Phoenix
Phoenix: BSE
Phoenix at a Glance
Rulebook
The Game
Sign Up
Nexus Tour
FAQ
Flagship#130 Review
Contact
Resources
History
Wallpapers
IRC and player sites
SubSpace Static Archive
214
Previous Years
Intergalactic News
Issue 33
Issue 32
The Dewiek Special
Issue 31
Issue 30
Older Issues
 
FAQ



These questions are often asked by players completely new to the game.



Who am I?
Where am I?
When is the game set?
Where do I start?
Tell me about my ship
Where can I go?
When do I start paying?
What can I fight and where?
How do I get more ships?
How do I create my own empire?


pic

Who am I?

You are in control of a ship. You are a training position labeled TRN and are not yet part of an affiliation. An affiliation is a faction within the Peripheries. This faction may be human or may be an alien species. You will get the option to join an affiliation after you have looked at the choices available to you. You can do some training missions to get used to the game or if you are a returning player you can skip this stage and join an affiliation straight away.


Top


pic

Where am I?

pic

You start the game landed on a planet in the Agripeta system in the Halo star cluster (called a Periphery). The Halo Periphery is geared towards new players. The larger factions keep out, giving you the opportunity to learn the game in relatively safety. Faster than light travel is possible, i.e. ships can move between stars using engines known as jump drives. They move the ship directly from the region of space close to one star to the region of space close to the destination star. There is a network of roots that forms the map of the stars.


Top
pic

When is the Game Set?

The setting is a few hundred years from now. Humanity has fractured into various groups and has encountered alien races. Each species of alien has its unique history and while some have interacted with others for hundreds of years, humans generally have not had dealings with aliens for more than a few decades.


Top
pic

Where do I Start?

As well as training missions that will take you through the Halo Periphery, you can issue orders for your ship in order to get a feel for the game. It is best to start simply by getting used to doing simple orders. Use the ‘move to planet orbit’ in order to move your ship from its current location to that of another planet. ‘Scan planet’ order can be used to get maps. Scans of planets can only be done from orbit. You can issue ‘detailed scan’ in order to look more closely at other positions (ships, starbases etc) that you have detected during your journeys. Do not leave the Halo Periphery unless you know where you are going. It is a hostile universe so jumping into the wrong system could prove disastrous. Another top tip is to contact other players by a simple 'hi' in the recruitment forum. Simply writing to anyone and everyone can often pay dividends. The game is a very social one so knowing players is often half the fun.


Top
pic

Tell Me About My Ship.

You start the game with a choice of three ships, courier, surveyor and hauler. They are effectively the 1.1 litre engine of the Phoenix universe. They are good ships to get you going. You will have the opportunity to get all three by completing missions. They are fairly small, having only 50 hulls. By way of comparison most human ships are approximately 100 hulls although often the purpose of the ship defines the size. The hull strength determines the damage that a hull can withstand so the size multiplied by the hull strength determines the maximum damage a ship can withstand. Your ship has a number of installed items that determine its capabilities. You can find out about many items by looking in the game data available in the menu.


Top
pic

Where Can I Go?

Anywhere you know about. A better question however is where should I go. The answer to this should be determined with some conversions between yourself and the rest of your affiliation. Charging off in a random direction is likely to end in destruction. There are maps of the peripheries out there and some even label which affiliation claims domain of which system. This can be very helpful. If you want to sell your initial cargo, it is best to do so to your own affiliation or to one of its allies. This is just starting advice and once you know the game better you will know where to trade and with whom.Your affiliation may also have some survey work lined up. There is never a shortage of worlds to check over.


Top
pic

When do I Start Paying?

You can play the game for free as long as you never perform special actions, surface explorations and want to run positions other than ships and ground parties. While you do not have a political position, each position that you own has its own stellars (money) rather than a central account. KJC’s advice is to learn the game a little better, do some trading or scanning then, if you want to go further, set up a political account.


Top
pic

What can I Fight and Where?

To begin with it is best to avoid trouble as your starting ships are simply not up to it. You could try a bit of Privateering against Halo Tramp Haulers as these are controlled by the game. If you are serious about getting into trouble, you shouldn't be needing to read this FAQ!


Top
pic

How do I Get More Ships?

