SMR Newsletter #8

Newsletter #8

Good day everyone!
We hope everyone is having a great summer time! Here are the lastest
news in Space Merchant Realm's universe

--------------The end of Swingline (8)-------------------
As many heard, the game Swingline will end 1 week earlier than whats
written in the game description, meaning 3rd of July. Therefore, we
invite each of you to spend you last credits into huge ships to have a
great end of game! The early ending of the main game will allow every
player to test the new combat and plot course code. This will be done on
main server in a semi-war type of game.This semi-war will allow a heavy
testing of the code. As a player you should not experience any
difference in the code. If you do find a bug, we ask you to report it
immediately to any administrator you can find. Please remember this is
still a test for next game so there might be bugs! You should also note
that the stats will be restored after the semi-war, so there is no need
to send mass e-mails about the stats going up during the semi-war! So
the semi-war games will run for 1 full week, unless major problems
occur. After that period, you will all be able to experience the new
game on 10th of July! New game will be created sometime soon and will
look some what like present game but have improvements a map will be
shown a few days before game time. Also the alliance limit will be
raised back up to 30 so make sure you are ready.
Please join us at http://www.smrealms.de

~SMR ADMINS

SMR Newsletter #7

Newsletter #7

Wrapping up
-----------
Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to the Space Merchant Realms community (very belated I know)! The Strip just wrapped up and we on the admin team would like to thank all who participated actively in it and made it the fun game that it was; The Strip was our first game in a while with over 1000 traders in it! Also congratulations to Boss Hogg (Anxiety) who finished #1 for total experience AND total kills! 


Ongoing and Upcoming
--------------------
Can-O-Sardines is now open as a week long speed game as a New Years gift to you guys and as time for us to prepare the up and coming regular game that is scheduled to start on 1/10/2005 12:00:00 AM server time (5 PM Central Standard Time); until then, enjoy Can-O-Sardines (I dare you to try and get your turns to 0). 


For the Future
--------------
The Space Merchant Realms administration team has decided that AFTER the NEXT regular game the alliance member cap will be lowered to 20 members, this is an experiment because many members of the community has expressed an interest in the idea and we think that it could be beneficial to the game. 


How to contact us
-----------------
Remember to come into #SMR through mIRC (irc.VJTD3.com) or through the in-game applet to discuss the game or just chit chat with fellow SMR players. Also remember to read the webboard to see whats happening with the game or to voice your opinion; remember, you can't complain about what's going on with the game if you aren't voicing your opinion. The webboard has also been a little revamped and different layout themes have been added (my personal favorite is Solaris) as well as a Flaming Board (fun!). The webboard can be found at http://smrcnn.smrealms.de 


Help us growing
---------------
Keep voting for Space Merchant Realms on www.MPOGD.com everyday! Every vote counts and for every week that we finish in the top 10 everyone is awarded with 5 hours of free turns! Now give me one good reason why you wouldn't vote! 


New Admin
---------
We would also like welcome Siege to the Space Merchant Realms administration team; he will be starting off by mostly handling account problems and complaints. Any problems with closed accounts should be sent tomulti@smrealms.de and will be taken care of ASAP.



SMR Staff

SMR Newsletter #6

Newsletter #6

Hello to everyone! You are receiving this newsletter because you are currently a member of the online game Space Merchant Realms (http://www.smrealms.de). As the current round comes to an end the SMR Admin team has some important announcements to make (and some not so important ones too!). 

Congrats to.... 

SMR is entering its 3rd year as an online game. 
Anxiety for Winning the Login screen contest. 
MrSpock for winning the Current Sector screen contest. 
Joni for taking 2nd place in both the CS and Login screen contest. 


Librium Ends 
------------
The current round of SMR (Librium) is coming to an end on Sunday October 17th at midnight server time. At this time a new "Special" Game will be opening. 


"Special" Game 
--------------
On Sunday at midnight server time (when Monday is about to start) a Semi Wars game will be opened until Wednesday. On Wednesday a Race Wars game will be opened until Friday when a final Semi Wars game will be opened. These games will run while the newest normal round of SMR is built. Read on for info about Semi Wars. 


Semi Wars 
---------
Semi Wars is a special game built into SMR where every player in the game starts with a Galactic Semi for their ship and a Newbie Pulse laser for their weapon. The point of this game is nothing except to blow up the guy next to you. There is no trading, no planets, no money (needed), no nothing except fighting. The only ship you can get is the Galactic Semi, and the only weapon is the Newbie Pulse Laser. 


Race Wars 
---------
When you join the game you are put into a random race. You and your race mates must try to destroy the other teams bases (VERY high level planets). If you lose your planet your out of the game. Last race alive wins.


