Tonight is my first Table Top Game on Skype for 3 weeks now. I have to work in the morning, at 6AM.

SOOOOO

That means that while your cycle submission for 16th is due tonight, I likely will not get it back to you till Wednesday LATE (especially with the massive exploration I have seen being done).

This means that after tonight, our next due date will be next Tuesday. With so much happening this cycle I think that the extra time might be needed.

ALSO, this will help me to get all the mapping done and get things right the first time. I have been rushing to get results in and it shows :-P
This message was last updated by the player at 07:41, Mon 07 Nov 2011.

Let me be very blunt:

There is no alternate win option which will either end the game or get your race into the Hall of Fame.

You can Solo win with 50 planets or Federation win with 90 planets, currently, just like it indicates in the Galaxy Thread.

There is a technology tree that lets you reduce the # of planets needed to win by 1 per level of the technology. That means that the smallest number of planets currently needed (should somebody have all 6 levels of the technology) would be 44 for a solo and 84 for a Federation win.

There are no other technologies and will be no other technologies that reduce the # of planets needed. Nor will there be a technology that reduces the % of planets needed.


Thank you,
Admin
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:22, Mon 24 Oct 2011.

Unique Object/Items can not be shared, period.

One race can own/benefit from any given item at any given time. Some UO's can be given/traded after they have been researched because they are objects, but still that unique object is what grants that bonus/benefit. Other UO's disappear upon use and can't be researched again.

Whichever race researches the Book of Jakar, that is the only race that can ever benefit from it. Once researched it can no longer be traded, ever, and the book fades into the essence of the galaxy and that races people.

PS: A Federation is not a race and Federations can not directly benefit from Unique Objects. UO's that directly effect a 'side' of battle can effect Federation troops should it be present as part of a combined task force with the race that owns or is enhanced by the UO.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:48, Wed 26 Oct 2011.

This was deleted or never copied over from G2 or G3 rules, but has been the mode of operation regardless. It will be added in the H section.

Espionage agents, since they perform a wide variety of tasks, can only be converted to a higher espionage grade 1 unit per cycle.

EX:  If you have E4 grade, you can elevate 3 espionage e1 units a turn.  1 to e2, 1 to e3 and 1 to e4.  Technologies researched can allow more espionage units to be able to be elevated per turn.


There is a basic upgrade technology for it:

The More the Merrier, Lv1, Standard
And additional Espionage Unit can be trained up per grade.
lv2 can upgrade 2 E1's to E2, 2 E2's to E3, 2 E3's to E4.
lv3 3 of each.
lv4 4 of each
lv5 5 of each.
lv6 - Unlimited, but you have to pay 1 luxury per unit upgraded.

G4 Espionage Updates:

Information is Power I, Lv2, Standard
Requires: E2 Espionage Grade
The following listed Espionage Actions have a 5% greater chance of success.
Spying
Privaledged info
Wire Taps
Store House Bribes
Misinformation

Knowledge is Power II
+5% greater chance of success
Information is Power III
+5% greater chance of success
Information is Power IV
+5% greater chance of success
Information is Power V
+5% greater chance of success

Power is Control I, Lv3, Standard
Requires: E3 Espionage Grade, Information is Power I
The below listed Espionage Actions receive a 5% greater chance of success.
Interference
Military Coup
Stealing R & D
Theft
Space Piracy
Power is Control II
+5% greater chance of success
Power is Control III
+5% greater chance of success
Power is Control IV
+5% greater chance of success


I See You I, lv2, Standard
Requires: E2 Espionage Grade
This technology increases the effectiveness of the Counter Espionage Action by 5%.

I See You II
+5% to the base Counter Espionage Action.
I See You III
+5% to the base Counter Espionage Action.
I See You IV
+5% to the base Counter Espionage Action.
I See You V
+5% to the base Counter Espionage Action.



Reach Out and Touch Someone I, Lv3, Standard
Requires: E3, Information is Power I
The Assassination Espionage Action is 5% more successful.

Reach Out and Touch Someone II
+5% more successful.
Reach Out and Touch Someone III
+5% more successful.
Reach Out and Touch Someone IV
+5% more successful.

This is an announcement for all involved and everybody in the game.

It is assumed that your Leader(s) that are subject to Assassination and other problems concerning location are on your Home World unless specifically stated in the Additional Information section of your Cycle Submission Sheet.

I will be adding rules that were not needed in the Ring System. There is the Q.1 Section and some other things in Aqua in the H Section of the rules that have been added. In addition I have made an extra entry into the Submission Sheet, in RED in the Additional Information section.

I, Thanos_Infinity, and the majority of other players are less than pleased with the level of argument in the OOC:. I have come up with a solution to this. It is called the VENT Thread. If you vent/argue/bitch/whine/moan in the OOC about the game, circumstances in the game, or rules of the game then you will loose access to the OOC.

If you have a HELPFUL suggestion for the game, you may make it in the suggestions thread and the GM(s) will entertain them, but not discuss them.

If you have a question that is not covered in the Rules, Game System, or Approved R&D Thread then you can use the Q&A Thread to ask such question that might need a public response. It is the GM's job to answer such questions, not other players.

Abusing any of the threads with vent/argue/bitch/whine/moan will loose you access to that thread.

Appeals will be ignored. The GM for the next game MAY lift the ban.

Scheduling for the Holidays

Cycle Submission Sheets Due:

Saturday the 19th of November by NOON.
Tuesday the 22nd 10PM
Saturday the 26th by NOON.
Tuesday the 29th by 10PM

When is the next cycle due? I don't know because I will be looking for a job in Texas come the 3rd of December. That Tuesday is completely out. That Friday the 9th is a likely possibility and the Tuesday the 13th is the other possibility or both. My apartment has to be packed, cleaned, and moved by the 20th of December.....and my wife is teaching school and working in the evenings on her at home business.


What am I saying....things will be hectic after the 29th Nov until after the 25th of December.

ALSO

I finally came up with a good name for Cannibalism...other than you know, Cannibalism.

Battlefield Salvage (Cannibalism/Bio-regeneration)
Through the use of this technology military units from your own forces that have been destroyed can be brought back to operational status after your forces win a battle. For each level of this technology you can piece together 1 unit per 10 destroyed units. This technology is compatible with other technologies that utilize one's destroyed military units, but no combination of which can cause you to regain more units than what you lost.
Battlefield Salvage Vi
Prerequisite Technologies: All other Cannibalism techs
Through the use of this technology a military unit can advance a military grade under the following conditions.
1) It defeats and enemy unit in battle.
2) It survives said battle without the use of Cannibalism.
3) There was at least one loss, on the owners side, for each unit upgraded. This lost unit does not count for Battlefield Salvage or other purposes.
-A unit can only be propelled one level higher in MG than the racial Military Grade Technology normally supports. This is an effective means of improving lower level Mercenary Units to not just your full military grade, but 1 higher.
-This technology doesn't work without all other Cannibalism levels already in possession by the using player.

I will no longer be sending you PINGs on your Interdiction or Vortex Fields as neither suggests that you get to know when that happens, even though I was thinking of them that way. If you have ships stationed in the appropriate locations then I, of course, will be required to tell you something showed up.

Said military units need to specifically be located on your Defense Sheet so that I can cross check against them for interaction.

Thank you for your understanding,
Admin

There are many of you that have not sent me lists of your official approved technologies.

Those that have sent me lists, please bump those individual PM's back at me. Those that have not you need to get those lists.

Cycle 26 will not be processes without those lists.


Why am I doing this?
Because the GM's for Game 5 need to review all of the technologies before the game gets reset, even if they only get them a single cycle before the G4 is over. Once reviewed they can post the G5 Approved R&D List, which will likely remove, alter, or negate certain techs that I have approved. Certainly with the smaller galaxies the length a standard Hyper Drive jump will take us will be shorted. There are a lot of technologies that rely on Hyper Drive level or range which will need to be updated. In all, this is so that everybody can start on the same page for game 5 and be fair to the Lurkers who have been waiting patiently.

Tuesday the 29th by 10PM Submission deadline has been extended to

Wednesday at Noon. ANYTHING that is later than that will be considered a dead turn as I leave on a plane the next day and can't do anything else.

In reply to Thanos Infinity COGM (msg #12):

Cycle 27 will be due Wednesday Dec 7th at Noon.

Honor and Respect to those that died this day.

In reply to Thanos Infinity COGM (msg #13):

Cycle 27 is finished and out.

Cycle 28 is due on Tuesday 10pm.

Cycle 28 comes to a close and military forces race across the galaxy. The bulk of the P4 military might end up easily defeating the forces holding 29-57, freeing that home world. However, the following is sent out to the entire galaxy.

