Nov 8, 2019

Elite Dangerous - Stephen Benedetti (Frontier)

Greetings Commanders.

The ancient generation ship, The Golconda, has been discovered drifting amidst the stars. Contact with the ship's living occupants has revealed that their ancestors chose to remain aboard their ship rather than colonise their original destination. The equipment originally intended for setting up a planetary settlement was cannibalised for materials but now... the Golconda's crew find themselves in need of outside assistance for the first time in a millennia.

Efforts are underway to support the residents of The Golconda, but both the Federation and the Empire look upon this colossal relic with opportunistic eyes. There's a political play to be made here, and the winner stands to benefit greatly.

For this next Interstellar Initiative, we'll be detailing what's at stake over the next few weeks. It's time to back a side, and win!

If you'd rather learn about what happens to The Golconda as the story unfolds, then stop reading now, and keep your eyes on the GalNet feed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Phase 1 (8 November)
The independent faction, Upaniklis Vision Incorporated, has tabled a motion to provide much needed aid to the denizens of The Golconda. Meanwhile, criminal elements prepare their ships in a bid to exploit the supply convoys.

This will mark the beginning of two Community Goals:

Trade Community Goal - Deliver Basic Medicines, Advanced Medicines, Aluminium, Ceramic Composites, and Semiconductors to Fozard Port in the Upaniklis system.

Bounty Hunting Community Goal - Deliver Bounty vouchers to Fozard Port in the Upaniklis system.

Start Date - 8 November @ 15:00 (UTC)
End Date - 14 November @ 15:00 (UTC)

Soon after, Imperial and Federation megaships will move into the system and prepare their own plans to support The Golconda.

Phase 2 (18 November)
The Empire and Federation each pledge to help, but with different opposing approaches.

The Empire seeks to provide the former colonists with a planetside home, helping them fulfil their original mission. They would provide full member status to the colony and help them become self-sustaining through teaching agriculture techniques.
The Federation, however, seeks to honour the colonist's unique culture and provide them with an outpost of their own, allowing them to remain a permanent space colony. Landing pads would allow direct trade and help the colonists remain stocked with medicines and supplies.
Two competing initiatives are set up, with the superpower with the most materials received winning the favour of the Golconda colonists.

Empire Trade Community Goal - Deliver Polymers, CMM Composites, Titanium, Beryllium, and Thallium to the Empire Megaship, in the Upaniklis system.

Federation Trade Community Goal - Deliver Polymers, CMM Composites, Titanium, Beryllium, and Thallium to Federation Megaship, in the Upaniklis system.

Start Date - 18 November @ 15:00 (UTC)
End Date - 26 November @ 15:00 (UTC)

Interstellar Initiative Rewards
Only one of the two opposing Superpowers may be victorious in this Interstellar Initiative. Backing a specific Superpower will result in different rewards:

If the Empire are successful:

An Empire-affiliated Planetary Port will be added to the Upaniklis system.
From 5 December to 16 December, any Empire Rank will be earned at a double rate alongside a discount to Imperial ships.
A Rare Good, Apa Vietii, will be introduced and become available for purchase at the new Planetary Port.
'The Golconda' decal will be available to commanders who dock at the Planetary Port or the Empire megaship from 5 December to 16 December.

If the Federation are successful:

A Federation-affiliated Outpost will be added to the Upaniklis system.
From 5 December to 16 December, any Federation Rank will be earned at an double rate alongside a discount to Federal ships.
A Rare Good, Apa Vietii, will be introduced and become available for purchase at the new Outpost.
'The Golconda' decal will be available to commanders who dock at the Outpost or the Federal megaship from 5 December to 16 December.

Oct 23, 2019

Elite: Dangerous delays Fleet Carrier launch to mid-2020

Elite Dangerous

In August, Frontier Development announced that massive Fleet Carriers with the ability to travel great distances and serve as refueling and refitting stations for smaller ships would be added to Elite: Dangerous in December. That plan has now changed, however, as Frontier has shifted its focus for the remainder of the year, and beyond, to fixing bugs.

The shift in priority followed the release of the September Update, which apparently introduced a number of new bugs to the game. "We realise that some of the issues had an impact on your ability to enjoy Elite Dangerous. The team have been working hard to address the most critical issues and have already released a series of patches and updates to bring those fixes in as quickly as possible," community manager Will Flanagan wrote.

"However, we know there's more to be done. You've asked for more focus on existing bug/fixes and issues, and for the community to be better integrated into the development process and testing for these upcoming updates."