SMR Admin Activity 
------------------
As you will possibly notice (and possibly have already noticed) the bulk of the SMR Admin team is stopping production on SMR1 (the current SMR Version). The reason for this is so that the Admin team can concentrate on making SMR2 (See below for details) the best that it possibly can be! Some SMR Admins will still stick around to regulate SMR1 but our main efforts are focused elsewhere. 


SMR2 
----
SMR2 is the newest version of SMR (Formerly referred to as SMR Alpha). 
We aren't releasing a lot of details about SMR2 just yet, but here is what we have currently released at different times. 
* New Interface. SMR2 will feature a brand new interface (check out the webboard (http://smrcnn.smrealms.de) for the current plans) 
* Customizable Interface. This has not yet been fully determined but so far we plan on allowing players to choose from a variety of SMR interfaces (these interfaces will be setup by the admins).
* New Base Code. This new base code will allow SMR2 to run with script runtime much faster than the current SMR1 base code. 
* New features. Currently the SMR2 team is talking about MANY new features. Rest assured we will work as hard as we can to maintain balance in the game. 
* Deeper Role-playing 
* More ways to enjoy SMR 
* More will be released as we decide what we are going to go. 

SMR2 will enter closed Alpha testing and major coding starting next week. 
Currently we plan on releasing SMR2 into beta testing (we have not decided if this will be open or closed beta) around Christmas. 
SMR2 will remain in beta until we can confirm that everything is balanced. 

Currently Alpha testing is closed and testers are selected by invitation ONLY. Please do not send us applications for Alpha testing... sorry you'll have to wait until around Christmas and try to get on the beta team. I hope to see lots of good testers there. 

Q: It sounds like SMR2 is a big change...when SMR2 comes out will SMR1 stick around? 
A: Currently we plan on only leaving SMR2 running after it is released. Therefore SMR1 will not remain running.


SMR Staff 

SMR Newsletter #5

 Newsletter #5

Upcoming Game 
-------------- 
Its been a longer wait than normal for a new game to roll around but finally it is coming upon us. The new game is set to start on Sunday/Monday Midnight Central European Time. This is 6pm US EST, 3pm US PST on Sunday 6th June and 8am Australian EST on Monday 7th June. The new server has been up and running for a full game now and despite early problems causing a few short periods of downtime, it seems to be running nice and smoothly now. With the improved speed we can once again expect amazing performance even at the start of the game when some 100+ people are expected to launch onto the server as the new game begins. 


No Rush 
----------- 
Once again we would like to make sure you know if you can't make it to the start of the game (might be at a time you are sleeping) that it will not hinder you at all. You are able to join up to 24 hours late and you get the amount of turns you would have gotten if you joined on time. 


Admin Table 
----------- 
We have Admin table every second week at 11pm server time Sunday. It will be on this week before the new game starts to answer all your questions about new features, game speed and anything else you would like to know. Just join #table at 11pm server time on Sundays at irc.vjtd3.com 


SMR Credits 
-------------- 
For those of you unfamiliar with SMR Credits here is a quick rundown. SMR is a free game and will always be that way but as reward to people who donate, we've added a few features that they can spend credits on to make the game more fun. For each $1US you donate to the game we will give you 1 SMR Credit. You spend these credits at bars placed around the game universe where you can purchase ship names for 1 credit, ship names with HTML for 2 credits or as a new feature this game a ship tag (image) for 3 credits. You can also buy galaxy maps for 2 credits each or a ship system (News ticket, Scout ticker, or scout blocker) for 1 credit. To donate just click the on the game select screen located under the stats for previous games, or the ingame link on the left hand side of the screen to proceed to paypal to donate. If you don't have a credit card or other means of donating via paypal, but would still like to donate via cash, cheque or money order, contact the admins at support@smrealms.de or om chat and we'll work out a way for you to donate. 


New Features 
-------------- 
You can get a full list of new game feautres by logging into the beta server & clicking the version number (v1.1.1) but here is a list of the more significant additions/changes. 

