When this started, we had approximately 383 factions. The current count stands at 142 Modular Factions and 66 old types. I'll do the math for you: that's a total of 208. Which means 175 shells have fallen. 

F

Anyway, to the holdouts, this is the beginning of the end. As a reminder, factions will receive applicable modules at no cost, in the following priority:
 - Core module
 - Equivalent of current type(eg. Mercenary -> Paramilitary module)
 - Planetary Control module, if planets are controlled at the time of conversion. Asteroid field planetoids are exempt and will not obtain nor require this module.
 - Datacard module, if generic datacards are owned

You will receive those modules even if you do not have enough members. However, this will immediately deactivate modules starting with the lowest priority module and a 14-day timer for those modules' removal. Certain functions are disabled during inactive status.

So here's what going to happen. On D155, you will be converted to modular. 
 - If you are one member, all your modules will be inactive and your faction will dissolve after 14 days(D169). 
 - If you have two members, the core faction module will survive but all other modules will deactivate and disappear after these 14 days.
 - If you have three members, the faction will retain its type-equivalent module and lose any others as above. 
 - If you have four members, your planets are safe but your datacards are at risk. Alternatively, your datacards are safe.
 - If you have five or more members, you'll be fine.

You can skip this final wave of destruction by clicking the faction conversion button here or contacting your favourite venomous Asim with a faction disbanding request(must come from the faction's owner).

Good evening! Or Good Morning! OR even... Good Afternoon!

I've finally gone through and finalized the room map list from that old Room Maps Bounty Forum Thread I put up near the beginning of the year. Time really flies, huh? Below you will find a list of the entities affected (sorted A-Z) as well as the corresponding rules page for that entity. These changes will not go into affect until after HerdFest at a minimum, which gives you extra time to find out if you need to move your doors around, etc. 

I'm waiting for some final back end updates before I implement the room maps, but for the entities in the list below I would expect broken doors (especially where hallways are implemented). In cases where an Entrance Room, Cockpit/Command Room, or Storage Room moves location, I will try to physically move that room specifically (as opposed to just changing the room type of that room and another), so that all entities contained in that room will remain contained in that room. 

Below the list, I will add relevant questions from the FAQ from the aforementioned thread before addressing a few other things. The FAQ in this Sim News will be updated as questions come in (without pushing a notificaiton to you so you don't have to clear the silly blue notification).

So without further ado, the list (A-Z):

•  
• BFF-1 Bulk Freighter -- Submitted by: Turien Malakit // (Rules Page link)
   
• Colossal-class heavy Cruiser -- Submitted by: Fred Python // (Rules Page link)
   
• Command Centre -- Submitted by: Raa`hse Nahk // (Rules Page link)
   
• CR-20 Troop Carrier -- Submitted by: Turien Malakit // (Rules Page link)
   
• CR-70 Corvette -- Submitted by: Patrick Bisson // (Rules Page link)
   
• CR-90 Assassin-class Corvette -- Submitted by: Patrick Bisson // (Rules Page link)
   
• CR-90 Corvette -- Submitted by: Patrick Bisson // (Rules Page link)
   
• CR-92 Battle Corvette -- Submitted by: Patrick Bisson // (Rules Page link)
   
• Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruiser -- Submitted by: Zair Darea // (Rules Page link)
   
• DX-9 Dropship -- Submitted by: Uldric Corliss // (Rules Page link)
   
• Executor-class Star Destroyer -- Submitted by: Hatoori Hoorl // (Rules Page link)
   
• Fury-class Imperial Interceptor -- Submitted by: Vladimir Killjoy // (Rules Page link)
   
• Golan II -- Submitted by: Patrick Bisson // (Rules Page link)
   
• GRZ-6B Wrecker -- Submitted by: Tipris Taprahn // (Rules Page link)
   
• Imperial I-class Star Destroyer -- Submitted by: Hatoori Hoorl // (Rules Page link)
   
• Interdictor-class Heavy Cruiser -- Submitted by: Hatoori Hoorl // (Rules Page link)
   
• Ithorian Herdship (to be implemented after Herdfest) -- Submitted by: Wynk Waawat // (Rules Page link)
   
