THE DARKSPACE DISPATCH

ds_banner.jpg (14483 bytes)

a chronicle of the Jumpgate^tmpublished periodically by jgcentral.net

Volume IV, No. 1

107.2.18

Update in the Works!

Since NetDevil has been fairly closed-mouthed regarding the status of their announced effort to "update" Jumpgate^tm, I thought I’d indulge myself in some public speculation. The primary pieces of information we have are:

12/13 – Istvan drops hints in JOSSH forum basically saying: we have been listening to what you want; we understand your frustration; and something is going on that I can’t talk about just yet.
12/20 – Scott ("Scorch") Brown reveals in interviews that NetDevil is working on breathing new life into Jumpgate^tm and that ". . . major changes to graphics and AI are the main upgrades planned . . ."
12/29 – Istvan announces that Themis game management services are being replaced by an in-house GM team made up of GM Khronos and GM Thoth.

So what do we know based on these fragmentary bits of data?

(click here for more)

Factions Feed the Fire

With pilot tensions already running high, Octavian and Quantar governments have both made moves that are clear escalations of the current WAR status. With the Quantar/Octavian "war meter" already firmly in the red, there is little hope that the two factions will reconcile in the near future. Quantar pilots war-meter.jpg (12356 bytes)

have already announced their intention to disrupt the Injustice facility, and Octavians have warned that Quantar civilians will be scanned when in Octavian space, and destroyed if they are found carrying contraband.

The positioning began when Octavius announced that they have completed rebuilding the organic core team for Injustice design and production. The announcement included a remark clearly intended to inflame: "We have completed a significant recruitment campaign from planetside personnel, to rebuild the team that was murdered by Quantar forces in 105."

Quantar has insisted that the Injustice facility was a cover for development of a genocidal weapon of mass destruction. It was even suggested that the allegedly murdered civilians were evacuated from the station prior to the Quantar attack.

Quantar responded to the Octavian move by naming Rohi bin Hamalzahd to the ancient post High Defender of the Faith -- a title last held by the warrior Priest Oruzor (a.k.a. Orus the Lion) during the First Jihad al Din (was with Hyperial). Then, on 107.1.16, a group of Quantar pilots decided to try to gain a strategic edge by taking and destroying all public stocks of Octavian BCUs. The announcement was met with general outrage from the Octavians.

A week after the BCU incident, Octavian Emperor Clements IV named Legate Petillius Lucanus to the office of Supreme Military Strategist to His Imperial Majesty, a move clearly made to counter the Quantar announcement both strategically and politically.

So far, Solrain has been quiet with little military activity of any kind.

Glaive Missile DDZ Leads Nuke Production Effort

Led by CaptainCow and squad DDZ, TRI pilots from all factions rallied to make over 10,000 nukes at the remaining production facility in Quantar Core. The production effort is being followed up with a series of massive convoys to distribute the Glaive stockpiles to strategic locations.

Sents Gone Wild

After several months of relative dormancy, the Conflux have renewed their attack with a vengeance over the past couple of weeks, Sentient-led attacks have occurred with frequency. A particularly well-coordinated attack on the

of 107.2.6 saw the systematic infestation of jumpgates with the intention of isolating each faction.

The sentients then focused an attack on the Glaive nuclear missile facility in Quantar Core sector – an attack that nearly succeeded in destroying this last nuclear facility, and leaving all of TRI vulnerable to infestation.

Fortunately, a small group of Quantar pilots, with some help from an Octavian squad that had become trapped in Quant space, were able to fend off the attack and repair the missile factory.

This recent attack came on the heels of other less damaging sentient attack, as well as TRI counter-attacks against Conflux command hives. It is clear based on their target that the Conflux attack was in response to the recent effort to stockpile and strategically-place nuclear assets.

Who Says Space is Silent? Rodent Infiltration Suspected

The recent JPR focus on rodent-focused songs like Hamsterdance, constant replace of a news clip on a perverse gerbil "incident", and now a new feature song combining the jpr_rodent.jpg (4810 bytes) two has led some to believe that there has been a furry coup at JPR HQ. Rumor have spread like wildfire that armed rodents have been seen in and around the JPR broadcast facility.

Reports that a 500 lb. sack of sunflower seed and dried corn being ordered by RT-MUS have not yet been confirmed. Pilots are encouraged to LISTEN IN and report any other suspicious activity from the popular subspace radio station.

The Deepspace Perspective
Community Support Changes . . .
and Remains the Same

NetDevil announced in late December that it was in-sourcing its customer support function, which had been handled by the Themis Group for the last four years. The move, which took effect on January 1, is expected to increase the level of in-game GM support, with JG-veteran-GM Khronos moving from the Themis team to the Netdevil team – providing important continuity. Khronos will be joined by GM_Thoth.

