I seem to be getting this error sometimes when trying to recruit from Earth
Unable to recruit: Cargo bay door malfunction
Always work on the second try though.
Update: actually I think I get this error if I press Enter after inserting a recruitment fee, but not if I click on the Recruit button. I'm not sure though.
Update2: this time I used Enter and it worked fine. Weird.
Also, why does the recruitment cost seem to increase (slightly) the more times I recruit?
Actually, you spend the same 20-30 seconds in the sector you died in (and can still chat for a little bit) before respawning on the station, so it's kinda consistent.
As soon as I got wrecked by an NPC, I refreshed and was immediately teleported to the nearest safe area. When I try to chat my message(s) appears in the safe area as opposed to the sector in which I got wrecked. There doesn't seem to be 20-30s here.