Newsletter #5

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


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


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


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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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



SMR Staff

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

[JettJackson]

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