We speak to Dr Arcanonn, the 'lead researcher' of the intersterallar research group.
1 – WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE CANONN GET UP TO? WHAT ARE THEY ALL ABOUT?
In addition to long debates about biscuits, we theorise and conduct research into the Unknown Artefact mystery, on a grand scale.
We have hundreds of CMDRs flying around the galaxy looking at places of interest, tracking down (and, ahem, occasionally pirating) suspicious NPC convoys, observing and recording UA behaviour, as well as securing our own home system. We want to be there as the mystery develops and want to ensure that humanity follows the ‘right path’ when the time comes.
We have also been investigating other mysteries, such as the disappearance of SS1 and the source of the Cerberus plague outbreak.
2 – WHAT IS YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN THE CANONN? WERE YOU THERE WHEN IT FIRST STARTED OUT?
I am technically the lead researcher for the group, however, my council makes most of the decisions for me now, whilst I eat biscuits.
Luckily they still seem to listen to me when I say something, but to be honest I do a lot of nodding and appearing to mull things over… In truth I’m just waiting to get back to the soft play area I’ve had installed in the lab using the donations from the members.
Some say that it was me who started the whole thing, and I must confess I sometimes look at myself in the mirror and say ‘I never asked to be a celebrity, leader of an interstellar organisation, or de-facto ruler of an entire planetary system, but I’ll take it!’
3 – HOW DID THE CANONN FIRST GET STARTED?
I put up an innocent post about a possible correlation between Soontill Relics and Michael Brookes’ endless proclamations of ‘SoonTM’. The subject of UAs cropped up, and was initially thought to be a hoax, but this changed when Michael posted in the thread the, now legendary, question ‘have you listened to them?’
The hunt was on and, when CMDR RedWizzard finally found and secured one, we really listened to it.
Days of observations, recordings, speculation and tens of theories later, a hidden morse message was found within the Unknown Artefact sound.
Eventually I pulled together a team to start posting to Galnet. This required a group name and, after much discussion, ‘The Canonn’ was chosen. From there, it’s just snowballed.
4 – WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CANONN’S MOST INTERESTING MOMENTS/PROUDEST ACHIEVEMENTS?
The recent Educating Ed live stream was fantastic and is attracting more scientists to us, and to the mystery, daily. Reaching the thread limit on the Forums three times is pretty huge, too (now over 30k posts total). Also, we were recently mentioned on an official Galnet, which was a nice surprise, if slightly scary!
In terms of the UA mystery, and these aren’t all exclusively Canonn achievements, but, finding the Morse code, figuring out the encoded ship images and discovering the ‘UA Shell’ around Merope are probably the biggest so far.
CMDR RedWizzard, who captured the first UA, also wanted to add:
“On a personal note, the fight to liberate that first UA from the convoy was epic and meeting up with more than a dozen other Cmdrs to do the first listening test was amazing. The whole thing is probably the most exhilarating gaming experience I’ve ever had.”
5 – HOW CAN PEOPLE GET INVOLVED WITH THE CANONN?
Jump into the thread (search ‘UAs Barnacles’ on the Frontier Forums) and join up on the website at http://canonn.science.
Everyone is welcome, and it doesn’t matter if you’re already involved with other groups. Whatever your play style, the Canonn will have something for you!
6 – WHY DO YOU DEDICATE SO MUCH OF YOUR TIME TO THE ELITE DANGEROUS COMMUNITY?
The Canonn was really a community effort from day one, and the number of CMDRs involved has ballooned over that time. The camaraderie and cooperation is unlike anything I’ve experienced in a game before, and it really enriches the experience on a daily basis. Elite fans really are ‘elite’ fans!
7 – HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING ELITE FOR?
Since ’84, of course!
8 – WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE CANONN WITH HORIZONS OUT NOW?
Our (virtual) Capital Ship, the RSV Gnosis, is in the seemingly very special Merope system with as many CMDRs as possible to conduct a deep scientific survey of all its airless planets & moons, in our shiny new SRVs. Initially we were looking for anything we could find – and now we’re looking for Barnacles!
Rest assured - we will leave no stone unturned – if there’s something unusual or ‘unknown’ to be found down there – we will find it!
9 – DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO TELL THE ELITE COMMUNITY ABOUT?
To those CMDRs who are still not sure about joining a player group because they fear it will stop them being able to follow their own path: The Canonn won’t tell you how to play, and won’t be offended if you want to go and do your own thing. It’s all about fun, science, biscuits and cooperation for us, and we’d be honoured to have you on board! Science is everywhere in Elite Dangerous – you just have to look for it!