A message is transmitted across all civilian and government frequencies in the Galaxy, powerful enough to preempt any other broadcast.  It is sent to every receiving device that can detect audio, video, or text transmissions.  The sources are many and galaxy-wide, ensuring that every government official and citizen in the galaxy will hear, read, or watch this message.

  Tawa, Great Monk of the Strigidae Community stands upon a pirch in an artificially shaped cavern.  His feather-painting has restored the aging avian to a color of vibrant ebony with silver markings.  Standing behind him are Laida, Tarwo, and Glaidia in decorative feather painting.  Looking fiercely at viewers from the viewscreen, Tawa spoke in words that were translated and captioned for the listener or reader into every language.

  "People of the Galaxy.  The Strigidae have long stood by while imperialistic warlords and oppressive dictators have stolen resources from their own people to fund campaigns of theft and death.  Too long have petty disagreements between self-aggrandizing fools resulted in the deaths of innocents for the sole purpose of growing the coffers of illegitimate governments.  The Strigidae Community will no longer allow it.  We can no longer stand seeing the peoples of the Galaxy oppressed, pillaged, and robbed by governments with no right to exist.  Now is the time to end it."

  "The Strigidae Community have proven for decades to the peoples of this Galaxy that true freedom of individuals is possible!  There is no longer a need for individuals' wages to be stolen to fund massive governments and their selfish goals.  There is no longer a need in this time of advancement and enlightenment for innocent lives to be lost to rectify imagined insults between people who wrongly believe themselves to be more important than any other in their race.  The need to kow tow to the boot-licking beaurocrats is over."

  "Even now, there are hundreds of automated ships led by dozens of volunteers among the Strigidae Huntsmen to liberate the peoples of thirty-two worlds who have too long struggled under the oppressive yolk of the worst offender in galactic history...P³.  These ships are arriving not to fight, but to liberate the peoples of the subject planets.  They will then act with all necessary force but no more to dismantle the false regime of P³ and liberate the people who live at each of these planets.  We expect resistance, but all who take part in this effort agree that the freedom of all people is worth the risk of our very lives."

  "I speak now to the citizens and slaves who live in worlds oppressed by P³.  We are coming.  When we arrive, I beg you to do as you feel is right and defend yourselves from your oppressors.  I have little doubt that many of the member 'states' will try to further lock you down with martial law and further taxation.  If you truly desire freedom, now is the time to act!  Call out in one voice to the governments that have long stolen your livelihoods and your lives!  Let them know that their services are no longer needed!  The people of this Galaxy can take care of themselves!"

  "Now, I speak to the cowards that hide behind the youths of their people, steal their people's livelihoods, and lord it over others as though you have some right to do so.  This is your chance to do the honorable thing.  Repudiate P³ as the false, warmongering monster of an organization that it has become.  There is still time to free your people.  Step down from your plush thrones and stand with your people as one of them.  Even now, the leadership of the Veron Peacekeepers have sent volunteer troops with all of the ships which P³ has not yet stolen from them to join us in this effort.  You too may join this movement towards true freedom, peace, and prosperity for all.  There is still time."

  "Those of you who choose to resist freedom, know this.  You will not be given a chance to spend the lives of your youths in some ineffective counter-strike against the Strigidae Community.  Beyond the thousands of defensive units poised over each of our colonies, we have readied an ancient artifact of ages past which we recovered near Aves.  In moments, as soon as the liberation forces arrive at their destinations, it will be activated and will prevent all hyperspace activity, Warp Gate travel, and Worm Hole opening for an entire cycle.  This should provide your people plenty of opportunity to help our volunteers overthrow P³ and inform the false governments of their wishes.  Liberty is truly inevitable.  Equality will be spread.  No race will ever again feel the threat of P3 forces demanding they allow themselves to be oppressed again."

  "The false Paramorphium government will be dismantled.  The Synth Overmind will permit individualism.  The Mingviri clans will be made equal.  The Corsa will be allowed equal treatment for all patients and scientists.  The 'Clave and Veron will be freed from the oppressive P3 government to continue theiir individual goals.  And the Seraphim will no longer be stripped of their free will by their All-Father.  This day marks the beginning of a new Galactic Community!!!"

The Strigidae attack the following worlds defeating all opposing forces except for the valiant effort at the Synth Home World:
55-56  Shield Roll Held
46-12  Shield Roll Failed Subjugation Started
03-28  Shield Roll Held
01-48  Shield Roll Failed Subjugation Started
07-05 Subjugation Started
01-11 Subjugation Started
11-15 Subjugation Started
05-16 Subjugation Started
48-59  Shield Roll Seraphim Failed Subjugation Started
34-14  Shield Roll Seraphim Held
53-44  Shield Roll Seraphim Failed Subjugation Started
52-44  Shield Roll Seraphim Failed Subjugation Started
47-45  Shield Roll Seraphim Failed Subjugation Started
26-28  Shield Roll Seraphim Held
11-26   Shield Roll Synth Failed Subjugation Started
02-27   Shield Roll Synth Failed Subjugation Started
10-23   Shield Roll Synth Held
08-15   Shield Roll Synth Failed Subjugation Started
02-22   Shield Roll Synth Failed Subjugation Started
02-24   Shield Roll Synth Held
01-30 Strigidae forces LOST
44-41   Shield Roll Synth FailedSubjugation Started
57-11 Subjugation Started
56-18 Subjugation Started
59-37 Subjugation Started
37-07 Shield Roll Failed Subjugation Started
32-03 Shield Roll Failed Subjugation Started
10-57 Ming Shield Check Failed Subjugation Started
11-59 Ming Shield Check Held
02-58 Ming Shield Check Held
18-56 Ming Shield Check Failed Subjugation Started
57-36 Ming Shield Check Failed Subjugation Started


At the end of cycle 28 the Strigidae use the ancient and forgotten Zari Space Rotation Device which wrenches the attachment between normal space, hyper space, and the underpinnings of universe at large.

The military generals and admirals of the galaxy work at a fevered pace during cycle 29 to answer the intense and widespread aggression of the Strigidae and their bid for power. All their plans are coordinated perfectly, 10,000 ships are set in motion, but when they attempt to activate their hyper drives or a warp gate.....nothing happens. Some attempt to use secret Worm Holes to get to their destinations only to find that they are not open. All known FTL methods of travel have been shut off and every natural and artificial worm hole is no longer connected to normal space.

Twenty-Four planets fall to the Strigidae on cycle 29, bringing them to a total of 55 planets and 4 planets worth of influence. In addition, the Aether convert a planet into Energy on the 29th cycle.



Congratulations to the Strigidae on their WIN  with 55+4 Planets out of 100.

The three GM's for Game 5 have decided that January 3rd, will be the start date for game 5.

Until then, we will be

 - Deleting homeworld threads for Game 4.  (Will happen sometime this weekend, so copy and paste anything you want to keep before then.)
 - Adding favorite posts from Game 5 to the Favorite read section.
 - Updating and clarifying the System rules and posting the rules for game 5.
 - Posting the three maps (blank) for all to see.
 - Changing each players cast tag, to the name of the race they will be playing in game 5.
 - Accepting racial concepts and answering questions.  (Please wait one full week before submitting a PM to us about character creation, so Thanos will not be tempted to look at your ideas :P  Questions though can be submitted now.)
 - Putting up a complete list of approved technologies for all to view.

Please save everything you want to keep from you old character races in a forum other than Empirium.  When I delete your old character, you will lose al of the Pm's they've collected.

You have until Sunday, unless you've already told me I can delete it.

We have made the following changes to the rules (besides correcting grammer and stuff):

-Tech Meta-Limits are clearly stated.  (Others might be added as we run across them, though.)
-Section O now defines the importance of Homeworlds in the map system
-Races may now choose between Genetics or Mechanicals to build their infrastructure.  This choice is permanent.
-Espionage can now be used for limited exploration.
-Safe Houses now have an innate reason to be placed, even if you don't have techs to interact with them
-Added the Tracking Espionage Option
-Rules were added to clarify how multiple galaxies work.
-Section H is clarified to say Option 2 can only be chosen if unclaimed planets are available.
-Planets are pre-placed, rather than randomly placed.
-X Sectors and Blank-marked Sectors no longer have varied danger levels when planets and rifts are not present

Pos Uni 1:
-Technocon
-Gorp
-Sanrai
-Blagtorians
-Arkanians
-Vazr'kasu
-Granicus
-(jmenefee)

Pos Uni 2:
-Cerberians
-The Order
-Chimer
-Zin-Xeng
-Xenomorph
-Quo
-Vanir
-Vor

The Positive Universe one, will have access to groups 01256

The Positive Universe two, will have access to groups 01234

Upon successfully entering from one universe from another, you will be granted access to the appropriate threads.

