From: http://mpogd.com/news/?ID=25
August 8, 2001
Merchant Empires at AdvancedPowers going strong
From MPOGD submit news page:
As those of you who have tried Merchant Empires know, the original ME site at merchantempires.net is no longer being run.
However, for all you ME fans out there, the OpenME community has taken over the project and continues to run a server at:
http://advancedpowers.com
this has both a stable game, and an unstable where new features are gradually being introduced.
OpenME is being actively developed by a core team of former players dedicated to improving and continuing the experience of Merchant Empires, at:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/openme
Also there is a Merchant Empires Players community website at:
http://meplayers.blackholed.com
Thomas Horsten
I have updated the MPOGD database to reflect these changes here.
Monday, September 30, 2013
MPOGD News: Merchant Empires: The Price of Power Launched
From: http://mpogd.com/news/?ID=1629
June 12, 2005
Merchant Empires: The Price of Power Launched
The AdvancedPowers development team launched a new round of Merchant Empires on Wednesday June 1st at www.advancedpowers.com.
The Price of Power, follows on the heels of Profit and Prey, the previous round of Merchant Empires that saw over five thousand people play the perennially Top-10* ranked online game (*as voted by gamers on numerous online gaming sites).
Merchant Empires is a free, browser based multi-player game of space exploration, trade and combat. Choose from one of five detailed races—the warrior Mawlor, the merchant K.E.A., the scientist Paragon, the secretive Xollian, or the insectoid Zyck’lirg. Explore a vast galaxy, with hundreds of star systems and thousands of planets. Build a base of operations; buy and sell over fifty different types of goods to create and control trade routes; establish a centre for scientific and weapons research. Pilot one of over one hundred ships in fleet warfare; co-ordinate attacks on rival bases; mine up space lanes; or prowl through deep space on the hunt for enemy warships. Play alone, or in alliances with up to one hundred other players. Be a trader, or a warrior. Build up your own small area, or be an empire-builder. Be a lone wolf, or be a Fleet Commander. Be the scum of the universe or a hero of the Empire…the Merchant Empires universe has it all.
Merchant Empires: The Price of Power. Are you willing to pay the Price of Power?
www.advancedpowers.com
June 12, 2005
Merchant Empires: The Price of Power Launched
The AdvancedPowers development team launched a new round of Merchant Empires on Wednesday June 1st at www.advancedpowers.com.
The Price of Power, follows on the heels of Profit and Prey, the previous round of Merchant Empires that saw over five thousand people play the perennially Top-10* ranked online game (*as voted by gamers on numerous online gaming sites).
Merchant Empires is a free, browser based multi-player game of space exploration, trade and combat. Choose from one of five detailed races—the warrior Mawlor, the merchant K.E.A., the scientist Paragon, the secretive Xollian, or the insectoid Zyck’lirg. Explore a vast galaxy, with hundreds of star systems and thousands of planets. Build a base of operations; buy and sell over fifty different types of goods to create and control trade routes; establish a centre for scientific and weapons research. Pilot one of over one hundred ships in fleet warfare; co-ordinate attacks on rival bases; mine up space lanes; or prowl through deep space on the hunt for enemy warships. Play alone, or in alliances with up to one hundred other players. Be a trader, or a warrior. Build up your own small area, or be an empire-builder. Be a lone wolf, or be a Fleet Commander. Be the scum of the universe or a hero of the Empire…the Merchant Empires universe has it all.
Merchant Empires: The Price of Power. Are you willing to pay the Price of Power?
www.advancedpowers.com
MPOGD News: Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey Launched
From: http://mpogd.com/news/?ID=1246
September 7, 2004
Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey Launched
The AdvancedPowers development team launched a new season of Merchant Empires on Monday, August 9th at www.merchantempires.com.
Profit & Prey, the new generation which has been in development for over a year, features an entirely re-designed and re-coded combat environment with greatly improved speed and playability; a re-designed interface; a restructured trade and economics system; an updated ship and weapons list; new scientific researches; revamped planetary structures and production features; new graphics and a brand new, integrated back-story detailing the Merchant Empires’ galaxy and its history.
With a mandate to update and improve the game in all areas, AdvancedPowers’ head Danny Froberg appointed Farid Khan Project Manager of Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey. Khan immediately went to work identifying all aspects of game play that needed attention, as well as the parts of the code base that needed re-writing—some of which was the original code from almost five years ago when ME was first created! One of Khan’s first acts was to appoint Justin Stedman as Lead Designer. With over fifteen years of experience with RPGs and a background in physics and mathematics Stedman oversaw the re-creation of virtually every formula and equation within the game, in an effort to create a consistency and unity within the game mechanics and to balance the many facets of game play within the Merchant Empires universe. Khan and Stedman joined Senior Developer LJC. van Riel, who had been working on re-designing the game’s non-combat aspects, such as trade, economics, research and construction, and was instrumental in pushing the game to new heights in these areas. New documentation was also a priority, to better help new players integrate into the game. New servers were also installed to increase the speed of the game as the number of users in the previous generation of Merchant Empires grew to over ten-thousand with nearly two-hundred online concurrently.
Merchant Empires is a free, browser based multi-player game of space exploration, trade and combat. Choose from one of five detailed races—the warrior Mawlor, the merchant K.E.A., the scientist Paragon, the secretive Xollian, or the insectoid Zyck’lirg. Explore a vast galaxy, with hundreds of star systems and thousands of planets. Build a base of operations; buy and sell almost fifty different types of goods to create and control trade routes; establish a centre for scientific and weapons research. Pilot one of almost one hundred ships in fleet warfare; co-ordinate attacks on rival bases; mine up space lanes; or prowl through deep space on the hunt for enemy warships. Play alone, or in alliances with up to one hundred other players. Be a trader, or a warrior. Build up your own small area, or be an empire-builder. Be a lone wolf, or be a Fleet Commander. Be the scum of the universe or a hero of the Empire…the Merchant Empires universe has it all.
Over the next few weeks, even more features will be added to finalize the code base, and to further help new players learn the game quickly.
Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey. Make a Profit . . . or be the Prey!
www.merchantempires.com.
Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey is an AdvancedPowers.com production.
September 7, 2004
Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey Launched
The AdvancedPowers development team launched a new season of Merchant Empires on Monday, August 9th at www.merchantempires.com.
Profit & Prey, the new generation which has been in development for over a year, features an entirely re-designed and re-coded combat environment with greatly improved speed and playability; a re-designed interface; a restructured trade and economics system; an updated ship and weapons list; new scientific researches; revamped planetary structures and production features; new graphics and a brand new, integrated back-story detailing the Merchant Empires’ galaxy and its history.
With a mandate to update and improve the game in all areas, AdvancedPowers’ head Danny Froberg appointed Farid Khan Project Manager of Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey. Khan immediately went to work identifying all aspects of game play that needed attention, as well as the parts of the code base that needed re-writing—some of which was the original code from almost five years ago when ME was first created! One of Khan’s first acts was to appoint Justin Stedman as Lead Designer. With over fifteen years of experience with RPGs and a background in physics and mathematics Stedman oversaw the re-creation of virtually every formula and equation within the game, in an effort to create a consistency and unity within the game mechanics and to balance the many facets of game play within the Merchant Empires universe. Khan and Stedman joined Senior Developer LJC. van Riel, who had been working on re-designing the game’s non-combat aspects, such as trade, economics, research and construction, and was instrumental in pushing the game to new heights in these areas. New documentation was also a priority, to better help new players integrate into the game. New servers were also installed to increase the speed of the game as the number of users in the previous generation of Merchant Empires grew to over ten-thousand with nearly two-hundred online concurrently.
Merchant Empires is a free, browser based multi-player game of space exploration, trade and combat. Choose from one of five detailed races—the warrior Mawlor, the merchant K.E.A., the scientist Paragon, the secretive Xollian, or the insectoid Zyck’lirg. Explore a vast galaxy, with hundreds of star systems and thousands of planets. Build a base of operations; buy and sell almost fifty different types of goods to create and control trade routes; establish a centre for scientific and weapons research. Pilot one of almost one hundred ships in fleet warfare; co-ordinate attacks on rival bases; mine up space lanes; or prowl through deep space on the hunt for enemy warships. Play alone, or in alliances with up to one hundred other players. Be a trader, or a warrior. Build up your own small area, or be an empire-builder. Be a lone wolf, or be a Fleet Commander. Be the scum of the universe or a hero of the Empire…the Merchant Empires universe has it all.
Over the next few weeks, even more features will be added to finalize the code base, and to further help new players learn the game quickly.
Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey. Make a Profit . . . or be the Prey!
www.merchantempires.com.
Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey is an AdvancedPowers.com production.
MPOGD News: Merchant Empires Restarts
From: http://mpogd.com/news/?ID=919
December 18, 2003
Merchant Empires Restarts
Popular turn-based space simulation Merchant Empires has reset with a plethora of new features. The official restart date is Dec. 19 for generation 4.5 of the game. After significant recoding and hardware upgrades, Merchant Empires aficionados are looking forward to a drastically redesigned interface and reduced lag.
December 18, 2003
Merchant Empires Restarts
Popular turn-based space simulation Merchant Empires has reset with a plethora of new features. The official restart date is Dec. 19 for generation 4.5 of the game. After significant recoding and hardware upgrades, Merchant Empires aficionados are looking forward to a drastically redesigned interface and reduced lag.
MPOGD News: Merchant Empires New Round
From: http://mpogd.com/news/?ID=912
December 16, 2003
Merchant Empires New Round
Merchant Empires new round will start on Friday, 19 December 2003. Merry Christmas from the Advancedpowers.com Staff. WizardOne, Ragnora, Hawklan and Carnaugh, among others, have put literally hundreds of man hours of work into getting things ready for the 4B release. We missed numerous internal deadlines but we're finally ready to commit a date to you the players.
Now is the time to purchase your gold memberships for the upcoming game and to contact old alliance mates and even enemies and let them know they should hurry back for a change to start at the beginning of Gen4b.
Enough babble here's some more specifics for you.
Max turns: 1500
Turns per Hour: 40
MPOGD Bonus turns: Up to 10 Per hour
Interest rate: .05% Variable (Yes we'll be varrying the interest rate to fine tune the economy)
Main Galaxy Size: 1000x1000, no walls, Solar System.
More Info at www.advancedpowers.com
Thanks Atlas, merroth
December 16, 2003
Merchant Empires New Round
Merchant Empires new round will start on Friday, 19 December 2003. Merry Christmas from the Advancedpowers.com Staff. WizardOne, Ragnora, Hawklan and Carnaugh, among others, have put literally hundreds of man hours of work into getting things ready for the 4B release. We missed numerous internal deadlines but we're finally ready to commit a date to you the players.
Now is the time to purchase your gold memberships for the upcoming game and to contact old alliance mates and even enemies and let them know they should hurry back for a change to start at the beginning of Gen4b.
Enough babble here's some more specifics for you.
Max turns: 1500
Turns per Hour: 40
MPOGD Bonus turns: Up to 10 Per hour
Interest rate: .05% Variable (Yes we'll be varrying the interest rate to fine tune the economy)
Main Galaxy Size: 1000x1000, no walls, Solar System.
More Info at www.advancedpowers.com
Thanks Atlas, merroth
Thursday, September 26, 2013
OMGN News: Merchant Empires Newsletter
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=2957&Offset=10&Order=asc&Game=42
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Merchant Empires Newsletter
A new round is set to start for Merchant Empires
By: OMGN | Newsletter | Game Data | 7:54pm, April 20, 2006
Unlimited Video Game Rentals - Start Now!
CAMBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM - Merchant Empires, a free, browser based multi-player game of space exploration, trade and combat, has recently sent out a new newsletter filled with various news and reports. Inside the newsletter, the Merchant Empires team discusses a new round, a change to the game with a new race, an emergence of a Hall of Fame, and a couple other tidbits.
A new round, entitled “Spoils of War,” will be starting on May 1. Between now and then, Merchant Empires is currently holding a “Havoc” time in which anyone is invited to take part in to test the upcoming changes and recent fixes in the game.
With the new round, a commonly known group of the game, K.E.A., will be implemented into the races in the game, and will now be known as the Vinoans. The reason behind this was the term K.E.A. was sounding too much like a guild to the game administration and players, and there was no desire to continue that association.
“The Price of Power” will be the first round to see statistics and scores implemented into a “Hall of Fame” for Merchant Empires. Later in the month of April, Merchant Empires' players will receive another email instructing you on how to set a ‘Hall of Fame Name’. This is the name that will be used to correlate all the players’ scores from the future rounds.
The other subjects touched on in the newsletter includes a note toward multiple accounts, and how to delete any extra account you may have by replying back to any game notices sent to an e-mail address with “DELETE” at the top of the body. There is also a note on bug reporting for those playing the game and/or testing it.
For more information on Merchant Empires, please visit www.merchantempires.com.
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Merchant Empires Newsletter
A new round is set to start for Merchant Empires
By: OMGN | Newsletter | Game Data | 7:54pm, April 20, 2006
Unlimited Video Game Rentals - Start Now!
CAMBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM - Merchant Empires, a free, browser based multi-player game of space exploration, trade and combat, has recently sent out a new newsletter filled with various news and reports. Inside the newsletter, the Merchant Empires team discusses a new round, a change to the game with a new race, an emergence of a Hall of Fame, and a couple other tidbits.
A new round, entitled “Spoils of War,” will be starting on May 1. Between now and then, Merchant Empires is currently holding a “Havoc” time in which anyone is invited to take part in to test the upcoming changes and recent fixes in the game.
With the new round, a commonly known group of the game, K.E.A., will be implemented into the races in the game, and will now be known as the Vinoans. The reason behind this was the term K.E.A. was sounding too much like a guild to the game administration and players, and there was no desire to continue that association.
“The Price of Power” will be the first round to see statistics and scores implemented into a “Hall of Fame” for Merchant Empires. Later in the month of April, Merchant Empires' players will receive another email instructing you on how to set a ‘Hall of Fame Name’. This is the name that will be used to correlate all the players’ scores from the future rounds.
The other subjects touched on in the newsletter includes a note toward multiple accounts, and how to delete any extra account you may have by replying back to any game notices sent to an e-mail address with “DELETE” at the top of the body. There is also a note on bug reporting for those playing the game and/or testing it.
For more information on Merchant Empires, please visit www.merchantempires.com.
OMGN News: Press Release on New Merch.Empires Game
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=2069&Offset=10&Order=asc&Game=42
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Press Release on New Merch.Empires Game
By: Charles Rector | Game Announcement | Game Data | 5:21am, August 20, 2004
From: public.relations@advancedpowers.com
MERCHANT EMPIRES: PROFIT & PREY LAUNCHED
The AdvancedPowers development team launched a new season of Merchant Empires on Monday, August 9th at http://www.merchantempires.com
Profit & Prey, the new generation which has been in development for over a year, features an entirely re-designed and re-coded combat environment with greatly improved speed and playability; a re-designed interface; a restructured trade and economics system; an updated ship and weapons list; new scientific researches; revamped planetary structures and production features; new graphics and a brand new, integrated back-story detailing the Merchant Empires’ galaxy and its history.
With a mandate to update and improve the game in all areas, AdvancedPowers’ head Danny Froberg appointed Farid Khan Project Manager of Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey. Khan immediately went to work identifying all aspects of game play that needed attention, as well as the parts of the code base that needed re-writing—some of which was the original code from almost five years ago when ME was first created! One of Khan’s first acts was to appoint Justin Stedman as Lead Designer. With over fifteen years of experience with RPGs and a background in physics and mathematics Stedman oversaw the re-creation of virtually every formula and equation within the game, in an effort to create a consistency and unity within the game mechanics and to balance the many facets of game play within the Merchant Empires universe. Khan and Stedman joined Senior Developer LJC. van Riel, who had been working on re-designing the game’s non-combat aspects, such as trade, economics, research and construction, and was instrumental in pushing the game to new heights in these areas. New documentation was also a priority, to better help new players integrate into the game. New servers were also installed to increase the speed of the game as the number of users in the previous generation of Merchant Empires grew to over ten-thousand with nearly two-hundred online concurrently.
Merchant Empires is a free, browser based multi-player game of space exploration, trade and combat. Choose from one of five detailed races—the warrior Mawlor, the merchant K.E.A., the scientist Paragon, the secretive Xollian, or the insectoid Zyck’lirg. Explore a vast galaxy, with hundreds of star systems and thousands of planets. Build a base of operations; buy and sell almost fifty different types of goods to create and control trade routes; establish a centre for scientific and weapons research. Pilot one of almost one hundred ships in fleet warfare; co-ordinate attacks on rival bases; mine up space lanes; or prowl through deep space on the hunt for enemy warships. Play alone, or in alliances with up to one hundred other players. Be a trader, or a warrior. Build up your own small area, or be an empire-builder. Be a lone wolf, or be a Fleet Commander. Be the scum of the universe or a hero of the Empire…the Merchant Empires universe has it all.
Over the next few weeks, even more features will be added to finalize the code base, and to further help new players learn the game quickly.
Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey. Make a Profit . . . or be the Prey!
http://www.merchantempires.com
Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey is an AdvancedPowers.com production.
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Press Release on New Merch.Empires Game
By: Charles Rector | Game Announcement | Game Data | 5:21am, August 20, 2004
From: public.relations@advancedpowers.com
MERCHANT EMPIRES: PROFIT & PREY LAUNCHED
The AdvancedPowers development team launched a new season of Merchant Empires on Monday, August 9th at http://www.merchantempires.com
Profit & Prey, the new generation which has been in development for over a year, features an entirely re-designed and re-coded combat environment with greatly improved speed and playability; a re-designed interface; a restructured trade and economics system; an updated ship and weapons list; new scientific researches; revamped planetary structures and production features; new graphics and a brand new, integrated back-story detailing the Merchant Empires’ galaxy and its history.
With a mandate to update and improve the game in all areas, AdvancedPowers’ head Danny Froberg appointed Farid Khan Project Manager of Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey. Khan immediately went to work identifying all aspects of game play that needed attention, as well as the parts of the code base that needed re-writing—some of which was the original code from almost five years ago when ME was first created! One of Khan’s first acts was to appoint Justin Stedman as Lead Designer. With over fifteen years of experience with RPGs and a background in physics and mathematics Stedman oversaw the re-creation of virtually every formula and equation within the game, in an effort to create a consistency and unity within the game mechanics and to balance the many facets of game play within the Merchant Empires universe. Khan and Stedman joined Senior Developer LJC. van Riel, who had been working on re-designing the game’s non-combat aspects, such as trade, economics, research and construction, and was instrumental in pushing the game to new heights in these areas. New documentation was also a priority, to better help new players integrate into the game. New servers were also installed to increase the speed of the game as the number of users in the previous generation of Merchant Empires grew to over ten-thousand with nearly two-hundred online concurrently.
Merchant Empires is a free, browser based multi-player game of space exploration, trade and combat. Choose from one of five detailed races—the warrior Mawlor, the merchant K.E.A., the scientist Paragon, the secretive Xollian, or the insectoid Zyck’lirg. Explore a vast galaxy, with hundreds of star systems and thousands of planets. Build a base of operations; buy and sell almost fifty different types of goods to create and control trade routes; establish a centre for scientific and weapons research. Pilot one of almost one hundred ships in fleet warfare; co-ordinate attacks on rival bases; mine up space lanes; or prowl through deep space on the hunt for enemy warships. Play alone, or in alliances with up to one hundred other players. Be a trader, or a warrior. Build up your own small area, or be an empire-builder. Be a lone wolf, or be a Fleet Commander. Be the scum of the universe or a hero of the Empire…the Merchant Empires universe has it all.
Over the next few weeks, even more features will be added to finalize the code base, and to further help new players learn the game quickly.
Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey. Make a Profit . . . or be the Prey!
http://www.merchantempires.com
Merchant Empires: Profit & Prey is an AdvancedPowers.com production.
OMGN New Merchant Empires Season
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=2039&Offset=10&Order=asc&Game=42
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New Merchant Empires Season
By: Robert F. Ludwick | Game News | Game Data | 4:36pm, August 9, 2004
After much bug fixing and play testing, a full generation of Merchant Empires has just been launched. The game has been enhanced and redesigned in order to give every one a chance, including players using Dial Up connections. With the new code, the game also runs much faster, making building your empire and combat alot faster and easier.
The new season can be found at http://www.advancedpowers.com/
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New Merchant Empires Season
By: Robert F. Ludwick | Game News | Game Data | 4:36pm, August 9, 2004
After much bug fixing and play testing, a full generation of Merchant Empires has just been launched. The game has been enhanced and redesigned in order to give every one a chance, including players using Dial Up connections. With the new code, the game also runs much faster, making building your empire and combat alot faster and easier.
The new season can be found at http://www.advancedpowers.com/
OMGN News: New Round of Merchant Empires Launched
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=1717&Offset=10&Order=asc&Game=42
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New Round of Merchant Empires Launched
By: Charles Rector | Game Update | Game Data | 8:57pm, April 3, 2004
From the Merchant Empires Front Page :
Latest News
29 Mar 2004 02:00 - 4.6G launched!
And there was much rejoicing.. After a weekend of hard work, the Devteam and Admins have brought you the next round of the game - this must be the fastest reset in ME history. We now have a smaller galaxy (200x200) set up for intense action over the coming weeks. Quickly, go and PLAY!26 Mar 2004 00:00 - 4.5G is over, let the mayhem begin!
Ok so 4.5G wasn't the smooth ride we'd all been hoping for. Xxx happens. Now, we're going to perfect large galaxies gameplay and the new Galaxy Generator. This will take some time. In the mean time, we'll present you with short, approximately monthly games in a smaller setting - 4.6G. This should be fun, we trust it will be and we hope you'll enjoy it! The new round is set to start on Sunday the 28th of March.19 Dec 2003 00:00 - Welcome to Generation 4.5
Gentlemen. Start your Engines! and enjoy! PLAY!06 Dec 2003 22:30 - Recommendation
In view of the upcomming release of ME 4.5 we wanted to recommend a very nice browser for you guys that works extreemely well with our game, it's the Mozilla Firebird 0.7 get it (here). 01 Dec 2003 04:21 - ME 4.5 Weapons list Released
Enjoy it (here). 30 Nov 2003 06:30 - New Application Server
We have now installed the first in a series of Dual Xeon Application servers to better handle the upcomming launch of ME 4.5, this coupled with the new database server gives us high hopes of handling some quite massive combat sittuations without lag.22 Nov 2003 06:25 - ME 4.5 Shiplist Released
Enjoy it here (Ship List) more information will be released in the next few days. 19 Nov 2003 20:55 - A Fundraiser Push!
We're pushing to raise funds for the (New System) or parts of it to see if we can get it up for the launch of version 4.5, please consider buying some memberships or send a few bucks our way using the donations link at the bottom of the about page. All help is appreciated!
And no the memberships dont start untill you activate them in the game, so you can keep them indefinitely. 19 Oct 2003 00:00 - New Forum!
A new, and much improved forum has been setup. Check it out.11 Oct 2003 23:59 - POD(ed by) The Admins Day Ends Round 4
GAME OVER! Thank you everyone for an excellent finale of the 4th round of ME, this PAD was loads of fun. Keep an eye on this page for updates on the upcoming 4½ round.10 Oct 2003 00:00 - Merchant Empires Gen 4 Round Ends
This 6 month game ends at Oct 10th and is directly followed by the Pod The Admins Day before the launch of Gen 4½. This ½ game will contain a number of tweaks and improvements that will make the game more enjoyable and ballanced and also gives us the needed time to complete the Gen 5 that has some major system overhauls and a horde of new features.23 Sep 2003 14:00 - AP IRC Server Down
The official IRC server irc.associatedpowers.com is down due to a power outage in Copenhagen, where the server is located. Read more on CNN. We expect the server to return to service shortly after power is restored.23 Sep 2003 13:42 - Merchant Empires Store Update
New items available in the Online Shop.
OMGN News: New Merchant Empires Round
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=1512&Offset=10&Order=asc&Game=42
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New Merchant Empires Round
By: Robert F. Ludwick | Other | Game Data | 9:24am, December 18, 2003
Merchant Empires new round will start on Friday, 19 December 2003. Merry Christmas from the Advancedpowers.com Staff. WizardOne, Ragnora, Hawklan and Carnaugh, among others, have put literally hundreds of man hours of work into getting things ready for the 4B release. We missed numerous internal deadlines but we're finally ready to commit a date to you the players.
Now is the time to purchase your gold memberships for the upcoming game and to contact old alliance mates and even enemies and let them know they should hurry back for a change to start at the beginning of Gen4b.
Enough babble here's some more specifics for you.
Max turns: 1500
Turns per Hour: 40
MPOGD Bonus turns: Up to 10 Per hour
Interest rate: .05% Variable (Yes we'll be varrying the interest rate to fine tune the economy)
Main Galaxy Size: 1000x1000, no walls, Solar System.
More Info at www.advancedpowers.com
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New Merchant Empires Round
By: Robert F. Ludwick | Other | Game Data | 9:24am, December 18, 2003
Merchant Empires new round will start on Friday, 19 December 2003. Merry Christmas from the Advancedpowers.com Staff. WizardOne, Ragnora, Hawklan and Carnaugh, among others, have put literally hundreds of man hours of work into getting things ready for the 4B release. We missed numerous internal deadlines but we're finally ready to commit a date to you the players.
Now is the time to purchase your gold memberships for the upcoming game and to contact old alliance mates and even enemies and let them know they should hurry back for a change to start at the beginning of Gen4b.
Enough babble here's some more specifics for you.
Max turns: 1500
Turns per Hour: 40
MPOGD Bonus turns: Up to 10 Per hour
Interest rate: .05% Variable (Yes we'll be varrying the interest rate to fine tune the economy)
Main Galaxy Size: 1000x1000, no walls, Solar System.
