Greetings Fellow Interloper!
Welcome to one of the most friendly communities for NMS you will find on the internet. Here you can wax lyrical about your love of the game and know that you are amongst good company, if you’re feeling a little daunted at joining an established community, just go ahead and introduce yourself in the Introductions thread and see how many responses you get.
This forum is a place where you can ask innocent questions, just be sure to set the category to Help a Fellow Traveler, here people will help you and not make you feel small, (we’ve all been staring at that broken ship with no clue what to do.) You can share your favourite photos in the Screenshots 1.5, comical pictures in Lighter side of NMS and others like, Ode to Snappies.
If you made it here, welcome home.
A Brief History
Long before the release of NEXT, even before the previous update, Atlas Rises, (update 1.3) ‘Waking Titan’ began. ‘Waking Titan’ is an ARG (Augmented Reality Game) whereby real clues are given for a community to solve including audio, (using spectrographs to find hidden messages in seemingly useless audio clips) visual, (scrambled pictures) and maths puzzles, (decoding HEX, ASCII, and using sequences like Fibonacci) to unlock the next clue. For full details on this and the many stages, visit Game Detectives. Waking Titan has been ongoing right up until the release of NEXT, and who knows, possibly further.
Our own history is almost as long as Waking Titan, indeed it started as a forum set up by the Puppet Masters.
During Phase 1, when the First Glyph was revealed, a link to the ETARC Forums was discovered. ETARC, (Edison Township Amateur Radio Club) appeared to be website for Ham Radio enthusiasts and many people participating in the ARG joined up. This was before it was even confirmed that Waking-Titan and NMS were confirmed to be connected, (that wasn’t until the Live and In Game drops from the Second Glyph)
At the end of Phase 3 of the Waking Titan ARG and a week before Atlas Rises was released, breaking the fourth wall, Sean Murray sent an email thanking everyone for their contributions and support. At the end, he revealed that the ETARC forum would be retained and introduced it as the Official CSD Forum.
A major rebrand of the forum soon followed including a new name and a new colour scheme.
The forum grew and people gathered to share their experiences within the ARG and the game, finding a haven where they could talk passionately about NMS and it was clear that many of us all shared a collective conscious, perhaps the game has that effect on people or that it attracts a certain type of person.
We decided that our name and our heritage should be expanded upon and, seeing the success of other groups and hubs, we ventured to form our own Hub. A location was discovered within a chain of stars, scouted, decided upon and settled and slowly but surely, they came.
FAQ
Q: What’s the ETARC Hub?
A: The ETARC hub is not a government or an organisation. It’s a place, based on an idea. A collection of like-minded individuals who, through their love of the game, decided to create a physical representation of those values in game. A place where we can get together if you like. Membership to the Hub is not the same as membership to the Forums, they do not go hand in hand and no one is forced to do anything they don’t want to. Everything is voluntary with an easy going, ‘drop-in drop-out’ system if you so wish and is there for those who want to give something back to the community.
Q: Ok, so why ETARC? Aren’t we the CSD?
A: Yes we are. We hold our roots dear however and the name stuck, there are many different branches and groups of the CSD, (Reddit CSD, Discord CSD) so to give ourselves an identity we kept ETARC. This explains the ‘E’ in ECSD, Etarc Citizen Science Division, it’s just something that make us a little different. Membership is not exclusive of other groups and you’ll find you may see familiar user names in different areas. We all belong to the CSD community, where you are most frequently active has no bearing on anything other than the friendships you forge in your travels.
Q: Can you tell me who’s in charge here!
A: NMS is the sort of game that allows you to be free and make your own choices, to not be constrained by rules and regulations is one of the joys of playing. We have tried to preserve this with our approach to the Hub and the forum and as a result, there is not one person or group of people that make all the big decisions. Although we have people here with the ‘Leader’ tag, their contribution is mostly Forum based.
Q: So I’d love to contribute too, how do I do it?
A: There is a group of members who’s claim to fame is the formation of the Hub. But this alone, and just because we have been around a long time does not mean we have all the answers, we do offer guidance to anyone who wants or needs it. If you have an idea or suggestion on implementing or changing something, create a new thread and state your case!
The First Hub Iteration
During the Atlas Rises era, The Etarc Hub was located in the Alpha Quadrant of Euclid, (PS4/PC) surrounding a uniquely long chain of stars, stretching between 2 regions.
The Capital planet of Edison in the Etarcia ECSD system, is located midway up the star chain and for residents residing beside the central star chain, the constellation is clearly visible in the night sky.
The Second Hub Iteration
The Capital is sadly no more, there are now comm balls floating in space so a new location either within the chain, or far removed is being considered. The Hub is more an ideal and thus any physical representation of it is open to change.
With the release of NEXT, there are obviously some incredible possibilities now as we all build together…
Friends of ECSD
We claim friendship with a few organisations, Hubs and groups. If you want yours added, speak up!
- CSFD (Etarc Citizen Science Frontiers Division) - Contact @Sir_oops for more information
- The Spacing Guild - Contact @Macforaday, @LordMarkov for more information
- The Galactic Avian Organisation - Contact @Ospredox
This post will be updated: If you spot any inconsistencies or inaccuracies within the above, please do not hesitate to send me a PM so I can correct the error.
, landed on a small island under them and claimed a base. I haven’t built any thing else on that island. I built another base on the continent. Doesn’t seem to have any glitches, but the name, “New Ez…b…” something. reminder I am on PS4.
