -cs |
Dutch | -nl |
English | -en |
French | -fr |
German | -de |
Hungarian | -hu |
Italian | -it |
Polish | -pl |
Portuguese | -pt |
Russian | -ru |
Spanish | -es |
Turkish | -tr |
Ukranian (limited) | -uk |
To learn more about Mecha’s auto-translate features, use the command !help !tsub or see guide link here.
Self-Spatching
You may find quiet times of day where there are not enough dispatchers and rats around to conduct a proper case. If you cannot find a dispatch to take a case you would like to rat, you may consider self-spatching (dispatching while simultaneously ratting) as an option. Self-spatching should only be used if there are no other people available to rat a case while another dispatches and where a hatsignal has failed to yield an appropriate dispatch.
Preparing for dispatch
In most cases, there is only one active Dispatch on #fuelrats. The role and responsibility of Dispatcher is passed from person to person as needed, and is often referred to as "having the hat".
There are a few ways that someone might become the active dispatch.
- The first rat to prep is often considered to be the dispatch, unless they have indicated they are not interested (for example, calling jumps immediately after prep, or saying “just prepping” in #ratchat).
- If a case comes in while other cases are still running, the active dispatch retains their role.
- If a dispatch needs to step aside (for example when a hatsignal is called), a new dispatch can step in to take over.
It should be noted that if there are no cases, there is no dispatch. If you aren’t sure that the previous dispatch has stepped down, it is a great idea to ask them (we’re all a team and good teams communicate with each other!).
If you have begun dispatching, it is considered poor form to go off and do other things that prevent you from responding within a few seconds to a client’s responses. If you have to go away for a while, consider either hanging up the hat, or notifying #ratchat (summarize the active cases to the next dispatcher whenever possible). It is also important that you stay focused while you are dispatching. While the antics of #ratchat are always entertaining, ensuring a quick and safe rescue is most important.
Before beginning to dispatch, check for inactive cases and familiarize yourself with them. If necessary, ask rats assigned to the case on their status, or in #RatChat if none of them are online. You may also want to bring up the web basedDispatch Board to help track cases, or equip yourself with pen and paper, in case things get busy. Having an open Private Message window to MechaSqueak can also help.
Client Arrival
99% of our cases arrive through the webpage, and are thus announced onto the server by RatMama, with all the relevant details of the case.
| Code Block |
|---|
<&RatMama[BOT]> Incoming Client: Purple Pillows - System: Murare - Platform: PC Odyssey - O2: OK - Language: English (en-GB) - IRC Nickname: Purple_Pillows |
MechaSqueak responds to this by creating a case for the client, and triggering a Ratsignal that should highlight(or ping) rats and notify them of the new case. Unless the client skipped entering information, everything you and the Rats need to start the rescue is presented in that line of text - the CMDR name of the client, their system, what platform they are on, their browser language, and their O2 status.
| Warning | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
f the client has indicated that they are on Emergency O2 on the login form, MechaSqueak tells them to log out to the main menu automatically. You should confirm with the client as soon as possible that they have, in fact, logged out and will remain logged out until the dispatcher provides the “GO GO GO” prompt. |
Your first action as Dispatch should be to !prep the client, which has Mecha tell them to power down their modules and come to a complete stop. See Common Prepping Practicesfor more prepping fun!
| Warning | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
We do not send reverse FRs or XBL/PSN messages to clients who send a ratsignal and then immediately disconnect and do not return. The client may have changed their mind and require help, they will reconnect. If the client has spoken in IRC and hasn't indicated they no longer need assistance, Dispatch may instruct rats to reverse FR or send a message to the client. |
Clients Entering Through #ratchat
For various reasons clients may enter IRC through #ratchat. Once it's determined that they need fuel the following steps should be followed:
- Confirm their o2 status and prep them
- Get case information (platform and system) and setup case in MechaSqueak[BOT]
- Dispatch rats
- Ask client to move to #fuelrats to continue the rescue
In order to not delay the rescue, only ask the client to move to #fuelrats after the rescue is underway and only ask once. If the client doesn't move, continue the rescue in #ratchat.