More Info at www.advancedpowers.com
OMGN News: Merchant Empires Hacked
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=1096&Offset=10&Order=asc&Game=42
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Merchant Empires Hacked
By: OMGN | Other | Game Data | 2:55pm, August 2, 2003
Posted from official Merchant Empires chat:
"Crackers bring Merchant Empires down, after hacking into the main server. This will be fully investigated and reported to the authorities. Please have patience, we will be back up. Database server is not affected and we have full backups. All paying members will have their time extended with the downtime."
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Merchant Empires Hacked
By: OMGN | Other | Game Data | 2:55pm, August 2, 2003
Posted from official Merchant Empires chat:
"Crackers bring Merchant Empires down, after hacking into the main server. This will be fully investigated and reported to the authorities. Please have patience, we will be back up. Database server is not affected and we have full backups. All paying members will have their time extended with the downtime."
OMGN News: To-Be clan to infest.
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=559&Offset=10&Order=asc&Game=42
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To-Be clan to infest.
By: OMGN | Other | Game Data | 5:50pm, April 18, 2003
Straight from the clan website:
4/18/03 Well boys and girls, we found a brand new game. Merchant Empires (To-Be father), we hear it had a new operator and has potential and will sent in the A-Team to scope it out and it was a success, we will start the infestation soon. A, B, and D teams you know who your are... let's go To-Be let's rock.
-DoomRetard
A comment DoomRetard e-mailed me:
"We are currently recruiting new members for 'Preperation-H' Group to infest Merchant Empires, please ask users interested to e-mail me at doomretard@american-league.org"
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To-Be clan to infest.
By: OMGN | Other | Game Data | 5:50pm, April 18, 2003
Straight from the clan website:
4/18/03 Well boys and girls, we found a brand new game. Merchant Empires (To-Be father), we hear it had a new operator and has potential and will sent in the A-Team to scope it out and it was a success, we will start the infestation soon. A, B, and D teams you know who your are... let's go To-Be let's rock.
-DoomRetard
A comment DoomRetard e-mailed me:
"We are currently recruiting new members for 'Preperation-H' Group to infest Merchant Empires, please ask users interested to e-mail me at doomretard@american-league.org"
OMGN News: Merchant Empires Updates
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=356&Offset=0&Order=asc&Game=42
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Merchant Empires Updates
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 3:55pm, March 17, 2003
The following News relating to Merchant Empires comes from the ME fansite Merchant Information Empires! :
Headlines
•Admins should deserve Respect! (WizardOne too)
•ME 4th generation new features/changes
•Future of AAME?
•Fix for Lag?
•Welcome to MIE!
MIE
•Staff
Interact
•Forums
•Chat
Guides
•Thauglors Survival Guide
Game Information
•The Ships
•Base Busting
•Galaxies Layout
•ME 4th generation new features/changes
Races
•Xollian Mantis
•Paragon Elect
•Mawlor Royal Guard
•(K.E.A)
•Zyck’lirg Hordes
Admins should deserve Respect! (WizardOne too)
[ViriiK | Comments (2) | March 14, 2003, 10:42 am]
Okay. I myself kind of get annoyed by one or two admins being in the opposite side.. Heck does that bother me? No, why. They want to have fun as we all do. Does that mean they want to cheat to benefit themselves making the opposite party suck? No! Why? Here's the concept, Big bad boy doing all he wants picking on kids he thinks are playing with him. Those kids going to stick around him any longer? Heck no! Same with Merchant Empires
I've been here for Three Generations (Late in the Second Generation of this game) Here's my observation and it's quite positive.
WizardOne on the other hand is special. Our God of Merchant Empires, the judge, jury, and executioner. He can single-handly terminate Merchant Empires if you keep pushing the "WARNING: DO NOT PUSH" Button. Accusation blah blah blah gets thrown out of proportion and people get affected. Third Generation, *shudder*, I do not want to be reminded of. I apologize to FTV for accusing them of mine exploit which I had little pointers. Gwalahad and another person I forget talking about it were the ones I had record of talking about how to do it. They confessed and was forgiven by admins. I still kept up my anti-FTV campaign for no reason at all. Why? They were my enemy, plain and simple. Of course, they probably were just too damn good at what they did. Since we all know they got Sandman, Carnaugh, and Hawklan who have probably outlasted us all playing this game and know it good (Sorry for those I missed, just making examples). WizardOne gets my #1 Admin of the Game :) (Should I say Developer or what rather if you disagree with me saying admin?)
Other great admins for example:
Middy: Guy I don't know well. But heck he's done good things for us. Market I think :) and of course been an admin hearing our ranting of what we want in the game. Now that's quite the challenge :)
ChrisN: Bright 18 year kid who comes in blowing everyone away with his knowledge of php and database managing. This is the kid that also manages MIE and www.psgx.net Now that's quite the accomplishment I say..
Vrm: Hard to say about him. He brought us the Blueprint Office which I swear is the most awesome idea until I found that exploit that vrm did a wee mistake on. (Weapons and Blueprint names were the same, so you make so many blueprints at less time then put a weapon into the stockpile. Then all the blueprints became the weapon. It was I who suggested [BP] also. I got rewarded I think 100 million. Can't remember. Did I exploit it. Heck no. I wanted reward for it.) Vrm! probably an admin to fear next to WizardOne :)
I want to comment on other admins.. But I need to stop talking
My response for you under-lings. Shut up, appreciate the work that admins did for you building this game and enjoy. *Growling at anti-admin ranters*
ME 4th generation new features/changes
[Atlas | Comments (0) | March 14, 2003, 7:13 am]
I have just compiled a list of new features/changes in this round. I have spend allot of time finding all this stuff so I hope everyone will find this useful Please do not flame/spam me if you see something wrong. I'm sure its not 100% accurate, but I tried my best to get it as correct as possible. You may click here or click on the link in the menu to the right.
News
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Merchant Empires Updates
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 3:55pm, March 17, 2003
The following News relating to Merchant Empires comes from the ME fansite Merchant Information Empires! :
Headlines
•Admins should deserve Respect! (WizardOne too)
•ME 4th generation new features/changes
•Future of AAME?
•Fix for Lag?
•Welcome to MIE!
MIE
•Staff
Interact
•Forums
•Chat
Guides
•Thauglors Survival Guide
Game Information
•The Ships
•Base Busting
•Galaxies Layout
•ME 4th generation new features/changes
Races
•Xollian Mantis
•Paragon Elect
•Mawlor Royal Guard
•(K.E.A)
•Zyck’lirg Hordes
Admins should deserve Respect! (WizardOne too)
[ViriiK | Comments (2) | March 14, 2003, 10:42 am]
Okay. I myself kind of get annoyed by one or two admins being in the opposite side.. Heck does that bother me? No, why. They want to have fun as we all do. Does that mean they want to cheat to benefit themselves making the opposite party suck? No! Why? Here's the concept, Big bad boy doing all he wants picking on kids he thinks are playing with him. Those kids going to stick around him any longer? Heck no! Same with Merchant Empires
I've been here for Three Generations (Late in the Second Generation of this game) Here's my observation and it's quite positive.
WizardOne on the other hand is special. Our God of Merchant Empires, the judge, jury, and executioner. He can single-handly terminate Merchant Empires if you keep pushing the "WARNING: DO NOT PUSH" Button. Accusation blah blah blah gets thrown out of proportion and people get affected. Third Generation, *shudder*, I do not want to be reminded of. I apologize to FTV for accusing them of mine exploit which I had little pointers. Gwalahad and another person I forget talking about it were the ones I had record of talking about how to do it. They confessed and was forgiven by admins. I still kept up my anti-FTV campaign for no reason at all. Why? They were my enemy, plain and simple. Of course, they probably were just too damn good at what they did. Since we all know they got Sandman, Carnaugh, and Hawklan who have probably outlasted us all playing this game and know it good (Sorry for those I missed, just making examples). WizardOne gets my #1 Admin of the Game :) (Should I say Developer or what rather if you disagree with me saying admin?)
Other great admins for example:
Middy: Guy I don't know well. But heck he's done good things for us. Market I think :) and of course been an admin hearing our ranting of what we want in the game. Now that's quite the challenge :)
ChrisN: Bright 18 year kid who comes in blowing everyone away with his knowledge of php and database managing. This is the kid that also manages MIE and www.psgx.net Now that's quite the accomplishment I say..
Vrm: Hard to say about him. He brought us the Blueprint Office which I swear is the most awesome idea until I found that exploit that vrm did a wee mistake on. (Weapons and Blueprint names were the same, so you make so many blueprints at less time then put a weapon into the stockpile. Then all the blueprints became the weapon. It was I who suggested [BP] also. I got rewarded I think 100 million. Can't remember. Did I exploit it. Heck no. I wanted reward for it.) Vrm! probably an admin to fear next to WizardOne :)
I want to comment on other admins.. But I need to stop talking
My response for you under-lings. Shut up, appreciate the work that admins did for you building this game and enjoy. *Growling at anti-admin ranters*
ME 4th generation new features/changes
[Atlas | Comments (0) | March 14, 2003, 7:13 am]
I have just compiled a list of new features/changes in this round. I have spend allot of time finding all this stuff so I hope everyone will find this useful Please do not flame/spam me if you see something wrong. I'm sure its not 100% accurate, but I tried my best to get it as correct as possible. You may click here or click on the link in the menu to the right.
OMGN News: Merchant Empires Lag Problem
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=323&Offset=0&Order=asc&Game=42
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Merchant Empires Lag Problem
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 11:09pm, March 11, 2003
The following is from the front page of Merchant Empies :
Speed problems
We have analysed the speed problem and found the specific problem Its a net congestion in Amsterdam that is causing problems for many users. This will be resolved soon (we hope). In the mean time try using a proxy. Here is a guide on how to use proxies Guide
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Merchant Empires Lag Problem
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 11:09pm, March 11, 2003
The following is from the front page of Merchant Empies :
Speed problems
We have analysed the speed problem and found the specific problem Its a net congestion in Amsterdam that is causing problems for many users. This will be resolved soon (we hope). In the mean time try using a proxy. Here is a guide on how to use proxies Guide
OMGN News: New Merchant Information Empire Website
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=322&Offset=0&Order=asc&Game=42
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New Merchant Information Empire Website
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 10:58pm, March 11, 2003
The main fansite of Merchant Empires, Merchant Information Empire has just had an overhaul.
Following is the News from the front page of MIE:
News & Announcements
Future of AAME?
[Atlas | Comments (0) | March 11, 2003, 4:05 am]
What has AA78 been up to lately? Well all I can say is he has some crazy ideas. He is taking ME to another level! Here is a screenshot:
AAME Screen Shot
I don’t know about you but that is just Sick Can't wait to see it in action!
Fix for Lag?
[Atlas | Comments (0) | March 11, 2003, 2:27 am]
Could this really be? A fix for lag? Well yes everyone CoolBlade has made a great discovery, using a proxy Will help with some people's lag. Even if you do not lag I would recommend doing this. I personal went from getting .4s to .1s in page builds. About 90% of the people I have talked to, proxies have worked for them. Stop the blabbering and get to the details you say? Well here is how you do it:
QUOTE
If you’re using dial-up then do the following:
Internet Options->Connections->select dial up connection and click settings. Enter in a proxy.
For Cable, DSL ect:
Internet Options->Connections->Lan Settings Enter in proxy.
The following Proxies were gathered from CoolBlade
***Sweden Proxies***
Address Port
217.8.33.14 8080
gti.bytbil.com 80
193.180.23.164 80
213.142.5.8 80
212.247.228.4 8080
Don't believe me? Try it!
Welcome to MIE!
[Atlas | Comments (1) | March 10, 2003, 10:15 pm]
Welcome to the new and improved Merchant Information Empire. I hope everyone Enjoys this site, and uses it as a great resource for Merchant Empires. I would like to thank ChrisN for all the help he has done to MIE, give him props when you see him in IRC. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me on IRC or e-mail me: brandon03@charter.net. Please Enjoy, and easy on the flaming!
News
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New Merchant Information Empire Website
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 10:58pm, March 11, 2003
The main fansite of Merchant Empires, Merchant Information Empire has just had an overhaul.
Following is the News from the front page of MIE:
News & Announcements
Future of AAME?
[Atlas | Comments (0) | March 11, 2003, 4:05 am]
What has AA78 been up to lately? Well all I can say is he has some crazy ideas. He is taking ME to another level! Here is a screenshot:
AAME Screen Shot
I don’t know about you but that is just Sick Can't wait to see it in action!
Fix for Lag?
[Atlas | Comments (0) | March 11, 2003, 2:27 am]
Could this really be? A fix for lag? Well yes everyone CoolBlade has made a great discovery, using a proxy Will help with some people's lag. Even if you do not lag I would recommend doing this. I personal went from getting .4s to .1s in page builds. About 90% of the people I have talked to, proxies have worked for them. Stop the blabbering and get to the details you say? Well here is how you do it:
QUOTE
If you’re using dial-up then do the following:
Internet Options->Connections->select dial up connection and click settings. Enter in a proxy.
For Cable, DSL ect:
Internet Options->Connections->Lan Settings Enter in proxy.