OOC will always remain in group 2.  PM's are fine between players from different galaxies, but bear in mind that your race won't know of the other races existence until first contact is made.  Unlike the races in your own galaxy.

EDIT:  Group 5 will be homeworld threads and the galactic seat.
Group 6 will be the UA Council Hall.

Same variations for groups 3 and 4.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:42, Wed 28 Dec 2011.

UPDATED Game 5 Approved Tech List, to include Rift tech tree.

UPDATED Galaxy Map to inform players on how hyper Drive movement works.

Pirate Rules have been re-established in the Game 5 Rules Thread.  They have changed to reflect the new map and tech system, so please take a moment to look them over!

Just as a note, we are beginning to get approved techs returned to people. Please make sure you read what we return to you carefully, as it may have changed from its original wording.

No players race will begin with any units in storage, unless purchased with the Point Buy System.  For those that I have told otherwise about military units, please disregard that early ruling and change your totals to match only 1 turns production in each of the unit categories.

Thanks.
CGM

I would like to point out to people that Research Unions can only be performed by members of a Federation, and that Federations cannot be formed until you have been allies for four cycles (that is, not until at least cycle four). Those of you who are attempting to negotiate immediate research coordination should keep this in mind.

A Quick Clarification about the Tracking Espionage Action:

Tracking is an unusual Espionage Action in that the Espionage unit is targeting an unknown planet that he/she/it isn't on.  Because of that, it might be unclear how it interacts with Safe Houses and Counter-Espionage.

The way we'll be operating it is that only effects that modify Espionage Actions on the target world affect this Action.

Ex1:  Player A is Tracking Player B's planets.  He tells an Espionage unit on Planet X to start Tracking.  The GMs know the nearest of Player B's planets is Planet Y.  Player B's Counter Espionage units on Planet Y will reduce the effectiveness of the Tracking Action.

Ex2:  Player A happens to already know where Planet Y is, but didn't realize it was the closest of Player B's planets to Planet X.  Planet Y has one of Player A's Safe Houses on it.  That will increase the probability that the Espionage unit is not caught.

Ex3:  Player A finds Planet Y and starts Tracking the next planet (Planet Z.) from Planet Y.  The Counter Espionage actions and Safe Houses on Planet Y will not affect this attempt at all, though the Counter Espionage and Safe House on Planet Z will.

Alright my friends!

I have started deleting lurkers who have not confirmed that they want to participate and have started deleting any characters you had, that were not game 5 specific.

We need Point Buy and Homeworld stats by Januray 1st.  Earlier submissions are encouraged and welcomed.

We start the first turn, Januray 3rd.  For everyones ease, we ask that you try and send in a turn sheet submission before the 3rd.  So if there are any issues, we can catch them before the turn is due.

Please do not be late with your first turn submission.  People have been waiting for a long while to start in this game and it would be especially irritating if they had to wait because someone didn't turn their first turn submission in on time.

With all of that said.  We (The GM's) want to wish you all a Merry Christmas!  And can't convey our excitement at starting Game 5 in the near future.

Thanks.

Admin

Rumors...

Rumors and fables spread among the colonies of distant worlds of giant rips in space, sucking in ships as if it were a living breathing entity.  These "Rifts" were beginning to become more than legend.  More than a myth.

But what are they?

Some races concluded that it was yet just another phenomenon that science had yet to explain.  Others stated that they were the result of some great ancient weapon, reawakened by the re-emergence of organisation to the Chaos that is the vast abyss of space.  And still others, claimed them to be portents and omens...  Religious symbols of either the dawning of a new era or the harbringers of the end of days.

Many things were still circumspect, but one thing remained constant in all of the stories.  When a ship encountered a Rift, they were never heard from again.  Vague messages sent with static interference the only vessel of information.  And most of those messages contained the last few moments of awe and fear from whomever sent them...

Once again as races enter into the arena of space, seeking to etch out a name for their Empire in these turbulent times, questions abound as to who will be the next great race to shape the stars themselves.  And either out of terror or hope, a dawning of a new age is about to begin.

Welcome...  To Empirium.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:12, Mon 26 Dec 2011.

Just as a heads up:

A lot of you have been concerned about not having enough credits to pay GC/AC fees the first turn. You should note that GTAs produce credits as soon as they go into effect. Thus, any GTAs you are signing now will generate their revenue on turn 1, which you can use to pay trade or treaty enforcement fees.

0 Days to Start!  Today is the Day!

0 More days to finalisation of Point Buys. DUE TODAY!
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:07, Tue 03 Jan 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...V7DB8Iwg&ob=av3e

Turn 1 for Game 5 is due today, 10:00 PM East Coast Time.

With the exception of the Vanir and Xenomorphs (as I will try to help them since they are new and just came back from Holiday) all turn sheets should be submitted in your turn sheet thread.

Results will be posted tommorrow.

Turn 2 is due Friday, January 6th @ 10PM East Coast Time.

 - Late submissions without GM ok, will be processed as a dud round.
 - I suggest you post up a rough draft of your turn 2 at least and edit it as you go.

I posted Private in everyones homeworld threads.  If you do not have anything there other than the word private, do not worry.  I did it on purpose.

Just as a heads up to everyone, I'm leaving for a bridge tournament that runs all weekend in about half an hour. I may be pretty scarce for a while, and I'm also almost certainly going to be playing bridge when the turns are due, which means I won't get to work on universe 2's results for a couple hours. I will try to still get them in that evening. However, the more people that get their turns sheets in early (even by only a couple hours, since I should be free around 4-6 PDT (7-9 EST) that day) will greatly speed up the time it takes to get them back to you.

Turn 3 is due Tuesday, January 10th @ 10 PM East Coast Time.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=212

If you look up Richmond Virginia USA, you will see what time difference your time is from my own.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:10, Sat 07 Jan 2012.

Facts about Rifts and game mechanics:

 - Once activated and visible on the public map, a Rift will no longer suck your ships through it to the other universe.  That is a one time deal.  Afterwards, you may choose to travel through it or not when in the sector it appeared.

 - You may not travel back from one universe to another without the appropriate technology.  SEE Approved Game 5 Tech Thread.

 - You may build space stations and other defenses next to a Rift.

 - You may feed two universes with Life support if there is a Rift present.

EX:  You have units at the same location in both universes, you can feed them accordingly as if they were all in the same universe.

 - So as not to drive everyone crazy, production in one universe connects with the other universe.  Even if you cannot travel back and forth between the universes freely yet.

 - Travel through a Rift is the same as if you travel through a warp gate.  You use 1 hyper drive charge.

Turn 4 will be due this Friday, 13th (ooooo!) @ 10PM East Coast Time.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=212

Thanks again to every player.  All of you got your turn submissions in before 10:00 today.  *wipes tear from eye*  I knew Christmas wasn't over.

Results should be in sometime late tonight, perhaps tommorrow before lunch.  I've finished Negative Universe results... MUAhAHAHAHAHA!  And Zontan and Godz are working on positive universe results.  All trades have been checked as well, so if you have a late submission before 10:00PM I'd get cracking.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:40, Wed 11 Jan 2012.

Just a reminder to those of you that wish to use Espionage units and those who have been targets of those Espionage units.

Under the rules, espionage units that fail are lost permanently...usually dead.  To accomodate situations where there is espionage between friendly players who might not mind the Espionage so much, we've allowed players to send the Espionage unit back immediately instead.  But, if the unit is not ransomed or released that turn, the unit is gone forever, barring techs.

So, no holding onto those units for 3-4 turns and then exchanging them when your own get caught.  Sorry about that.

Turn 5 will be due Tuesday, 17th @ 10PM East Coast time.

We do appreciate rough turn results at least posted with basic exploration and infrastructure actions.  Trades can be last minute.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=212
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:01, Sat 14 Jan 2012.

Uni 1 players, I got enough questions about last Turn's trades that I went back and redid the Turn Results for them.  Y'all were right, there were a lot of errors...some minor, some not.  That's what I get for trying to get Turn results done at 4am.

I editted the new results over the old, so the should now be accurate.  Please double check them before relying on the trade info.

Thanks for your understanding.

For those of you who are heavy traders, it would be helpful for me (Since I summarise the trades) to have the following format.

1. To: Gorp (XX-XX) OR 3 Credits to UA for shipping
   Send: GTA, Dolphin Breeding Techniques (Makes a Dolphin to kill solar systems)
   Receive: GTA, Bear Breeding Techniques (Makes a Bear to kill suns)
   Escort: 0
   Decoys: 0
   Transaction Shipped on Cycle: 1
   Transaction Finished on Cycle: 1 or 2

RED:  Direct Trade (Must have Coordinates to destination next to name)

GREEN:  Middle Man (Must Notate the credits you spend for shipping, otherwise it will not be shipped *Unless the GC or AC have another arrangement with you)

This will help us tremendously.  Thanks

ADMIN

EDIT: If you bulk all of your GTA's in one trade grouping, that is quite alright.  The main problem we are having is trying to figure out when something arrives and whether or not its Direct or through a Middle Man.