To make that happen, future updates "from now and into next year" will be focused almost exclusively on fixing both new and longstanding problems with the game, rather than incorporating new content. Those updates will be rolled out every three to four months, and will be preceded by a public beta. The first update is expected to begin beta testing in December, and barring any big problems will go live in early 2020.

"As a result of our updated plans, we have made the difficult decision to defer the release of Fleet Carriers," Flanagan wrote. "We are now planning for Fleet Carriers to be released in an update in the second quarter of 2020, rather than in December 2019 as previously stated. This will grant us additional time to refine the feature as well as focusing time on addressing existing reported issues.

"It will also ensure the state of the game is in a better position to introduce Fleet Carriers, that will provide Commanders even more opportunities to interact with the Milky Way. We understand that this delay will be disappointing for some players, but do know that this decision is one that we do not take lightly, and is made with the best interests of the community and game at heart."

Flanagan also touched on the next "major paid expansion" to Elite: Dangerous, which is expected to be out by the end of 2020. Everything is apparently on schedule, but Fronter won't be ready to actually revealed anything about it until—hopefully—sometime in summer 2020, after the Fleet Carriers update is live.

Oct 22, 2019

Community Update (22/10)

Elite Dangerous - Will Flanagan

Greetings Commanders,

Following the launch of the September Update last month, we’d like to provide you all with an update on our plans for Elite Dangerous.

Firstly, thank you for all of your feedback on the September Update, which you've shared with us on the forums, across social media, on livestreams and through the Issue Tracker. There is no doubt that, in addition to the new features, the September Update introduced a number of issues and bugs which caused a lot of frustration. We are really sorry for these issues. We realise that some of the issues had an impact on your ability to enjoy Elite Dangerous. The team have been working hard to address the most critical issues and have already released a series of patches and updates to bring those fixes in as quickly as possible.

However, we know there's more to be done. You've asked for more focus on existing bug/fixes and issues, and for the community to be better integrated into the development process and testing for these upcoming updates.

In order to improve your overall experience, we have decided to refocus our efforts on addressing key issues and bugs. Since the launch of the September Update, we've been taking a deeper look at our internal development roadmap, the way in which we utilise public betas, and the content of our next updates.

Here is a summary of our plans:

From now and into next year (2020), the updates will focus almost exclusively on addressing recent and longstanding issues, including those reported in the Issue Tracker, ultimately making the game better.
We are expecting to have a series of these updates, which will be rolled out (approximately) every three to four months.
Each update will also include a public beta that will run prior to the update's release, with a dedicated time to address major issues that appear.
The first of these updates will have its public beta in December, with an expectation that the launch will be early in 2020.

As a result of our updated plans, we have made the difficult decision to defer the release of Fleet Carriers. We are now planning for Fleet Carriers to be released in an update in the second quarter of 2020, rather than in December 2019 as previously stated. This will grant us additional time to refine the feature as well as focusing time on addressing existing reported issues. It will also ensure the state of the game is in a better position to introduce Fleet Carriers, that will provide Commanders even more opportunities to interact with the Milky Way. We understand that this delay will be disappointing for some players, but do know that this decision is one that we do not take lightly, and is made with the best interests of the community and game at heart.

Ultimately, we are confident that this will improve the Elite Dangerous experience for all our players.

The team have been hard at work on the next major milestone, which you may remember we mentioned back in March as our next major paid addition to the game. They’re making fantastic progress and on schedule for release by the end of next year. We are very excited to show you what we’ve been working on. However, we can only announce the content when it’s at the right stage of development, we estimate this will be ready to talk about at some time in summer 2020, after the Fleet Carriers update. We appreciate there is a bit of a wait, but we want to make sure it is ready to be shown before making our full official announcement to the world.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing and continued support and for helping give us the feedback, steer and insight to make decisions that will benefit the entire community and for your continued passion and dedication.

Oct 10, 2019

Interstellar Initiative - The Scourge

Elite Dangerous - Will Flanagan

* * EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION * *

Greetings Commanders,

The Interstellar Association for Agriculture has declared a state of emergency following severe crop failures across multiple worlds. To prevent food shortages and economic strife for billions of civilians, independent pilots are being asked to bring grain, pesticides and synthetic reagents to two key locations.

This marks the beginning of our third Interstellar Initiative: The Scourge.

Throughout the course of the event, we'll be periodically updating this thread with details and updates as they develop.

PHASE 1 (10 October)

Two coordinated trade initiatives have been launched, spearheading efforts to mitigate the impact of low crop yields in key systems.