• Kandosii-type Dreadnaught -- Submitted by: Vladimir Killjoy // (Rules Page link)
   
• Kettifree Air mover -- Submitted by: Jevon Lambright // (Rules Page link)
   
• Labour Camp -- Submitted by: Patrick Bisson // (Rules Page link)
   
• Large Palace -- Submitted by: Patrick Bisson // (Rules Page link)
   
• Lictor-class Dungeon Ship -- Submitted by: Raa`hse Nahk // (Rules Page link)
   
• Lucrehulk-class Battleship -- Submitted by: Jacob Jansen // (Rules Page link)
   
• MC-60 Star Cruiser -- Submitted by: Jonas Kanuteau // (Rules Page link)
   
• MC-80 Home One -- Submitted by: Jonas Kanuteau // (Rules Page link)
   
• MC-80a -- Submitted by: Jonas Kanuteau // (Rules Page link)
   
• MC-80b -- Submitted by: Jonas Kanuteau // (Rules Page link)
   
• Modular Taskforce Cruiser -- Submitted by: Vladimir Killjoy // (Rules Page link)
   
• Museum -- Submitted by: Sol Kerrelan // (Rules Page link)
   
• Prison -- Submitted by: Raa`hse Nahk // (Rules Page link)
   
• Quasar Fire-class Bulk Cruiser -- Submitted by: Armeria Drytkenge // (Rules Page link)
   
• Raider-class Missile Corvette -- Submitted by: Vladimir Killjoy // (Rules Page link)
   
• Research Center (to be implemented after Herdfest) -- Submitted by: Wynk Waawat // (Rules Page link)
   
• Spacecrawler -- Submitted by: Tipris Taprahn // (Rules Page link)
   
• Stadium -- Submitted by: Teroch Qir-zan // (Rules Page link)
   
• Starport (to be implemented after Herdfest) -- Submitted by: Wynk Waawat // (Rules Page link)
   
• T-6 Shuttle -- Submitted by: Uldric Corliss // (Rules Page link)
   
• Trading II (to be implemented after Herdfest) -- Submitted by: Raa`hse Nahk // (Rules Page link)
   
• Training Academy -- Submitted by: Raa`hse Nahk // (Rules Page link)
   
• Victory I-class Star Destroyer -- Submitted by: Hatoori Hoorl // (Rules Page link)
   
• YT-1760 -- Submitted by: Sol Mazer // (Rules Page link)
   
• YT-2000 -- Submitted by: Sol Mazer // (Rules Page link)
   
• Zoo -- Submitted by: Wynk Waawat // (Rules Page link)
  
   

•  
• Some of the room maps will not be EXACTLY like the post.
  •  
  • For instance, I will not be adding a training room to the BFF-1 Bulk Freighter, since it's essentially 4 cargo containers strapped to a hull. 
  • I will update the above list soon(ish) with any changes that will not be carried over.
     
• Each entity that has an Infantry Bay suggested will only receive ONE (1) infantry bay. This is due to code limitations, and we will address further infantry bay additions in the future if/when that time comes.
  •  
  • On the topic of Infantry Bays, I will be opening a thread in the Suggestions forum here in the next few days for you to drop your suggestions of which entities you think need an Infantry Bay (remember each entity is limited to 1 IB)
     
• I will be opening a second thread for ongoing room map updates. There's a few I received privately that I'll drop in there. I'll check in on the thread from time to time and you can expect a mimimum 2-week notice before any sort of implementation from that thread. 
   
• There is no specific date of implementation for these entities yet, which means you have PLENTY of time to check which of your entities will be affected.
  •  
  • Once room maps ARE updated, I'll pay out CPs
     
• If you want critiques about why your design was not chosen, feel free to reach out to me personally. Most of the reasons something wasn't selected was due to the number of downvotes your design got, others just didn't look good, or others lost to a better design. I'll be pretty honest with you about how I decided for/against your design and what I did/didn't like about it.

I think that just about covers everything for this update. I'm still catching up on a lot of stuff, so if you reached out to me with a support issue and I haven't gotten back to you, please send it again so I can make sure I don't forget you! 