EDIT 2:  Also!  We only ship what the race states they send you.  I look at their send line.  The recieve line is for your records and sometimes help me clarify aa tech (Mech Pro +1 or Liquid Metal Facilities).  They are the same thing, but notated differently by each race.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:33, Sun 15 Jan 2012.

For Colonisation notations on your turn sheet, we would like to see the following under your (Completed Projects) section above your production section.

1.) Colonising Planet @ sector XX-XX (Negaverse/Pos 1/Pos 2) STAGE -/4 (PAID 2G, 1LS,1E)

OR

1.) Building Space Station @ sector XX-XX (Negaverse/Pos 1/Pos2) Stage -/4 (PAID 1M, 2G, 1LS, 1E)

NOTE:  There is an additional M or G requirement per stage for space station construction.

Notating somewhere on your sheet which universe you are doing the work on is critical, since there is 3 sectors with the same coordinates in this game.  1 for each universe.

Eventually you guys are going to start running into each other, and we need to be certain who goes where and who has what where.

Some of the Mix up with the trades has been my fault, since I start processing them around 7:00 pm on the day the turns are due.

Tommorrow, I won't touch the trades until 10PM.  Unless you tell me you are going to be late though with your turn submission, I'm going to post up what you have in your trade section at 10PM.  If you alter it after that, I'm not going to retcon it.

This goes for Negaverse results as well.  If they are altered after 10PM without my knowledge, tough luck.

Turn 6 will be due Friday, 20th @ 10 PM East Coast Time.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=212

 - Approved and Denied techs submitted by players.
 - Added Dormancy technology to the Approved Game 5 tech Thread.
 - Added mulitple race posts to the Favorite Reads Section.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:13, Thu 19 Jan 2012.

Just a quick point.  A few of you have submitted techs that key off the names of other techs.  As a result, I should point out that you cannot change the tech's name to make it qualify.  If the tech didn't have the keyword in it when it was originally researched, it cannot have the keyword after the fact.

Turn 7 will be due Tuesday 24th, 10PM East Coast Time.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=212

Thanks,

Admin.

An addition to this, it should be mentioned that no technology can be developed with more than 1 keyword.

Turn 8 will be due Friday 27th, 10PM East Coast Time.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=212

Thanks,

Admin.

Turn 9 will be due Tuesday 31st, 10PM East Coast Time.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=212

Thanks,

Admin.

We have had a large amount of tech requests roll through PMs.  Not that we mind, but we just want those of you who are patiently waiting, to understand that there is a long list of techs we are looking over and it takes time to make sure they will not break our current system.

However, this weekend we will make attempts at having definitive answers on most of the techs submitted.  Most of you will recieve an answer by Tuesdays turn.

If you have submitted to us techs still waiting for approval.  You can bump them if you like to make sure we know of them, but we ask that you hold off on making any more until you recieve and answer on the ones you've already submitted.

Thanks,

Admin.

I'm seeing a lot of Pm's going from Uni 2 players to Uni 1 players in light of recent events.

You may only send Pm's to the White Queen NPC at this time.  Same goes for the Uni 1 races when they recieve their results.  They may only communicate with the Black King.

To avoid confusion (My COGMs might dislike that I'm telling this, but it is to avoid the inevitable flood of PM's from Uni2 races to Uni 1 races until they actually meet) the races that you are dealing with in your Universe that priase the White Queen/Black King are NPC counterparts to the races from the other Universe.

They are NOT the other universe races at this time.  They are an NPC manifestation and must be addressed through their NPC leadership.

When actually meeting another race you have not met with, the GM's will create a first contact PM thread for you, so you know its legit.

Thanks.

ADMIN.

Turn 12 will be due Friday, February 10th (My birthday by the way) at 10PM East Coast time.

Please get them in either early or on time.  If you are not able to, send us a message so we don't stay up looking for it to come.

Thanks!

Admin.

UNI 1 races.

Please recheck your turn results as I have added a few things.

Thanks.

Admin.

Turn 14 due tommorrow at 10 PM ECT.

Just as a reminder, there is no turn due tomorrow, the 24th. We are taking the day off by popular demand to get back to people on some tech requests.

Turn 16 will be due at 10PM ECT on Tuesday the 28th.

IC:

A flash of light cascades from acrossyour ships, space stations and planets.  Mere seconds pass, but according to your instrumentation a whole galactic cycle has seemed to pass.  After confirming with your homeworlds on the other side of the Rifts, you conclude that some strange power surge originating from the center of the Negaverse has seemed to steal a galactic cycle from all life in this Universe.  Oddly enough though, your planets and stations continued to produce, seemingly the automation was unaffected for production.

OOC:

I dropped the ball this week big time onturn results for the Negaverse.  I was going to have something horrible happen to all of you from G.O.D. being discovered, but how could I punish you when I myself have failed?  Therefore, this occurance will be all of the retribution for first discovering G.O.D.  My apologies, but I think this will get everything back on track.  Leave all of your Negative Universe actions as they are, including stages of construction/colonisation and exploration.

Once again, please forgive me for my failure this cycle.

If you are traversing from one universe to another through a Rift.  PLEASE notate it somewhere easily visible on your turn sheet.  Sometimes coming through a Rift will put you neatly in the middle of another players space station.

Thanks!

PS:  I would reccommend placing it somewhere in the Completed Projects portion of your turn sheet.

A heads up that I didn't mention in your turn restuls.  Xi'ADAM Titans cannot be assimilated, but can be enticed.  All other Xi'ADAM monstrosities except for G.O.D. can be assimilated though.

From here on out.  Shield technology will only work if a military unit was present in the sector during the turn/ per how the tech is worded.  Also it works reactively, taking energy from your storage.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:57, Fri 09 Mar 2012.

I'm going out of town this weekend and will be gone until Wednesday of next week.  The Gms will have another Tech Approval Day on Tuesday instead of a turn.  In order tfor us to catch up on some peoples (Chimer ;P) tech requests.

We added Mobile Defense Cannons to the Public Approved Tech Thread today.  This is a tech that has been discussed and semi-approved in various forms since Game 1, but was never really made public until now.

(Note:  This is a GM-created tech, rather than a Player-Submitted tech.  Don't worry about your techs being made public this game...at least not without your prior permission.)

We added 3 other new techs to the Public Approved Tech Thread, today.  These are First Strike, {X-Monster} Subdual, and {X-Monster} Enticement.  The first two are GM-designed techs designed for this game.  The third is a generalized version of a Game 4 player's tech which was released publically in that game.

First Strike, Lvl 1, Standard Costs
Benefit: You cannot lose ships in the first round of combat.
-Improvements on the tech line increase the number of rounds, up to five. If two fleets with First Strike are on opposite sides of combat, then rounds would be skipped equal to the level of the lowest level of First Strike between the two sides.  Whoever had the higher level would get the difference in levels in rounds of indestructability.

{X-Monster} Subdual, Lvl 1, 1M1E1G
Pre-Req: Must have fought the {X-monster} once before.
Whenever fighting {X-Monster}, your ships are effectively one Military Grade higher.
(When researching, the player may select the monster of their choice to replace the {X-Monster} in the text.)

{X-Monster} Enticement, Lvl 2, 1M1E1G1L
Pre-Req: {X-Monster} Subdual (Must be for the same Monster as this tech)
When encountering {X-Monster}, you may spend 2 Energy to offer any number of {resources determined by the GM} to them before combat.  For each unit of the designated resource beyond the first, you have a 10% chance (Max 50%) to convince 1 of {X-Monster} to join your military forces.  If there are more than one {X-Monster} present, the resources may be divided as you wish among them (Max 50% chance for each unit, in that case.)
-Even if the Enticement attempt fails, the {X-Monsters} that are offered resources will ignore your military for 1 Cycle in return for the resources.
-Upkeep for {X-Monster} will be determined by the GM.

We are shutting down things until Tuesday of next week.  In order to get our ducks back in a row.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

EDIT:  And so there is no confusion, that means the next turn is postponed until Friday of next week.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:15, Sat 17 Mar 2012.

To all players and respective GMs, I have absolutely no time to give this game the attention it deserves and therefore, I am going to need to step back and lurk until my real life situation improves.

I have recently found out that my new born daughter has some health problems and couple that with long work hours and school, I'm finding less and less time.  This last week was a wake up call for me and I realised that for the time being I needed to trim some of my hobbies up, in order to be the father I need to be for my family.

