**>> SPYNET BULLETIN **>> EARTHDATE 91.01.20 **>> AN H-by-A SERVICE **>> RUSS IS DEAD! LONG LIVE RUSS! The fiendish GM puzzle has claimed yet another fatality. In his rush to solve the tricky conundrum, poor Russ neglected to reinsure and killed himself dead- dead. He has returned and is already a Trader again - and this time, he double-checks that he is insured before he sets foot out of Chez Diesel! Russ has been trying to convince the Galactic Administration that he should be reinstated - well, doesn't everyone? He claims that there is an error in the documentation which caused his death. When questioned further, he stated that "the documentation fails to warn against attempting anything risky when over- tired." Good excuse... but not quite good enough! Those jolly nice H-by-A people, purveyors of the finest documentation known to man, woman, or thingkind, were not at all amused by this slur on their fine manual. Their comment: "So sue us!" **>> FACTORY DELAY Remember our stern warnings in last week's news about the limit on the number of factories you would be able to own? Remember how we advised you all to rush out and sell all your excess property before it vanished into thin air? Well, you've all had a stay of execution. Our Illustrious Leader wishes to test the new code thoroughly before she inflicts it upon you, so the limitations won't be going in just yet. However, they will appear sometime in the next two to three weeks. We'll put a large warning message up on the front door to Fed a few days before the axe falls. **>> THE EXPLORER'S WORKBENCH Here is some news for very very very rich people. The Explorer's Workbench is now available! This is the set of tools that Explorers use to build their own planet. At the moment, only the tools relating to Locations are available. More will be added as Bella writes them. Piemur is already hard at work uploading his planet locations - and swearing loudly as he keeps changing his mind about what he wants! As promised, those jolly nice H-by-A people have provided instructions on using the Explorer's Workbench; Topic 18 of the Fed BBS is where you'll find them. And, as so often happens, the instant they uploaded the docs, Our Illustrious Leader changed the way things works! So watch out for updates. If any of you have any questions about designing and building your planet, put them in the Fed BBS or mail us using the FEEDBACK option on the Fed front page. **>> PROMOTIONS NEWS Congratulations to Pumpkineater, who made Trader after an enormously long time at Adventurer. While not getting promoted, Pumpkin managed to rack up a network of well over 2 meg - surely a record for Adventurers! He also managed to appear top of the Levels list in all the ranks he passed through on his way to Trader. Kevin has become a JP, just fourteen days after he was promoted to Merchant. That's not a record, but it is still good going. Otoole is trying the JP puzzle. After his meteoric rise through the previous ranks, he was confident that the puzzle would give him little trouble - but is finding that it's not as easy as it seemed! He has managed to blow up the Martian Ruins several times, killing hordes of Poor People who had agreed to help him. Occy is almost a GM. At least, she's been saying she's going to try the puzzle for several days now, but so far she has managed to find excuses to put off the moment. Could it be that she is scared? If she is, she's extremely sensible! Occy is also Head of the Conclave at the moment, for what it's worth, which, let's face it, isn't much. I mean, really, no-one pays you any respect, these young players, they don't appreciate the importance of being polite to their elders and betters, they whizz up through the ranks without so much as a by- your-leave, treading on our toes, elbowing us out of the way... Oh god, someone throw a bucket of water over that news-droid, its brain has got stuck again! **>> ASSASSIN! Speaking of uppity young Commanders, there are many ways for Rich People to put them in their place. The obvious way is to lure them into space and then shoot them. But there are more subtle methods of killing someone. These all fall under the heading "Assassination". We refuse to give the game away by explaining some of the methods we have discovered to assassinate annoying new players. You'll just have to discover them for yourself! The most recent victim of assassination is Sheila. She wandered around Fed Data Space for some weeks with a mood which proclaimed she was "Stuck up because she's the best". Such arrogance in a new player could not go unpunished, and Piemur gathered together a few colleagues to try to teach her a lesson. His well-coordinated plan was a success, and Sheila woke up in hospital. **>> STRANGE AND AMY, PART II Last week we reported on Strangestorm and Amytodd being surprised in the midst of a secret love tryst. We've been hearing more rumours about their steamy love affair. One eye-witness said they were "taking the phrase Adult Space Fantasy to new heights!" We'll keep you posted on the progress of their relationship. **>>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, Cryptosporidium, Bella or Clem in the game * leave a message in the game log * send mail with the Federation Feedback option from the main menu You can order a copy of the unexpurgated printed Idiot's Guide to Federation II by typing ORDER at any GEnie menu. Cost - a mere $12.95. Federation II has a category in Scorpia's Games RT. To get there, type M805,1 from any menu prompt and SET category 29. The Scorpia RT also has a Federation II library in the files area, Library 22. **>> BULLETIN ENDS