As always, you can submit a support ticket or ask for help in #swc-help on the discord!

FALCON EDIT: We have identified an issue impacting some players when they try to access Ship Controls, as well as an issue with Ship Garrisons. We are looking into these issues and will provide an update when available.

The aforementioned issue has been fixed. If you're still having issues, please reach out.
------------------------------------------------------


Infantry Garrisons & Infantry Bays

You can now command Infantry Garrisons. Infantry garrisons are squads deployed from Infantry Bays. Infantry garrisons are currently restricted to staying inside the entity they are deployed within. Infantry garrisons can participate in room combat.

Bugs

- Fix issue with hyperspace aborting generating invalid hyperlane data. (Falcon edit: A small amount of 0-length hyperlanes have been deleted. If you had one and notice it is gone, this is why. No actual hyperlanes were harmed in the making of this fix)
- Fix issue with rotating facilities in city designer.
- Raw Materials now have assignable fields like other assets.

You may have heard rumours that there was a new race/homeworld today.

THESE ARE LIES SPREAD BY ROCKAGANDISTS!!

In other news, if you were fortunate to be around for the brief moment that Vint and its race: Vintians were around in this galaxy, then I regret to inform you that the Vint reveal was unintentional. It was discovered since it wasn't moved after April 1st, but it has now been moved to the Admin Holding Zone. Let this serve as a preview of what is to come. The race stats are not quite finished yet, and the race has been disabled for the time being. Anyone who is currently a Vintian will be reverted to your previous race (yay). We apologize for the inconvenience this causes.

To anyone affected, if I personally have not reached out to you and you are affected in some way, please reach out to me; preferably over Discord, however you may also submit a support ticket if you prefer. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

- Fix issue with inventory links not working well with allied factions/subfactions.
- Fix issue with leaving alliances kicking members from subfactions.
- Fix issue with salary/infofields/faction join date being shared between all factions.
- Fix issue with field repairs crashing.

Modular Factions: Diplomacy Module Enabled

The diplomacy module has been enabled. This allows factions to form alliances.
Alliances allow faction members to be members of multiple factions and to switch between them easily.
Allied factions will share excess membercount for calculating faction module requirements.

Bugs:
- Fixed some issues relating to how faction ownership was calculated with subfactions.
There may still be further issues relating to how faction ownership is calculated.
If you do find an issue, please report it and do not abuse it. Any abuses will be enforced by the golden rule.
- Fixed an issue where Quest NPCs were showing up when they shouldn't.

Do you remember Galfest and Winterfest? Well get ready, cause we're doing it again. But this time with more Ithorians, Herdships and plants. Oh boy I hope you like plants... There's so many plants.

If you don't remember these types of events, its a good time to meet up with people in person, play some games, do some quests and win some prizes.

Starting on Y25 D160 (May 4th, 2024), an Ithorian Explorer will show up in all Trading 1, Trading 2 & powered Starports to teleport you to the Ithorian Herdmeet on Gasteroid in the Bright Jewel system. The Herdmeet will run for 2 weeks.

Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the event... and maybe brush up on your botany in the meantime... there's a lot of plants that need tending to.

Oh what's this... a teaser video? Or perhaps a Rick Roll? Guess you'll have to click to find out. :)

Edit: Forgot to include the awesome new unique Fury cockpit - but its in now!

Greetings sentients!

A brand new batch of updated rules images hot off the presses:

• Ardent-class Fast Frigate
• Namana-class Light Cruiser (including new unique cockpit)
• Modular Conveyor
• YT-2000
• Chir'daki-class Starfighter
• Class-E Cargo Container
• Corellian Powersuit Armour
• Corellian Powersuit Helmet
• Great Thranta

Enjoy!

Kolo

Force Sight

- A new passive force ability has been added, Force Sight. Force Sight boosts vision range when activated. Force Sight does not stack with items that improve vision range.

Improved partying controls

- Improved controls for partying NPCs and other entities remotely via the inventory have been added.
- This is useful for squadding entities together for combat without being physically present.

Faction leader rules changes

- Faction leaders can now leave their faction, previously they were prevented from doing so.
- Factions require a leader otherwise the dissolution timer will run.
- The faction leader dropping will no longer cause immediate dissolution of a faction with no members.