There are number of ways of getting more ships. The standard routes are Create Political Position and beg your affiliation. The simplest one is to start a political position using the Create Political Position order in the editor or follow the Create Political Mission (note that this means that you will become a paying customer). Using the order automatically generates 5 more ships for you. They are a mixture of explorers, cruisers and freighters. The second method is to beg your affiliation for more ships. This will largely depend on how well you get on with your affiliation. It is often the case that they have a few spare ships laying around that they could transfer.


Top
pic

How do I Create my Own Empire?

While a frequently asked question, it is quite an advanced one and requires good understanding of the game. Yes it can be done, this said, most players that initially want to go down this road often end up controlling an already established affiliation.There are two methods of carving a niche for yourself in the Peripheries. The first method is to create your own affiliation from scratch while the second is to take over where somebody else left off.

Creating your own affiliation can be achieved by leaving an affiliation and taking all your assets with you providing you have 1 million stellars in your political account. Once you are independent, you issue a special action declaring your new affiliation, i.e. giving it a name and a three-letter acronym. An example would be Periphery Defence Force (PDF). The Game Master will then put this data into the game and promote your political to a Periphery Director.

Alternatively should you bump into a faction within the game that are not represented by an affiliation, you can leave your affiliation and use a special action to become the representatives of the faction you have found. For example, a player finds an isolated world populated by a technologically advanced group of humans that apparently ended up there some decades ago by accident. The player issues a special action and declares that he will represent these people in the game from this point onwards. Note that there are often consequences to these sorts of actions.

As stated above, more commonly a player can take over an established affiliation. From time to time the real world interferes with the game and players have to leave. As a consequence a small faction such as either of the ones mentioned above becomes uncontrolled. Presuming that you know of this (through rumours, talking with players etc), you can ask to take over the affiliation. All assets will be transferred to your control.


Top


 
News
user image

*** Inter Galactic News ***

  • CIA freighter fights off overwhelming pirate forces

  • Fin Saine media broadcast, What is Hot in the galaxy?!?!

  • MEKlan forces attack in Corewards Arm


  •  
    user image

    *** Inter Galactic News ***

    Aladdin faces ongoing DNA/GTT tension

    The tensions between the DNA and GTT in the Coptuv system recently spilled over into the DNA system of Aladdin. A significant party of GTT ground troops has reinforced one of their bases in the system and claimed it, forcing the system claim into turmoil as the DNA finds itself under threat of losing the system. With the DNA chairman asking for help, several affiliations have been seen sending ships to evacuate any in the local population that want to escape the GTT. But so far not a shot has been fired and despite the AFT, FEL and DTR assistance no reisistance to the claim jump has been encountered so far. It remains to be seen if the DNA and it's friends will scatter before this hostile take over or put in a last minute counter claim to thwart GTT intentions.

    Increasing pirate activity

    Recent reports indicate a new surge in pirate attacks with the AFT and GTT reporting ships lost. Knowing how some don't like to advertise losses we wouldn't be surprised if this is the tip of the iceberg. Reports passed to us show the ship PIR Scavenger running ID 43174 and another ship of the same name running ID 68668 have both been in action with successful boarding attempts. It's unknown whether these are seperate ships or the same ship reregistered, but our information suggests that it would be hard for these pirates to cover the space where these attacks happened with just one ship. One thing is for sure, be on your guard as open space is not as safe as it once was.


    GCE ships loitering in deep space

    After the fall of the GCE and a lot of their assets being shared or purchased it was thought that the affiliation was no more. Yet deep space scans indicate that there is still a significant number of GCE warships holding station in deep space between Coptuv and Yank on the transport route into the Corwards Arm. Nobody knows what these ships are up to and why they are still flagged GCE, but our best guess is that are captains either awaiting new orders or owners after the fall of the GCE command structure.


    *** Affiliations ***

    AFT Association of Free Traders (54) - Marion Tweedy
    BLG Bolg Organisation (22) - Akhenaten
    BHD Brotherhood (63) - de Molay
    CIA Combined Intelligence Agency (64) - Laton CIA
    DNA Displaced Natives Asylum (66) - DNA people
    DTR Detinus Republic (58) - Morley Decker
    DWK Dewiek Packs (19) - <Unknown>
    FCN Falconian Republic (70) – Graspien
    FEL Felini Tyranny (49) - Kr'Shan
    FLZ Flagritz Republic (47) - Kayxaer
    FET Frontier Exploration & Trade (56) - Cu Chulainn
    GTT Galactic Trade & Transport (52) - Xavier Fox
    HEX Hexamon (23) - Tranquility
    KRL Krell (30) - Namica
    KRT Krell of the Reverence Temple (37) - Cyn
    KST Kastor Kastorians (12) - Kastor
    MOH Mohache (73) – Listens
    NHS Noble Houses (41) – Roy Roberts
    NLF Naplian Liberation Front (38) - NLFHQ
    SMS Stellar Mining and Smelting (53) - MikhailM
    WMB Wimble Nations (25) - zz

    * Leader MAY be inactive, affiliation may be active
    ** Only known contact, please update us if this is incorrect.