It is with a heavy heart that I must take a leave of absence from this game.  But I'm doing what I must do for my family.

I've made Godz the primary GM and game owner, much like I did Thanos when he ran things for me last game.  But I'm asking that I be left as a GM Lurker in case my cirmcumstances get easier and I can come back to the game in some capacity.

I apologise to Godz and Zontan for the increased work load this will leave them with.  But I saw no other way, other than deleting the game entirely, which is neither my right to do so or my desire to do so.  It's my hope that after this leave of absence and in time, I might be able to return in some capacity.

Thank you for your understanding.

  - CGM

The how and what of Game 6 (G6) has been discussed, opinions and preferences weighted, and a decision made.

G6 will be a so called 'Dark Ages' game where no player race will initially know any other player race.

G6 will use the Grid Sector System initiated in G4, but will only be a 20 by 20 grid. Range based technologies, such as how far a military unit can 'jump', will not be changed. Rules for G5 will follow over into G6 with few exceptions. The point buy system will be altered slightly to reflect the 'Dark Ages' game style.

Point Buy system will be initiated as follows:

A.2  Point Buy System:

Each Race Starts with the Following:
A Home Planet with 10 customizable resources of your choice.
Hyper Drive Basic (ships can jump 3 grid sectors)
11 Customization Points from which to purchase the below:

1.) Another customizable planet with 5 resources to allocate - 6 pts.
2.) A space station with Production = your starting Production Techs - 3 pts.
--Planets and Space Stations will be placed by GM's.
3.) Tech level 1 - 2 pts.
4.) Tech level 2 - 5 pts.
5.) 9 resource units (10 Credits = 1 Unit) in stores (non-military) - 2 pts.
6.) 5 Military units of highest available grade - 1 pt.
7.) 2 Espionage units of highest available grade - 1 pt.
8.) Add 1 additional natural resource of your choosing to a planet's starting production, Maximum of 3 per world - 1 point per additional resource.
9.) A Warp Gate in a sector you control (World or Space Station) of your choice - 2pt.

Note: You do not start with any other Technology, Credits, or Resources you do not purchase with customization points and 1 turns worth of production.

You can also increase the number of available points by sacrificing some of what you would normally start with.

1) One less starting resource on a world you control: -1 point per resource (max 3 per world).
2) Technologically ignorant; no starting techs beyond Hyperdrive Basic and no research for 1 cycle: -2 points, -1 more for each additional cycle your race can not research, limit 2 extra cycles.
3) Your race does not start with Hyperdrive Basic: -2 points
4) Peaceful - Your starting military grade is A0: -2 points
5) Your home world can only support 5 total levels of factories: -1 points
6) Your home world can only support one type of factory: -2 points. Can not be combined with #5.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:00, Mon 12 Nov 2012.

In reply to Thanos GM (msg # 65):

I have updated it so everybody can see everybody's Homeworld thread.

Have fun reading about the opposite universe.

All races have been given their starting location(s).

You will note that there are no 'X' locations on the Galaxy Map. Its the Dark Ages, your astronomers have located the most likely places that might support life and you have already colonized them. The rest of space is open to exploration by your fleets which have recently been outfitted with jump drives. You will no longer have to create giant generational colony ships or send your people into cryo-freeze while on their way to a new potential world. No longer will your people be consigned to death if that potential world is not habitable.

If all players submit a turn sheet for Cycle 1 I will process them on Thursday Night.

Update:

Mercenaries, as a random exploration event, will not go away if you do not buy them. They will also keep you from building space stations if they occupy a sector.


Please make your locations like this (X##) or something like A15 or G06.

I do not want dashes (-) in the numbers this game. Thank you.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:17, Sat 26 Jan 2013.

Alright, so I've made a whole bunch of changes to stuff you may have previously taken for granted. So you don't have to scan the entire rules document for stuff that's unfamiliar, here's a big list of everything that's different for Game 7:

POINT-BUY CHANGES:
The cost of buying a planet has been increased to 9 points.
Starting points has been increased to 15.
A level 1 and a level 2 Racial Tech are granted to everyone for free.
Everyone starts with Warp Gates again this game.
Starting with no Warp Gate has been removed as a disadvantage.

RULE CHANGES:
Turns will processed once a week, and are due Friday at 10PM Pacific time.
X’s have been removed from the map. In exchange, a standard planet scanning tech has been added.
Details on Shielding and Piracy techs have been removed from the main game rules, as they were redundant there.
Espionage units no longer reveal their owner when they fail a mission. A tech line has been added to identify spies utilized against you. Another has been added to counteract this identification.
Spying chance of success has been increased to 70%.
Privileged Info chance of success has been increased to 70%.
Wire Taps chance of success has been increased to 40%.
Store House Bribes chance of success has been increased to 70%.
The Military Coup Espionage action can now be used defensively without a tech.
The Theft Espionage action has been improved to steal more resources and its chance of success has been increased to 40%.
The UA has been restored, and details about their functioning is now in the main rules thread.
When a player or Federation is in the process of subduing enough planets to claim victory, this fact will be broadcast to the rest of the galaxy that turn.
A Wonder victory possibility has been added. The Wonder tech line has been added to the standard techs.

TECH CHANGES:
Improved Construction has been increased to level 4.
5% combat bonus techs have been improved to 10% techs.
Frenzy has been increased to level 3. [Keyword] Tactics has been increased to level 4.
Dampening Fields has been increased to level 3. Dampening Fields has been changed to only function if you have at least half as many units as your opponent.
Raiding has been substantially changed. It now steals resources directly from the opposing player, and does not have additional levels.
Pirate Base is now level 2.
Privateers can now explore normally.
Privateer Anonymity added as a standard tech.
2-Hit-Battleship has been reworked to require pre-activation. In exchange, ships gain +1 MG before being hit, rather than losing one afterward.
Espionage improvement techs now increase effectiveness by 10% each rather than 5%.

So, a thing which I thought I made clear but apparently forgot to mention:

-Racial techs CANNOT be keyworded. Racial techs are already race-specific and free, they cannot start you off with two keyword technologies right off the bat. Sorry, folks.

Sorry, this is my bad - I had always intended for this to be the case but apparently left it off my big 'this is how racial techs work' spiel.

Multiple people did this, which is why I'm making this an announcement rather than a turn sheet note. It'll be a turn sheet note later if you don't fix it. =)

So, just because it's coming up every now and again, and I want to make it clear now so it does not become an issue later:

-Do not, under any circumstances, edit your turn submission after results have been returned. Ideally, you shouldn't be editing your submission at any point after the time when it is due, as I might not use the correct version if that is the case. But editing after results are in just can't be done. Your turn sheets are a log of the things that have happened in the game, and I refer to that log to make sure everything stays consistent. Editing turn sheets afterward will make that log inconsistent with what has happened, and I will be unable to tell what the original sheet said - or even what was changed. Ignoring the obvious fact that this could be used in an attempt to cheat (which I don't think any of you would do) it does mean that if a discrepancy came up later, any sheet which had been later edited could not be taken as valid, and any ruling that might have to be made would be made against you.

If there are issues with your sheet that I point out, fix them in your next submission, or talk to me about them in your Comms thread. Don't try to go back and fix them in the turn already past.

So because I've seen some indication that there is confusion over this, do keep in mind that Astral Mapping does take into account the fact that diagonal movement costs 1.5 sectors. As such, it does not map perfect square regions. The ranges look like this:


Astral Mapping I:

  X
X O X
  X

Astral Mapping II:

    X
  X X X
X X O X X
  X X X
    X

Astral Mapping III:

      X
  X X X X X
  X X X X X
X X X O X X X
  X X X X X
  X X X X X
      X

Astral Mapping IV:

        X
    X X X X X
  X X X X X X X
  X X X X X X X
X X X X O X X X X
  X X X X X X X
  X X X X X X X
    X X X X X
        X

Astral Mapping V:

          X
      X X X X X
    X X X X X X X
  X X X X X X X X X
  X X X X X X X X X
X X X X X O X X X X X
  X X X X X X X X X
  X X X X X X X X X
    X X X X X X X
      X X X X X
          X


Because these areas get very big very quickly, I'm not going to give you a negative result for every single sector you scanned, because that would take forever. Just keep this in mind when marking down where you've looked for your own records.

So just as a heads up, if you are going to hire mercenaries that you have encountered, you must make a note of it in your turn summary at the top of your sheet, and you must include where you are hiring them from. Because mercenaries stick around if not hired, I need this info clearly visible so I can remove them from my master map. Simply doing the calculations for the payment and adding them to your list of troops is not sufficient.