The following Proxies were gathered from CoolBlade
***Sweden Proxies***
Address Port
217.8.33.14 8080
gti.bytbil.com 80
193.180.23.164 80
213.142.5.8 80
212.247.228.4 8080
Don't believe me? Try it!
Welcome to MIE!
[Atlas | Comments (1) | March 10, 2003, 10:15 pm]
Welcome to the new and improved Merchant Information Empire. I hope everyone Enjoys this site, and uses it as a great resource for Merchant Empires. I would like to thank ChrisN for all the help he has done to MIE, give him props when you see him in IRC. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me on IRC or e-mail me: brandon03@charter.net. Please Enjoy, and easy on the flaming!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
OMGN News Archive: Changes Made to Merchant Empires
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=265&Offset=0&Order=asc&Game=42
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Changes Made to Merchant Empires
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 5:23pm, March 3, 2003
The following post relating to the changes made in Merchant Empires
was cut and pasted from the Merchant Information Empire Forum :
Attack Code
* 1) Added death code to vrm's 1 on 1 combat shell
* 2) Fixed combat code so armor weapons don't do damage before the shields are gone
* 3) Adjusted the formula for calculating damage to defender CDs, Shields and Armor
* for balance damage weapons (weapons that do both shield and armor damage)
* 4) Fixed check for war between attacker and defender alliances
* 5) Added checks for Newbie Turns, Imperial Protection, Landed on Base, Not In Sector
* Attacker with too few turns, Newbie Galaxy and level cap
* 6) Added a rudimentary 20 second weapons delay
* 7) Added a rudimentary 15 second re-cloak delay
* icon_cool.gif Modified the ME_ship class, (ship.php) to load weapons stats in an array, removed
* weapon stats querries from attack.php
* 9) Modified the weapons recharge delay by assigning a weapons recharge rate (per 20 seconds)
* to the ship, then calculating the recharge rate per weapon based on percieved power
* then calculated the reapons recharge delay. Depending on your weapons this can be sooner
* or later than 20 seconds
* 10)Added lastattack and weapon_delay to the ships table, storing the time of attack, and the
* calcualted weapons recharge delay per attack
* 11)Calculated a 'weapons system charge' based on how long since the last attack and the
* weapon recharge delay, then applied that as a modifier to shield and armor damage.
* 12)For the moment I modified the damage results of the hitting with ship CDs code to conform with weapons
* recharge time
* - Added code for auto-return fire
* - Added an entry in params table to enable it or not set AutoReturnFire to true to enable
Basically Admins can decide whether to turn on the code or not.. Doesn't mean auto-return fire is back. Just can be turned on..
* 3- removed attack button if FMT or MAP
So you don't pod your own allies icon_smile.gif No more dueling allies heee heee
Well that just sums up what I was looking at
Views Today: 0 | Total Views: 586
News
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Changes Made to Merchant Empires
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 5:23pm, March 3, 2003
The following post relating to the changes made in Merchant Empires
was cut and pasted from the Merchant Information Empire Forum :
Attack Code
* 1) Added death code to vrm's 1 on 1 combat shell
* 2) Fixed combat code so armor weapons don't do damage before the shields are gone
* 3) Adjusted the formula for calculating damage to defender CDs, Shields and Armor
* for balance damage weapons (weapons that do both shield and armor damage)
* 4) Fixed check for war between attacker and defender alliances
* 5) Added checks for Newbie Turns, Imperial Protection, Landed on Base, Not In Sector
* Attacker with too few turns, Newbie Galaxy and level cap
* 6) Added a rudimentary 20 second weapons delay
* 7) Added a rudimentary 15 second re-cloak delay
* icon_cool.gif Modified the ME_ship class, (ship.php) to load weapons stats in an array, removed
* weapon stats querries from attack.php
* 9) Modified the weapons recharge delay by assigning a weapons recharge rate (per 20 seconds)
* to the ship, then calculating the recharge rate per weapon based on percieved power
* then calculated the reapons recharge delay. Depending on your weapons this can be sooner
* or later than 20 seconds
* 10)Added lastattack and weapon_delay to the ships table, storing the time of attack, and the
* calcualted weapons recharge delay per attack
* 11)Calculated a 'weapons system charge' based on how long since the last attack and the
* weapon recharge delay, then applied that as a modifier to shield and armor damage.
* 12)For the moment I modified the damage results of the hitting with ship CDs code to conform with weapons
* recharge time
* - Added code for auto-return fire
* - Added an entry in params table to enable it or not set AutoReturnFire to true to enable
Basically Admins can decide whether to turn on the code or not.. Doesn't mean auto-return fire is back. Just can be turned on..
* 3- removed attack button if FMT or MAP
So you don't pod your own allies icon_smile.gif No more dueling allies heee heee
Well that just sums up what I was looking at
Views Today: 0 | Total Views: 586
OMGN News Archive: Merchant Empires Reset (March 3, 2003)
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=264&Offset=0&Order=asc&Game=42
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Merchant Empires Reset
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 5:12pm, March 3, 2003
Merchant Empires
resetted just recently. However, there is a problem as shown by this from
the game's front page:
Latest News
Speed problems
Some of our users have speed problems.We are working on it, currently we are gathering data so we can get a more precise picture of who gets hit by the massive lag. When we have enough data we can apply a solution. So please have patience Game ready status 100%
Game Started Attention Gold members your account has not been deleted.Your membership has been extended with the downtime
Views Today: 0 | Total Views: 281
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Merchant Empires Reset
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 5:12pm, March 3, 2003
Merchant Empires
resetted just recently. However, there is a problem as shown by this from
the game's front page:
Latest News
Speed problems
Some of our users have speed problems.We are working on it, currently we are gathering data so we can get a more precise picture of who gets hit by the massive lag. When we have enough data we can apply a solution. So please have patience Game ready status 100%
Game Started Attention Gold members your account has not been deleted.Your membership has been extended with the downtime
Views Today: 0 | Total Views: 281
OMGN News: Follow-up Adv. Powers ME E-Mail
From:http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=218&Offset=130&Order=asc&Datestamp=1044086400
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Follow-up Adv. Powers ME E-Mail
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 9:53am, February 25, 2003
The following email was just received from the folks at Advanced Powers :
Hello, this is a popular celebrity. The sender of the last message has
been killed, thrown in a river and insulted for bad grammar.
As you may be aware, on March 1st , Merchant Empires will be restarting
at the strategically anti-social time of 14:00 hours (Server Time). New
features will include:
- More Galaxies
- Distance index extended to 50
- More realistic, real-time combat
- Racial bonuses and abilities
- Prospect of future training 'missions' to take the tedium out of
beginnerness
- A swear jar
No Admin would swear on his life that all the bugs had been fixed,
except one, who is now dead - however reports from playtesters (two of
Middy's multis) indicate that the kind of bug deaths that occurred last
round won't be occuring this round. It also looks like this round might
actually be good fun. No comment.
If you can, you would be welcome to join in the game on Saturday - now
is the time to get as good a start as possible and, not only that, but
get away with 'newbie bashing'. Bring a pal.
~ The Advanced Powers Team - 1
News
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Follow-up Adv. Powers ME E-Mail
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 9:53am, February 25, 2003
The following email was just received from the folks at Advanced Powers :
Hello, this is a popular celebrity. The sender of the last message has
been killed, thrown in a river and insulted for bad grammar.
As you may be aware, on March 1st , Merchant Empires will be restarting
at the strategically anti-social time of 14:00 hours (Server Time). New
features will include:
- More Galaxies
- Distance index extended to 50
- More realistic, real-time combat
- Racial bonuses and abilities
- Prospect of future training 'missions' to take the tedium out of
beginnerness
- A swear jar
No Admin would swear on his life that all the bugs had been fixed,
except one, who is now dead - however reports from playtesters (two of
Middy's multis) indicate that the kind of bug deaths that occurred last
round won't be occuring this round. It also looks like this round might
actually be good fun. No comment.
If you can, you would be welcome to join in the game on Saturday - now
is the time to get as good a start as possible and, not only that, but
get away with 'newbie bashing'. Bring a pal.
~ The Advanced Powers Team - 1
OMGN News: Advanced Powers Merchant Empires Email
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=217&Offset=130&Order=asc&Datestamp=1044086400
Advanced Powers Merchant Empires Email
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 9:31am, February 25, 2003
The following email was just received from the team responsible for the main
Merchant Empires game at http://www.advancedpowers.com/ :
You recive this mail because you have once signed up at the
advancedpowers game. We are now starting a new round and if you want to be a part
of it from the start, please sign up the 1st of March 14.00 server
time. The earliere you particpate thebetter chances you have Advancedpowers
dev team
Advanced Powers Merchant Empires Email
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 9:31am, February 25, 2003
The following email was just received from the team responsible for the main
Merchant Empires game at http://www.advancedpowers.com/ :
You recive this mail because you have once signed up at the
advancedpowers game. We are now starting a new round and if you want to be a part
of it from the start, please sign up the 1st of March 14.00 server
time. The earliere you particpate thebetter chances you have Advancedpowers
dev team
OMGN News: Merchant Empires Restart March 1st, 2003
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=209&Offset=120&Order=asc&Datestamp=1044086400
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Merchant Empires Restart March 1st, 2003
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 2:00am, February 24, 2003
The next round of Merchant Empires
will begin on March 1st, 2003.
News
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Merchant Empires Restart March 1st, 2003
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 2:00am, February 24, 2003
The next round of Merchant Empires
will begin on March 1st, 2003.
OMGN News: Don't Panic Merchant Empires Reignites
Ffrom: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=157&Offset=70&Order=asc&Datestamp=1044086400
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Don't Panic Merchant Empires Reignites
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 11:15pm, February 14, 2003
The following News piece originally appeared on the Merchant Information Empire :
Dont Panic ME!
Tuesday, February 11 2003
Dont Panic ME is now running, http://dontpanic.dyndns.org Everyone join up! DPME is running on MySQL. Everyone congratulate DontPanic, and give him a slap on the back for all the hard work!
Atlas
OMGN Reporter's Note: A more specific URL for the game cited above is: http://dontpanic.dyndns.org/dp_me/
News
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Don't Panic Merchant Empires Reignites
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 11:15pm, February 14, 2003
The following News piece originally appeared on the Merchant Information Empire :
Dont Panic ME!
Tuesday, February 11 2003
Dont Panic ME is now running, http://dontpanic.dyndns.org Everyone join up! DPME is running on MySQL. Everyone congratulate DontPanic, and give him a slap on the back for all the hard work!
Atlas
OMGN Reporter's Note: A more specific URL for the game cited above is: http://dontpanic.dyndns.org/dp_me/
OMGN News: Merchant Empires: Dark Universe News
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=132&Offset=40&Order=asc&Datestamp=1044086400
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Merchant Empires: Dark Universe News
By: Charles Rector | Other | 6:13pm, February 11, 2003
The following News was posted on the front page of Merchant Empires: Dark Universe on February 11, 2003:
02/11/2003: TO ALL PLAYERS WHO HAVE MEMBERSHIPS THE SERVER HAS LOST ITS PRIMARY INTERNET CONNECTION DUE TO MODEM FAILURE. ALL MEMBERSHIPS WILL BE EXTENDED WHILE THE SERVER IS OFFLINED. PLEASE CHECK THE IRC CHANNEL #AAME AT IRC.ASSOCIATEDPOWERS.COM FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
News
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Merchant Empires: Dark Universe News
By: Charles Rector | Other | 6:13pm, February 11, 2003
The following News was posted on the front page of Merchant Empires: Dark Universe on February 11, 2003:
02/11/2003: TO ALL PLAYERS WHO HAVE MEMBERSHIPS THE SERVER HAS LOST ITS PRIMARY INTERNET CONNECTION DUE TO MODEM FAILURE. ALL MEMBERSHIPS WILL BE EXTENDED WHILE THE SERVER IS OFFLINED. PLEASE CHECK THE IRC CHANNEL #AAME AT IRC.ASSOCIATEDPOWERS.COM FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
OMGN News: 4th Generation Merchant Empires Plans
From: http://archive.omgn.com/news.php?Item_ID=95&Offset=0&Order=asc&Datestamp=1044086400
News
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4th Generation Merchant Empires Plans
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 3:39pm, February 2, 2003
Merchant Empires has just unveiled its "Prelimary feature/setup list for ME 4th generation" . The list runs as follows:
Visit forum with comments.
Last updated: 2/2-2003 by Middy
Game Set up for 4th generation:
Galaxy setup: The galaxies are designed so that the farther you move away from the center (Imperial space) The more danger you are in and the less influence the empire will have.
