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Phoenix - A great evenings entertainment

Phoenix - A great evenings entertainment

by Ando
When you first start Phoenix it can be easy to think that their isn't too much to the game, you have just a ship which you issue a few order for each day; can this game really provide an evenings entertainment?

However as you get more involved in the game and especially if you decide to join an affiliation (which is really the heart of the game) you will take on more positions and gain access to more opportunities within the game and it can easily become something that provides an evenings entertainment while still fitting round a busy schedule.

As a player with a number of ships and outposts I though it might be useful to give players an idea of what an evening of Phoenix can look like 3-6 months after you join. I also run a few starbases but I generally sort them out at weekend so I wont really cover them in this article.

The first thing I will do when I log into the nexus is check and see if I was involved in any unexpected battles that I might need to do something about. If I am it is normally due to a pirate attack on one of my trade ships or one of my patrol warships intercepting a covert scout ship but occasionally it could be something more like an enemy ship (or my own ships) entering a restricted orbit or a group of mercenaries attacking one of my outpost etc. I am not involved in any of the main wars currently going on so I haven't been involved in any major battles but those opportunities easily exist if you join one of the main combatants.


My next move is to check the forum posts, they tend to be a mixture of deals being offered and requests for advice and help but sometimes there is a juicy in character (IC) thread following something which has happened in the game and they tend to be quite entertaining. Sometimes I’ll wade in on one side or the other but other times its cool to just learn about something happening in the game which may or may not affect my corner of the galaxy. Finally as I am in an affiliation (and we are in an alliance with another affiliation) there are private forum threads which I will check out as these tend to be about collaborative projects and operations.

Next I sort any private messages as you quickly gain a network of players you deal with regularly; be it from your own affiliation or others which you trade and work with. Occasionally you may be involved in an IC formal message exchange to establish a new treaty or access rights to an area of space etc. I tend to have to keep a list of any deals or operations Im supposed to be doing so I don't forget.

I then go through the turns I received for that day (or the last couple of days) and make sure things went as planned. Most of the results will be actions that I just need to make sure went as expected, while others will be investigations or explorations I may need to log and review later. If I had issued incorrect orders or ships ran out of Tu’s before they completed their orders I may issue new orders for tomorrow to sort it out or move them on.

At this point I should be up to date with whats already happened in the game and be ready to prepare orders for tomorrow.

The first thing I always do is check and see if there are any ships with really low integrity that needs maintenance or that need some R&R - if there is I make a note so that I can factor in getting that ship back to a base.

With the house keeping sorted I next sort my list of positions by Time Units (TU’s) and select all ships which have more then 240Tu’s; these will be the ships I prepare orders for tomorrow. If there is not too many or Im going to be busy tomorrow evening (or the next few evenings) I can also select ships with less Tu’s and use “wait for Tu” orders for them so they build up their Tu’s before going into action.

I normally start with my trade transports so I will check out the public markets and see if there are any good trade runs I want to do such as:
Buying goods from one place and selling to another.
Picking up trade goods and items I produce at an outpost and selling to another base.
Buying trade goods which I can make a profit on by selling within one of my own bases.

As Im building up a number of outposts I am also looking on the markets to see where the best deals are on modules and buying them up when I can. There are also lots of items I cant produce such as stargate keys or components for my ships so I keep an eye out on any bargains for these. Finally sales and special trades may have been mentioned on the forum or in the free trading times so I will check these out also.

Next comes my freight transports, these tend to be used to move items about between my positions and items from the main affiliation bases. For those with bases and outposts you will find that you need a lot of cargo capacity to move items especially if you have been given the responsibility of developing a system. My freighters tend to have low crew counts so aren’t able to repel pirates so I always try to end their turns in safe orbits and/or provide escorts if I can.

Then come the ore transports which tend to service your far flung outposts as well as swapping ores between bases which have access to different ores; you got to keep those factories supplied!

Then come the life transports which allow you to move troops and employees about as well as civilians if you are building up a planets population. Sometimes also a trade good requires life capacity so these ships get used for this role also.

Finally when it comes to transports, I have a number of ships dedicated to setting up outposts which tend to be faster ships which are maneuverable enough to land on most worlds. Having decided which projects are priority I will get them to collect modules which the trade ships have acquired or that I have built and get these to the outpost sites. The introduction of Coreward has provided over two dozen new systems with lots of mining opportunities to take advantage of; don't forget to defend those outposts though!

Now that the transport fleet is taken care off it is the turn of the scout fleet, these tend to be split under 3 duties:

General Planetary exploration for ore deposits. Ores of all types are useful for factories and for trade. First job is to determine which ores each world has, then on worlds you want to exploit I always begin with area scans to work out where the deposits are likely concentrated. Once I know which areas are likely to have good deposits I will GPI individual sectors in the area and then prospect the best sectors. For a big planet you may be using 3-4 ships so you have to coordinate to avoid duplication.

Intelligence Gathering: I have a number of scout ships which scout my affiliations own systems as well as scouting in neutral space and other areas of space in regard to potentially hostile affiliations. These tend to be small stealthy ships but now with the introduction of probes can be larger ships that stand off and use probes to get the information. I will also sometimes employ these ships in public systems to scan other ships and see what configurations and items people are using. This tends to be all the intelligence gathering I do but there is also agents and operatives you can deploy if you really like this sort of thing.

Detailed exploration using Special Actions (SA’s) - SA’s are definitely a cool aspect of the game as each result is generated by the GM and can open new avenues of gameplay.
I have a few dedicated ships set-up to investigate planets and strange phenomena throughout the galaxy. Some will be the standard surface exploration and planetary investigations but in the last 6 months I have also: made deals with native populations, tracked down strange creatures attacking my exploration crews, investigated ancient ruins and made contacting with an ancient living ship and I have barely scratched the surface of what is out there to be investigated.



Finally come the warships, as mentioned before Im not involved in any major wars so for the most part these will be placed in positions to protect bases and respond to threats. However there is always opportunities to upgrade their equipment (and we can now upgrade armour and hulls), train officers, patrol systems, escort transports, respond to pirate attacks, coordinate with an affiliation fleet etc. As a relatively new player I have found myself testing out squadron orders and getting involved in a number of war-games with a friendly affiliation to test out a ship design against one of their ships.

Once done and the orders are sent I can continue to make future plans and review some of my turns or just call it a night. I will find out when I next check in how it all went.

Phoenix is a very open ended game which you set your own goals and decide what elements (trade, exploration, combat, intelligence gathering, building etc) that you get involved in. If you don't have much time you can still do a lot with just a handful of positions and still enjoy the atmosphere and history of the game. On the flip side if you do have more time it wont take you long (especially within an affiliation) to be controlling 100+ positions and getting involved in lots of different aspects of the game.

Phoenix has a lot of depth and diversity and hopefully I have shown that it can provide a great evening of entertainment that can fit around your schedule.




 
News
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*** 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


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    *** 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.
     
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    *** 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) ******

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    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) ******

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    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
     
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    *** 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.
     
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      Star Date: 221.30.5

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    RAGNAROK COMES

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    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.

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    Newstart is lost

     
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      Star Date: 221.27.2

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    RAGNAROK APPROACHES

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    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.

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    ARC Plasma weapons devastate End Game

     
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      Star Date: 221.22.5

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    RAGNAROK BECKONS

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    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.

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    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