So this is a formal note that I have a very cool job prospect coming up, and the interview process for said job is to spend the next week making a game. As such, I will be super busy if I want to make this thing look good, and I can't really afford the 8+ hours it will take to run turns.

As such, I am pushing this turn back a week. So turns will not be due until next Sunday (the 6th).

So, Game 8 is now about to begin.  I'll be posting the Game 8 Rules Thread, the Game 8 Approved Tech Thread, and a Catalog of Changes thread to let you know how Game 8 is going to work.  Warning:  There are a lot of changes!  Look over those threads carefully.

Turn 0 is officially starting now and will last about two weeks, ending at 10pm PT, October 19th.  What is due by then is your Race's Starting Stats, your Point Buy decisions, any pre-game flavor-text you might want to offer that will let me write better plot-summations for you, and any new technologies (including racial techs) that you want to propose.

Questions about the rules are encouraged, and this would be the time to suggest changes if you think they'd be appropriate.  It is a lot easier to change things before Turn 1 starts than afterward.

Lastly, your current characters will exist until the end of Turn 0.  After Turn 0 ends, I will delete all Characters from previous games.  So, save any notes that you want to from those characters.  If you haven't gathered everything you wanted by then, that is not the fault of the GM.

Quick Announcement about a change to one of the Standard Techs.  First Strike will now read as follows:

First Strike, Lv1+
Benefit: You cannot lose ships in the first round of combat.
-Improvements on the tech line increase the number of rounds by a number equal to the level of the tech.
-If two fleets with First Strike are on opposite sides of combat, then rounds where both sides are indestructible will be skipped and will not count towards techs that count the round number.

(Emphasis on the relevant change.)

I added three economic technologies to the Standard Technology thread.  These are techs that have been (more-or-less) in use for the past 3-4 games.


Luxury Markets; Lv1
You may convert 2 Luxury into 10 credits.


Improved Taxation; Lv3
Pre-req: Any Level 2 Production Tech.
Spend 1M1L to build a tax assessor’s office on a planet (not a station). Your planet produces .5 credits per factory in place there (rounded down.)  This tech cannot be upgraded.


Trade Station Expansion; Lv 1
Spend 1M1L to build a Trade Station on a Space Station (limit one per Space Station). This Trade Station adds .5 Credit to each Trade Route (The total is rounded up).
-Add +.5 credits to each Trade Route per tech increase.

Okay, I'm going to explain in more detail how you guys are able to set up direct trades and (by association) how trading scouting details works on Turn Sheets.


Step 1: Find a race you trust.  (You all know how to do this, even if you have different thresholds for trust.)

Step 2: Ensure you both have a Warp Gate at a location you control.  (You all have this now, but for various reasons this could theoretically be troublesome.)

Step 3: Ensure the location of your Warp Gate is on the map of your trade partner and vice versa.  You can do this manually, but that might take a while if you're far away.  So, you might want to give your Scouting data to your trade partner.  There are two easy ways to do this.  A) Put the Scouting Data for the location in the trade section of your Turn Sheet.  When you do, I'll update the map for that Turn's Results.  B) Make an official off-turn request in the same way you make an official off-turn request for Detailed Scouting.  In this case, I'll update last turn's map for your trade partner, and you can begin trading immediately.

[Step 3 Note: Like all trades, this part is a matter of trust.  I am under no obligation to undo the sending of Scouting data any more than I am under an obligation to undo sending techs over a direct trade.  If your trade partner is not trustworthy, you might find you are sending them your location (or other trade goods) and getting nothing in return.  Remember, location data allows Detailed Scouting, Spy/Saboteur actions, and (in the case of sectors with Warp Gates) military invasions.]

Step 4: On all direct trades, mark the Warp Gate location you are sending from and the Warp Gate location you are sending to.  (The good news here is that trades take place before movement in the Turn, so even if you lose the Warp Gate due to third party attack you will still receive your goods.)

Quick reminder.  Scouting happens before movement.  As a result, fleets count from their pre-movement location when measuring your scouting range.

Okay, I'm going to do a quick FAQ post to cover questions asked by at least two players thus far.  Some of these may be important to the next few cycles, so try not to skim over them all.  And, as always, these answers assume no techs exist to change the answer.

Q) Are warp gates necessary for trade?
A) Yes.  You must have some claim over a Warp Gate (even if it's just ships in an otherwise unclaimed sector) to trade with other players.  Also, if another player allows, you can use their Warp Gate as long as you have ships at the location of that Warp Gate.

Q) If Scouting happens before movement, can I send ships into/through a sector I'm scouting in the same turn?
A) No.  The sector must have been on the map at the beginning of the turn to count as passable.

Q) If I want to destroy a Warp Gate, can I do so before ships move?
A) No.  Destroying a Warp Gate is an attack action, which occurs after ships move.  Also, it requires control of the sector to perform, so any battles will happen first.

Q) Do I need to have military at the place I'm building a station/colonizing a planet for the whole time?  Or just when I start the project?
A) You need military present the whole time.  If you don't have military there, the project is cancelled.

Q) Can I start colonizing a planet/building a station in the turn my military arrives there?
A) Yes.  But, if another fleet arrives at the same time and for the same purpose, it may delay your attempt until the conflict is resolved.

Q) If I see a planet/Resource Cache/Other on my map, is it possible for a monster to be there too?
A) No.  If a Monster is in a sector, you will see it.

Q) I want to trade racial techs because [Insert IC reason here].  Can I?
A) No.

Q) I have a tech approved as a racial tech.  Could I consider it automatically approved as a normal tech instead?
A) No.  I might approve it as a normal tech as-is, but I'll be just as likely to make some minor change before approving it as a non-racial tech.  So, ask first.

Q) Can I just assume a trade will be okay with the UA and put it on my trade sheet?
A) No.  If you do that, there is at least a chance that either I'll not understand what you expect of the UA and end up sending you nothing or the UA won't have what you want in the entirety and I end up sending you nothing.  Either way, if you want to be sure to get what you are asking for from the UA, you need to ask them first.

Q) Can I move troops to a Warp Gate and through with a single Turn's move action?
A) No, warp gates require a full turn's move action to use.  A Worm Hole, on the other hand, can be used without spending any sectors of movement.  (Just remember the Worm Hole is 1-way without the appropriate tech.)

Q) Can I negotiate with non-UA NPCs?
A) That depends on the NPC.
-Monsters attack on sight, so cannot be negotiated with.
-Mercenaries prefer to set their own contracts, so are challenging to talk into alternate options, but they can be negotiated with.  (Just remember...mercenaries can be quite mercenary.)
-Resource Cache NPCs are one-shots, not intended to be NPCs with anything to offer more than the Resources they give you.  If you want to RP with them, though, I am game for that.

Q) What can and can't a player do during a Dead Turn?
A) While you have a dead turn, you can't scan, train/recruit characters, earn resources beyond those needed to maintain troops, continue researching anything (this is on hold 1 Turn, not cancelled,) or continue colonizing anything (this is on hold 1 Turn, not cancelled.) You can still trade (including with the UA,) move troops, convert Slaves into other units, etc.

Q) Can I move mercenaries in the same turn I hire them?
A) Yes, you can.

Okay, I need to make a change to the way trading of Scouting Data works.

Previously, I told you that I'd let you trade Scouting Data between Turns (before the Turn Sheet was due) and I'd update your map in time for the player you're giving the data to to use that data in the upcoming Turn Sheet.  All I asked was that you tell me in advance in some fashion where I'd see it.

The problem is, several of you are just telling other people coordinates in player-to-player PMs, and then assuming everything will work out...without telling me the other player should have that data in any way.  Not in the GM Comm, not in Turn Sheets, not in a UA PM/thread.
1) As a GM, I can't just assume that information given in player-to-player PMs are intended to be truthful, even if the coordinates are accurate.  Because every player currently in this game has at some point acted deceitfully towards someone in this games and someone in every previous game they've played in (yes, every one of you, admit it or not) I can't know what is intended to be honest and what isn't.  My default, to prevent accidentally giving information when it isn't intended, is to assume everything said in player-to-player PMs is a deception until I'm told otherwise in an official thread.
2) I can't keep up with reading every PM in detail.  There are too many, and the posts come too frequently.  I will miss things there.  Probably almost everything, actually.

So, starting at Turn 6, (this is Turn 4, next week is Turn 5,) I'll only accept trading of coordinates in Turn Sheets.  If it's not there, you missed your chance.  If that means your ally can't trade with you, join you in a military attack, or help defend your location...well, that's no one's fault but your own.

I'm giving you a full Turn to get any quick-trading of scan data taken care of up-front and negotiated in advance.  If that isn't enough time, then I don't really know what to say.