    NPC / FoC: ARC, CIV, CGT, FRE, HBO, HEF, IND, ISP, JCN, MEK, MRC, PIR, PRV, TCA, TRN, KAS
    Inactive: ANT, COD, DEN, DOM, GCE, HVE, IDC, IMP, RIP, RCF, SKW, TAG,

    *** Submissions ***

    By private message to The Editor or via Mica if you prefer to remain anonymous.
     
    user image

    *** Inter Galactic News ***

    Tension in the Corewards Arm

    With the DNA obtaining several ex-GCE bases in the Coreward Arm it has found itself in the middle of an asset grab of serious proportions and aggression. Our reporters witnessed several GTT troop carriers heading for the Corewards system as the DNA published information suggesting they were accidental owners of the system and that the assets were to be moved on. As the GTT ships started to arrive the bases were quickly passed to the CIA, thus thwarting the GTT intentions as they were hardly likely to start dropping troops on their allies bases. This shrew move by the DNA seems to have calmed matters in the Coreward arm temporarily, although the shift in relations between the GTT and DNA has taken a negative turn. When asked what their next move might be the GTT refused to comment.

    GCE collapse

    The GCE are no more, save for some scattered light freighters. The affiliation which enjoyed a sharp rise and profiltable relations with many has ceased trading. Rumors point to the GTT buying up GCE assets before stripping the rival corporation of anything of value. Although our reporters at the SSS have been quick to point out that any GCE assets not in GTT systems have been taken over by both the DNA and FET. So it seems many different affiliations were able to profit from this development including a new group called the HSH who appear to have taken over the GCE war fleet. No doubt many in the peripheries will be watching with interest where these ships are used, who the HSH are and how they were able to get thier hands on so many warships so quickly.


    Secudus trials

    In the Cluster Secudus has continued his trials, claiming to root out terrorists working against the Empire. With tends of thousands of beings being sent to the camps or worse. There is no sign of these actions stopping as the NHS clamp down on the locals and bring them under the harsh control of the Empire.


    *** Affiliations ***

    AFT Association of Free Traders (54) - Marion Tweedy
    BLG Bolg Organisation (22) - Akhenaten
    BHD Brotherhood (63) - de Molay
    CIA Combined Intelligence Agency (64) - Laton CIA
    DNA Displaced Natives Asylum (66) - DNA people
    DTR Detinus Republic (58) - Morley Decker
    DWK Dewiek Packs (19) - <Unknown>
    FCN Falconian Republic (70) – <Unknown>
    FEL Felini Tyranny (49) - Juris
    FLZ Flagritz Republic (47) - Kayxaer
    FET Frontier Exploration & Trade (56) - Cu Chulainn
    GTT Galactic Trade & Transport (52) - Xavier Fox
    HEX Hexamon (23) - Tranquility
    KRL Krell (30) - Namica
    KRT Krell of the Reverence Temple (37) - Cyn
    KST Kastor Kastorians (12) - Kastor
    MOH Mohache (73) – Listens
    NHS Noble Houses (41) – Roy Roberts
    NLF Naplian Liberation Front (38) - NLFHQ
    SMS Stellar Mining and Smelting (53) - MikhailM
    WMB Wimble Nations (25) - zz

    * Leader MAY be inactive, affiliation may be active
    ** Only known contact, please update us if this is incorrect.

    NPC / FoC: ARC, CIV, CGT, FRE, HBO, HEF, IND, ISP, JCN, MEK, MRC, PIR, PRV, TCA, TRN, KAS
    Inactive: ANT, COD, DEN, DOM, GCE, HVE, IDC, IMP, RIP, RCF, SKW, TAG,

    *** Submissions ***

    By private message to The Editor or via Mica if you prefer to remain anonymous.
     