Center galaxy Imperial space(starting galaxy)
Size:40 X 40 = 1600 sectors
max Mines:0
max Drones:0
max scouts:0
max level:unlimited
base:no
Imperial sectors:yes
Imperial dealers:yes
Racial dealers:no
Space lanes:yes
Access to hyperspace:yes
Federation space(old newbie)
Size:30 X 30 = 900 sectors
max Mines:10
max Drones:10
max scouts:1
max level:7
base:yes
Imperial sectors:yes
Imperial dealers:yes
Racial dealers:no
Space lanes:yes
Access to hyperspace:no
5 x Racial galaxies
Size:50 X 50 = 2500 sectors
max Mines:50
max Drones:50
max scouts:10
max level:unlimited
base:yes
Imperial sectors:yes
Imperial dealers:no
Racial dealers:yes
Space lanes:yes
Access to hyperspace:no
Far reach
Size:100 X 100 = 10000 sectors
max Mines:50
max Drones:50
max scouts:10
max level:unlimited
base:yes
Imperial sectors:no
Imperial dealers:no
Racial dealers:no
Space lanes:no
Access to hyperspace:yes
Distance index extended to a limit of 50, formula reworked DI influence grows slower.
Amount of Lux ports lowered, price of lux lowered pirce of food raised
Mines+combat drone price raised to 10.000
new ship list
new weapon list
XP for construction lowered
Construction price cheaper at start but getting faster more exspensive.
Return of hyperspace galaxy
Xp gain for kills lowered to 10%
Racial kill bounties lowered to 10%
New racial descriptions
Features redone:
ship to ship combat code. Its now one to one and no auto return fire. Combat code made 10 times faster. Weapon lock for a certain interval after firing.
Ship versus forces code, works the same way just faster
Jump drive, works the same way just faster
Base busting code reworked.
Base Busting
In its most basic form, it still works the same as it used to. Somebody hits Attack, and all the allied ships in sector fire upon the base. The term "allied ships" now includes alliances you have Mutual Assistance with. So, you hit attack, each ship attacks the base. Then the base will return fire upon all the ships that fired on the base (same order)... but the amount of turrets that will hit each ship is no longer utterly predictable, but neither is it fully random. Basically, its 70% equal distribution, 30% random. That is, the amount of turrets firing on any given ship can be determined thusly:
Equal Distribution = (Turret Count / Ship Count)
Turrets Firing = Equal Distribution PLUS or MINUS 30%.
Thats anywhere in between -30 and 30% difference, so there's a chance the ship will take a perfectly fair amount of turrets. The base CD's are distributed perfectly evenly. Turrets remain at 325/325/80. After all the turrets have fired, assuming you've dealt sufficient damage to the base, whether or not the base took a critical hit is checked. The chance is directly related to how full your Shield Gens are, so as a bust goes on, criticals become more likely. If a critical hit occured, a structure is randomly picked from the base (SG's have 2x the liklihood of being picked) and destroyed. Then your saved from adding up numbers by a summary of the round which tallies damage dealt/received, criticals, and fatalities.
Ship technology code made smoother and faster
Deficit goods for construction/production of goods are shown in red
Ship vs Forces changed. Its not one gun => one force anymore, a gun can destroy multiple forces dependant on the damage of the gun and the health of forces... They'll probably be other changes to shipforce, but nothing concrete yet.
New features:
Race abilities version 3.99
Right then, our best minds have been working around the clock to get this new feature sorted out, coded, tweaked and put on paper so here are abilities that we plan to release when the game starts.
Each race has three types of abilities :
Personal
These abilities cannot be overcome and will last the whole game
Teamwork
Abilities that easily be overcome by working together with a mix of all races
Starting
This is a small modification to a race's default startup so each will need to start differently
Off course each ability can be considered either positive or negative
+indicates a positive bonus.
-indicates a negative bonus.
Bonus types:
95% xp change upon Death
This means that once the calculation is made on how much base xp you would lose, only 95% of that number is used. So, if you had 100.000 xp, and were going to lose 10% (10.000 xp) you would only lose 95% of that (9500 xp) while the other would gain only
90% Building Cost
You will pay fewer credits to build. The amount of goods you lose and the xp you gain will remain unchanged Negative) 125% Production cost You will pay more credits to produce weapons, tech and blueprints. The amount of goods you lose and the xp you gain will remain unchanged
95% xp change upon Kill
95% xp change upon Kill This means that once the calculation is made on how much base xp you would gain, only 95% of that number is used. So, if the person you podded had 100.000 xp, and was going to lose 10% (10.000 xp), they would only lose 95% of that (9500 xp) and hence, you would only gain 9500 xp.
115% Research cost
You will pay more credits to research. The amount of goods you Lose and the xp you gain will remain unchanged
-50 Global Race Relations versus all other Races
This means that all other races will start with a negative relation towards your race. This gives a slighty negative edge when trading at the other races ports. They will charge you more and pay less for goods.
Does Not Pay Local Tax on Selling of Goods
No longer will you have to pay the 5% tax but do still have to pay tax when you buy goods or forces
450 Maximum Alignment
nstead of the normal 500 alignment you can only reach as high as 450 so your maximum discount on buying ships, tech and weapons will be 45%.
Unaffected by Negative Global Race Relations
Racials wars wont affect your trading, only your only personal relations towards the race will.
50% Military Payment
You will only gain half the normal racial kill bounty for a kill
Zyck'lirg :
+ 95% xp change upon Death
+90% Building Cost
-95% xp change upon Kill
-115% Research cost
--50 Global Race Relations versus all other Races
Xollian :
+ Does Not Pay Local Tax on Selling of Goods
+ 75% Production Cost
+ 95% Research Cost
- 450 Maximum Alignment
- 105% Building Cost
- -50 Alignment
KEA:
+ Unaffected by Negative Global Race Relations
+ 95% Building Cost
+ +50 Alignment
As described above
- 150% Production Cost
- 50% Military Payment
Paragon:
+ 550 Maximum Alignmen
+ 80% Research Cost
+ +50 Personal Race Relations versus all other Races
- 400 Maximum Personal Race Relations versus all other races
- 110% Building Cost
Mawlor
+ 105% xp change upon Kill
+ 50% Production Cost
- 110% Research Cost
- -50 Personal Race Relations versus all other Races
- 105% xp change upon Death
Critical hits in combat system
New technology to defeat the DSS-mark II
Ship mountable devices can be produced on base, in a special, new construction: Technology Center
News
Comment On This News (0)Save NewsPrint NewsEmail News
4th Generation Merchant Empires Plans
By: Charles Rector | Other | Game Data | 3:39pm, February 2, 2003
Merchant Empires has just unveiled its "Prelimary feature/setup list for ME 4th generation" . The list runs as follows:
Visit forum with comments.
Last updated: 2/2-2003 by Middy
Game Set up for 4th generation:
Galaxy setup: The galaxies are designed so that the farther you move away from the center (Imperial space) The more danger you are in and the less influence the empire will have.
Center galaxy Imperial space(starting galaxy)
Size:40 X 40 = 1600 sectors
max Mines:0
max Drones:0
max scouts:0
max level:unlimited
base:no
Imperial sectors:yes
Imperial dealers:yes
Racial dealers:no
Space lanes:yes
Access to hyperspace:yes
Federation space(old newbie)
Size:30 X 30 = 900 sectors
max Mines:10
max Drones:10
max scouts:1
max level:7
base:yes
Imperial sectors:yes
Imperial dealers:yes
Racial dealers:no
Space lanes:yes
Access to hyperspace:no
5 x Racial galaxies
Size:50 X 50 = 2500 sectors
max Mines:50
max Drones:50
max scouts:10
max level:unlimited
base:yes
Imperial sectors:yes
Imperial dealers:no
Racial dealers:yes
Space lanes:yes
Access to hyperspace:no
Far reach
Size:100 X 100 = 10000 sectors
max Mines:50
max Drones:50
max scouts:10
max level:unlimited
base:yes
Imperial sectors:no
Imperial dealers:no
Racial dealers:no
Space lanes:no
Access to hyperspace:yes
Distance index extended to a limit of 50, formula reworked DI influence grows slower.
Amount of Lux ports lowered, price of lux lowered pirce of food raised
Mines+combat drone price raised to 10.000
new ship list
new weapon list
XP for construction lowered
Construction price cheaper at start but getting faster more exspensive.
Return of hyperspace galaxy
Xp gain for kills lowered to 10%
Racial kill bounties lowered to 10%
New racial descriptions
Features redone:
ship to ship combat code. Its now one to one and no auto return fire. Combat code made 10 times faster. Weapon lock for a certain interval after firing.
Ship versus forces code, works the same way just faster
Jump drive, works the same way just faster
Base busting code reworked.
Base Busting
In its most basic form, it still works the same as it used to. Somebody hits Attack, and all the allied ships in sector fire upon the base. The term "allied ships" now includes alliances you have Mutual Assistance with. So, you hit attack, each ship attacks the base. Then the base will return fire upon all the ships that fired on the base (same order)... but the amount of turrets that will hit each ship is no longer utterly predictable, but neither is it fully random. Basically, its 70% equal distribution, 30% random. That is, the amount of turrets firing on any given ship can be determined thusly:
Equal Distribution = (Turret Count / Ship Count)
Turrets Firing = Equal Distribution PLUS or MINUS 30%.
Thats anywhere in between -30 and 30% difference, so there's a chance the ship will take a perfectly fair amount of turrets. The base CD's are distributed perfectly evenly. Turrets remain at 325/325/80. After all the turrets have fired, assuming you've dealt sufficient damage to the base, whether or not the base took a critical hit is checked. The chance is directly related to how full your Shield Gens are, so as a bust goes on, criticals become more likely. If a critical hit occured, a structure is randomly picked from the base (SG's have 2x the liklihood of being picked) and destroyed. Then your saved from adding up numbers by a summary of the round which tallies damage dealt/received, criticals, and fatalities.
Ship technology code made smoother and faster
Deficit goods for construction/production of goods are shown in red
Ship vs Forces changed. Its not one gun => one force anymore, a gun can destroy multiple forces dependant on the damage of the gun and the health of forces... They'll probably be other changes to shipforce, but nothing concrete yet.
New features:
Race abilities version 3.99
Right then, our best minds have been working around the clock to get this new feature sorted out, coded, tweaked and put on paper so here are abilities that we plan to release when the game starts.
Each race has three types of abilities :
Personal
These abilities cannot be overcome and will last the whole game
Teamwork
Abilities that easily be overcome by working together with a mix of all races
Starting
This is a small modification to a race's default startup so each will need to start differently
Off course each ability can be considered either positive or negative
+indicates a positive bonus.
-indicates a negative bonus.
Bonus types:
95% xp change upon Death
This means that once the calculation is made on how much base xp you would lose, only 95% of that number is used. So, if you had 100.000 xp, and were going to lose 10% (10.000 xp) you would only lose 95% of that (9500 xp) while the other would gain only
90% Building Cost
You will pay fewer credits to build. The amount of goods you lose and the xp you gain will remain unchanged Negative) 125% Production cost You will pay more credits to produce weapons, tech and blueprints. The amount of goods you lose and the xp you gain will remain unchanged
95% xp change upon Kill
95% xp change upon Kill This means that once the calculation is made on how much base xp you would gain, only 95% of that number is used. So, if the person you podded had 100.000 xp, and was going to lose 10% (10.000 xp), they would only lose 95% of that (9500 xp) and hence, you would only gain 9500 xp.
115% Research cost
You will pay more credits to research. The amount of goods you Lose and the xp you gain will remain unchanged
-50 Global Race Relations versus all other Races
This means that all other races will start with a negative relation towards your race. This gives a slighty negative edge when trading at the other races ports. They will charge you more and pay less for goods.
Does Not Pay Local Tax on Selling of Goods
No longer will you have to pay the 5% tax but do still have to pay tax when you buy goods or forces
450 Maximum Alignment
nstead of the normal 500 alignment you can only reach as high as 450 so your maximum discount on buying ships, tech and weapons will be 45%.
Unaffected by Negative Global Race Relations
Racials wars wont affect your trading, only your only personal relations towards the race will.
50% Military Payment
You will only gain half the normal racial kill bounty for a kill
Zyck'lirg :
+ 95% xp change upon Death
+90% Building Cost
-95% xp change upon Kill
-115% Research cost
--50 Global Race Relations versus all other Races
Xollian :
+ Does Not Pay Local Tax on Selling of Goods
+ 75% Production Cost
+ 95% Research Cost
- 450 Maximum Alignment
- 105% Building Cost
- -50 Alignment
KEA:
+ Unaffected by Negative Global Race Relations
+ 95% Building Cost
+ +50 Alignment
As described above
- 150% Production Cost
- 50% Military Payment
Paragon:
+ 550 Maximum Alignmen
+ 80% Research Cost
+ +50 Personal Race Relations versus all other Races
- 400 Maximum Personal Race Relations versus all other races
- 110% Building Cost
Mawlor
+ 105% xp change upon Kill
+ 50% Production Cost
- 110% Research Cost
- -50 Personal Race Relations versus all other Races
- 105% xp change upon Death
Critical hits in combat system
New technology to defeat the DSS-mark II
Ship mountable devices can be produced on base, in a special, new construction: Technology Center
Friday, September 20, 2013
Internet Archive: Classic MPOGD News Post: Merchant Empires Anniversary
From: http://web.archive.org/web/20020812141209/http://www.mpogd.com/news/?ID=298
May 12, 2002Merchant Empires Anniversary The Advanced Powers' Merchant Empires server celebrated its 1st anniversary on May 7th, 2002.