The initiatives have been organised by Crimson State Limited in the Diso system and Orerve Universal Limited in the Orerve system. The significant loss of crops in these agricultural centres is a primary cause for the low availability of staple foodstuffs.

The initiatives received praise from Dr Genevieve Kane of the Interstellar Association for Agriculture:

“This campaign is a step in the right direction, and with the help of the galactic community should stop the situation from becoming a full-scale crisis.”

“The IAA is currently investigating the reasons for such poor harvests, and it seems that a new form of blight may be responsible for the rapid degeneration of crops. Scientific teams are analysing samples of diseased tissue, and we expect to know more soon.”

Traders are asked to deliver pesticides, synthetic reagents and grain to Shifnalport in the Diso system and Watson Station in the Orerve system.

The initiative is scheduled to run from the 10th to the 16th of October 3305. If the final targets are met earlier than planned, the campaign will end immediately.

As detailed above, independent commanders will be required to bring grain, pesticides and synthetic reagents to a region of space on the bring of economic strife, This will come in the form of a trading Community Goal.

Community Goal Details:

Start Date - 10 October @ 15:00 (UTC)
End Date -16 October @ 15:00 (UTC)
Pesticides, synthetic reagents and grain to be delivered to Watson Station in the Orerve system, and Shifnalport in the Diso system.

PHASE 2 (16 October)
Initiative to Eradicate Rockforth Fertiliser

The Rockforth Corporation’s EX7 fertiliser has been linked to the blight affecting crops in a number of systems, prompting an initiative to remove the product from the market.

Dr Genevieve Kane of the Interstellar Association for Agriculture delivered an urgent message:

“Comparative analysis has confirmed that the blight is caused by the EX7 fertiliser. The original poor harvests have been attributed to natural factors, and it is now thought that the situation could have been contained had the fertiliser not exacerbated the problem.”

“Initial food shortages were offset by a recent trade appeal in the Diso and Orerve systems, but the blight’s symptoms have since been reported in hundreds of systems. While we investigate the reasons for this rapid spread, preventing further fertiliser distribution is vital.”

Rockforth fertiliser can now be collected at negligible cost from the following markets:

Sharon Lee Free Market, Orrere
Lave Station, Lave
Warinus, Lave
Shifnalport, Diso
Davies High, Reorte
Watson Station, Orerve
Roentgen Hub, LFT 37
Macedo Station, Lei Zi
Phillips Gateway, Ensoreus
Baird Gateway, Arque
La Soeur du Dan Ham, Riedquat

The Teveri Progressive Party has arranged for the safe disposal of the fertiliser and has offered to compensate pilots for their efforts. The fertiliser should be delivered to Wiley Port in the Teveri system.

To expedite this initiative, Lakon Spaceways has agreed to lower the cost of the Type-6 Transporter, Type-7 Transporter and Type-9 Heavy. Cargo rack prices have also been reduced in all starports.

The initiative is scheduled to run from the 16th to the 22nd of October 3305. If the final target is met earlier than planned, the campaign will end immediately.

Summary:
Independent commanders will be required to bring Rockforth Fertiliser to Wiley Port in the Teveri system.

Start Date - 16 October @ 15:00 (UTC)
End Date - 22 October @ 15:00 (UTC)

Rockforth Fertiliser is now available to collect from markets at negligible cost from the stations listed below:

Sharon Lee Free Market, Orrere
Lave Station, Lave
Warinus, Lave
Shifnalport, Diso
Davies High, Reorte
Watson Station, Orerve
Roentgen Hub, LFT 37
Macedo Station, Lei Zi
Phillips Gateway, Ensoreus
Baird Gateway, Arque
La Soeur du Dan Ham, Riedquat

For the duration of the Community Goal, Lakon Spaceways has agreed to lower the cost of the following ships:[/i]

Type-6 Transporter
Type-7 Transporter
Type-9 Heavy

Cargo Rack prices have also been reduced in all starports.

PHASE 3 (22 October)
Militant Group Responsible for Blight

An extremist group from the Kappa Fornacis system is responsible for the contaminated fertiliser that has caused widespread crop failures.

Gino Borstein made this statement on behalf of the tri-superpower taskforce investigating the blight’s origin:

“Our investigation has confirmed that an activist group known as Scythe of Panem managed to infiltrate Rockforth Corporation manufacturing plants in the Riedquat system. Members of the group contaminated the EX7 fertiliser with a synthetic agent designed to putrefy plant matter.”
Recent efforts by the galactic community have almost eradicated the EX7 fertiliser. But Borstein warned that the activists have turned hostile upon discovery.