Ship Changes 
Thevian Assault Craft dropped from 11 TPH to 10 TPH (Swapping speeds with the Thevian Carapace) 
Thevian Carapace increased from 10 TPH to 11TPH (Swapping speeds with the Thevian Assault Craft) 
Dark Mirage dropped from 10 TPH to 9 TPH (Can't be as fast as the Thevian Assault Craft but still second fastest Top racial) 
Human Border Cruiser added 50 mines, now was 150 (To promote it has the best miner in the game) 
Human Destroyer Changed from 850 shields/800 armour and 50 CD's to 750 shields/750 armour and 100 CD's (giving it the same defence but slightly more attack capabilities). 
Death Cruiser dropping the Drone Communication Scrambler (DCS) (The Death Cruiser was never intended to be a good ship to op in, its main role is as a hunter so we're returning it to its original state) 

Naming Ships 
You can now add Images instead of a ship name to your ship which can be 30x200 pixels and 20kb in size. This will cost you 3 SMR credits at any bar. Note that in your preferences you can turn off viewing other people's ship images for those of us on slower connections who don't want long loading times of ships while running around. But for normal broadband connections it will not slow you down as all images are kept on SMR's server. Also ship names will now appear in the news when you kill someone or when someone dies to a planet, port or forces. 

Alliance v Alliance Stats 
If you click on the ranking link on the left, then click on the Alliance rankings list you will see a new category called "Versus" which will show more detailed information on who each alliance has killed/died to. 

New Hall of Fame Categories 
More stats for everyone this game. We have added the Categories "Money Gained from Killing", "Cost of Ships Killed", "Cost of Ships Died In", "Mines Bought", "Combat Drones Bought", "Scout Drones", and "Forces Bought" to the Hall of Fame for all of you to view and ponder over. 

Updating Experience every 2 minutes 
To combat the rise in SMC hunting we've made it so that anywhere that shows experience will now update every 2 minutes instead of being real time. 

Other Features 
New features including a Refresh All button for forces, Sortable Current Players List, Message folders for Alliance and Admin messages, Change in how much money is given after a port raid, an independant hardware shop that sell the Drone Communication Scrambler and also the abillity to look at a persons ship name/image and current game/extended stats from the view player screen. 


Who are we? 
--------------- 
Space Merchant Realms is a game of skill, strategy, and role playing. Top rank isn't always determined by your skills at trading or fighting, but also by your ability to command, negotiate, and cooperate with your fellow alliance mates and other players. Those that can successfully do this can consider themselves some of the best players Space Merchant Realms has to offer. You can find us at http://www.smrealms.de/ on the web. 



SMR Staff 

SMR Newsletter #4

 Newsletter #4

Upcomming Game 
-------------- 
Space Merchant Realms is proud to announce that we were able to buy a 
new server from money donated by fellow players. Our biggest thanks goes 
to B.O.B. who supported us with a total amount of $1500! 
A brand new game is scheduled to start on Sunday/Monday midnight Central 
European time. That will be Sunday 6pm East Cost time or Sunday 3pm 
Pacific time. 
Once again we try to give you the best layout and best performance ever. 
First tests indicates a major speed improvement allowing for people of 
all connections to have a real chance at being fast. 


No Rush 
------- 
If you can't make it to game start (eg. it's in the middle of the night 
for you) thats not a problem at all! A while back we introduced a new 
feature that allows you to join up to 24 hours late and you get the 
amount of turns you would have gotten if you joined on time. 


Admin Table 
----------- 
We have Admin table every week at 10pm server time Sunday. There you 
will have a chance to ask everything you always wanted to know about the 
game straight from the Admins who make it. Just visit us at 10pm server 
on Sundays time at irc.vjtd3.com #table 


A Final Note 
------------ 
The recent beta games have been testing out new ship settings, but they 
are not nearly ready to be put into the real game, so old ship settings 
are still in affect for the new game. We still waiting on more input 
from the players. 


What are we? 
------------ 
Space Merchant Realms is a game of skill, strategy, and role playing. 
Top rank isn't always determined by your skills at trading or fighting, 
but also by your ability to command, negotiate, and cooperate with your 
fellow alliance mates and other players. Those that can successfully do 
this can consider themselves some of the best players Space Merchant 
Realms has to offer. You can find us at http://www.smrealms.de/ on the 
web. 



SMR Staff 


Disclaimer: You get this eMail because you registered an account with 
Space Merchant Realms under http://www.smrealms.de/. If you prefer not 
to receive any further eMails please send a note to support@smrealms.de 
and your account will be deactivated.

SMR Newsletter #3

 Newsletter #3

Notes from the Admin Team 


***We apologize for sending this newsletter out twice, however there was a correction that needed to be made.*** 


*First announcement: SMR is now running on a new server. However, we would like to see the donations continue to come in, since the goal is to have two servers running for the game -- the database on one, and the game on the other. 

*Secondly, many of you have heard that Manton has broached the idea of bringing back the old SM. A few people from the old crew have returned and are working on bringing the game back up. There is hope, and quite a possibility, for both games to co-exist peacefully together, especially for all the turn junkies out there who just can't get enough. For those of you that would like to read more about it, follow this link viewtopic.php?t=1875 and view the entire thread on the webboard. Keep checking the webboard for the latest developments! 