May 12, 2002Merchant Empires Anniversary The Advanced Powers' Merchant Empires server celebrated its 1st anniversary on May 7th, 2002.
| Admin: Edit | Posted by: Charles Rector |
Internet Archive: Classic MPOGD News Post:
From: http://web.archive.org/web/20010331030220/http://www.mpogd.com/news/index.asp
Linux Gazette Carries Article About Merchant EmpiresFrom the Webpage:
The Mid-February issue of the Linux Gazette carried an article by Bryan Brunton, the creator/developer of Merchant Empires, a web version of Trade Wars 2002. The article, written in the form of an interview, tells how Brunton was inspired by Space Merchant to create Merchant Empires as a Open Source project. It also relates why Brunton refuses to run any banner ads on his game and his plans for the future of his non-profit game. All in all, a pretty informative article.
There are 2 versions of Merchant Empires, Brunton's at http://www.merchantempires.net & a later version based on Brunton's original at http://www.merchant-empires.com As it happens, only the Brunton version is listed here at the MPOGD.
Note: This may seem like an awfully dated news story, but it was was not reported here when it would have been more current & there has not been much else to report about here lately, so it seemed like a good time to post it.
Posted by - Charles Rector 03/27/2001 03:34:53
Linux Gazette Carries Article About Merchant EmpiresFrom the Webpage:
The Mid-February issue of the Linux Gazette carried an article by Bryan Brunton, the creator/developer of Merchant Empires, a web version of Trade Wars 2002. The article, written in the form of an interview, tells how Brunton was inspired by Space Merchant to create Merchant Empires as a Open Source project. It also relates why Brunton refuses to run any banner ads on his game and his plans for the future of his non-profit game. All in all, a pretty informative article.
There are 2 versions of Merchant Empires, Brunton's at http://www.merchantempires.net & a later version based on Brunton's original at http://www.merchant-empires.com As it happens, only the Brunton version is listed here at the MPOGD.
Note: This may seem like an awfully dated news story, but it was was not reported here when it would have been more current & there has not been much else to report about here lately, so it seemed like a good time to post it.
Posted by - Charles Rector 03/27/2001 03:34:53
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Internet Archive: MPOGD News Post: Merchant Empires at AdvancedPowers going strong
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Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Internet Archive: Classic MPOGD News Post: Merchant Empires Gains a Fan Site
From: http://web.archive.org/web/20010411151143/http://www.mpogd.com/news/index.asp
Merchant Empires Gains a Fan SiteInfo from the Merchant Empires Players -- The Open ME Think Tank website :
Starting on March 10th, the Merchant Empires open source space strategy game gained a fan site devoted to news and views concerning ME. The site is an invaluable source of information concerning the growth and development of ME in all of its forms. It also features a lively forum where players can get their voices heard concerning the future of their game. Merchant Empires is a both a game thats rapidly growing in popularity despite a near non-existent advertising budget and also a pioneer in the quickly expanding world of Open Source Multiplayer Online Games (OSMPOG's).
Posted by - Charles Rector 04/04/2001 19:04:07
Merchant Empires Gains a Fan SiteInfo from the Merchant Empires Players -- The Open ME Think Tank website :
Starting on March 10th, the Merchant Empires open source space strategy game gained a fan site devoted to news and views concerning ME. The site is an invaluable source of information concerning the growth and development of ME in all of its forms. It also features a lively forum where players can get their voices heard concerning the future of their game. Merchant Empires is a both a game thats rapidly growing in popularity despite a near non-existent advertising budget and also a pioneer in the quickly expanding world of Open Source Multiplayer Online Games (OSMPOG's).
Posted by - Charles Rector 04/04/2001 19:04:07
Posted by - Charles Rector 04/04/2001 19:04:07
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Classic MPOGD Forum Thread: Please Delete Lame ME Review
Forums | Multiplayer Online Games |
Please+delete+lame+ME+review Post Reply Send Topic
To a Friend
Author Topic
Descore
descore Posted - 4 February 2002 17:13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check the review of Merchant Empires by Seldum.
He gave it "1" just because he thinks it's a rip-off
of Space Merchant (which it is not, btw, since it was
largely developed in parallel with SM and has now
evolved far beyond it). What a lamer.
Btw when are you mpogd'ers going to review it :)
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 6 February 2002 8:26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is now clear that Descore is the true lamer.
Runelord
runelord Posted - 6 February 2002 12:25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is now clear that either Descor, Montana_Mike and
me are master lamers.
MontanaMike
montanamike Posted - 6 February 2002 13:57
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And here I thought maybe folks had forgot about me,
good to see I am still loved.
For the record, ME was NOT developed at the same time
as SM-it came long afterwards. Had Shareplay not
folded its doors, a lawsuit would have been filed
against the developers of ME who blatantly ripped off
SM. ME's only credit is it survived, SM did not. To
steal code and ideas, rewrite it in whatever fasion,
then declare it open source was and remains illegal
under copywrite law. Unfortunetly, it takes filing a
lawsuit, hiring lawyers, and proving damages to incur
penalties.
Lameness is still lameness, and the original review
hit it on the head.
raven
raven Posted - 6 February 2002 15:55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"folded its doors"
gotta hate it when you mix up 2 sayings
Descore
descore Posted - 8 February 2002 12:33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MontanaMike (I will not bother to say You Lamer), no
code was taken from Space Merchant (it is written in a
completely different language and closed source!) Ok
before this degenerates into flame war let me make
some points clear:
YES, SM started before ME and some ideas were
certainly taken from SM, but Unreal also took some
ideas from Quake and so on.
There is NOTHING wrong about taking ideas from other
games, as long as you write it yourself, so they could
have just gone right ahead and sued if they wanted to
waste their own time and money.
Apart from that, ME is Open Source and so everybody
can get the code and even develop their own games
based on it if they want - and it's free.
Also the whole development team is new and has nothing
to do with the original developer.
The game has evolved far from what Space Merchant was
and many of our players who have come from SM are now
saying that ME is better than SM ever was.
Also the ME admins are dedicated spending their own
money and time only to be rewarded by positive
comments from the players. None of them are in it for
the money (of which there are none, only expenses).
Unlike SM, AdvancedPowers OpenME will always be free
from banner ads and compulsory payments, or other
attempts at making profits at the expense of the
players.
There. 'Nuff said.
hyrle
hyrle Posted - 8 February 2002 13:26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can settle this arguement: Space trading games suck.
:P
qwoozy
qwoozy Posted - 8 February 2002 13:41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dont go bringing in Unreal into this, unreal is
canadian: quake is not. Unreal was a bunch of things
and it has no relation to quake.
And yes, trading games suck.
Xile
xile Posted - 8 February 2002 13:48
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Umm, actually I think his comparison of Unreal to
Quake is quite valid. Although it would be more
accurate to compare all FPS games to Castle
Wolfenstein. All others borrowed the concept from that
game.
Gamer620
gamer620 Posted - 8 February 2002 15:5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First of all. Unreal and Quake use different Gaming
engines which makes for a completely different game.
IN myopinion all space trading games are the same damn
thing. Unreal and Quake are 2 completely different
games that are the same Genre of game. Are you going
to start and say Nox is a rip-off of Diablo? Both
action RPGs, yet two completely different games. If a
game involves its own Engine, idea, and story than it
has nothing to compare it too. If you were to check
the coding of both games, youd see a significantly
different number of lines, ideas, descriptions, and
everything.
Oh and just to add... There are developers that BUY
current engines to build other games, which are
similar yet still different in many ways. Quake 3 and
Alice, Quake 3 And wolfenstein. Half-life and
counterstrike(cant believe i used that example) but
you get my drift...With money you can make a
completely different game using less coding :)
Edited by - Gamer620 on 2/8/2002 3:07:21 PM
BaShildy
bashildy Posted - 8 February 2002 18:22
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I thought Unreal was co-developed in the U.S. and
Canada. Epic is now in Raleigh, NC if i'm not
mistaken.
Kevin "BaShildy" King
- Game Programmer
- MPOGD
Xile
xile Posted - 8 February 2002 22:21
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, what we're mostly talking about here is concept,
not engine. No matter what the engine, the concepts
are the same.I'm fully aware of the differences in
engines as well as licensing an engine for use.
anyway, this is way off topic.
Elvis F
elvis f Posted - 9 February 2002 6:18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a player of the former Space Merchant and current
player of Advanced Powers I would like to clear things
about this absurd argument in an impartial way.
1) First at all Space Merchant (SM) was never an
original game because it was based in the classic
TradeWars2002. Space Merchant was a rewritten version
of Trade Wars (which is the original space trading
game and is text based) with many improvements. In
other words SM is a game similar to Trade Wars 2002
using a different and updated engine.
2) Brian's Merchant Empires (ME) as it was originally
developed, was a blatant and poor copy of SM. Even the
names of ships and races were identic to the ones in
SM. Features and items were shamelessly replicated. No
defense here. Brian's Merchant Empire was a pathetic
copy of SM.
3) Fortunately Brian's ME died soon. Because Brian
made ME open source, a group of newcomers decided to
develop a new space trading game called Advanced
Powers. This game is based directly on ME and
therefore indirectly in Space Merchant but it is not a
clone or rip off of SM. The developers have no
responsability for Brian's previous actions. AP was
written with all goodwill as an original game from the
beginning and it has evolved up to the point where it
has very few common features with ME and literally
nothing related to SM.
4) Advanced Powers is a very upgraded and developed
version of the "space trading"genre which SM, ME, AP,
TDZK and many other games belong. Certainly in many
features AP is very superior to what Space Merchant
ever was. SM was a great game but because financial
problems faced by the owners they stopped developing
the game a long time ago and now it pales in
comparison to more recent and complex games like TDZK
and Advanced Powers.
5) Accusing the new games of being clones of SM is an
absurd. All those games share common characteristics
because they belong to the same genre. But there is
not fault on that. Same-genre games are usually pretty
similar: Planetarion, Utopia, Canon and others are
quite similar games but nobody with a little common
sense would say that they are all clones.
6) Montana Mike's bad attitude towards Advanced
Powers, TDZK and almost every space trading game out
there is derived of several factors. Mike
unfortunately has always being childish and inmature
in his behaviour and there is abundance of anecdotes
to tell about how hot head he can be. Mike's hate for
ME is based in his personal grudge with a former SM
player which helped in the development of ME. It was
further exacerbated by his personal grudge with
Charles Rector who back then was a critic of SM and
supporter of ME. Unfortunately Montana Mike, immature
as he is decided to make his grudge extensive to every
and any space trading game and every and any person
involved in such kind of games.
7) All this explains why he insults and attacks to
TDZK and AP which have nothing to do with Mike's
personal obsessions about SM's clones. Perhaps the
reason of Montana Mike's irreflexive attitude comes
from the bitterness and frustration of knowing that SM
is dead and buried but TDZK, AP and others games are
well and growing. As I said before this is not a
surprise for those who know him. Mike has always being
irreflexive and imprudent, unable to see other
peoples' point of view, used to kick the table, attack
players, whine to the game administrators, make a
public drama and leave the game, etc when things are
not as he wants or people don't bow to his every
wish..
8) As a last comment it must be said that
unfortunately Mike is biased and ilogical. He attacks
TDZK and AP for being SM clones (which they aren't)
but on the other side he supports another SM "clone"
called Space Merchant Realms which is literally trying
to replicate all the features of the original SM. Even
SMR's site is a perfect copy of SM's website.
Certainly there is nothing wrong or illegal with SM
Realms since the original SM is dead and let's hope
Mr. Spock will be succesfull with his project, but
Montana Mike's attitude of attacking Advanced Powers
and TDZK and at the same time supporting SMR is to say
the least very hypocrythal. Using this kind of double
standards and "Do as I tell you, not as I do" attitude
is well typical of Mike and all those who know him can
certainly give testimony.
Mike's posts must be taken as what they are: immature
ramblings from somebody who certainly with his age and
profession should have a more mature and equlibrated
behaviour.
Gamer620
gamer620 Posted - 9 February 2002 11:59
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obviously concepts are always going to be alike. IT is
the engines that change the game. You cant make Quake
not speak wolfenstein somehow. But its the engine that
the game uses that changes it.
yamo
yamo Posted - 9 February 2002 11:59
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
anyone know how long me has been/ will be down?
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 9 February 2002 19:25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edited by - Montana_Mike on 2/20/2002 12:41:10 PM
Chrono11901
chrono11901 Posted - 9 February 2002 19:42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAIL DIASPORA!
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 10 February 2002 10:50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is mpogd 'Elvis F' the same 'Elvis Fett' that was
kicked out of the Space Merchant game, both by the
users as well as by the admins?
If so, Elvis Fett clearly is demonstrating his
bitterness and frustration of knowing that he well
never be will welcome anywhere by prior SM players and
admins. This is not a surprise for those who know him.
Mr Briggs has always being irreflexive and imprudent,
unable to see other peoples' point of view, used to
kick the table, attack players, whine to the game
administrators, make a public drama and leave the
game, etc when things are not as he wants or people
don't bow to his every wish.
Mr Briggs' (aka Elvis Fett) posts must be taken as
what they are: immature ramblings from somebody who
certainly with his age and profession should have a
more mature and equlibrated behaviour.
