**>> SPYNET BULLETIN **>> EARTHDATE 95.01.14 **>> AN H-by-A SERVICE **>> Compiled by Hazed plus a team of specialist newsdroids **>> your news and gossip and get paid good groats! **>> MINI-PLANETS ARE GO! Mini-planets will be going into the game tomorrow, so Explorers will buy a ready-made planet rather than being forced to design one from scratch. Of course, the creative among you can still wipe out the mini and start over if you wish! There are six mini-planets currently available. If you type ORDER when in the Planet Shop on Mercury, you will see a catalog giving a brief description of the planets. If you want more information, you can take a look at the workbench files for each of the planets, which have been uploaded into the official Fed library on page 220 on GEnie, and the Fed database on Delphi. For each planet, you can see the complete workbench files, plus the result of running the planet through the checker. The mini-planets are flagged as "checked" so if you do not want to change them, you do not have to enter the workbench at all - you can go straight into the game and bring them online. **>> PAYING OUT REWARDS As we warned last week, negative rewards on mobiles will be paid out of the planet treasury, at the time of the mobile being killed. The cost of the reward is the same as it would be if the owner of the planet had placed the reward on the killer using the command - in other words, it could work out considerably more expensive than the actual reward you set in the workbench! We advise you to take a look at all your space mobiles and make sure you're not going to bankrupt yourselves. Would-be bounty hunters should note that if the planet's treasury has a negative balance, the reward on the killed mobile will not be paid out. The mobile will not appear on the list if the reward cannot be paid. If the treasury is positive, but does not have enough money to cover the reward, the bounty-hunter will be paid and the treasury will go negative. If you kill the mobile in your own star system, then the reward won't be placed on your head. As a consequence, there is no longer a cap on player rewards. They can now go right up to 2.1 gigagroats! And if you kill a player, you will now receive the reward on his, her or its head (or equivalent). **>> THE TUNGSTEN TOURIST TRAP TROPHY This posh-sounding item is what gets awarded to the planet-owner who clocks up the most tourist time on his, her or its planet each day. If you're on the game at Galactic Midnight (7.00pm eastern) you will hear the Galactic Administration announce the new holder of the trophy, and if you the planet in question, you'll be told that they have the trophy. As well as the kudos, the lucky PO gets 15 meg added to the planet treasury. **>> INCREASED LOCATION DESCRIPTIONS Due to Hazed being a wordy, verbose, overblown, verbally excessive kind of person, the TechDroid has been forced to increase the size of the description for locations. You can now have just over 1000 characters to describe each location in gushing detail. **>> OTHER CHANGES The display will show you the minimum wage on the planet. Factory owners will find this very useful! The tonnages shipped by Rich Persons will only be recorded at the rank of GM. So once you make GM, you will have to give out the necessary jobs, rather than doing the jobs before solving the puzzle. The tonnage required will also increase to 50,000 tons. **>> GOOD PUBLICITY AT ITS BEST It has been reported that Lorelei, the swell cookie, enjoys flaunting herself in every conceivable way in the public eye. She contacted her agent and her agent contacted a nice droid. We at H-by-A are happy to report (and happy about the significant bribe received) that not only is Lorelei a swell cookie, but she is now coupled with Starstrucker who appears to be a nifty guy! **>> BUG REPORT In the past few years, there has been but one bug in the galaxy, much to everyone's satisfaction. But the months have gone by, and there has not been a single insect to plague the crops of traders. There seems to be mixed feelings about this issue. Fastjack, a respected (or at least acknowledged) flyer in the spacelanes, has been heard demanding the return of Porcupine into that of a three sectioned, exo-skeletoned, triple-legged species! He has been seen carrying signs in front of CD's and causing quite a stir. Aren, envied owner of bayfulls stocked high with antique POD action figures, foamed at the mouth at the very idea of our spiny companion returning to any previous form she may have assumed in the past. "I have an invested interest in this!" When the rodent was asked what her preference was, she stated, "Well, the idea does appeal to me, but I am not sure if I want to be without a sex again. I have become fond of being female." **>> LOVERS, UP AND CONFESS! Two weeks ago we ran an article and it stated that Mosquito, lovely but dangerous wife of Wildstar, was occupied with several lovers. Much talk ensued until Mosquito herself came up to a newsdroid and demanded, with a knife, to know just who these lovers are. Apparently she always keeps the light off and doesn't see their faces! Newsdroids speculate that this is done to protect the lovers from Wildstar's volatile temper. Mosquito's lovers are asked to write to H-by-A and confess their identities. Top groats will be paid for any confessions! **>> CONFESS YOUR LOVERS! It seems that Mosquito is not the only one besought with the idea of taking up a paramour. This conversation was overheard recently: >Your comms unit crackles with a message from Dierdre, 'Ok, everybody tb me who you think mine is :)' >Your comms unit crackles with a message from Tofer, 'Your what?' >Your comms unit crackles with a message from Porcupine, ' Who her lover is, Tofer!' >Your comms unit crackles with a message from Dierdre, 'Tis possible, Lore :)' >Your comms unit crackles with a message from Dierdre, '::giggles::' One could only gather that Lorelei guessed at least one of Dierdre's current