"They will be responsible for in-game news, storyline and non-storyline events activity, as well as acting for NetDevil in the technical support arena in direct contact with the development team," said GM_Istvan, the Jumpgate Project Lead. "When necessary, they will perform forums moderation and enforcement. We intend that you will see quite a lot of them, and hope they will help to enhance the Jumpgate experience for everyone."

. . . And Now
for Something
Completely Wacky.

Thanks to one of Jumpgate(tm)'s GREAT friends -- Kwip of neenerneener.net fame -- Darkspace Dispatch is connecting you to some all-time great JG articles and cartoons as published on N3.

Get Involved!

Jumpgate has slid back to 8.0 on the MMORPG "game list" -- but is still well up from 5.8 (in July 2004) another TWO TENTHS of a point and JG could be on the FRONT PAGE (tied with Eve Online and City of Heroes) -- what and advertising coup that would be!

In order to be able to rate a game, you need to register on MMORPG.COM, and then work up your user-rating by making a few posts -- which should not be hard at all for hard-core gamers. And you can plug JG in your posts, too! ;)

A small investment of your time could be invaluable in helping revitalize the player-base.

HELP WANTED

Freelance Reporters - If we run your story, you'll receive 2,000 credits per edited/published word up to 500 words (1 million credits).
Photographers - If used, you'll receive 500,000c for first shot, 200,000c for each additional shot for one subject/story.
Multimedia Artists - Sound bites, animation, movies . . . anything related to news stories. Rates will be negotiated.
Columnists - IC opinions and special features. Contact us with your ideas before submission since publication times have been sporadic and some features may not stand the test of time.

If you have a real scoop and want to negotiate higher rates, talk to us and we may be able to work something out.

If you're interested . . . CONTACT US!

DSD is also considering accepting a limited amount of advertising. If you are interested, please contact us for rates (in credits) and deadlines.

If you either WANT to receive Darkspace Dispatch by email or WANT TO BE REMOVED from the mailing list simply email us:
darkspace@jgcentral.net

Evil Asteroid
(Darkspace Dispatch will be featuring the classic comic strip "Evil Asteroid." Although some of you have already enjoyed these comics when they were originally published, we wanted to re-run them as we believe them to be both hilarious and timeless.)

Evil Asteroid - 10

Click here for more . . .

Betrayal
a Jumpgate Novella by Fellblade
(reprinted with permission)

- Part XV -

The three barrels on the gun span, the gunmetal blurring into a faded cylinder, a high pitched warbling noise emitting from Arouin�s new-found tool of destruction. Arouin kicked over the remains of the table in the mess hall of the security center, dove behind it, then rolled out to one side and aimed at kneecap-height as he sprayed ammunition liberally across the corridor.. Five or six Peacekeepers� legs buckled as their shins and knees were blown out, and they fell to the floor howling in agony. Another, taking cover on the corner of the corridor leading away from the mess hall, leant around the corner and let out a long burst at Arouin, who was already rolling back behind the cover of the overturned table. Shifting the sub into one hand, he drew a 9mm pistol as he moved up to one knee, then waited a moment. After a few seconds he heard running footsteps, and quickly leant out from behind the table and let off three shots at each of the two Peacekeepers running towards him, they were knocked about by the force of the impacts, one bouncing off the wall of the corridor en route to the body-covered floor. Arouin dropped the half-empty clip out of the pistol, slammed a new one home, then stuffed the pistol back into one of the cavernous trench coat pockets. He emerged cautiously from behind the cover of the table, stumbling over one of the bodies that littered the mess hall. He had caught them at lunch, and it wasn�t as if he could have left them alone, they would have just picked up weapons and come after him.

And I can�t be having with that. thought Arouin.

(Click here for the complete text of Parts XV and XVI)

Darkspace Dispatch Back-Issues

Vol. I, No 1 (104.7.24) Vol. I, No. 2 (104.8.12) Vol. I, No. 3 (104.10.2) Vol. I, No. 4 (104.10.2)
Vol. I, No. 5 (104.12.7) Vol. I,No.6 (104.12.28)

Vol. II,No.1 (105.1.25) Vol. II,No.2 (105.2.26) Vol. II,No.3 (105.4.24) Vol. II,No.4 (105.6.16)
Vol. II,No.5 (105.8.7) Vol. II,No.6 (105.10.10) Vol. II,No.7 (105.12.27)

Vol. III, No.1 (106.2.20) Vol. III, No.2 (106.5.25) Vol. III, No.3 (106.9.26)

Log-in or die

Important Jumpgate Links . . .

ConfluxWar Joystick Required JGCentral

Jumpgate Pirate Radio (JPR) MyRotacol NetDevil