By the way, what alias are you using in ME/AP? I
wonder if they already suspect who you truly are by
your bad behavior.
wizard1
wizard1 Posted - 10 February 2002 11:55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Montana Mike do you play ME?
---
- Game Dev Guy
@ advancedpowers.com
MontanaMike
montanamike Posted - 11 February 2002 10:13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First off, this is the real MM, the one with the
underscored name has decided to take my name to bash
various folks. For the longest time I suspected it was
good old Elvis Fett but my understanding it's some
loser in California with nothing else better to do.
What's funny here is he decided to bash good buddy EF
for me. Got to thank you there.
Now, lets try this one more time. I recommend you
visit some on-line copywrite law sites specifically
releated to code. What you will find will surprise
you. The only reason Advanced powers, tdzk, and SMR
aren't sued is because Shareplay is gone. Part of
Jonathon's selling point when he was trying to sell SM
were these lawsuits, along with one against Gameloft
for breach of contract.
Good to see you around still EF, by the way--how's the
drinking and did you manage to find a job yet?
Descore
descore Posted - 11 February 2002 16:58
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lol MontanaMike (the real one, without _).. You claim
to know an awful lot about copyright law and you can't
even spell it right :)
Listen, copyright can apply to a work such as source
code, artwork etc. but not to a concept or even to
good ideas for game features. While these can also be
protected in some cases it comes under the patent laws
and has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with copyright, as
long as the new game represents an original work (ie.
source code, artwork etc. are not copied directly),
and they don't violate trade marks.
Even assuming that the Shareplay people had indeed
taken out one or more patents (though I wonder for
what), and if they would prove to be valid), it would
not help since the ME server is located in a country
that does not reckognize software patents.
The only other thing they could have sued about would
be if they had taken out design protection, and in
that case only if ME had copied their artwork - which
they didn't, the artwork AND source code of ME was in
fact an original work.
So although it may at the time have looked like an SM
ripoff there is absolutely nothing they could have
done through the courts, and if they have been advised
otherwise they either had bad counsel or their legal
aides didn't have all / correct information about the
case.
Wyndo
wyndo Posted - 11 February 2002 17:5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's not necessarily true. A work doesn't have to
"use the same source code" to infringe on a copyright.
This gets into "look and feel" disputes, when things
like Tetris clones infringe on Tetris' copyright (the
Tetris Company, at least a few years go, was really
targetting makers of Tetris close). Years ago, there
was a case involving The Print Shop (the popular
banner/card designer), and another similar product.
One or the other used quite a few terms that were
identical to the other, and it was determined in court
that there was no compelling reason the software
needed to express its buttons/messages in exactly the
same way, and it was ruled an infringment (if I recall
-- it's been a while since I read the article). So,
thinking that it's ok to "clone" a game simply because
you programmed it from scratch *might* not get the
results in court that you think it will.
With this kind of thing, though, it's hard to say how
a decision would go. It depends on the situation, the
judges, lawyers, and people involved (or so I've
read). Not every clone might be an infringment, for
those reasons -- but it's wrong to think that *no*
clone will, merely because it uses "original" code. If
that were true, a copyright would be pretty worthless.
A major developer might spend 3 years and 5 million
dollars working on original code, problem-solving,
etc, only to be ripped off by some goon who comes
along, studies what they've done, skips the "hard"
part, and creates a free knock-off. If you think
that's perfectly fine, you don't understand Copyright
as well as you think you do. :)
Besides, you can get a copyright on a packaged product
(i.e., on a CD). Yes, you send the source code along
as well (I believe this is a requirment) - but for
large programs, it's only the first and last pages (25
of each, I believe). That doesn't mean your 800-page
program is only protected from infringment if another
person duplicated code only from those pages you
filed. ;-)
What it *seems* to come down to, in the case of
lawsuits, is which side is more convincing. A program
made from the same source code, sharing the same
features etc might be fine, where one not quite as
similar, using different source code, could be ruled
as an infringement.
Personally, I hope to stay out of the courts. We have
the copyright paperwork for Lunatix Online (search for
title "Lunatix Online" here -
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/search/cohm.html ...) and
will obtain the same for StarLock, but I just hope I
never have to deal with any clones or rip-offs. It
seems like a big mess, and a hastle to go through.
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/
Edited by - Wyndo on 2/11/2002 5:23:25 PM
Wyndo
wyndo Posted - 11 February 2002 17:30
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also FYI, I did a search for "Space Merchant" at the
Library of Congress, and the closest match was a story
called "Space Merchants." It's not *necessary* to
register a copyright (you still own the copyright to
your own work), but I believe it severely limits the
kinds of damages you can claim in court.
Elvis F
elvis f Posted - 11 February 2002 20:25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike wrote:
" For the longest time I suspected it was good old
Elvis Fett but my understanding it's some loser in
California with nothing else better to do. What's
funny here is he decided to bash good buddy EF for me.
Got to thank you there."
mike, pal when I said that you are a true hot head I
didn't mean you to prove me right so fast (chuckles).
Now i know you are the real mike. Only you are so easy
to fool.
Hard to believe you would be so dense as to "really"
believe that it was elvis posting just for the elvis
f" as signature. It was hard to believe you would be
so easy to fool. But ... Bang! didn't you even think
that it was too obvious to be the real elvis?. Other
guy would have think twice before jumping to the
flame, but it was enough for you to read "elvis" in
the post and see all red.
Funny thing: the 2 montanas fell for the same trick.
Seems like you have alot in common other than the
name.
mike I got news for you: It is not elvis ... it is
speef, your pal just messing with your brain. No wait
... it is not speef, it is dover the one "really"
posting .... no wait ... it is ardbeg the r-e-a-l
a-n-d t-r-u-e ardbeg, no wait it is Jonathan ..... no
wait, it is Bill Clinton looking for monica ... no way
it is me Elvis Fett after all ... no wait, it is me
THE REAL AND TRUE KING: ELVIS PRESLEY!!!
Take an advice mike: You really need to chill out
sometimes and start using your head. You are too old
to still behave like a 7th grader.
Anyway Mike, the interesting thing here is your post:
"The only reason Advanced powers, tdzk, and SMR aren't
sued is because Shareplay is gone".
You admit publically that SMR; the game that you are
supporting is a SM rip off too. That is good.
Edited by - Elvis F on 2/11/2002 8:42:57 PM
MontanaMike
montanamike Posted - 12 February 2002 10:9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No wonder you have no friends, no life, no job and a
serious drinking problem. Prozac might help you but I
would instead go for the frontal lobotomy. Good luck
loser. Also, please say hi to Nar for me if you see
her.
Wyndo
wyndo Posted - 12 February 2002 10:32
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think there would be a benefit to having a "reply"
area for game owners to respond to player rankings
(sort of like how Ebay allows a person to reply to
feedback). I have a player who (she says) plans to
come "tell everybody how sucky my game is" because she
had been the source of an ongoing problem which
ultimately lead to me having to ban her. Sure would be
nice to at least offer comments when rankings like
that do show up.
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 13 February 2002 14:36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edited by - Montana_Mike on 2/13/2002 6:58:52 PM
Wyndo
wyndo Posted - 13 February 2002 14:44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LMAO you're such a troll. Ebay's "feedback" was used
as an example for the idea I presented - no
"comparison" was done. You're obviously a troll -- but
are you illiterate as well?
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 13 February 2002 16:8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Better to be illiterate than illegitimate, momma's
boy.
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 15 February 2002 18:45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So Elvis F, who are you really?
wizard1
wizard1 Posted - 16 February 2002 6:24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
advancedpowers.com is located in Sweden, and after a
consultation with legal council of our copyright and
related laws and practices, I conclude there will
never be a case, ever, against OpenME.
It's not and has not been for quite some time a Space
Merchant clone, while Bryans work was heavily
infuenced by SM, that is no longer the case.
There are much better games out there to be infuenced
and inspired by than SM ever was.
We do however listen alot to our numerous SM players,
and try to accomodate them as best we can.
Danny Froberg
Head of OpenME Project
---
- Game Dev Guy
@ advancedpowers.com
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 20 February 2002 12:46
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Besides, it would be Gameloft suing Shareplay (Space
Merchant) for breach of contract. Not the other way
around. Of course Shareplay was (and still is) worth
next-to-nothing, so Gameloft did not waste their time.
Sadly Gameloft is now also out of business, following
so many other dot-com businesses.
Please+delete+lame+ME+review Post Reply Send Topic
To a Friend
Author Topic
Descore
descore Posted - 4 February 2002 17:13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check the review of Merchant Empires by Seldum.
He gave it "1" just because he thinks it's a rip-off
of Space Merchant (which it is not, btw, since it was
largely developed in parallel with SM and has now
evolved far beyond it). What a lamer.
Btw when are you mpogd'ers going to review it :)
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 6 February 2002 8:26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is now clear that Descore is the true lamer.
Runelord
runelord Posted - 6 February 2002 12:25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is now clear that either Descor, Montana_Mike and
me are master lamers.
MontanaMike
montanamike Posted - 6 February 2002 13:57
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And here I thought maybe folks had forgot about me,
good to see I am still loved.
For the record, ME was NOT developed at the same time
as SM-it came long afterwards. Had Shareplay not
folded its doors, a lawsuit would have been filed
against the developers of ME who blatantly ripped off
SM. ME's only credit is it survived, SM did not. To
steal code and ideas, rewrite it in whatever fasion,
then declare it open source was and remains illegal
under copywrite law. Unfortunetly, it takes filing a
lawsuit, hiring lawyers, and proving damages to incur
penalties.
Lameness is still lameness, and the original review
hit it on the head.
raven
raven Posted - 6 February 2002 15:55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"folded its doors"
gotta hate it when you mix up 2 sayings
Descore
descore Posted - 8 February 2002 12:33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MontanaMike (I will not bother to say You Lamer), no
code was taken from Space Merchant (it is written in a
completely different language and closed source!) Ok
before this degenerates into flame war let me make
some points clear:
YES, SM started before ME and some ideas were
certainly taken from SM, but Unreal also took some
ideas from Quake and so on.
There is NOTHING wrong about taking ideas from other
games, as long as you write it yourself, so they could
have just gone right ahead and sued if they wanted to
waste their own time and money.
Apart from that, ME is Open Source and so everybody
can get the code and even develop their own games
based on it if they want - and it's free.
Also the whole development team is new and has nothing
to do with the original developer.
The game has evolved far from what Space Merchant was
and many of our players who have come from SM are now
saying that ME is better than SM ever was.
Also the ME admins are dedicated spending their own
money and time only to be rewarded by positive
comments from the players. None of them are in it for
the money (of which there are none, only expenses).
Unlike SM, AdvancedPowers OpenME will always be free
from banner ads and compulsory payments, or other
attempts at making profits at the expense of the
players.
There. 'Nuff said.
hyrle
hyrle Posted - 8 February 2002 13:26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can settle this arguement: Space trading games suck.
:P
qwoozy
qwoozy Posted - 8 February 2002 13:41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dont go bringing in Unreal into this, unreal is
canadian: quake is not. Unreal was a bunch of things
and it has no relation to quake.
And yes, trading games suck.
Xile
xile Posted - 8 February 2002 13:48
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Umm, actually I think his comparison of Unreal to
Quake is quite valid. Although it would be more
accurate to compare all FPS games to Castle
Wolfenstein. All others borrowed the concept from that
game.
Gamer620
gamer620 Posted - 8 February 2002 15:5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First of all. Unreal and Quake use different Gaming
engines which makes for a completely different game.
IN myopinion all space trading games are the same damn
thing. Unreal and Quake are 2 completely different
games that are the same Genre of game. Are you going
to start and say Nox is a rip-off of Diablo? Both
action RPGs, yet two completely different games. If a
game involves its own Engine, idea, and story than it
has nothing to compare it too. If you were to check
the coding of both games, youd see a significantly
different number of lines, ideas, descriptions, and
everything.
Oh and just to add... There are developers that BUY
current engines to build other games, which are
similar yet still different in many ways. Quake 3 and
Alice, Quake 3 And wolfenstein. Half-life and
counterstrike(cant believe i used that example) but
you get my drift...With money you can make a
completely different game using less coding :)
Edited by - Gamer620 on 2/8/2002 3:07:21 PM
BaShildy
bashildy Posted - 8 February 2002 18:22
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I thought Unreal was co-developed in the U.S. and
Canada. Epic is now in Raleigh, NC if i'm not
mistaken.
Kevin "BaShildy" King
- Game Programmer
- MPOGD
Xile
xile Posted - 8 February 2002 22:21
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, what we're mostly talking about here is concept,
not engine. No matter what the engine, the concepts
are the same.I'm fully aware of the differences in
engines as well as licensing an engine for use.
anyway, this is way off topic.
Elvis F
elvis f Posted - 9 February 2002 6:18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a player of the former Space Merchant and current
player of Advanced Powers I would like to clear things
about this absurd argument in an impartial way.
