Tuesday, April 26, 2005

THE MAGELLAN SOCIETY TREASURE HUNT

There is a new permanent puzzle in Fed II DataSpace. The Magellan Society, an organization that sponsors expeditions and explorations to new planets, are on a recruitment drive to gain new members, and as a test they have organized a treasure hunt that spans many planets in the Solar System. Those who complete the puzzle are granted membership in the society, as well as some little extras as a prize - including a voucher for a ten-day customs exemption certificate. Your name shows up on the SpyNet Review when you complete the puzzle, and the SpyNet Notice tells everyone you are a member of the society.

To start the puzzle, visit the Magellan Society Exhibition, in a new location in Earth's spaceport, and talk to Victor, who is in charge of running the treasure hunt. He will give you a succession of clues, each of which should guide you to a specific location. For each clue, when you find the correct location you will either be given an object, or you will have to pick up the correct object. Go back to the exhibition and Victor will take your object and give you the next clue.

The puzzle is aimed at Commanders and Captains, to encourage them to explore the planets. Anyone can do the puzzle, but those lower ranks get some extra help - they are told which planet each clue relates to. More experienced players are expected to be able to work that out for themselves.

You should be aware that none of the objects or solutions can be obtained by going through the tour of the Solar System, which is just holograms!

Don't worry if you don't finish the puzzle all at once - your progress is saved over resets, so you can carry on where you left off. If you lose an object that you haven't yet taken back to Victor, you can just go back and get another one.

Congratulations to Angel, who was the first player (outside the test team) to solve the puzzle and join the Magellan Society. Altogether, 21 people completed the puzzle in the first 24 hours.

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IBgames - We Build Worlds
http://www.ibgames.net/fed2/index.html

NEW PLANETS OPENING FOR BUSINESS

News now of two new planets offering trading opportunities, and a puzzle aimed at new players, that will be coming your way soon.

The first of the new planets is a space station orbiting Earth. The Magellan space station is owned by the Magellan Society, whose listing you can read in the Encyclopedia Galactica at http://www.ibgames.net/fed2/galactica/magellan.html. Lying so close to Earth, and yet not directly under its control, this privately owned space station is a haven for business people wishing to avoid Earth duties, as well as a popular vacation spot.

The Magellan space station is open now for exploration, and you will find it SW of Earth. Tomorrow the economic operations will open for business: Armstrong Cuthbert will be offering cargo and Akaturi jobs to and from the station, and the exchange will welcome Merchants and Traders, as well as CEOs looking for a place to build factories. Magellan's economic level will be Leisure.

The Magellan Society are keen to gain new members and they have thrown open the membership challenge to all comers. The challenge takes the form of a treasure hunt, where prospective members are given a clue that points them to a particular location on a particular planet, from where they have to obtain an item to return before they can receive the next clue. To encourage newbods, the Magellan Society will tell Commanders and Captains what planet each clue refers to - higher-ranking players are expected to have done enough exploration to figure out where they should start looking!

The treasure hunt will be opening some time in the next week - look out for details on the electronic bar board.

Some time in the next ten days, the shopping mall known as Paradise will also open its doors to the public. More usually found traversing the spaceways, making only brief spots at other planets, malfunctioning ion drives have forced the vessel to take up orbit around Venus until such time as repairs can be effected. Paradise will also offer full economic opportunities, at the Industrial level.

Play Federation II
IBgames - We Build Worlds
http://www.ibgames.net/fed2/index.html