Assigning Rats
At this point, rats should be calling their jumps to the client, indicating both their willingness to go on the rescue, and how far away they are from them. For most non-CR rescues, one or two rats is typically sufficient. Two rats are recommended for CR rescues to allow for instancing issues. If it's slow, and the rats for the most part have the same jump count, feel free to assign more.
| Info | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
A full wing/team may lead to instancing issues known as the "full wing bug". To resolve, instruct one extra wing/team member to leave the party. |
| Warning | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
While a drill is not required to go on rescues, it is highly discouraged to send undrilled rats on a rescue alone. They should be sent with an experienced rat, whenever possible. ND’s should not be sent on CR cases, but for the most dire of circumstances. Should a case turn CR, it is at the dispatch’s discretion to permit the undrilled rat to continue |
Using the the !assign or !go commands, send the rats on the rescue, and if necessary instruct the client on how to add the rats to their friends list, using the platform-dependent !facts.
To remove rats from a rescue, you can use the !unassign command. Rats should only be unassigned if they don't attempt a rescue after calling jumps, or incorrect Rat assignments are made. If a rat has made any progress or effort towards rescuing a client, they must remain assigned.
I love them all, who do I pick?
In some cases, you may have more than one or two jump calls and will need to pick who will go on the case. This is always left to the discretion of the dispatch, but there are some considerations you should keep in mind.
- How far away are they from the rescue?
- Have they gone on a case recently?
- Who called jumps first?
- How experienced are they?
There is no one right answer, but these questions may help inform your decisions.
PC Game modes
On PC there are 3 different versions of the game which affect which rats can be assigned to clients. You should be familiar with them and how information is communicated about each version. Click here for more information.
The Rescue- Normal Cases (non-CR)
(For Long Range Rescues, see our Long Range Rescue Guide.)
While underway to the client, the rats will report back when they have received the friend request (or the lack thereof). After friending, you can have the client add them to their wing/team and then drop the beacon (note: beacons are often already turned on in PC Live and Ody cases).
Once the rats are in the client’s system and teamed up, the rat will typically report if the client’s beacon is visible. Sometimes, the client may be in the sun's exclusion zone, which may require a SuperCruise hop, which is performed by having the client re-enable their FSD and thrusters, go to SuperCruise, and head away from the star for a few seconds before dropping back down into normal space.
Barring any instancing problems, the rats should then be able to drop on their beacon and deliver fuel. They will indicate this with fuel+,fueling, orrefueling report. Once they do, you can safely !close the case, which will automatically assign the paperwork to the rat.
Many dispatchers prefer to include a closing message to the client, perhaps asking them to speak to their rat in-game to start the debriefing process and to send them on their way (maybe with the trademarked “Fly Safe CMDR o7).
The Rescue- CR Cases (oxygen timer active)
CR cases require different handling from non-cr cases. Assigning rats to a CR case after log out is the next priority so the rat can monitor the client’s login status in the comms panel. After the !assign, the dispatcher's role switches to information gathering. You will need to ask for remaining oxygen time, determine their location in the system (possibly proximity to landmarks), and confirm their system name (can be seen in the top right corner of the main menu). While information gathering, it is important to stress to the client that they should not log in to the game to check.
| Tip | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
You may want to look the system name up on inara.cz or edsm.net. |
It is important to inject this information into the case using MechaSqueak promptly. This makes it so that another rat can step in at a moment’s notice (if you get disconnected for example) without missing a beat.
While the rats are moving towards the client’s system, it is a good idea to provide the client with instructions that they will need to follow on login. The client will need to log into open play, invite their rats to a wing, and light their beacon (typically for console and pc legacy). Again, please stress the importance of remaining at the main menu until “GO GO GO”.
Positioning Rats
The default location for rats is just outside the orbit of the main star in the system. This allows rats to easily have a landmark to use when completing a bearing check(see below). In cases where you have reliable information that the client may be in a specific location, a dispatch may choose to position rats around or between landmarks. This is a risk, if the information you have turns out to be incorrect. If you position a rat in empty space, be aware that bearing checks become far less reliable.
First Login and Bearing checks
You will need to be prepared to make decisions based on the information that you receive during the first login of a CR client. If the rat is close to the client, you may decide to leave the client logged in (see Supercruise Travel Timesfor more on this). If your rat has SCO, you may be comfortable with leaving the client logged in depending on their distance away. If the rat is farther away from the client that means running out of oxygen would become a risk, the first login will turn into a bearing check and you should !quit the client as soon as possible. The rats should, on reporting distance, already be prepared to set their course for the client’s location.