Okay, I am going to make an executive decision here.  I'm changing the deadline for this Turn (and every other Turn) from Sunday at 10pm PST to Tuesday at 5pm PST.  If you've already got your Turn in, great!  If not, you have a bit more time.

I am doing this for two reasons.  Reason 1) 10pm PST is midnight my time...if I want to get a Turn done the night it's due, I end up needing to stay up pretty late to get it done.  An earlier deadline helps out.  Reason 2) I think that if we start the Turn on Wednesday, I'll be better about getting UA and GM responses in a timely fashion.

I'm sorry for the late notice about this change, but I just decided on it now.

FYI:  Next week's Thursday (November 27th) is American Thanksgiving.  I have enough players (and 1 GM) in the US that I'm going to make the Turn with that holiday in it into a two-week turn.  So, Turn 5 will still be due on November 25th, but Turn 6 won't be due until December 9th.  Just FYI.

I might have done this anyway, but my delays have pushed me over the edge into a decision.

The next Turn is going to be due on the 23rd rather than the 16th.  This will give y'all plenty of time to get your decisions done with the holidays approaching.  Remember though, just because that's the due date doesn't mean you can't submit your turns in advance.  For this turn, if everyone agrees to sent their turn in early, I'll be able to start work on returns early too.  Otherwise, I'll be doing it over the holiday itself...which will certainly delay things.

Either way, the Turn after that will not be due until the second Tuesday in January, so that everyone can have free time to handle holiday stuff.  That is January 12th, for those who like the date written down.

Happy Holidays!

Okay, things are getting a bit heated in PMs and out.  I think the stress of the holidays is making an emotional game more so.  So, to help relieve some of that steam, I'm going to push the Turn's due date back to next year.  I'm sorry to people that have already been rushing to get the turn done, but I don't think it's working well this way.  Honestly, I was probably foolish to have tried pushing the turns through so quickly this holiday season.  So, kick back and have some holiday-drink-of-choice (it's apple cider for me.)  And, don't let Empirium ruin your holiday.

Practical Info:
Current Turn's new due date: Tuesday, January 13th.
After that, Turns resume at normal pace, unless we hear players asking for another pace.
Have a happy holiday season!

As a general reminder to everyone, just to make sure we're all on the same page: Turn 2 is due at the standard time of Saturday Morning, 10 AM. That's the 27th. I have a holiday party that evening, and I'd rather not push it back a day unless I have to, so we can go into turn 3 with a full week ahead of us.

Just because it's still useful information for this game, here's an FAQ that Godz posted for game 8. Note that some answers have changed for game 9 and the way I run things. They are copied below:

Q) Do I need to have military at the place I'm building a station/colonizing a planet for the whole time?  Or just when I start the project?
A) You only need military present during the first turn of colonization. After that, the project will maintain itself. However, if any other force capable of claiming a sector moves in (including allied military units), their claim will supersede yours if you have no units there, and cancel the project. Leave at your own risk.

Q) If I see a planet/Resource Cache/Other on my map, is it possible for a monster to be there too?
A) For resource caches, no (if a monster and a resource cache are both present, you will see a monster). For planets, yes. Planets will prevent you from seeing monsters that may be guarding that planet. However, detailed scouting will always tell you whether or not a monster is present.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:58, Wed 24 Oct 2018.

As a reminder, there will be no turn next weekend (11/24) due to Thanksgiving. The next turn will be due 10 AM on December 1st.

I've seen several questions regarding this, so I'd like to clarify what constitutes an Open Treaty (as referred to in the rules) and what constitutes a UA-Enforced Treaty, because they are separate categorizations.

Private, Unenforced Treaty:
You can agree to anything you like with any other race in your private communications. Regardless of whether that's a formal treaty, or just a trade agreement, these agreements have zero legal or mechanical weight behind them. There is no penalty for breaking them besides the social ones that occur naturally. They have no enforcement whatsoever.

Private, UA-Enforced Treaty:
You can make any treaty you like enforced by the UA. To do this, all parties involved must state their agreement in a PM to the UA, and pay whatever the UA deems is a reasonable enforcement fee. No public record of a treaty needs to exist for the UA to enforce it, but it must be sent to the UA - stating it in your PMs to each other or in your GM comms is not good enough. If either party informs the UA of a breach, they will investigate to the best of their ability and apply sanctions if they deem it necessary. Even if these treaties constitute an NAP or allyship, they DO NOT count for the purposes of becoming a Federation, because they are not Open.

Public, Unenforced Treaty:
You can make any treaty you like public, simply by announcing its existence in the UA Grand Council Hall. If the treaty is an NAP or clear statement of allyship, this will allow you to Federate with the other race after four cycles. Only one party needs to announce the treaty, as silence is assumed to be agreement in this instance. However, any dissent by the other party will render the Open Alliance null. Unenforced treaties carry no penalties for breach, beyond the standard social ones.

Public, UA-Enforced Treaty:
You can go through the process of getting a treaty UA-Enforced, and of making it public. In this case it gains the benefit of being Open (counting towards a Federation) and the benefit of UA enforcement in the event of a breach by either party.

Any agreement of Non-Aggression, no matter what type it falls under, should also be listed on your Turn Sheet for as long as it is in effect. This has the additional benefit of making your ships not default to attacking the other party in question if they run into each other. If an NAP is not listed on your turn sheet, your ships may attack the other party even if your treaty is open, though I may double-check with you if I remember.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:06, Sun 18 Nov 2018.

I've updated the mercenary rules slightly to make them clearer and consistent with my rulings this game:



In addition, I'd like to highlight a rule that many players seem to have missed:



Any planet may scout any location within six sectors of any sector you control, regardless of where that planet is. Note that in the case of fleets, this distance is calculated from their location before they move, so you cannot move a fleet and then scout from its new location in the same turn.

Based on what I've heard from people, and my own schedule, and my own lack of finishing detailed scans because I've been busy over the holidays, there will be NO TURN this weekend. Turn 10 sheets are due Saturday the 5th.

As a heads up: There will be no turn on the 19th of January, as I will be attending PAX South and will be too busy to run a turn that weekend.

Given that there is still much to discuss regarding last turn, and that Pokemon Go Community Day is Saturday, I am extending the turn two days, to Monday the 13th. As a reminder, there is no turn due next week, so this won't cause a short turn.

Alright, given the current state of the game, I am extending the turn deadline until Sunday at 10 AM. That gives you all day Saturday to work out whether you're killing each other or not finish your negotiations.

At the behest of a few people (including myself) it seems like actually having weekends to RP and finalize sheets and stuff would be valuable to people. As such, I am moving turn deadlines to Monday at 10 AM, for this turn and all future turns. There's a possibility of this changing if I find employment in the near future, but if it does, I'll let you know.

Due to some RL complications, we're going to be skipping this turn. The next turn will be due on Monday the 18th.

Alright, mid-turn updates are back that reflect the new state of the Travonian worlds. Hopefully we can get back into the swing of things.

As a reminder, because of this, the turn is due on Monday the 25th.

Due to RL circumstances affecting one of our players, we're skipping this turn deadline. Turns will be due Monday the 11th at 10 AM.

Given the current status of turn sheets and some requests for extensions, I will be extending the turn deadline until Thursday the 28th at 10 AM.

Turns have been pushed back to tomorrow due to several people still not being done. They will not be pushed back again.

Turn deadline has been pushed back to the 15th, which is probably where it should have been in the first place.

The Collective have conceded the game. With the Nertaku in exile, that leaves no one to contest the alliance of Wer Xiekivi, Vivum, and Koinatsune. As such, the victory is theirs. Congratulations, Team Three Star.

Alright, new homeworld threads are up. You should be able to edit the initial post with any information you want to provide about your homeworld - pictures, description, history, whatever you like. How much or how little you share is up to you, but at least some basic info is nice.

I've also created GM Comm threads for everyone - these threads are for communicating with me about anything at all - rules questions, strategy advice, new tech proposals, etc.

I'm going to be creating turn submission threads for those of you who have given me your starting point-buy, to help keep things organized. Please don't post in those threads yet - I have not yet generated the map, and thus your initial scan will be added to it later. For new players, turn submission threads are only for turn sheets and results - everything else goes in your GM Comms thread.

As a reminder, I'd like everyone to have their point-buy in to me by Friday the 16th so I can start the game officially that weekend. If you don't have it in to me by then, you won't get placed on the map until you do.

Some of you may have noticed nine homeworld threads when normally we have only eight players - I'm just rolling with it. If everyone sticks with it, someone will just spawn in the central sector of the map. Otherwise, we have some buffer if someone drops out.

Good luck to everybody. =)

Welcome to game 10, everybody. I've posted the UA Council Hall thread, and you can start by having your delegates arriving there, whatever that may look like.

