Milliways - GP Archive: Nebulae & Niebelungen V.1

[Harry Krishna]

Racial Galaxies in Turmoil

In the last few weeks, it seems that even the racial galaxies have become unsafe. Traders in the WQ Human and Alskant galaxy have been seeing an increasing amount of hunters. So the question now is: is there any place that I can trade in peace? Paranoid traders have taken to hiding in fed space for hours on end to wait for the time to trade without getting podded, running from place to place as fast as they can and ducking into safety whenever possible. Some traders now even have armed escorts to guard them as they trade! This writer would like to see some safety again in the racial galaxies so that people can trade in peace without fear of being podded. -Alskant Trader


New Tactics?

On monday the 19th of April, Dilbert was cruising around in his Inter-stellar trader when when he called into a port in the Alskant galaxy. As was standard routine the trader he checked the others in the port to see whether they were dangerous or not. One of the people he saw apparently was in a PSF, but Dilbert found out later that he had used SMR credits to re-name his ship this way, the ship was really a Federatal Ultimatum, and not the new 2000 series of PSF(which look similar) that Dilbert thought it was. So Dilbert was chucked into space in his escape pod, and he apparently checked to see whether an illusion generater was in use, it was not.
Dilbert has now taken up the placard and is currently protesting outside HQ about this. I took the chance to talk to him here to gather this story, and he said the following: "Surely this should not be allowed seeing as this is what an illusion generater is for." Dilbert later told me that he was attacked by two other people in the space of half an hour, in the same alliance (Choose Your Poison) as the ship re-namer.

So it seems the alliance wars have gained new tactics, using hard earned cash. This tactic has only been seen by CYP so far, but it could spread, so beware! As i got the pathetic trader drunk in a bar he blabbed "I tried to get into CYP many times but they denied me." Dilbert is still protesting now about this new tactic. He says it is unfair to other traders who cannot tell the difference. Well they should get glasses then, its not everyday you see a PSF that looks like a Federal Ultimatum.



One Player's Opinion: Loss of Integrity

It seems this game is going thru some hard times. Words like honor and integrity may sound nice, but its getting harder to find players, and even more so, leaders that exhibit these qualities. Not too many games ago honor and integrity meant as much as skill.
But now it seems that those who still hold to these "old fashioned values" are being stabbed in the back by those to whom these values dont mean anything. This games newspapers have been abuzz with examples of betrayal, most of them involving DoW and thier leader Lotus. Is he just a rogue leader who refuses to play with any degree of integrity or is he merely going to be the tool, spreading this virus of dishonor throughout the game?

One must ask themselves what kind of leader gives his word and then leads his alliance to attack someone whom he repeatedly gave his word to leave alone? And what can be going on in the mind of that leader? Did his drive for numbers and a few more kills blur his vision? Was the chance to hit a weakened planet and attack damaged ships outweigh his given word? Or maybe his word didnt mean anything at all, and was given out as a meaningless gesture, meant only to act as a smoke screen. Either way, someone who has a history of betrayal should not be leading an alliance, shouldnt even be playing a game where he continually betrays those who trust him.



War returns to Virgo

After a period of relative calm, the inhabitants of Virgo were beginning to believe they could live in peace, happy with the undemanding Ultra Blue presence. Alas, a Death Control fleet has once again shattered the fragile peace of this out-of-the-way galaxy. The invaders immediately targetted the UB stronghold in sector 3226 after clearing the minimal forces in their path. The planet was heavily defended, with a PDC maximum rating of 70, and the attackers took heavy losses to the planetary defenses - 8 ships fell during the fierce onslaught, some enthusiastic Death Control pilots even riding two pods during the attack.
As the planet defenses finally fell, an Ultra Blue fleet launched into orbit and the DC attackers withdrew to regroup. A lone attacking ship was slow to withdraw and the UB gunners picked him off as he attempted to rejoin the main fleet. However, the defenders were not allowed to enjoy their small victory for long, as the replenished DC fleet quickly returned. The ensuing fleet battle reportedly involved as many as 29 ships at one point, but the defenders were outgunned by the heavily armed Death Control fleet and lost 14 ships without inflicting any losses on their attackers. During the attack and its aftermath, Ultra Blue also lost a ship to forces and one to DC patrols, bringing the final death toll to 16 UB and 9 DC ships lost. More serious for Ultra Blue is the loss of a heavily fortified planet, and experts are questioning whether this harrowed alliance has the will or the financial means to strike back.

DC are clearly satisfied with their current stranglehold on Ursa Major, and Federal authorities are warning all planet inhabitants to be aware that DC appear to be looking for new targets in their quest for domination.



Haiku Corner

Peaceful trading
For your excellent skills you make some credits
As the hull of your ship collapses



Betrayal in Bulge

It's hard to find friends in an unfriendly universe, and Black Sun Ascending knows this better than anyone. While in the middle of peace talks with two different alliances, BSA found themselves under attack by both.
According to sources within BSA, their leader OmegaRenegade and Alpha Factor leader IceStorm had joined talks and were discussing a Planetary Non Agreesion Pact (PNAP). IceStorm was said to have left the meeting on a positive note, but was going to talk it over with his alliance. The next day, the two leaders spoke again for clarification of the terms, and even signed up on a joint bulletin board forum for such a purpose. And yet only a few hours later, IceStorm led a fleet of AF ships against the BSA planets. During the operation AF lost ships and were forced to retreat. OmegaRenegade himself, who was killed in an attempt to restock the falling planet defences, was the only BSA fatality.

OmegaRenegade was outraged. "This is a shocking display of dishonesty and lowhandedness," the BSA leader said. "Any alliances who either have peace or were thinking about offering it to AF should at once reconsider since they will most likely find a knife in their backs."

Alpha Factor's IceStorm could not be reached for comment.

But BSAs problems were not over yet...Less than a a day after AF's attack, BSA found itself once again under attack by those it thought were friendly. The leader of the Dogs of War, LotuS, led an attack on the crippled BSA planets.

According to OmegaRenegade, the two alliances were in peace negotiations. He claims they had conversations, and Lotus said he wouldn't attack the ex-DoW co-leader, who was currently training a new alliance. But instead, LotuS and some DoW members went and attacked them while they were still recovering from an attack the day before. An unknown number of BSA ships were podded during the attack while attempting to repair the planets. OmegaRenegade expressed his anger at the unprovoked attacks, saying "Apparently easy pickings are the only thing driving DoW this game and honor has nothing to do with their style of play."

Dogs of War leader LotuS disputes the charges of backstabbing by Omega and says that the two alliances were not in serious peace talks in the traditional sense. "We had a 'if you do this, we won't bother attacking you' kind of agreement," LotuS says. "And OR said openly that he wasn't going to hold up his end of the bargain." Under this pretext, he says, DoW moved against BSA planets.