Bugs

- A new page for managing faction custom image shares has been added, accessible from within the faction menu.
- Fixed an issue with field repair finishing when the target was not disabled.
- Fixed some government change GNS flashnews that did not show the planet names or faction names.
- Fixed issues with instanced vendors.
- Fixed issue where vendor was using dead managers skills.

Force Lightsaber Throw

Why would you want to throw away your lightsaber? ...Wait, what do you mean it comes back?

Bugs

- An Icon now shows up for HQs in the inventory.
- Fixed an issue with asset protection percentage calculations: Facilities and Items were not being counted correctly.
- Fixed an issue where subfaction leader changes charged a fee.
- Fixed an issue with updating faction profile where it was enforcing a shortcut.
- Fixed an issue with non-modular factions and build permissions being auto accepted.
- Fixed faction status screen crash.
- Fixed an issue where Poisoned character would crash Force heal screen.
- Fixed an issue where you could migrate factions to modular twice.
- Fixed issue where tooling would show in inventory for non production entities.

WS

- Updates to WS adding subfaction memberships and factions modules.

Falcon Edit Y25 D92: We've identified a major bug with subfactions, so we've disabled the ability to purchase more and will re-release them in 2.5 with the alliance module.

______________________________

Platypus Edit Y25 D91: You can message Platypus with faction disbanding requests. Be the faction's owner, send me its name and the HQ recipient. Note that Faction Disbanding is irreversible. Any assets left in those shells will be lost. 

______________________________

This is your warning that Modular Factions Phase 2.0 has been... released!

Any new factions created now must have at least 2 members. Faction leaders can find the conversion button on the Manage Faction page.

As previously noted, upon conversion, factions will receive applicable modules at no cost, in the following priority:
 - Core module
 - Government module or equivalent of current type(eg. Mercenary -> Paramilitary module)
 - Subfaction modules(1 per existing subfaction)
 - Planetary Control module, if planets are controlled at the time of conversion. Planetoids are exempt and will not obtain this module.
 - Datacard module, if generic datacards are owned

You will receive those modules even if you do not have enough members. However, this will initiate inactive status for lowest priority modules and a 14-day timer for those modules' removal. 

Phase 2.5: The alliance feature, via diplomacy module, will become available. (~1 month from now)
Phase 3: Existing factions will be forcibly converted to modular factions. (see above for modules carried over) (~2 months from now)

A new Q&A thread has been opened on Discord.

CAUTION: Do not convert if your module preview list is not as expected(for example, you have generic datacards but Datacard module does not appear)!

Falcon EDIT Y25 D90: Disregard. Nothing to see here.

- Fixed issue where restricted visiblity AI was able to attack others (Thanks Ted)
- Fixed an issue where parent/subfaction flats were being calculated incorrectly (subfactions should always delegate their flats to the parent faction).
- Added a button to disband subfactions to faction ownership screen. Disbanding subfactions sends credits and assets back to parent faction.
- Fixed an issue with subfactions and crewlist checks.
- Fixed an issue where return from inactivity event was only sent to primary faction.
- Fixed some permission checks relating to editing Budgets.
- Medical item usage screen target sorting changed.
- Fixed various issues with WS interactions with subfactions (Thanks Onderon). Covers Privileges, Events, Datacards, Inventory, Added new fields to Types endpoints.

Year 25 Day 139, 13:35 Platypus banned player Rick Bender providing the following reason: Golden Rule violation

Rick Bender has been issued with a strike 1 ban for a golden rule violation - specifically, sending a tavern to a faction which had blacklisted him in order to turn in a few bounty hunting pucks, then recycling said tavern. The rewards from those pucks have also been confiscated.

Submit a support ticket in 7 days.

Year 25 Day 135, 10:20 Platypus banned player Kameis Dinoa providing the following reason: Multi Ban

Year 25 Day 135, 10:20 Platypus banned player Asania Kousen providing the following reason: Multi Ban

Attempting to bypass respawn timer. Oldest account(Asania Kousen) can submit support ticket 30 days after their respawn timer ends. 

