THE MONTH IN BRIEF
Fed II officially launched as planned on July 18 with a massive party on the roof garden at Chez Diesel. There was a big parade which the assembled guests cheered as it progressed past, and a spectacular firework display. Diesel also allowed a portal to a special tour of the Solar System to be added to her bar, allowing those that were new to Fed II DataSpace to get a taste of what can be found on some of the Sol planets.
The Fed II player database underwent the great purge, so that all Fed II characters which were not members of the Alpha Crew (that is, those with an active classic Fed subscription) were wiped. Just under 600 characters were removed, which freed up a whole lot of names!
As the new game launched, so the old Federation Chronicle was renamed and relaunched as the Fed II Star. This rebranding redefined the corporate identity paradigm, and was the result of months of work by a dedicated strategy boutique who interviewed focus groups and held brain-storming power-brunches before coming up with this re-energizing of the concept, which highlights the vibrant new direction of the concept of delivering news and information. The synergy created by this re-imagining pushed back the frontier as we moved forward into a brand new universe. Oh yes.
In other words, no real change to the content, just a new logo and a new look. Typical rebranding - all style and no substance... Rumors that the newsdroids were being outsourced to a private organization run from a small ice-chunk in the Oort Cloud on the farthest reaches of the Solar System turned out not to be true.
Actually, there was a change to the content of the news: the focus was primarily on Fed II, as the name change indicates.
As the game launched, several new planets were added to the Solar System: Phobos, Rhea, Brass, The Lattice and Sumatra.
What didn't launch was the credit card facility which allowed you to subscribe to Fed II, because the credit card bureau didn't get their stuff done on time. This did not stop anyone from playing the game using a trial account, but it did mean players could not promote to Trader without us temporarily marking their accounts as subscribed, even though they were not!
On the web site, the Fed II Hall of Fame (and Shame) was started to record notable feats and records, as well as things players did that they would rather forget, at http://www.ibgames.net/fed2/info/fame.html.
CUSTOMS PATROLS COMMENCE IN FED II SOL SPACE
The Galactic Administration has always liked to keep tight control over the activities of the inhabitants of the Solar System, and in particular it doesn't trust those who choose to flit about from planet to planet. It has been worried about the rise in smuggling of illicit goods, particularly from the unregulated asteroid belt.
To combat this surge in unlawful shipping, it has given the Fed II Imperial Customs Service a massive boost in funds and instructed them to step up their activities in Sol Space. Ships will now be subject to occasional interceptions by a customs cutter, which will escort them to a quiet part of the Interplanetary Wastes to conduct a thorough search of the vessels.
While the ICS takes the apprehension of smugglers very seriously, it is aware that law-abiding haulers could be inconvenienced by these searches. It will therefore very generously top up the fuel tanks of those vessels involved, and furthermore if the ship is carrying cargo for Armstrong Cuthbert, the ICS will contact AC and make sure extra time is available for completion of the contract.
At a press conference announcing this new initiative, a spokesthing for the ICS stated, "I just want to clear up one thing. There have been ugly rumours about how the customs cutters decide which ships to intercept. These rumours are false - the selection of targets is completely random, and all ships have an equal chance of being stopped and searched. It is just not true that vessels with alien crews are more likely to be targetted."
The Fed II Star is quite sure that this is true!
Meanwhile, some haulers actually enjoy the unexpected excursions to the remote reaches of Sol Space, as evidenced by this:
Customs is harassing me and I LIKE IT! Buddy has just arrived.
DOING THE DANCE OF DEATH - ALONE!
Way, way back in the mists of time... well a few months ago, anyway... there was no death in Fed II. Happy little children could dance into the radioactive rooms on Titan and emerge unscathed, parties were held on the surface of the sun (even a wedding!) and the room in the altar in the Martian Ruins was a popular trysting place for young lovers.
And then the grim reaper arrived and put a stop to all that frivolity, as death locations were turned on.
Just before the skull-faced man in black showed up like the party pooper he is, the follow command was added to the game, to allow a leader to tow a party of his friends around. At that time, the Fed Chronicle said:
Once death locations are in Fed II, you will be relieved to know that it will not be possible for a deranged leader to drag his followers along with him to a spectacular death - the group will be broken if he tries that!
Well, it turned out that the reaperman was more cunning than we thought, and in fact had ensured that followers would be dragged to death. This was only realised very recently, following an unfortunate incident with a cult leader and his impressionable flock.
So now the death locations have been cult-leader-proofed, and the above statement really is true - groups are broken when the leader waltzes into somewhere deadly! Try it, you'll see. Go on - it's perfectly safe, honest. Would I lie to you? Trust me, I'm a demi-goddess!
FROM THE POSTBAG: CONFUSION ABOUT DUCHY BANS
An email relating to classic Fed landed on the doormat of the new Fed II Star offices. The subject: one of the most controversial, and hated, subjects in the game - duchy bans. Not an issue that troubles Fed II yet, there being no player planets, but one that still stirs people in the old universe.
The question asks:
Can a ban from a duchy be enforced when you are at war with that duchy?
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: In game terms, there is no such thing as a war between duchies. There are no commands that relate to duchy wars, there's nothing that affects the way you play or run your duchy. Sure, in social terms you can declare war on another duchy, and in the past a great deal of fun was had when duchies decided to wage economic warfare against each other, but there is no such state recognised by the game as "being at war".
A Duke's right to ban anybody she likes, for any reason, or for no reason at all, stands no matter what.
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