1) First at all Space Merchant (SM) was never an
original game because it was based in the classic
TradeWars2002. Space Merchant was a rewritten version
of Trade Wars (which is the original space trading
game and is text based) with many improvements. In
other words SM is a game similar to Trade Wars 2002
using a different and updated engine.
2) Brian's Merchant Empires (ME) as it was originally
developed, was a blatant and poor copy of SM. Even the
names of ships and races were identic to the ones in
SM. Features and items were shamelessly replicated. No
defense here. Brian's Merchant Empire was a pathetic
copy of SM.
3) Fortunately Brian's ME died soon. Because Brian
made ME open source, a group of newcomers decided to
develop a new space trading game called Advanced
Powers. This game is based directly on ME and
therefore indirectly in Space Merchant but it is not a
clone or rip off of SM. The developers have no
responsability for Brian's previous actions. AP was
written with all goodwill as an original game from the
beginning and it has evolved up to the point where it
has very few common features with ME and literally
nothing related to SM.
4) Advanced Powers is a very upgraded and developed
version of the "space trading"genre which SM, ME, AP,
TDZK and many other games belong. Certainly in many
features AP is very superior to what Space Merchant
ever was. SM was a great game but because financial
problems faced by the owners they stopped developing
the game a long time ago and now it pales in
comparison to more recent and complex games like TDZK
and Advanced Powers.
5) Accusing the new games of being clones of SM is an
absurd. All those games share common characteristics
because they belong to the same genre. But there is
not fault on that. Same-genre games are usually pretty
similar: Planetarion, Utopia, Canon and others are
quite similar games but nobody with a little common
sense would say that they are all clones.
6) Montana Mike's bad attitude towards Advanced
Powers, TDZK and almost every space trading game out
there is derived of several factors. Mike
unfortunately has always being childish and inmature
in his behaviour and there is abundance of anecdotes
to tell about how hot head he can be. Mike's hate for
ME is based in his personal grudge with a former SM
player which helped in the development of ME. It was
further exacerbated by his personal grudge with
Charles Rector who back then was a critic of SM and
supporter of ME. Unfortunately Montana Mike, immature
as he is decided to make his grudge extensive to every
and any space trading game and every and any person
involved in such kind of games.
7) All this explains why he insults and attacks to
TDZK and AP which have nothing to do with Mike's
personal obsessions about SM's clones. Perhaps the
reason of Montana Mike's irreflexive attitude comes
from the bitterness and frustration of knowing that SM
is dead and buried but TDZK, AP and others games are
well and growing. As I said before this is not a
surprise for those who know him. Mike has always being
irreflexive and imprudent, unable to see other
peoples' point of view, used to kick the table, attack
players, whine to the game administrators, make a
public drama and leave the game, etc when things are
not as he wants or people don't bow to his every
wish..
8) As a last comment it must be said that
unfortunately Mike is biased and ilogical. He attacks
TDZK and AP for being SM clones (which they aren't)
but on the other side he supports another SM "clone"
called Space Merchant Realms which is literally trying
to replicate all the features of the original SM. Even
SMR's site is a perfect copy of SM's website.
Certainly there is nothing wrong or illegal with SM
Realms since the original SM is dead and let's hope
Mr. Spock will be succesfull with his project, but
Montana Mike's attitude of attacking Advanced Powers
and TDZK and at the same time supporting SMR is to say
the least very hypocrythal. Using this kind of double
standards and "Do as I tell you, not as I do" attitude
is well typical of Mike and all those who know him can
certainly give testimony.
Mike's posts must be taken as what they are: immature
ramblings from somebody who certainly with his age and
profession should have a more mature and equlibrated
behaviour.
Gamer620
gamer620 Posted - 9 February 2002 11:59
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obviously concepts are always going to be alike. IT is
the engines that change the game. You cant make Quake
not speak wolfenstein somehow. But its the engine that
the game uses that changes it.
yamo
yamo Posted - 9 February 2002 11:59
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
anyone know how long me has been/ will be down?
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 9 February 2002 19:25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edited by - Montana_Mike on 2/20/2002 12:41:10 PM
Chrono11901
chrono11901 Posted - 9 February 2002 19:42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAIL DIASPORA!
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 10 February 2002 10:50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is mpogd 'Elvis F' the same 'Elvis Fett' that was
kicked out of the Space Merchant game, both by the
users as well as by the admins?
If so, Elvis Fett clearly is demonstrating his
bitterness and frustration of knowing that he well
never be will welcome anywhere by prior SM players and
admins. This is not a surprise for those who know him.
Mr Briggs has always being irreflexive and imprudent,
unable to see other peoples' point of view, used to
kick the table, attack players, whine to the game
administrators, make a public drama and leave the
game, etc when things are not as he wants or people
don't bow to his every wish.
Mr Briggs' (aka Elvis Fett) posts must be taken as
what they are: immature ramblings from somebody who
certainly with his age and profession should have a
more mature and equlibrated behaviour.
By the way, what alias are you using in ME/AP? I
wonder if they already suspect who you truly are by
your bad behavior.
wizard1
wizard1 Posted - 10 February 2002 11:55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Montana Mike do you play ME?
---
- Game Dev Guy
@ advancedpowers.com
MontanaMike
montanamike Posted - 11 February 2002 10:13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First off, this is the real MM, the one with the
underscored name has decided to take my name to bash
various folks. For the longest time I suspected it was
good old Elvis Fett but my understanding it's some
loser in California with nothing else better to do.
What's funny here is he decided to bash good buddy EF
for me. Got to thank you there.
Now, lets try this one more time. I recommend you
visit some on-line copywrite law sites specifically
releated to code. What you will find will surprise
you. The only reason Advanced powers, tdzk, and SMR
aren't sued is because Shareplay is gone. Part of
Jonathon's selling point when he was trying to sell SM
were these lawsuits, along with one against Gameloft
for breach of contract.
Good to see you around still EF, by the way--how's the
drinking and did you manage to find a job yet?
Descore
descore Posted - 11 February 2002 16:58
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lol MontanaMike (the real one, without _).. You claim
to know an awful lot about copyright law and you can't
even spell it right :)
Listen, copyright can apply to a work such as source
code, artwork etc. but not to a concept or even to
good ideas for game features. While these can also be
protected in some cases it comes under the patent laws
and has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with copyright, as
long as the new game represents an original work (ie.
source code, artwork etc. are not copied directly),
and they don't violate trade marks.
Even assuming that the Shareplay people had indeed
taken out one or more patents (though I wonder for
what), and if they would prove to be valid), it would
not help since the ME server is located in a country
that does not reckognize software patents.
The only other thing they could have sued about would
be if they had taken out design protection, and in
that case only if ME had copied their artwork - which
they didn't, the artwork AND source code of ME was in
fact an original work.
So although it may at the time have looked like an SM
ripoff there is absolutely nothing they could have
done through the courts, and if they have been advised
otherwise they either had bad counsel or their legal
aides didn't have all / correct information about the
case.
Wyndo
wyndo Posted - 11 February 2002 17:5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's not necessarily true. A work doesn't have to
"use the same source code" to infringe on a copyright.
This gets into "look and feel" disputes, when things
like Tetris clones infringe on Tetris' copyright (the
Tetris Company, at least a few years go, was really
targetting makers of Tetris close). Years ago, there
was a case involving The Print Shop (the popular
banner/card designer), and another similar product.
One or the other used quite a few terms that were
identical to the other, and it was determined in court
that there was no compelling reason the software
needed to express its buttons/messages in exactly the
same way, and it was ruled an infringment (if I recall
-- it's been a while since I read the article). So,
thinking that it's ok to "clone" a game simply because
you programmed it from scratch *might* not get the
results in court that you think it will.
With this kind of thing, though, it's hard to say how
a decision would go. It depends on the situation, the
judges, lawyers, and people involved (or so I've
read). Not every clone might be an infringment, for
those reasons -- but it's wrong to think that *no*
clone will, merely because it uses "original" code. If
that were true, a copyright would be pretty worthless.
A major developer might spend 3 years and 5 million
dollars working on original code, problem-solving,
etc, only to be ripped off by some goon who comes
along, studies what they've done, skips the "hard"
part, and creates a free knock-off. If you think
that's perfectly fine, you don't understand Copyright
as well as you think you do. :)
Besides, you can get a copyright on a packaged product
(i.e., on a CD). Yes, you send the source code along
as well (I believe this is a requirment) - but for
large programs, it's only the first and last pages (25
of each, I believe). That doesn't mean your 800-page
program is only protected from infringment if another
person duplicated code only from those pages you
filed. ;-)
What it *seems* to come down to, in the case of
lawsuits, is which side is more convincing. A program
made from the same source code, sharing the same
features etc might be fine, where one not quite as
similar, using different source code, could be ruled
as an infringement.
Personally, I hope to stay out of the courts. We have
the copyright paperwork for Lunatix Online (search for
title "Lunatix Online" here -
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/search/cohm.html ...) and
will obtain the same for StarLock, but I just hope I
never have to deal with any clones or rip-offs. It
seems like a big mess, and a hastle to go through.
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/
Edited by - Wyndo on 2/11/2002 5:23:25 PM
Wyndo
wyndo Posted - 11 February 2002 17:30
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also FYI, I did a search for "Space Merchant" at the
Library of Congress, and the closest match was a story
called "Space Merchants." It's not *necessary* to
register a copyright (you still own the copyright to
your own work), but I believe it severely limits the
kinds of damages you can claim in court.
Elvis F
elvis f Posted - 11 February 2002 20:25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike wrote:
" For the longest time I suspected it was good old
Elvis Fett but my understanding it's some loser in
California with nothing else better to do. What's
funny here is he decided to bash good buddy EF for me.
Got to thank you there."
mike, pal when I said that you are a true hot head I
didn't mean you to prove me right so fast (chuckles).
Now i know you are the real mike. Only you are so easy
to fool.
Hard to believe you would be so dense as to "really"
believe that it was elvis posting just for the elvis
f" as signature. It was hard to believe you would be
so easy to fool. But ... Bang! didn't you even think
that it was too obvious to be the real elvis?. Other
guy would have think twice before jumping to the
flame, but it was enough for you to read "elvis" in
the post and see all red.
Funny thing: the 2 montanas fell for the same trick.
Seems like you have alot in common other than the
name.
mike I got news for you: It is not elvis ... it is
speef, your pal just messing with your brain. No wait
... it is not speef, it is dover the one "really"
posting .... no wait ... it is ardbeg the r-e-a-l
a-n-d t-r-u-e ardbeg, no wait it is Jonathan ..... no
wait, it is Bill Clinton looking for monica ... no way
it is me Elvis Fett after all ... no wait, it is me
THE REAL AND TRUE KING: ELVIS PRESLEY!!!
Take an advice mike: You really need to chill out
sometimes and start using your head. You are too old
to still behave like a 7th grader.
Anyway Mike, the interesting thing here is your post:
"The only reason Advanced powers, tdzk, and SMR aren't
sued is because Shareplay is gone".
You admit publically that SMR; the game that you are
supporting is a SM rip off too. That is good.
Edited by - Elvis F on 2/11/2002 8:42:57 PM
MontanaMike
montanamike Posted - 12 February 2002 10:9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No wonder you have no friends, no life, no job and a
serious drinking problem. Prozac might help you but I
would instead go for the frontal lobotomy. Good luck
loser. Also, please say hi to Nar for me if you see
her.
Wyndo
wyndo Posted - 12 February 2002 10:32
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I think there would be a benefit to having a "reply"
area for game owners to respond to player rankings
(sort of like how Ebay allows a person to reply to
feedback). I have a player who (she says) plans to
come "tell everybody how sucky my game is" because she
had been the source of an ongoing problem which
ultimately lead to me having to ban her. Sure would be
nice to at least offer comments when rankings like
that do show up.
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 13 February 2002 14:36
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Edited by - Montana_Mike on 2/13/2002 6:58:52 PM
Wyndo
wyndo Posted - 13 February 2002 14:44
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LMAO you're such a troll. Ebay's "feedback" was used
as an example for the idea I presented - no
"comparison" was done. You're obviously a troll -- but
are you illiterate as well?
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 13 February 2002 16:8
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Better to be illiterate than illegitimate, momma's
boy.
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 15 February 2002 18:45
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So Elvis F, who are you really?
wizard1
wizard1 Posted - 16 February 2002 6:24
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advancedpowers.com is located in Sweden, and after a
consultation with legal council of our copyright and
related laws and practices, I conclude there will
never be a case, ever, against OpenME.
It's not and has not been for quite some time a Space
Merchant clone, while Bryans work was heavily
infuenced by SM, that is no longer the case.
There are much better games out there to be infuenced
and inspired by than SM ever was.
We do however listen alot to our numerous SM players,
and try to accomodate them as best we can.
Danny Froberg
Head of OpenME Project
---
- Game Dev Guy
@ advancedpowers.com
Montana_Mike
montana_mike Posted - 20 February 2002 12:46
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Besides, it would be Gameloft suing Shareplay (Space
Merchant) for breach of contract. Not the other way
around. Of course Shareplay was (and still is) worth
next-to-nothing, so Gameloft did not waste their time.
Sadly Gameloft is now also out of business, following
so many other dot-com businesses.
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