1	Year 18 Day 343, 23:59	Baugrems banned player Tribata Vahni providing the following reason: Multi Ban
2	Year 18 Day 343, 23:59	Baugrems banned player Linett Suarvi providing the following reason: Multi Ban

Tribata has been banned for 2 months for their second attempt to bypass the death timer with multi accounts. A third count was denied entry and further accounts will extend this ban. After the ban time passes, submit a support ticket.

1
Year 25 Day 107, 12:46
Platypus banned player Coren Nooram providing the following reason: Multi Ban

2
Year 25 Day 107, 12:46
Platypus banned player Jacen Ran providing the following reason: Multi Ban

3
Year 25 Day 107, 12:46
Platypus banned player Worma Terra providing the following reason: Multi Ban

4
Year 25 Day 107, 12:46
Platypus banned player Dannen Lasena providing the following reason: Multi Ban

5
Year 25 Day 107, 12:46
Platypus banned player Vonar Hesas providing the following reason: Multi Ban

6
Year 25 Day 107, 12:46
Platypus banned player Herron Cass providing the following reason: Multi Ban

7
Year 25 Day 107, 12:46
Platypus banned player Ran Kaal providing the following reason: Multi Ban

8
Year 25 Day 107, 12:46
Platypus banned player Vonar Mao providing the following reason: Multi Ban

Ban is permanent.

Simkin Dragoneel has been issued a Strike 0 for OOC Harassment, and sharing personal information about another player. Any future infractions will result in a ban. 

Platypus banned player Jado Finnall providing the following reason: Multi Ban

Platypus banned player Azlaya Siln providing the following reason: Multi Ban

Oldest account can contact us via support ticket in 7 days to get unbanned.

1 Year 25 Day 68, 18:07 Falcon banned player Zamlin Lothwolf providing the following reason: Multi Ban -- Permanent

Yet another Anakin Sky recreate. 

Hello folks, it is with a heavy heart that I deliver this note to you from the members of Tresario Star Kingdom:
-----------

Steven Markowitz, 59, known in Darkness as Gravnkev Forestwanderer, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away on December 26, 2023. An active player since Y9, he held prominent roles in both the Anzatan Commonwealth and the Tresario Star Kingdom. As a long haul trucker always travelling with his Papillon Niki, he never let that stop him from being an active member in the TSK community, leading their Force group, the Tikiars. He will be sorely missed.
 

you can find a link to his obituary here:
https://www.norwichbulletin.com/obituaries/pnrw0700817
----------

Our thoughts and prayers go to Gravnkev's family and friends. And to Grav: thank you for everything you brought to this community.

__________

EDIT: Some people outside the USA mentioned that the obit link didn't work, so here's the text below:

Steven Markowitz of Rocky Mount, VA died unexpectedly on December 26, 2023, after suffering a stroke.

Born in Putnam, CT on August 26, 1964, to Michael Markowitz and Kathleen Taylor Markowitz . He graduated from Putnam High in 1982. 

He worked for many years in the construction industry before becoming a long haul trucker. Thanks to technology, he kept his family and friends updated on his travels around the country. He was accompanied by his faithful companion Nikki, a papillon who also loved to travel. His final check-in was from Great Falls, MT.

He is survived by his mother, Kathleen Taylor of Rocky Mount, VA, siblings Elizabeth Buzalski of Putnam, CT Ginny Friedman of Brookline, MA, Patrick Markowitz of Rocky Mount, VA and James Markowitz, of PA, his dog, Nikki, extended family and many friends.

He was predeceased by his father, Michael Markowitz.

A celebration of life will be held in the spring.

Falcon has changed a players handle: Aranduslaat Ukoro to Kotyc Ukoro.
 

Falcon has changed a players handle: Alexander Elensar to Thanatos Elensar.

Update the Rolodex accordingly folks. 

Arnis Endeel has been permabanned for creating yet another account trying to circumvent the ban.

Year 24 Day 317, 8:28

Tortle banned player Elix Chume providing the following reason: Multi Ban

-----

Year 24 Day 316, 20:42, Tortle banned player Arnis Endeel providing the following reason: Multi Ban - asset laundering. 