Finishing the Case
It is important to obtain additional information like oxygen time and inject it into the case details after each logout. You should also communicate with the client about the next steps (ie: how long they can expect to wait before rats are ready, or any additional steps clients should take to resolve instancing issues).
A CR case will end when a rat calls fuel+ or a rat calls client destroyed. If the client’s ship was destroyed, remember to remind them to activate all modules again after respawn. If they died from turning their Life Support off and aren't aware, this behavior of the game can lead to problems. In the event of a failed case, it should be closed using !close <#> -p <debriefing rat>. This prevents the rat from being added to the first limpet field by default.
| Info | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
It is possible to synthesize o2, but it requires 2 Iron and 1 Nickel. It also requires 20 seconds of time for the synthesis to happen. Newer players are less likely to have the materials, and they may not know what they have. But sometimes players know for certain that they have the materials, which can play into the rescue strategy. |
Tactical Faceplant (TFP) and other types of drops
TFPs
If a client is in the EZ of a star during a CR case only a TFP becomes necessary.
If rats are unsure how to perform a tfp, and you cannot find another rat to perform the tfp you may need to give them quick instructions. You can use the following:
- They will need to bring the wing-signal and the center of the star into overlap and try to keep that until they automatically emergency-drop. A rule-of-thumb would be a throttle of 75%.
- Even when they only see a signal after a drop, they should start boosting towards it. It often takes 20-30s for the client to actually pop-up in the game.
TFP blind drop
This is just in case a standard TFP drop does not work.
A blind drop = untargetting beacon and dropping blind on the approximate location
Blind drop = go towards the beacon, slow down to 30km/s (minimum SC speed), at about 300 km distance untarget the beacon, count 10s and drop. Hopefully you'll get close enough to the client.
Please note that the drop spot can be affected by server lag. Up to 2s – that is 60 km.
Instancing Issues
It is possible that rats may be unable to instance with a client (ie: dropping on a beacon and seeing nothing there).
There are a multitude of reasons why this might be the case. For examples and troubleshooting please refer to:
| Info | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
Having the rats create the wing and inviting the client might sound like a good idea to save time, but it is not SOP due to it actually reducing the likelihood the rats will successfully instance with the client. A Technical Review of the SOP can be found here. With that said, there are extreme cases where there is zero chance of the client logging in, winging all rats, and turning their beacon on with the amount of o2 they have left. In those extreme cases, and only in those cases is pre-winging the only option for the client to survive. Clients have successfully been rescued when logging in with 30 seconds of o2, and a good location is known. It's important to weigh all risk factors before deviating from SOP by pre-winging. It's also important to ensure that the rats are de-winged and the timer cooldown is complete if the client had to log out for any reason during the rescue. Sidenote: If the client does have to log out, their thrusters will turn back on when they log in, make sure they prep again. |
Case Pacing, Stress, and Hatsignal
There may be times where there are multiple cases at once. It is important to manage the cases simultaneously as best as you can to avoid a client waiting too long. You should make every effort to progress a case when it can progress, providing you can do so safely.
That said, at times you may find yourself at your breaking point and limit. At that point, it becomes an exercise in how to manage stress. This is especially important during CR cases, maybe even if you have more than one! Only log clients in when you feel ready to (unless of course they log in early…best of luck!).
Remember that you can take a second to regroup provided everyone that is CR is logged out. It can be more beneficial to regroup and ask rats for updates on where a case is than to panic or sit frozen in shock.
If you feel that you are too overwhelmed to continue or need to stop dispatching, you are always able to call a hatsignal in #ratchat for someone to come in and take the hat. Provided all CR clients are logged out, you can then walk away, if necessary.
Board and Case Maintenance
It is the dispatcher’s responsibility to ensure that all client information is correct within the case file. While the rat will double check when they file the paperwork, it is easiest if the information is changed prior to !close. This includes but may not be limited to commander name, client system, and CR status.
Sometimes cases will go inactive, and may not need dispatch attention or jump calls. They can be marked as inactive using the mecha !active toggle. Examples of this may be a long range rescue or a client who has left IRC.
During longer periods of dispatching, inactive cases can pile up on the board. It is the dispatcher’s responsibility to maintain the cleanliness of the board by filing cases as appropriate and ensuring that all inactive cases have all pertinent information injected into the file. For more information on filing cases please see How to File Cases.