    ******Empire Syndicated News Network (ESNN) ******

    user image

    Welcome to the latest version of ESNN, giving the news and views from the ESNN's reporter and news anchor, Ainsley Moore, making this the peripheries' most favourite and most reliable unbiased publication in the known universe from our home in the Heartland,

    And so with the news from the last couple of weeks,


    Cluster War! DNA Gather Fruit
     
    ******Empire Syndicated News Network (ESNN) ******

    user image

    Welcome to the latest version of ESNN, giving the news and views from the ESNN's reporter and news anchor, Ainsley Moore, making this the peripheries' most favourite unbiased publication in the known universe from our home in the Heartland,

    And so with the news from the last few weeks,


    Cluster War! MZC attacks DNA
     
    user image
    *** Inter Galactic News ***

    The Dewiek rise again!

    After the death and destruction wrought upon the Dewiek Nation by the Architects, there was a period of calm if you were a werewolf fancier. But now the Dewiek have risen to once more in the name of the Dewiek Packs, led by Skarn. Their new message being one of peace, a most unusual change for the large humanoid wolves. While they rise from the ashes of the Mizuchi Combine the Galaxy waits to see how this new affiliation acts, baring in mind the Dewiek have something of reputation.

    Empire invade the Cluster!

    A significant force of GTT warships recently entered the Cluster, somewhere they have not seen the need to go for a very long time. At the same time the CIA banned the Dewiek Packs from it’s space and also sent a large number of warships into the Cluster to bolster the GTT’s presence. After this show of force the Crossley system, known for it’s wormhole connecting from the Cluster to CIA space shifted to be claimed by the GTT. Currently the Empire has over 200,000 troops and 2000 warships roaming the nearby systems. Inhabitants of the Cluster are waiting to see if there are any further developments. GTT CEO Xavier Fox when asked by our office dismissed it as a “Training exercise”.

    Krell sale!

    The Krell Clan Dark Angels has been selling off bases, outposts and even systems lately. It is unknown why they have decided to cash in their assets and territories, but it points to the accumulation of significant wealth by the Krell clan. If you have any spare cash and want to expand your assets then it seems to our office that the best place to go is the Dark Angel Clan and ask what will be going up for sale next, assuming they actually have anything left.

    *** Affiliations ***

    AFT Association of Free Traders (54) - Marion Tweedy
    BLG Bolg Organisation (22) - Akhenaten
    BHD Brotherhood (63) - de Molay
    CIA Combined Intelligence Agency (64) - Laton CIA
    DNA Displaced Natives Asylum (66) - DNA people
    DTR Detinus Republic (58) - Morley Decker
    DEN Dewiek Elder Nation (67) - <unknown>
    DWK Dewiek Packs (19) - Skarn
    FCN Falconian Republic (70) – Bacran *
    FEL Felini Tyranny (49) - Juris
    FLZ Flagritz Republic (47) - Kayxaer
    FET Frontier Exploration & Trade (56) - Cu Chulainn
    GTT Galactic Trade & Transport (52) - Xavier Fox
    GCE Garcia Enterprises (4) - Neil
    HEX Hexamon (23) - <unknown>
    KRL Krell (30) - Namica
    KRT Krell of the Reverence Temple (37) - Kal Torak
    KST Kastor Kastorians (12) - Kastor
    MZC Mizuchi Combine (86) - Mizuchi
    MOH Mohache (73) – Listens
    NHS Noble Houses (41) – Roy Roberts
    NLF Naplian Liberation Front (38) - NLFHQ
    SMS Stellar Mining and Smelting (53) - MikhailM
    WMB Wimble Nations (25) - zz

    * Leader MAY be inactive, affiliation may be active
    ** Only known contact, please update us if this is incorrect.

    NPC / FoC: ARC, CIV, CGT, FRE, HBO, HEF, IND, ISP, JCN, MEK, MRC, PIR, PRV, TCA, TRN, KAS
    Inactive: ANT, COD, DOM, HVE, IDC, IMP, RIP, RCF, SKW, TAG

    *** Submissions ***

    By private message to The Editor or via Mica if you prefer to remain anonymous.
     
    GTT step forward to control protection and peace in the Stellar Empire.

    With the retirement of Jack Johns and various lower-level IMP officers from public life, the Imperial Services were left on the verge of being unable to fill their role as protectors of the Stellar Empire. Due to the serious nature the Imperial Services found itself in, the Emperor recently travelled to GTT HQ to attend a board meeting with the directors of the GTT.

