Fate of the Republic

Welcome to Fate of the Republic's Christmas Blog!  2014!!

Apologies for the big gap this year, some health issues in April, pretty much made life for all of us rather hectic for the last 8 months, but we should be up and running now. Well, at least managing a brisk shuffle. :)

New Coders and Coding Changes

We've had some wonderful coding done these last few months. Issues some of you probably didn't know existed. And a more stable base for the code being implemented, which will allow us to put in some much longed for changes and new systems. Thanks hugely to our new coder Titania and of course Blaize.  Life should be made a whole lot easier and interesting for a lot of us, with fixes and new features.  Some of the changes are:

• The junk command has been updated for more functionality.
• RRSHIP for simulator ships is now free.
• Quests now support expiration dates and show their creation dates.
• The /f (format) command now works properly in the text editor.
• Disguise skill now has an AP cost and clears properly.
• Turrets targeting ships after leaving the system is fixed.
• Introducing now shows the player's name for players with default titles.
• The dual-wield bug has been fixed.
• The ability for the Pendragon planetary shuttle to enter or leave a planet with planetshields up has been fixed.
• The ability for characters to own more than one shop has been implemented. These are limited to 5 per character.  You will also be able to list your shops. Remember all characters can buy shops, it's not limited to engineers. Some in game items are valuable to players and they will buy, rather than travel to obtain them. The relevant help file for shops is 'help buyvendor'.

There is also a rather heated debate about the Exchange AP Table (found by typing 'exchange rate'.). So, in the spirit of progress, we will be trialing some new designs for it. Please feel free to let us know how these go for you. We always want to hear feedback about our changes, to keep improving our playing environment.

A few notes for returning players and new ones, to make your life easier.

• After absences from playing, always check your wanted status and faction status. Massive RP changes can happen in a very short while, so pre-empt any problems before they occur. 
• Remember we expect you to quit in safe areas, (homes, hotels, etc).  Ships are not always safe, so consider other options before quitting in those.
• Also, please don't idle in food rooms with triggers. This stops other players getting food, and there will be consequences for your character.
• A request from Faction Leaders; if you are in a faction and you multiplay, please monitor the factioned character closely, especially if you report on comms as being present. Leaders expect orders to be seen and acted on. 
• Some incidents have occurred with characters flying, while another is rping. This often doesn't end well, so take heed. :P
• When multiplaying, check all  your alts, regularly.

Question Time
Questions have been asked about purchasing skills with AP. You can only improve mastery in the   your own skill tree with exchange rate (type command 'exchange' for more information). However, you can buy other skills with Quest Points from an Immortal, please read 'help  purchase_skills'.

This leads to another question we've had, 'are quest points obsolete?', and the answer is most definitely no.  Good in game items all have quest point costs attached to them, be it armour, ships, weapons or crafting materials. Cut, is exclusively a quest point cost, 'help cut', and is vital to pilots.
Banking quest points for quest point races is another use for them. (quest, quest stat, quest deposit, help races). Some immortal modifications, cost quest points as well.

Happy Holidays!
Lastly, the Christmas Trees are up all over the MUD again!
As usual, the Hapes Tree is for donations. Please give generously, and don't forget to receive as well. Lots of players spend their own quest points and action points to put nice things under the tree for other players to get.
If we have enough interest, the Fading Quasar will be the meeting spot for Christmas.
Food, wine, presents, good company, and some bad.. ALL ARE WELCOME!!
The FotR Team, wishes you all, a safe and happy holiday season. And we want to thank you for all your support this year. :)
Remember, enjoy the game!!