NEW CLARIFICATION 9/29

The FOB can be moved if you like so long as it does not violate these rules:
1) it cannot be within 4000 meters of your protected base
2) it cannot be within 2000 meters of any other faction bases
3) it cannot be a ship if it violates the large ship rules (so if your base is longer than 100 meters or has more than 20 turrets it cannot be moved) (yes this means that we cannot convert our giant ring to a ship if we make it on this server :()

Here are the rules for the new server launching tonight:

Server Rules

NEW CLARIFICATION 9/29

The FOB can be moved if you like so long as it does not violate these rules:
1) it cannot be within 4000 meters of your protected base
2) it cannot be within 2000 meters of any other faction bases
3) it cannot be a ship if it violates the large ship rules (so if your base is longer than 100 meters or has more than 20 turrets it cannot be moved) (yes this means that we cannot convert our giant ring to a ship if we make it on this server :()

BASE RULES

Each faction has 2 bases. One is a protected base with a 1000 meter protected zone that cannot be broken. No spies can enter this range, no attacks can be made against the base, even from outside the range, and no turrets can be placed to fire upon anything within this range. Even if the beacon/antenna goes down on the protected base the safety zone should be respected as best possible. The beacon/antenna should clearly state the faction name and have ‘protected base’ in the label.

The second base is a forward operating base (FOB). This base is not protected in the same permanent way that the main base is, but is still subject to rules of engagement. This base can only be attacked when there are at least 3 members from both the attacking and defending faction online. If there are fewer than 3 people online from both factions you may attempt to spy on the enemy base so long as no action is taken against it. The base owners may attack you at any time at their FOB and you are unable to attack them if either of you do not have sufficient members online so spy at your own risk!

When the FOB is off limits due to fewer than 3 members online you cannot engage any targets within 500 meters of the FOB beacon. If you chase an enemy into this range and they alert you that they are protected you must turn off your guns and cease firing. If you are still in their range and being attacked you are unable to defend yourself and must exit that range.

If you are killed in action away from your base at any time you must respawn at your protected base and remain there for 10 minutes. If you die defending your FOB you may respawn there or at your protected base and resume the fight immediately in defense. This gives the defenders an advantage, but in a larger server, attackers will need to be more cautious as they will not be able to respawn so close to the attack. The only exception to this rule is if an attacker has an attacking ship (that is in the fight) equipped with a working med bay in which case they may respawn at that ship 1 time and rejoin the fight. Death should be more realistic and players cannot use their invincibility as an advantage. Please be honest in these rules and call others out if they are not. The server will not be fun for anyone if the rules are not followed. Failure to comply with these rules will result in either temporary or permanent bans at the admins discretion.

The main protected base is limited in size and function by the following rules. This base may not have any refineries or assemblers and may not extend toward the center of the map from where it is now. Any additions to this base must be away from the other bases. There is no limit to the number of storage containers that may be built at this base and they may be built on top of or below the main platform as needed with an appropriate conveyor system. The conveyor system cannot reach out beyond 40 meters from the main platform toward your FOB.

The FOB’s only restriction is in storage capacity. The base may only have 8 large storage containers and 4 small storage containers (no replacing one with more of the other). Beyond this there are no limits to what can be built at the FOB.

SHIP RULES

It’s clear that both factions love their large ship drills… that being said lag is still an issue so… any large mining ships are limited to no more than 40 drills per ship.

Large military ships are also limited in capability to the following. No more than 20 turrets per ship. No ships larger than 100 meters in length and no ships with a mass that exceeds 20M kilos. Preferably ships will stay below 10-15M, but the absolute limit is 20M.

Forward facing rockets are risky at best in the game as it exists today so build at your own risk. No rollbacks for self-destructions. No more than 8 rocket pods per large ship. Small ships are limited to no more than 10 of each weapon type.

Ships may be engaged at any time if they are outside the protected zone and more than 500 meters from the FOB (unless there are sufficient defenders online for an FOB assault). The same death rules apply to ship combat where attackers must wait 10 minutes between death while defenders can respawn at any med bay and resume their defense of the ship immediately.

INITIAL TIMEFRAME

There will be an event posted in the server group indicating when base combat may begin. The first 2-3 days of server time will be protected for all bases. Ship assaults are still allowed, but base construction should be uninterrupted until this even time is complete. Check the server group steam page for this event which should be posted in the next few days. The event time will show in your time zone on the events tab.
FIRST SERVER EVENT – NEXT SUNDAY
Each faction will field 1 large ship for this event with a maximum of three participants in each ship. The center of the map will be kept clear of other ships during the battle and the fight will run until there is one ship remaining. A representative from the UESC and SSA will sit out of the event and judge having to both agree that a ship has clearly won the battle. Once the event has ended (the minute a ship is declared the winner) the normal server rules will take effect and other players may move in for salvaging or attack other’s bases so long as the player counts remain high enough.
The winning faction will be provided with a storage container full of materials to help replace their lost ship and then some! Future events will not have the same rewards and will not all be based on military strength so do not get discouraged if you lose and feel another faction pulling ahead. The events will be designed to add opportunity for quick gains which could allow a struggling faction to receive the bump they need! Factions may also choose to sit out of an event in order to save resources where they think the risk outweighs the reward.

A new rule was added to the rules which is posted in the discussions.

You may not convert enemy bases to ships! Hacking is allowed and you may steal ships that belong to the enemy, but you may not convert their base platforms to ships for any reason.

Just a reminder that as of last night the new faction on the server, BSC, is now also subject to FOB attacks if they field more than 4 members at a time.

Also a reminder that we will be having a battle again this Sunday afternoon (my time) 1 hour after the scheduled start last week (so the time we actually started). This event will have the FOB's for all factions unprotected for 30 minutes. The server will be reset about an hour before that to allow more players from each group online. Each faction will be allowed as many as 8 players on for this event. If a faction cannot field 8 the difference will be filled by the remaining factions evenly. Hopefully the server saves this week, but if not it will still be a fun exercise!

All,

To spice up the server we have added a new faction, BSC, to the server. This group will be starting up today and will receive the same 3 days of protection that the SSA and UESC had when starting. They can attack our FOB if we meet the requirements during this time, but we cannot attack their FOB. Ships outside the protected space are still fair game!

Also - this is not an update, but a clarification on the protected base rules. Factions may not have ANY additional refineries or assemblers within their protected beacon range. The limit to the protected base is not just for that platform, but the whole protected zone. If you add refineries or assemblers to a ship it MUST remain outside of that protected range at ALL TIMES.

Thanks and see you all in the neutral zone!