“The group’s manifesto discusses revenge for the Federation’s 3301 campaign to wipe out the recreational drug known as Onion Head. This involved an orbital bombardment of Onion Head crops on Panem using biocides with a similar genomic structure to the blight. It’s likely that the activists used these biocides as the foundation of their synthetic agent.”

“Shortly after we located Scythe of Panem cells in the Quator system, their more militant members responded with unprovoked violence. Local citizens are now at risk of being caught in the crossfire.”

An effort to neutralise the activists is being led by the Bruthanvan Co faction, which has requested tactical support from the galactic community.

Independent pilots who destroy Scythe of Panem ships in the Quator system will be generously rewarded by Bruthanvan Co. This campaign will run from the 22nd to the 28th of October 3305.

Summary:
Those behind the contamination of the Rockforth Fertiliser have been discovered! A faction, Bruthanvan Co, have requested tactical support in destroying the group responsible for this treachery, the Scythe of Panem. Destroying Scythe of Panem ships and handing in the Combat Bonds at the Quator Station in the Quator system can help the faction achieve this.

Start Date - 22 October @ 15:00 (UTC)
End Date - 28 October @ 15:00 (UTC)

*NEW DEVELOPMENT* (22 October)
Anti-Blight Treatment Discovered

The galactic community has been asked to support an initiative that could counteract the blight that is devastating crops in hundreds of systems.

With the blight pathogen present across inhabited space, the Interstellar Association for Agriculture has decided to press ahead with controlled distribution of a promising new agronomic treatment.

The IAA’s Dr Genevieve Kane provided further information:

“Ever since the blight was identified, our scientists have been working alongside Rockforth Corporation research teams to develop an effective counteragent. We appreciate the full cooperation granted by Rockforth Corporation representatives in this endeavour.”
“Following essential contributions by both the Vandermeer Corporation and Neomedical Industries, we have developed an agronomic treatment that should reverse the disease’s effects.”

“The priority is to transport the treatment to the Diso and Orerve systems, which were among the first to be ravaged by the blight. If these primary agricultural centres can be made viable again, we can then proceed to revitalise crop production elsewhere.”

Agronomic treatment can now be collected from the following markets:

Conway City, Ltt 4961
George Lucas, Leesti
Thomson Orbital, Lansbury
Cousin Ring, Tjindjin
Margulis Station, CD-44 10336
Nourse City, Esumindii

Independent traders have been asked to deliver the agronomic treatment to Shifnalport in the Diso system and Watson Station in the Orerve system.

The initiative is scheduled to run from the 24th to the 30th of October 3305. If the final targets are met earlier than planned, the campaign will end immediately.

Summary:
A treatement for the Blight has been identified, but independent commanders are now being called upon to help deliver it to key agricultural centres: Shifnalport in the Diso system and Watson Station in the Orerve system.

Deliver Agronomic Treatement to either Shifnalport (Diso) or Watson Station (Orerve). This treatment can be collected from:

Conway City, Ltt 4961
George Lucas, Leesti
Thomson Orbital, Lansbury
Cousin Ring, Tjindjin
Margulis Station, CD-44 10336
Nourse City, Esumindii

Start Date - 24 October @ 08:00 (UTC)

End Date - 30 October @ 07:30 (UTC)

[/list]
For the duration of this Community Goal, if you dock at any of the above stations, you'll receive The Scourge decal (below):

Conclusion

With the end of the most recent Community Goal, this marks the conclusion to The Scourge. First off, we would like to thank all of the dedicated Commanders who took part to combat the rise of the Rockforth pathogen. Although The Scourge is over, it will have everlasting effects on our galaxy.

Despite the efforts of the galactic community, the blight pathogen (unwittingly distributed by the Rockforth Corporation) proved far too resilient to quarantine and eradicate completely. Food stocks across the galaxy are now at risk of carrying the dormant pathogen, which if introduced to healthy crops or food reserves, has the potential to activate and erupt into Blight.

Blight is a new Background Simulation state and has a huge economic impact on the faction affected in that star system. It can be counteracted by delivering Agronomic Treatment - produced in High-Tech economies - to affected systems. If left untreated, it can quickly wipe out food reserves and with no further food stocks available, the pathogen dies out and the faction will instead experience a full-blown Famine state.

We hope that when this happens, you will be prepared to help our galaxy and its people from experiencing such a great devastation...