Carnival Caravan / CARN

Welcome to the Carnival!

We are an inclusive, casual Star Citizen Organization that is always looking for new members. We travel system to system throughout the ‘Verse, filling a system with our goods and services, before pulling up stakes and moving on to the next system. We pride ourselves on our neutrality and will trade and work with anyone. While we will make alliances with any other org, we will not join in wars against other orgs unless the situation is exceptional in nature: after all, even enemies can be customers.

We make use of a cellular structure, allowing our members a good deal of autonomy. While we move system to system as one, member cells are largely allowed to operate on their own or with other chosen cells, coming together to accomplish a goal, for mutual defense, or just because it looks cool to have all those ships in one place. The Carnival also shares resources, allowing us to pay our military arms to operate, as well as invest and take risks that wouldn’t be possible for a solo player.

Sound like your kind of org? Read on.

What is the Carnival?

The Carnival is a traveling, primarily industrial org built in a cellular structure. Individual players gather together in small groups we call cells. These are typically made of two to ten members. Even if an individual operates primarily on their own, they will still operate with a cell of their choosing.

Cells, in turn, operate within a “Supercell:” a gathering of two to five cells that may or may not be related in purpose. In other words, you might be part of a supercell that is hyper-focused on mining, and only possesses ships and players who are wholly dedicated to mining. Similarly, you might be in a multirole supercell that has representatives from nearly all the different arms of the Carnival (trade, transport, research, medical, mining, offensive and defensive, and so on).

Each cell elects or chooses a member of their cell to represent the cell in the supercell. These people are called “Cell Leaders.” Likewise, these cell leaders choose or nominate a member of their supercell to represent them to their “Cluster.” These are “Supercell Leaders.”

A cluster is a group of supercells, and is run by a “Busker.” Buskers are responsible for their cluster, which includes distributing resources within the cluster, as well as requesting or offering help from or to other clusters, and sharing concerns with the Carnival at large.

Clusters are gathered together into superclusters, and by now you know the pattern: clusters nominate one of their own to represent the supercluster, and this person is called a “Barker:” the highest ranked elected member of the Carnival.

Parallel with the Barkers are the “Ring Leaders.” This is a small group of people who are unelected, meant to be arbiters and add stability to org:
Barkers will come and go, the Ring Leaders will generally be stable.

Each leadership level is expected to deal with issues at their level, although it’s completely possible a person might be a Cell Leader, Supercell Leader, Busker, AND Barker all at once.

Outside of this cellular structure, the Carnival is also organized into broad “Tents.” While it’s likely a cell will possess members from different tents, or even that a member themselves might be members of different tents (someone might be a miner/bouncer/medic, for example), these tents allow for an additional specific form of organization outside of the cellular structure: a system allowing for sharing of expertise, or allowing cells to call on a specific specialization, if needed.

These Tents are: Trade & Transport, Mining & Refining, Medical & Search and Recovery, Science & Research, and Salvage & Repair.
Additionally, the Carnival has the “Thorns:” the military arm of the Carnival. There are three Thorns: Bouncers, Hounds, and the Clowns.
Bouncers are defensive in nature, escorting members of the Carnival and ensuring their safety, as well as working as bodyguards and marines on ships, stations, and outposts.

Hounds are offensive in nature, filling the role of bounty-hunters, hunters, and eliminating or driving off threats to the Carnival.

Finally, the Clowns are the clandestine arm of the Carnival, concerned with scouting, spying, and counter-spying, among other things.

What if I don’t like my cell, supercell, cluster, or supercluster?

We’re all people playing a game, and things can heated, and people won’t always get along. You might have a falling out with your cell, or your cell might not work well with another cell in your supercell. You might even have a not-so-friendly rivalry with another supercell or cluster. While the Carnival pushes the idea of “us first,” we understand that not all personalities jive.

If you end up in this situation, you can switch cells, request to move your cell to another supercell, cluster, or supercluster. You are never going to be locked into your situation.

The Rules.

