(Citizen Star News/Crusty Collins) - 2014-08-30 - In Star Citizen, as in real life, there exist people that rise to all sorts of callings. One such ... and many would say ... a higher calling is 'Search And Rescue'. When you are alone in the "black" with a shot up ship and burnt out engines, these pilots may just save your life.

Most selflessly 'The Auxilium Group', whose founder Niko-Ranulf was happy to face our interview questions and stated:

[...] while the game can and will be very fun, a game of this nature can be cruel because it strives to mirror reality to a certain extent. [...] we want people to see Auxilium as an example of hope, selflessness, and brotherly kindness in a simulated world that will be filled with quite a bit of the exact opposite.

Citizen Star News (CSN): What inspired you to found The Auxilium Group?

Niko-Ranulf: What inspired me [...] was honestly two passing thoughts that never faded. "What would be countercultural in video gaming?", was one question that would constantly reverberate in the back of my mind. Somewhere along the way, that question came together with the thought about my life and the person I strive to be on a daily basis. These two thoughts culminated into the realization that doing good and aiding others, even if it sacrifices your own well being is completely upside down to what at least I've experienced in gaming and gaming culture in general. In some ways this sounded insane but still pretty exciting, so I sought the opinions of a long time friend Hierarchangel (currently HR Director of Auxilium). I presented the concept of creating a Search and Rescue organization but with the countercultural difference of providing our services at no cost. This virtue of generosity and goodwill was expanded further to encompass a stance that was and still is heavily influenced by pacifist principles. We founded the organization on January 21st after four months of discussion. Now roughly a year after the concept was born, we have confirmed that others share this same view and we believe there [are] many more out there in the 'Verse that believe in our vision to peacefully aid all.

CSN: What are your thoughts on how the organization is actually going to work?

Niko-Ranulf: The vision for how the organization will work sums up in the keyword 'volunteering'. Every individual within Auxilium is a volunteer, even myself. The idea is to encourage people to help others selflessly and develop a community within Star Citizen that will be there to "save your character's life" regardless of who you are. We plan to use our own ships, our own finances, and seek absolutely no profits in return. Selfless volunteering.

In terms of gameplay, we are certain that Auxilium will be participating heavily in the Search & Rescue, Medical, Reconnaissance, and Diplomatic elements of the Star Citizen PU.

In regards to how volunteers will be organized; we are waiting for Phase 2 of the RSI website before we fully realize each branch (and potentially sub-branches). This will directly correlate to how volunteers will be organized within Auxilium along with finalizing how we use the "affiliate/primary" mechanic currently on the RSI website.

CSN: How are you planning to use this long waiting time until launch? Do you prepare in any special way for the PU?

Niko-Ranulf: In the Auxilium community we have a policy that states, which I'll paraphrase, "Real Life First, Always". With this, we encourage folks to just live life and come by when you can and play games with us when time allows it. The more active individuals in Auxilium are currently helping both our community and the ACC (Allied Commerce Coalition) in building weekly events within various games aside from Star Citizen, most notably Planetside 2. When 0.9 patch goes live, we will be redirecting a lot of that effort into developing weekly private-match practices dedicated to various different elements of Star Citizen (i.e. flying techniques, EVA practice sessions, team/squad building, etc). We will also be helping set up racing competitions within the ACC, as a few of us in Auxilium love us some racing action!

I'd say the most notable way we are preparing for the PU is simply having fun through the journey leading up to launch and taking one day at a time!

CSN: What could CIG do for you to help you be successful? What do you need in the Star Citizen universe?

Niko-Ranulf: I'm optimistic CIG is already working on this but for the sake of answering your question, a Cutlass SAR variant would help us get our fleet started with a basic load out to work off of.

CSN: How do you see your membership in the ACC, a mainly commercial alliance with profit representing an important part of their agenda?

Niko-Ranulf: In past Auxilium Staff Meetings we realized that eventually we would have to have a network of contacts for our volunteers to easily find jobs/quests outside of Auxilium. Around the same time that we were discussing this, our eyes fell upon the ACC. In our talks with them, they loved the idea of having an organization in their community, whose sole purpose was saving people. They also gladly welcomed the idea of the ACC being an optional point of contact for our current and future volunteers in regards to jobs, other playstyles, etc.

It goes without saying that Auxilium being a not-for-profit organization having membership status within a for-profit community of organizations looks a bit odd. We argue that, 'though The Auxilium Group as its own entity is not-for-profit, we believe we will have many affiliate and some primary members that will absolutely need the extra funds to simply keep themselves going in the PU. It would be an unrealistic expectation of ourselves to say, "Everyone in Auxilium, 24/7, is going to sacrifice in-game life, funds, and equipment! End of story!". Without the option of having the ACC as a point of contact, we felt we'd be saying exactly that.

The ACC is also planning to have very close relations with Auxilium by heavily supporting its operations. Some of the services that will be provided will be funding, repair, security, and lastly (and most importantly) a larger community of like-minded individuals to share the Star Citizen Experience with.

CSN: As truly neutral, wouldn't you have to rescue/give medical assistance to the Vanduul, too - for example during Operation Pitchfork?

Niko-Ranulf: Yes, actually we would be obligated to do so due to principles. I won't deny that individuals within the Auxilium community have varying degrees of views on the Vanduul. But we have agreed that if the opportunity arose, we would help a Vanduul. We'd probably make sure a lot more precautions than usual were put in place so we don't lose player lives to such a highly dangerous situation.

Through our words and actions, Auxilium strives to promote peace and the preservation of life no matter the species, affiliation, or situation.

See Also

Auxilium Org Page

Auxilium Org Web Site