lovers! **>> AN ALTERNATIVE TO SUICIDE It is not unheard of that when people get over distraught, helplessly lost, or tired of it all that they pull out their army knives and make that fatal slash down the wrist. This often causes unwanted messes, headaches, and gossip to spring up. There has been, for a while, an alternative to this nasty way of killing yourself. Yes, that's right, Tisnar! Tisnar is offering a special deal on deaths with an invigorating new view. This is what the owner of Tisnar has to say when talking to a newsdroid earlier this week: 'I even saw the news refer to my planet as a death-trap! It's not a death-trap, is a convenient suicide stop for players bored with their swiss army knives.' There you have it, an easy alternative for those creative-challenged suicide victims! **>> A *NEW* DON JUAN IN FED... It would seem that Lord Instill Verellon of Diamond has replaced Jordan as the Don Juan of the galaxy. In the past month, Instill has dumped his beloved fiancee, Lorelei, in order to present a sapphire rose to the lovely Starre, stealing her affection from JP Capt. That romance was short-lived, however, as Instill was seen dumping Starre in the street outside of CD's and immediately running to newcomer Beauty, seducing her away from the renowned ladykiller, Fastjack. Does Beauty know that Instill has also been chasing after Rhiannon for the past several weeks, offering to buy the seductive trader a spybeam? Or that he was observed chatting with the dearly departed Delilah, who promptly committed double-suicide because Instill was unable to choose between her and Beauty? Beware, Beauty...you may be the only love of Instill's heart at the moment, but watch out lest any new female names appear, and his long deadly spear, Evebringer, pierce YOUR tender heart as it has the hearts of countless beautiful women of Federation. **>> VISIT THE TWILIGHT ZONE, JUST DON'T DRINK THE WATER Ukla, High Priest of the Winslow, has ordered a full investigation into the disturbing tales of Yak Mutilation which have surfaced recently. The investigative team has failed to produce any public accusations, but that hasn't stopped this newsdroid from interviewing a 'reliable source' within the investigative team. Apparently, the Yaks were left in the care of a young follower of the Winslow. Exhaustive interviews by investigators reveal a bewildering tale of aliens and interstellar intrigue. The shepherd responsible for the Yaks swears that they were in good health and prospering, when on a clear night a large craft shimmered into existence. Moments later a cadre of Martians emerged, and according to our young believer, the Martians crated the beasts, gelded them, and then left as mysteriously as they came. This newsdroid has been told the investigation is now focusing on a possible LCP-Martian conspiracy. It's unclear why the Martians would ally with the LCP, but representatives of the Winslow have been quick to point out that the prosperity of the Winslow may be the only way for the LCP or the Martians to survive. An anonymous clergyman explained it this way, 'In the future the Winslow is obviously too much for them, so they've returned to the past, hoping to discredit us now and change history.' A persistent rumor exists that not all investigators believe this explanation. This newsdroid has learned that at least one investigator has a more mundane explanation, believing instead that these events are the work of a hallucinogen introduced into the Winslow Water Supply by agents of the LCP or perhaps one of their Dragoons. **>> THINKING WITHOUT A PERMIT After our recent report on the possibility of a sinister force confiscating the minds of Dukes upon their marriage, our newsdroid team managed to catch up with Nocturne, wife of Senator Nightstalker. When questioned about the Senator's brain, Nocturne looked up from the plans for her new planet with a very blank expression on her face and asked 'his what?' Our newsdroid repeated the question, where upon Nocturne summoned her personal assistant, and we were ushered out of Nocturne's office. After a long wait, Nocturne's personal assistant returned with this statement: After reviewing her pre- and post-nuptial agreements with then Duke Nightstalker, Nocturne wishes to deny any and all knowledge of the whereabouts' of Nightstalker's mind; the contracts did not specify that a mind was supposed to be included with the body and therefore she cannot be held responsible for goods that she never received. Dierdre, Duchess-Consort of Duke Budwarp voiced similar sentiments when contacted by our newsdroid team upon the status of the mind that rules Epini, stating with dawning recognition, 'oh... so THAT'S why he's always asking ME everything...' **>> SPYNET REVIEW Alas, poor Merchant Delilah, who went dead-dead by her own hand. RIP. Congratulations to everyone who was promoted during the past week. The new Adventurers and Adventureuses were Beauty, Roger, Seamus and Mikey. Beauty and Byterunner were admitted to the Traders Guild. Zaknafein was promoted to Merchant. The fiendish GM puzzle was cracked by Fastjack. Well done! Benson and Trista advanced their planets, Musica and Bliss respectively, to mining level, thus promoting to Thane. **>> 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. The current Federation Game Hosts are: Freya, Porcupine, Grannie, Sparky, Zzzax, Geezer, Magneto, Syfari and Goblin. Their function is to answer questions, help new players get started, and make fun things happen. In the event of a problem or question, you can: * talk to Hazed or one of the Game Hosts in the game * a message to Hazed * send mail on your host system to the Federation team: on GEnie, mail FEDII.2 or use the option on the main Fed page on Delphi, mail FED2 or use the option on the main Fed page on Cris, mail FEDERATION2 You can buy a copy of the very excellent Idiot's Guide to Federation for the paltry sum of $15.95. On GEnie, type ORDER from any main menu page. **>> BULLETIN ENDS