While we’re an inclusive, casual org, with a strong focus on individuality and autonomy within the org, we still possess rules that all our members must abide by in order to keep the org a friendly place to game in. Like most things with the Carnival, these rules are intentionally few and simple:

• Don’t be an Asshole. This one comes in two varieties: first, don’t be an asshole to our potential customers, which is anyone that isn’t blacklisted; and second, definitely don’t be an asshole to members of the Carnival. For the first, we do not like to alienate customers, if possible, so griefing and engaging in aggressive, antagonistic behavior isn’t really our style. While we certainly trade with pirates, marauders, and others in that vein, we are not an openly hostile org and prefer to keep it that way. Likewise, we are a diverse, inclusive org, with members from a wide variety of ages and backgrounds. Generally, live by the rule of “leave the real world at the door,” and focus on playing the game and the game world. This game is an escape from the real world for most players – let’s keep it that way.
• Leave it at the Door. The Carnival is a “gray” organization: we walk a tightrope with between the lawful and unlawful communities in the ‘Verse. We pride ourselves on being able to trade with the most vile, untrustworthy pirate to the most well-respected lawful corps. In order to pull that off, we have to engage in a mindset of strict neutrality. This, in turn, requires our members to make sure they do not leave a trail of enemies in our wake. This is where this rule comes in: members are expected to “clear their bills” before the Carnival moves to a new system; no crime stats, no player enemies, and so on. There are exceptions to this, but this is the rule.
• The Tithe. Each cell is expected to pay 5% of its profits to the Supercell it resides in. Likewise, Supercells are expected to 5% of their profits to the Cluster they reside in, Clusters…you get the idea. This allows us to pay cells and members of the Carnival for their services (such as the Bouncers and the Hounds) as well as purchase resources for the Carnival as a whole. Likewise, this allows the Carnival to support ventures and investments in the ‘Verse.
• Everyone Gets One. Less a rule and more a way of life, every cell gets “one.” This “one” can be a risky venture, a risky alliance, calling down the wrath of the Carnival, and so on. If the “one” pays off for the Carnival? The cell gets another “one.” If it doesn’t, another “one” must be earned over time. In essence, this allows any cell to tap the full or partial resources of the Carnival as a whole. Once.
  Respect the Blacklist. It is inevitable that, as an org, the Carnival will run into individuals or orgs that will be anathema to our existence. Despite our best efforts, we will make enemies. In turn, we will not deal with or support these entities; our neutrality only goes so far. While it’s possible for one to have their name removed from the Carnival’s Blacklist, it takes a significant investment or desire to get back into the Carnival’s good graces first. * Respect the Blacklist.
• Respect the Chain-of-Command. The cellular structure of the Carnival allows for a good bit of individual freedom and autonomy. However, this can also work again the Carnival should a threat arise. It’s important for the survival of the Carnival that we move and act as one when needed; we arrive and leave a system together. We have each other’s backs. If there is a problem within your cell, bring it to your cell leader (who you likely had a hand in electing to the position). If the problem is with your cell leader, bring it to your supercell leader. If the problem is with the supercell, go to the cluster, and so on. But respect the chain of command. If an order is given, it’s important that it be followed unless it’s superceded from further up the ladder. It’s called an “organization” for a reason.

How do I join?
Glad you asked! If the above sounds like something you might be interested in, feel free to make your way over to the Membership Form and submit it. While it will help if you have a reference who is already a member of the Carnival, this is not a necessity. It’s also not a necessity that you join as a member of a cell – if you’re alone, we can assign you to a cell or you put your skills up in the forums and choose a cell or be chosen by a cell from there. You can even form your own cell with other similar “uncelled” members of the Carnival.

Finally? You only have an Aurora or Mustang? We have ships – we need people, captain, crews, and otherwise.

You may join as affiliate, redacted, or hidden member. Please note only Exclusive members can hold a leadership rank.

Ranks

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Ringleader [unelected leadership]
Barker [elected leadership] The highest ranking elected leadership position, Barkers oversee Superclusters and are elected by Buskers in their Supercluster.
Busker [elected leadership] Buskers oversee Clusters and are elected by Supercell Leaders in their Cluster.
Supercell Leader [elected leadership] Supercell Leaders oversee Supercells and are elected by Cell Leaders in their Supercell.
Cell Leader [elected position] Cell leaders are elected, appointed, or claim the position to represent their individual Cell.
Carny [member of the Carnival]

Cells are generally made of two to ten members that work and move together. Cells are welcome (and encouraged) to form synergistic relationships with other cells. These can be related (a mining and refining cell, for example), or completely disparate in purpose (bounty-hunting and research). The cells only purpose is to contribute to the wealth and reputation of the Carnival – how your cell accomplishes that is up to you and your cell.

The Carnival moves as one, arriving and leaving a system as one unit, as well as responding to common threats as one unit. Beyond this, individual cells have a good deal of autonomy and freedom, with the only stipulation being to not bring trouble back to the Carnival.