*New change: Creator's Hour will now be held every Sunday at midnight server time. To view the logs for the previous creator's hours, go to viewforum.php?f=19 



Upcoming Games 


Newbie Game 5 and Phoenix Legacy will be ending March 8, 2003. All games for the rest of the year can be found at http://www.smrealms.de/schedules.html 


Newbie Trader Hint #3: To raid a port or not... 

At some point in the game, the temptation may surface to raid a port instead of trading at it for money. Raiding is risky business and is not recommended to raid solo. Ports are heavily armed and shielded, and the larger the port, the more accurate their weapons will be. 

A level one port has 2000 Shields, 200 Combat Drones, and 2000 Armor, a level two port has 3000 Shields, 300 Combat Drones, and 3000 Armor, and so forth. 

The money you can gain from a successful port raid also varies. Ports that are heavily traded have the most money to gain, but these ports are also usually the level 8 and 9 ports, which makes them even more lethal. If you want to raid ports, it is best to have along several teammates. The more people attacking a port, the more the damage is spread out, increasing your chances of success. Level nine ports have the potential of taking out a ship on one attack, regardless of the number of people in sector attacking. 




Would you like to see the game improve, and the lag decrease? Donate today to help buy a new server. 

You can find us at http://www.smrealms.de/ 

Your Space Merchant Realms Team

SMR Newsletter #2

Newsletter #2

Page 1 of 1

[ 1 post ]

Previous topic | Next topic

Newsletter #2 

Author

Message

Nariis

Newsletter #2 Notes FROM the Admin Team  *After being absent for an extended period, we are happy to announce that Mouse has returned to the Admin team. Mouse's main duty will be the upcoming SMR Photo Profiles.  *What is this photo profile? Many of you may have noticed this link in game, although it is currently not working. In the next update, this link will allow you to post a picture and a brief profile of yourself for others to view and comment on. As with the chat and the webboard, there will be rules to the profile area as well. These rules will be posted soon for all to read.  *Please note that no Admin will ever ask you for your password. If someone tries to say they are an admin and ask for your password, DO NOT give it to them and immediately report them to the admins.  *To better address comments and concerns about the game, the staff will be holding a Creator's Hour once a week in a special room on the chat. This room will be moderated, and all player questions will be PMed to a designated Admin for the other Admins to answer. Creator's Hour will be held every Sunday at 9pm server time, though due to the holidays, the next CH will be after the first of the year.  ((Note added 2/12/03: CH is now every Sunday at midnight server time.))  Upcoming Games  Newbie Game 5 is scheduled to start January 5, 2003. This game will have a few minor additions to it, such as the photo profile.  Newbie Trader Hint #2: I'm Out of Newbie Turns, How Do I Log Out Safely  Once you use all of your initial 500 newbie turns, you only have two options with which to keep your trader safe while logged out of the game: Planets and Federal Protection.  Planets themselves are not that safe, especially at the beginning of a game. Even higher level planets later on in the game are not always safe havens, as a determined team can take down even the biggest planet. So, to be truly safe, Federal Protection beacons are a trader's best friend.  Now then, just because you are in a Fed zone does not mean you are automatically protected. The Federation will not protect any traders that have illegal goods on board their ship. So if you trade in slave, weapons, or narcotics, make sure your holds are empty of these items before logging off in Fed.  Another overlooked cause of death in Fed zones is your attack rating being higher than what your alignment will allow protection for. Here is a simple chart that outlines what your attack rating can be for each level of alignment:  If your alignment is +300 or higher, your attack rating can be 5/ in Fed Space.  If your alignment is between +150 to +299, your attack rating can be 4/.  If your alignment is between -149 to +149, your attack rating can be 3/.  If your alignment is between -150 to -299, your attack rating can be 2/.  If your alignment is -300 or lower, your attack rating can be 1/.  As you can tell, traders that have deputized are able to keep more weapons on board, while those traders that have joined the underground must sell off the majority of their weapons in ORDER to take advantage of Federal Protection. If you are in doubt as to whether or not you are protected, before logging out of the game, click on 'Trader' on the left side of your screen and CHECK your status. If you are protected, you will see a message letting you know that you are under Federal Protection. If not, double CHECK for illegal goods or too many weapons on your ship.  All of us here on the SMR Admin team wish you and your families a very happy and safe holiday season, and a very happy new year!  Would you like to see the game improve, and the lag decrease? Donate today to help buy a new server.  You can find us at http://www.smrealms.de/  Your Space Merchant Realms Team