**>> SPYNET BULLETIN **>> EARTHDATE 93.08.15 **>> AN H-by-A SERVICE **>> Compiled by Hazed plus a team of specialist newsdroids **>> your news and gossip and get paid good groats! **>> BACK TO NORMAL Or maybe we mean back to abnormal? Now the Fed free weekend is over, all the new players can see what the game is like under more usual circumstances, with all the player-planets in the game. Today's RTC in the MPGames conference will be especially for Beginners to ask all those questions that are confusing them - its at 3.00 eastern. MPGames is on page 1045. **>> DID YOU KNOW...? With the influx of new players from the free weekend, it's probably time to remind you of some of the more obscure features in Fed, by asking the question: Did You Know...? * that you can slide down the bannisters in the mansion on Earth? * that you can make the shuttle on Venus move by typing ? * that you can kiss or grope people from within your ship, if they are in the same sector as you? * that you can become an instant Emperor with the command? * that you can look at your spaceship from anywhere in the game, and at anyone else's if they are berthed in the same place as yours? Well, you do now! **>> WRITE YOU A PLANET, GUV? Not everyone is the creative type that enjoys the challenge of designing a planet for Fed. Some struggle along anyway, and produce a mediocre planet; others just don't bother. But it doesn't have to be like this. If Explorers are having difficulty writing a planet, they can get someone else to help them. Bella can link one person's workbench files to another person's, so a friend can look over your planet before it's linked into the game - or even write the whole thing for you! There is one planet in the game at the moment where both the full and mini version were wholly written by a different player. (Discretion forbids us from naming names... but we do accept bribes.) Also, remember that you do not have to write an enormous planet with lots of locations. How well you manage the economy of the planet has absolutely nothing to do with how pretty it is, or how many locations it has, and although you need to attract visitors to your planet to get the necessary player-minutes for your promotion to Thane, there are other ways to encourage visitors - throwing parties, for example! If you need some help writing a planet, ask for help in the Explorers' Category of the MPGames BBS. **>> ASHES TO ASHES We've been talking to the newly re-incarnated Gemini, to find out what caused her tragic death last week. Seems she was careless using the barbells; her exertions weakened her so much she died once, but instead of re-insuring she rushed back to continue her weight training, and overstrained herself. Result: one dead-dead Gemini! Far be it from us to mock someone who dies using those damn barbells. After all, our beloved Editrix once went dead-dead in exactly the same way, in her previous life as Pugwash! And even she didn't get reinstated... so all those who called for Gemini to be restored ought to know better. **>> DUST TO DUST The week saw two more notable dead-deaths. Justy committed suicide after the free weekend, in protest at a high-ranking player spying on him while he was in the throes of passion with Marcia. Seems to us that if he was bothered by prying eyes, he should have gone to Sams! Then Barberousse went dead-dead while fighting customs ships in Arena space. He says he was insured; Bella is going to look at the logs and see what they tell us. It's worth reminding you what happens when a planet-owner dies dead-dead. Provided they come back into the game, their planet will stick around for people to trade on. However, they won't be able to run the planet. Once they advance back to Explorer, they are automatically bumped up to the level they were when they died. For most planet-owners, climbing back to Explorer can be done very fast, using knowledge gained first time round, and the help of friends. **>> AN ANONYMOUS TIP-OFF We received a phone-call at the H-by-A office from an anonymous caller. We don't even know if they were male or female, since they were obviously using a voice synthesiser to disguise their identity. However, we know they must have been at least a Squire, since they talked about spying on someone who's an Explorer now... They told us that Maxwell is still a vampire, they had seen the proof over their spybeam. We wanted to question them further about exactly what they had seen - had Maxwell been drinking blood, stalking virgins, running away from garlic, or what? - but they disconnected without saying any more. So, Max, is it true? Are you still a creature of the night? The public has a right to know! **>> PLANETS AND DUCHIES An apology is due to Oxcart, because we reported last week that he had left the Duchy of Scadia and joined the Duchy of Ocean. We were half-right: he did secede from Scadia, but he joined Krell's Gotham instead. We offer our sincere aplogies to Oxcart, for the mental anguish caused by our inaccurate reporting. We would like to present to him, as a small compensation, this paperweight made out of the remains of the newsdroid whose sloppy research was the cause of our error. Meanwhile, Condor's planet Rookery and Marcia's Roissy have both advanced to Mining level due to the new promotion rules that reduce the cost for those with a large number of player-minutes. They will be producing mini-versions of their planets soon. **>> SPYNET REVIEW This review contains the tail-end of the free weekend, hence the large number of low ranking promotions. Congratulations to everyone who was promoted. The week's new Captains were Kooijosh, Seargant, Bent, Eridan, Ferdinand, Flabjam, Stella, Velop, Tonyq, Amigan, Jonathan, Billy, Ake, Gator, Bandar, Dragon, What, Warrl, Alex, Tosagore, Whitedove, Monomo, Arieth, Guyver, Bobert, Redwing, Barberousse (back from the dead) and Bellandy. The Adventurers and Adventureuses were Pouncer, Joyrider, Icepirate, Seargant, Tim, Vak, Race, Skurge, Matbar, Gator, Bert, Verthandi, Cinderella, Whitedove and Sagen. The following people became Traders: Vak, Etius, Pouncer, Tc, Sauron, Azure, Darkness, Skurge, Icepirate and Bonker. Xxyl, Caryna, Panther and Budman were promoted to Merchant. Killeshandra and Jarrepole cracked the awesome JP puzzle. The fiendish GM puzzle proved no match for Dyars, Ramius or Zan. Tao, Dyars and Ramius made Explorer. We look forward to seeing planets from them soon. Marcia and Condor were promoted to Thane as their planet advanced to mining level. A lot of new companies were floated, and the following all became CEOs: Ishmee - Kaniption, Inc. Chainsaw - Kieri's Kreations. Razor - Distance Star. Maniac - Windy Gates Industries. Killeshandra - Yvellian Naval Trading Co. Dyars - Black Water Inc. Xxyl - Xxyl's Really Wild Stuff. Caryna - French Lace. Panther - Fat Cat Industries. Budman - Avian Enterprises. **>> CONTACTS The following information will appear at the end of every News Bulletin, so you don't have to read it if you already know it. In the event of a problem or question, you can: * talk to Hazed or Bella in the game * a message to Hazed or Bella * send GEnie mail with the Mail about Federation option from the main menu A front-end terminal program is available for Federation, for the PC and the Amiga. You can download a copy of FedTerm from the Federation libraries (option 3 on the main Fed page). You can order a copy of the unexpurgated printed Idiot's Guide to Federation by typing ORDER at any GEnie menu. Cost - a mere $12.95. (New edition will be-available shortly!) Federation has several categories in the new MPGames RT. To get there, type M1045,1 from any menu prompt and SET category 13 (for information, instructions, questions and answers) or 14 (for general chat and discussions). The Federation Leader in the bulletin board is Oxcart (Mail ID: J.LONG29). There are also private categories for Explorers, run by Krell (Mail ID: J.HILLYER), and for the Senate, run by Oddball (Mail ID: D.STALZLE). The MPGames RT also has a Federation library in the files area, Library 5. Library 18 holds the Federation News Archives. **>> BULLETIN ENDS