    With Galactic Trade and Transport being one of the few remaining loyal Imperial Chartered affiliations, who also supply well over half of the war material to the Imperial Services, the Emperor sought the position of the GTT with regard to the Imperial Services becoming overburdened with bureaucracy and lacking effective leadership. Effectively the Imperial Services were at the point of collapse. A position highlighted when an opportunistic supposed ally subverted four Imperial Outposts in the Inner Empire, thinking their asset grabbing would go unnoticed.
     
    user image
      Star Date: 221.30.5

    user image

    RAGNAROK COMES

    user image

    A Forlorn Hope

    The seat of Dewiek Government has fallen. What began as a small group of Architect ships picking up retreating DEN forces, amalgamated into a much larger force. The bombardment fleet comprised dozens of Adult ARC ships plus several Planet Killers. The force made short work of the impressive fortifications of the planetary orbit of Newstart. Multiple heavily armoured and maximised deflector shield platforms crumbled. They did so only after releasing their volleys of antimatter and nova weapon batteries. Any DEN warships that remained from earlier encounters also stood the line. But within the week, the last defence was gone.

    Bombardment of Wolf Lair starbase proceeded without further resistance from the Dewiek. ARC Plasmas ripped through starbase shields. They demolished tens of thousands of factories and research facilities. The ARC demolished the huge military recruitment and training facilities on the planet. Over half a million trained troops evacuated from deep bunkers, leaving a token ground defence.

    The ARC were not satisfied to burn the facilities and murder the workers. They deployed repeated salvos of their Virus Bombs on the wider population. Reports began to arrive of civilians of the world regressing. Leaving settlements and returning to nature. Much as the Dewiek found themselves some decades ago when they started to recover from the First Great ARC-DEN War. This time there was no High Lord Magnus willing to obliterate the world to save a remnant of the people. Newstart was already lost.

    user image
    Newstart is lost

     
    user image
      Star Date: 221.27.2

    user image

    RAGNAROK APPROACHES

    user image

    End Game Lost

    A short-lived period of peace followed the Dewiek Elder Nation’s historic and Saga-worthy defence against the Architect Planet Killers. A handful of the more typically encountered ARC ships were spotted picking off DEN support ships in Forlorn Hope before more than forty of them appeared back in End Game.

    While the ARC “Adult” class ships, as the DEN had previously classified them, were eight times smaller than the “Planet Killers”, they were still as big as the largest ships any other species has managed to produce. Including the otherwise technologically advanced Dewiek.

    Forty-four of these Plasma armed organic vessels smashed through the DEN forces left circling the orbit of Beacon, End Game. The mass of ARC weapons bombarded the DEN Shipyards at Ragnorak with their superheated ionized gas, razing the entire outpost to the ground.

    user image
    ARC Plasma weapons devastate End Game

     
    user image
      Star Date: 221.22.5

    user image

    RAGNAROK BECKONS

    user image

    Assault on End Game

    The ancient Architects have declared war on the Dewiek Elder Nation. The first sign of the conflict was subspace transmissions in a remote system in the Pocket Periphery. This followed reports that the ancient Ragnarok shipyards on Beacon were malfunctioning. In response, the Wolf Mother sent urgent orders to several Dewiek scout ships to patrol the End Game system.

    The Konungr Smidamadr was the first to encounter the gigantic, “Planet Killer” class ARC ships. Measuring in at thirty-two hundred heavy hulls and armed with a hundred ARC plasma weapons, the ship was more like a mobile armed platform. It is certainly the largest vessel ever recorded. The scout ship was vaporised instantly.

    user image
    ARC Planet Killer dwarves largest DEN warships

     

    Free Ship when you sign-up
    Complete missions for in game rewards
    Control everything, up to an entire empire
    Dedicated human moderators
    Player and Moderator driven plotlines
    Discover new worlds to explore, exploit & colonise
    Over 20 years of content development
    Persistent Browser-Based Game (PBBG)

    I’ve played on and off for approximately 10 years, over a 20 year spell. After some interesting debate on the in-game forum, I did wonder what, exactly, has kept drawing me back to the game, when for so many others I’ve generally lost interest after a few months.

    Ultimately, I think it is a combination of automation (that allows the game to handle thousands of positions to interact on a daily basis) coupled with Special Actions (that allow the story arc to develop in a way that could not be catered for by a set of predefined list of available orders).
    -Zigic