Please don't start private diplomacy threads with races that haven't had a chance to introduce themselves in the Grand Council Hall first. We've got a few extra days to mingle before we get down to the nitty gritty, so let's use them.

The first turn will be due next weekend, at 10 AM Pacific Time on Saturday the 24th.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:00, Sat 17 Sept 2022.

Based on general consensus, the fact that a lot of people haven't finished negotiations, and it works better for most everyone's schedules anyway, I am extending the turn.

Turns will now be due on Tuesday the 4th at 10 AM.

Turns will continue to be due on Tuesdays going forward.

Hi! With a couple of cycles processed so far, I wanted to take some lessons from turn processing for the first couple cycles and standardize on a few things. My hope is that standardizing on these items will allow me to process and return trades much quicker, and hopefully make accounting easier for everyone.

Please Note: Some of this contradicts prior guidance that requested omitting received trade items on your turn sheet. Apologies for the contradictory guidance as I continue to iterate on this.

---

Player Shortcodes

You may, if you wish, use the following shortcodes to refer to parties in GTAs and Trades (not case-sensitive):

CJg  - Crystal Jaguars
Dji  - Djinda
Driz - Drizzari
Gur  - Gurbollans
Kal  - Kalyrii
Lux  - Luxoptera
PPl  - Pai-Pal States
UA   - United Armada
Viz  - Vi'zen
Wyld - Wyld Stallyns

GTA Proceeds

I've noted a variance between how players account for GTAs on their turn sheet. Commonly, turn sheets either...

- List the gross proceeds from all GTAs then deduct 1C per GTA moderated by the UA, usually added to any other trade fees for that turn.
- List the net proceeds from GTAs only.

For future turn sheets, please list the net proceeds from all GTAs. As a reminder, that's:

- 4C for each direct* GTA.
- 3C for each indirect GTA (moderated by the UA).

(*A GTA is considered Direct when both parties know an owned location with a warp gate that the other owns and both players list the GTA as Direct on their turn sheet. Your GTA with the UA is always direct.)

Use the following format to denote GTAs:

GTAs

Direct: (Comma-separated list of parties)
Indirect: (Comma-separated list of parties)

Note: If you don't list a party in this section, you are presumed to have cancelled your GTA with them if one was active.

Trade Proceeds in Resource Tallies

You should include the resource you receive from trades in your resource tallies on the turn you receive (or expect to receive) them. If omitted, your Trade Turn Results will provide corrections. Deduct sent resources on the turn they are sent.

Resources provided via indirect trades and trades with the UA are safe*. Direct trade resources, however, are not safe! If you are relying on directly traded resources for an action that turn or to sustain units, these actions may not succeed if the other party doesn't send the requisite resources.

(*Unless there's any wild cosmic events or abnormal situations that may develop at Zontan's discretion. If something abnormal happens, it'll be noted on your turn results.)

Listing Received Items

As stated before, you only are required to list items you're sending on the turn you send it. However, if it helps with your personal bookkeeping, you may list items you expect to receive from a given trade. (These received items will be ignored.)

Please add all trades to a section titled "Trades". Please use the following template for listing a trade, with an empty line between each trade...

To: (Party Name)
Via: (UA or Sector ID)
Send: (Comma-separated list of items)
Receive: (Optional, Comma-separated list of items)

Use the following shortcodes when listing resources:
C - Credits, M - Mechanical, E - Energy, LS - Life Support, G - Genetic, LX - Luxury, W - Workers

So, for example...

Trades

To: UA
Via: UA
Send: My Cool Character Fluff Tech Name [Technology Name I], 20C
Receive: 3M, 3G

- Don't list GTAs in your trades, just resources and technology. Use a separate section (documented above) to list GTAs.
- Don't forget to deduct 3C per indirect trade from your resource allocation.

---

Alright, thanks for sticking with me to the end of this post. It's perhaps a bit silly to nitpick about format; behind the scenes I'm hoping to be able to parse these turn sheets in later turns, which will make it a lot easier to turn around trade results quickly, and hopefully with a reduced risk of errors. Thanks!
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:21, Sat 08 Oct 2022.

Hello everyone! Our beloved Trade GM is moving this week, so in light of that fact, we're going to be extending the turn a bit.

The current turn is being pushed back to Saturday the 22nd at 10 AM.

Next turn will similarly be a long one, to get us back to the standard due date - it will be due Tuesday, November 1st at 10 AM.

Go forth and use the few extra days wisely. I hear there's a snack party to attend, after all.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:39, Sun 16 Oct 2022.

Alright, I didn't want to do it, but it seems like a lot of people are scrambling to get things in and had very hectic last weeks, and also it's Halloween and I am a merciful GM.

I'm pushing the turn back to Saturday, November 5th at 10 AM. Go get your trades and stuff finalized, and I'll go do those detailed scouts I got handed... today. =P

General update so everyone can find it:

Turn 6 is due Tuesday, November 15th at 10 AM. After that, we will be returning to a once-a-week schedule due on Tuesdays, though we will likely skip one at the end of November if people are busy over the holidays.

Based on some general rumblings from a few people, and also since I took an extra day to get last turn’s results in, I am pushing the turn due date back 24 hours, to Wednesday at 10 AM. Use this extra time wisely. :)

General update on turn deadlines coming up:

Because last turn was a bit late, and because the holidays are coming up, this next turn will be due Thursday the 22nd at 10 AM because that will give me Thursday and Friday to process it before my own holiday plans.

After that, we're taking a whole week off because I am going to be busy. Basically, don't expect much response from me between Christmas and New Year's, though feel free to continue to RP with each other if you have free time. After that, we'll have a normal week-long turn, with the next turn being due Tuesday, January 10th.

Happy holidays, whatever it is you're celebrating.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:25, Wed 21 Dec 2022.

Alright, as some may have expected, the holidays are hitting some people harder than predicted, and so I have once again received several extension requests.

Unfortunately, I am busy for the next week, so it's being extended a full week. Fortunately, the next turn was scheduled to be like three weeks anyway, so this doesn't actually slip the schedule any.

This turn (turn 10) is now due Thursday the 29th at 10 AM. This doesn't change the next due date - I'll definitely have turn results back by the Tuesday after (at the latest) which means the turn after that will still be due Tuesday, January 10th.

Due to a number of factors, including a bit of a late start to the turn, the complexities of the ongoing conflict, and IRL concerns affecting a few players, I have decided it would be prudent to push the turn back a bit.

Turns will now be due Saturday the 14th at 10 AM.

As I expected when the turn started, an extension is in order. I'm very busy next weekend, however, because I have a LARP to attend. So we're just going to add a full week.

The turn will be due Tuesday the 31st at 10 AM.

Hello! With the establishment of a Federation, I wanted to take a moment to clarify a few things regarding trade processing and Federations.

Federation as a "Player"

You can treat Federations as any other player when recording trades on your turn sheet. When a Federation is established and named, it will be assigned a trade shortcode.

The trade shortcode for Sentinel is STL.

Trading Techs

Members of a Federation can trade more than one tech with each other each turn. As before, a player may not trade away a racial technology.

Players may write "All Techs" on the trade line to send all known non-racial techs the receiving player doesn't know to them, or "All Techs [Except: List, Of, Techs]" to send all techs excluding the comma-separated list.

Players do not need to write "All Techs" in trades to the Federation entity they have membership in. Because tech sharing with the Federation is compulsory, this is assumed.

Trades to/from the Federation with players outside the Federation, or between other Federations, or between players not in the same Federation, is still limited to one technology per turn.

Trade Speed

Trades between players in the same Federation and between the Federation and its members are considered direct. You do not need to declare a destination for these trades. Instead, write "Via: Federation".

Sending Military to a Federation

I've realized that the previous specifications I posted regarding recording trades involving military (one trade record per target sector) may be particularly unwieldy for the mandatory donations made every cycle to a Federation. For now, I leave the details on how to record sending military to the Federation undefined and will return to this when bandwidth permits. (In the meantime, any efforts you can put into making it readable for myself and Zontan is greatly appreciated!)

Expect Delays

Please expect trade processing to take longer this cycle and potentially in future cycles. My automation script for parsing turn sheets doesn't fully account for Federations, so it will take me a bit longer to process results. Apologies in advance for the delays.

---

As always, if you have questions or if I forgot something, please ask via DM or in OOC. Thanks!

Hello everyone!

The votes are in, so I'm making it official: With the Crystal Jaguars dropping out, the Federation can declare inevitable victory.

As such, that's a wrap.

I'm going to be making some substantial edits to the game rules for next game shortly, because I want to do it while the ideas are fresh in my mind. This does not mean there will be a next game shortly, as I am not going to be able to run a game right away and I think there are many people who could use a break.

Congratulations to Sentinel, our victor.