Flying Carpet... In Combat?

[Kudaku]

Our group has recently picked up a flying carpet for the very first time, and the wording is a little confusing. A carpet of flying has a 40 foot movement speed, and is activated with a command word (a standard action). Once it's been activated, it's then "controlled by spoken directions".

Full writeup can be found here.

Assuming it's been activated, what kind of action is it to control the carpet?

Can the carpet hustle, take double moves or make 5-foot-steps?

How does the action economy work when there are multiple people riding on it? Can one character pilot the carpet into position and another take a full round attack when they arrive?

Is it treated as a mount, an attended item, or something else entirely?

[My Self]

No idea.

[Kudaku]

My Self wrote:

No idea.

Thanks for trying anyway, and +1 for posting OotS! :)

[Forseti]

The one time I've seen it used in play, the carpet did all the flying, making the fly skill checks with a +5 (not very good).

We had someone "control" it through free action speaking.

[Jaswinder Aniljit]

It's frustrating how unclear this item is.

I bought the 10'x5' version, spending an inordinate amount of my PFS wealth on it, and half of the GMs I've had basically rule that it doesn't work.

I wish you the best of luck. I asked this question before (my comments can be found here), and did a pretty thorough search of the forums seeking an answer, and few people have come to a consensus.

[Matthew Downie]

Standard action command word to activate the carpet. After that the one who activated it makes the fly checks (or it can make them on its own at +5 fly skill if the pilot gets off). The pilot can command it verbally as a free action - but only verbally, and the GM decides what it does based on those commands. It moves on the pilot's turn. It's not a mount, so there's no rule saying you can't make full-attacks after it moves. Equally, you couldn't use it for a ride-by attack or getting extra damage on a lance charge.

Just my opinion of course.

[Byakko]

While it is a bit unclear, here are my thoughts:

Assuming it's been activated, what kind of action is it to control the carpet?
"The carpet is then controlled by spoken directions." Speaking is normally a free action so it shouldn't consume any of your actions to do so. Interestingly, this would mean you would be unable to move it should you be unable to speak. However, if you are riding it, you still may need to wait a move action's worth of time in order for it to actually travel.

Can the carpet hustle, take double moves or make 5-foot-steps?
Magic carpets are not creatures and thus don't have an action economy. Nevertheless, I feel it's intended and reasonable to allow it to double move and make 5' steps.
On the other hand, I'd probably rule that magic items cannot hustle as they are not creatures. This is partially because hustling normally requires a creature to overly strain themselves and take nonlethal damage and become fatigued, something which isn't applicable to non-creatures.
The speed of the carpet also is set in the item's description, and my take on it is that these are fixed values. Yes, this would also mean I wouldn't allow "running" on a carpet either.

How does the action economy work when there are multiple people riding on it? Can one character pilot the carpet into position and another take a full round attack when they arrive?
The individual who originally activated the carpet is the only one who can direct it using verbal commands. While it doesn't explicitly explain how this works, I would require the expenditure of a move action to have it move its 40', and if the carpet 5' steps it consumes the owner's 5' step for the turn as well. This is similar to how your move actions get consumed if you're riding a mount - while you may not be taking move actions, per sey, you still have to wait a move action's worth of time for the carpet to move.
I would suggest reading Ultimate Combat's section on vehicular combat. While most of the rules don't apply to a carpet, it does give some guidance on how this type of situation should be handled.
For example, "A vehicle moves on its driver’s initiative." Thus, I would also have the carpet move on its owner's initiative, which would indeed allow your allies to get full attacks. If a GM has an issue with this, showing him the vehicular combat rules which allow exactly this tactic with non-magical vehicles should hopefully mollify him. (or her)

Is it treated as a mount, an attended item, or something else entirely?
A flying carpet is not a mount. It's probably safe to treat is as an attended magic item, as long as you are physically on it.