**>> SPYNET BULLETIN **>> EARTHDATE 92.03.22 **>> AN H-by-A SERVICE **>> SOAPBOX CORNER As you probably know, Hazed is still in Washington scrubbing floors and washing dishes at the Crowne Plaza to help pay for the damage caused by last weekend's Fed UnConvention. In her absence it has fallen to the SpyNet Sport to provide the news this week. Lovers of fine journalism may wish to stop reading! **>> NEW THIS WEEK The command now tells you the system in which the wantee is currently skulking (or obviously, in the case of mobiles, in which they always skulk). Just think how much you could save on with a mere 1 groat reward! Planet owners should have known for some time that they were going to lose their factories unless they sold them. Well, it's finally happened. If you own a planet you will find that your factories are no longer loaded when you log on. Of course, this means that as well as being unusable they are unsellable, but that's the cut-and-thrust of planetary economics for you. Finally this week, following a directive from the Galactic Administration's Department for the Prevention of Huge Piles, the stock on hand held by a factory cannot exceed 150 tons. Previously if you set up a pipeline to another factory and the goods could not be delivered, the stock in hand would just keep growing until it was the size of a small asteroid. What happens now is that, once it reaches the 150t level, the stock in hand is delivered to the warehouse in a single lump. All subsequent output is then directed to the warehouse in 75t lumps as normal. **>> PLANET NEWS There are two new planets for you to explore, trade and die on. First up is Zippo's Oppiz, about which he says: "I got my planet today! It's called Oppiz and is a ski resort. My events are all reversed, but movement tables are all ok. If the new version is not in by this weekend, can you please advise the Sunday news reader to stay in the town? I'll let you know of any changes. "Oppiz's orbit and link are the same location. Exchange and bar will be open while repairs are being done on the planet. From landing pad, exchange is e,s,e. Bar is e,s,s,w." As it happens, the revised version is in so feel free to roam around. The other new body in the heavens is Xixax, about which we know nothing at all. A fat-bottomed spokesthing for the Galactic Administration's Department of Planetary Construction said, "Ermm... well it might be Destiny's." **>> PROMOTION NEWS Congratulations and a great big sloppy girlie kiss from the Vile Cryptosporidium go to Blindman who rose to the dizzy heights of Merchantdom, and Darknight who became a JourneyPerson. Anyone else promoted this week gets a free lesson in how to send Feedback to Federation! **>> THE UNCONVENTION UNREPORT It has been said in the past that reports of Fed get-togethers have been boring and predictable, consisting only of a list of people who attended and saying how drunk they got. So, following in a long-standing SpyNet Sport tradition, there will be no report on the Fed UnConvention (yes, we know Hazed said last week that there would be one, but she wasn't feeling herself at the time (and no, we're not going to tell you who she was feeling)). Besides, the SpyNet Sport's fearless Blob-on-the-Wall investigative journalism team spent the whole time demonstrating how H-by-A came by their name, and can't possibly be relied upon to give an accurate report of events (even taking into account the SpyNet Sport's somewhat liberal interpretation of the word 'accurate'). **>> SOAPBOX CORNER II On the subject of accuracy, it has been bought to our attention that a previous edition of the SpyNet Sport contained a FACT! (Gasp! Shock Horror!) We would naturally like to apologise for allowing our standards to fall so low, but we are unable to print a full retraction of the offending article because Galauriel has threatened to take a feather duster to us. We'll just have to wait until she isn't looking.... **>> A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS Those jolly nice people at H-by-A have asked us to mention that the Third Edition of the truly wonderful Idiot's Guide to Federation has finally been completed and should be available Real Soon Now. So... We'd just like to mention that the Third Edition of the truly wonderful Idiot's Guide to Federation has finally been completed and should be available Real Soon Now. Stay tuned for more details! **>> TYPO OF THE WEEK This little gem was leaked to us by our mole in the Galactic Administration's Department of TYPO Messages: "How come if the road goes from the W to the SE, I can't go East?" Answers on the back of a Luncheon Voucher please! **>> 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 by typing ORDER at any GEnie menu. Cost - a mere $12.95. Federation has several category 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 Krell (Mail ID: K.HILLYER). There are also categories for Explorers and for the Conclave; these are run by Occy (Mail ID: OCPAC) and Oddball (Mail ID: D.STALZLE) respectively. The MPGames RT also has a Federation library in the files area, Library 5. Library 18 holds the Federation News Archives. **>> BULLETIN ENDS