MPOGD News: Merchant Empires New Round: Phoenix Factor

From:  http://www.mpogd.com/news/?ID=3820 :

July 14, 2008 
Merchant Empires New Round: Phoenix Factor 
  
Merchant Empires, a free, browser based multi-player game of space
exploration, trade and combat is back with a new round and better than
ever. The round started July 7th and former players especially will
enjoy a return to the old racial galaxies system with three warp zones
connecting the major racial galaxies which are of varying sizes this
time around. A week in the active player numbers are at 154 and rising,
a trend that hopefully will continue. The game also has a very good
documentation system available for new players to learn and old ones
alike to learn about the changes:
http://advancedpowers.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

For those who have never played it Merchant Empires it allows you to
choose from one of five detailed races--the warrior Mawlor, the merchant
Vinoan, the scientist Paragon, the secretive Xollian, or the insectoid
Zyck'lirg. Each race has its own special attributes and shiplist
allowing for different styles of play from trader, warrior, scientist,
to cloaked assassin, and many roles in between. You can of course do
anything with any of the races but some are better suited to certain
tasks than others.

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 (suggested) 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. Don't miss
out on the fun of this great space game. I have been playing since 2003
and it keeps getting better, and will continue to if we can get more
players into the game, so come check it out and bring your friends! 

http://www.advancedpowers.com/  

For those interested in the specific round changes here is the
Developers log on them:

New ships
[ Ragnarok | July 6, 2008, 6:00 pm | Feature Update ]
A number of ships has been changed or added to the list. In particular
imperial ships which can be boarded by members of any race.

Alliance size
[ Ragnarok | July 6, 2008, 6:00 pm | Feature Update ]
The maximum alliance size has been set to 15% of the active players, or
20 people, whichever is the smallest.

Galaxy Design
[ Ragnarok | July 6, 2008, 6:00 pm | Feature Update ]
The Universe is made up of 5 racial galaxies connected by 3 hyperspaces,
and 1 newbie galaxy. The Hyperspaces connect a maximum of 4 galaxies.
Hyperspace connects Paragon Supremacy, Xollian Traplands and Mawlor
Dominion. The Paragon Rift connects Paragon Supremacy, Mawlor Dominion,
Xollian Traplands and the Infested Zyck'lirg Expanse. The Vinoan Highway
connects Paragon Supremacy, Mawlor Dominion and Vinoan Protectorate. 

-Note: Star Gates and Galaxy Jump drives only work within the same
galaxy and cannot be used to get to the other galaxies.

Blueprint Office obsolete
[ Ragnarok | July 6, 2008, 6:00 pm | Feature Update ]
In order to increase role-play the Blueprint Office was made obsolete.
Anybody who has completed a science can start that science on another
base at reduced cost & time. Awarded Experience remains unchanged.

Blue dots on Deep Space Scanner
[ Ragnarok | July 6, 2008, 6:00 pm | Feature Update ]
Blue dots were added to the DSS. They represent allied ships, where red
dots represent enemy ships.


 




http://h2g2.com/entry/A1003375



Created Mar 19, 2003 | Updated Mar 19, 2003
0 Conversations 
Merchant Empires
The following is an article written for the Universe Weekly, all
encompasing newspaper of the Merchant Empires Community,
The title is bias

One poor players reaction to the scandal, and some advice for new
players. Well here I am, in my 3rd season of this wonderful game called
Merchant Empires. Sadly it seems as if there is only one constant in
this universe…intolerant pigs running amok.I know that probably no one
could give a rats hairy rear end what I think, seeing as I have never
mad much of an impact in the game. But that does not stop me.This idea
occurred to me the other day, as I was casually browsing the newspaper
and speaking with a few of my friends in game. I know that if something
goes wrong in the game it is habit to blame the people who made the
game, and to some extent it is fair to do so.However, the manner in
which people are doing so is wrong. I know that it is only a small
minority of players doing this, as most do the correct thing and use the
bug link. I am not the one to sentence these people, nor do I wish that
to be my job. I am just here to say that I appreciate the Admins and Dev
Team for all the incredibly hard work they have, are currently, and will
put into this game.Another thing is the deterioration in the reception
of the community to new players. I remember just last season I was still
relatively new to the game and had joined unfashionably late, but I
still received a warm welcome and a helping hand. I wish to continue
this service and if any new player needs help they can most certainly
drop me a line and I will do my best to help. Replies will, sadly, be
far-between in the case that someone actually takes me up, because of my
extremely limited access to the Internet at the time being.
Regards,Ryx


More will follow 
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