**>> SPYNET BULLETIN **>> EARTHDATE 91.06.07 **>> AN H-by-A SERVICE **>> ANNOUNCING THE GALACTIC NICE-THING AWARDS In a shameless attempt to clean up the sordid image of space, the Galactic Administration has announced the ultimate contest to prove that decency, clean living and moral fibre still exist in the cosmos. $200 of free connect time must be won in the mega "Galactic Nice-Thing Awards". All players are eligible to win prizes in the no-holds-barred grapple to be Federation's favourite personality. Here's how the contest will work. Commanders, Captains and Adventurers will vote for the higher-level player (trader or above) that they think should win the Galactic Nice-Thing Award. They will cast their vote using the "Feedback" option on the main Fed menu. The message must include: * their Fed persona * their rank * the name and rank of the person they are voting for Votes can be cast at any time up to the close of the competition, but only the first vote received from a person will count - you can't change your mind! The higher-level players should, of course, feel free to canvas for votes using whatever methods they see fit. After the contest has closed, the judges will tally the votes. The player with the highest number of votes will be awarded the title "Galactic Nice-Thing", and will win $50 free connect time. The names of all those who voted for the winner will be put in a hat, and one name drawn out. That person will also win $50 free connect time. A second prize of $30 connect time, and a third prize of $20 connect time, will be awarded to the two players who receive the next largest shares of the votes, and the names of those who voted for the runners-up will also be put in a draw, the winning names to receive similar amounts. The contest will run until midnight (EST) on Saturday June 15th. A grand award ceremony will be held in Fed Data Space on Sunday June 16th at 6.00 pm (EST). **>> EARLY NEWS This was going to be a special newsflash, giving you the information about the Galactic Nice-Thing Awards, but having cranked the newsdroids up for that we decided to go the whole hog and do a fullblown edition of the news a few days early. **>> MODIFICATIONS Our Illustrious Leader is continuing to tidy up planets, as well as turning her thoughts towards planetary economies, but she has also found time to make a few changes, fix a few problems, and add some new features. All these changes are being tested at the moment, and hopefully the new version will go in today (Friday); otherwise, expect to see them on Monday. Remember we mentioned the bug in the new command that meant you couldn't buy anyone a drink if it had the word "to" in it? Bella did attempt to explain the reason to us; it was something to do with the fact that and both get interpreted the same way by the parser. Or something. Well, Bella fixed that. Unfortunately, her fix messed up something else - and no-one could give objects to other players! That has now been fixed, and it appears that this fix hasn't had any other unforeseen effects. While looking at this, Bella also made the command a bit more intelligent. It can now tell the difference between a vowel and a consonant, and will substitute "an" for "a" appropriately. **>> CHANGES TO MILKRUN JOBS Milk run jobs have always been badly paid, because they were so easy, and the larger your ship the less profitable they seemed to be. Fuel costs rose, but you were receiving the same payment. Not any more. The Galactic Administration has decreed that the larger your ship, the larger the cargo you will be asked to carry, and therefore the more you will get paid. It has also increased the time allowed for milk run jobs, so now there should be no jobs that cannot be done in the time allowed. **>> GAMBLING SERVICE EXTENDED Poor People have been able to gamble their trader points on the roulette wheel in Chez Diesel for some time, and now Rich People can use it too. If you place a bet of more than 100, the croupier will assume you are gambling groats. At last, a chance for Traders and above to lose their shirts! The house limit is 2 megagroats per bet. In addition, the other customers in Chez Diesel will be able to watch the gamblers, and will be told how much they have bet and whether they win or lose. **>> NEW FACTORY COMMAND CEO's now have a new variation of the command. You can set your factory to or . If you set to shutdown, then when you leave Fed Data Space your factory will cease production, but will not lose any accumulated FTUs. Setting to production makes the factory run as it always has done - producing until it runs out of accumulated FTUs, or until the game is shut down. This new option will provide factory owners with much more flexibility in running their businesses. **>> POST A NOTICE A new features arrives in Fed Data Space: a noticeboard system linking the bars together. You can post a notice on the board by typing followed by the message you want to leave, up to 150 characters long. It will instantly be transferred to the noticeboards in all the other bars, and will be available for patrons to read straight away. To read the noticeboard, type . The noticeboard holds 10 messages, and acts as a carousel - when the 11th message is posted, the 1st message drops off to make room. Messages are cleared each time the game is reset. **>> ADVERTISEMENT CORNER ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | | ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!! ALL TRADERS AND BELOW!!!!!!! | | Whenever I am online, there is a standing 50000 groat reward | | for any Trader, Adventurer, Captain, or Commander who Makes | | a GOOD spot on the Pegasus for me. | | | | There is also a standing reward of 7000 IG for anyone who | | spots the Pirate for me. | | | | The first ACCURATE call that I recieve will recieve the | | Reward..... | | | | Thank you for your help! | | | | Wesley Crusher | | Captain of THE | | Enterprise | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- **>> PROMOTIONS NEWS We've had a lot of new captains this week: Krell, Norbert, Microtech, Wanderer and Sheller are the names we spotted on the SpyNet Review. Congratulations to you, and to anyone whose name we missed seeing. Kord made Adventurer, and Crusher (Acting Ensign Wesley) made Trader. Don't forget to mail us if you would like your promotion to be included in the news. **>>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, 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 the new MPGames RT. To get there, type M1045,1 from any menu prompt and SET category 14. The Federation II Leader in the bulletin board is Occy (Mail ID: OCPAC). Topic 1 of the Fed category contains the Federation II policy statement. The MPGames RT also has a Federation II library in the files area, Library 5. **>> BULLETIN ENDS