Year 24 Day 316, 20:42, Tortle banned player Titus Marth providing the following reason: Multi Ban - asset laundering.

Year 24 Day 316, 20:42, Tortle banned player Gul Arkanus providing the following reason: Multi Ban - asset laundering.

Year 24 Day 316, 20:42, Tortle banned player Jaster Varless providing the following reason: Multi Ban - asset laundering.

First day and I already got to drop the hammer... it's almost enough to bring a tear to my eye. 

1 Y24D309 11:06 Falcon banned player Cado Gadreel providing the following reason: Strike 1 - Sharing OOC player info

in addition, Natsuki Natsu has been given a Strike 0 for the same situation. 
 

I won't go into the details but please keep personal OOC information private if it's not yours to share. Cado can request an unban in 7 days by submitting a support ticket. 
 

Here's a link to the current Spying/Sabotage rules. Please pay attention to what you may and may not do.

Additionally, here's a link to the Communication rules, which covers the strike system.
 

Thank you. 

Y24 D280 Edit:

1 Year 24 Day 280, 21:26 Falcon banned player Xanthic Xenial providing the following reason: Multi Ban - Another Gerauk Culan/Rush Malo remake

I'm delaying deathmatch results another year because of this HEINOUS ATROCITY. 
-----

1 Year 24 Day 127, 15:43 Falcon banned player Rush Malo providing the following reason: Harassment - Permanent Ban

Rush Malo was banned for harassing at least one individual via Facebook Messenger and email. The individual who brought it to my attention had blocked them via SWC and discord. Folks, if someone blocks you and tells you not to contact them, it's breaking the rules to harass them via OOC means. 

Thanks, and as always if you have any questions, please feel free to submit a support ticket.

Howdy folks, Herdfest is right around the corner! Remember that if you plan on attending, you'll need to make your way to the nearest Trading I Station, Trading II Station, or Powered Starport to access this event. Additionally, you may travel to the Trading II station Morning Star above Gasteroid within the Bright Jewel System at 7,11 which we have provided as a place for anyone to set up vendors! Please hurry though, the plants keep growing and I'm not sure we can contain them.

At the event, there will be vendors, minigames, quests, plants and prizes galore, so head on over! On Y25 D160 (AKA May 4th), an Ithorian NPC will appear at the above locations to ferry you the event. The event will run for 2 weeks (until the end of Y25 D174), but fear not, for when you decide to go home, you will be able to return to right where you left.

This is also a friendly notice that you won't be able to land your ship on the event planet (Gasteroid). You can bring items/vendors with you to the station above Gasteroid, so that you can set up vendors, but you may not bring NPCs planetside. This system will be marked as a combat safe zone, so you don't have to worry about anyone attacking your vendors. We will also be monitoring for theft from vendors aboard this station, and any theft will result in your immediate dismissal from HerdFest. This is a family friendly event after all... so if your vendors get stolen from, please let us know! (You should be able to set up a vendor from your ship anyways, which makes that a moot point.)

I will provide a link to the HerdFest discord server approximately one week prior to the event(subject to change) so everyone can get situated. This is an officially endorsed SWC server, and as such SWC rules, HerdFest Server rules, and Discord TOS all apply. 

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message via DM, PM or via Discord. You can also submit a support ticket by clicking HERE.

EDIT: Yes you may arrive early to set up your vendor. The Ithorian NPC will spawn on Y25 D160 in the entrance. 

...You guys didn't REALLY think I was leaving, did you? I don't apologize for leading you all on During April 2nd, when we all know that's the day that our April Fools jokes become real... However, the best April Fools jokes are the ones that you truly believe, and this one took an extra day! Thank you all for the kind words you sent my way, wishing me well. And for the naysayers, I apologize that you have to continue to put up with me. :)

Extra special thank you to the 63 people that sent Evan a DM, the 38 people who thanked Noctis for Mount Sorrow, and the 40 people that messaged me on Discord or via DM after the initial post went up(man you people really liked Evan didn't you??).

So in short:

• No, I am not leaving SWC
• No I am not stepping down as Asim
• No, Evan is not taking my place (sadly... Evan there's still time to come back!)
• Yes, you may continue sending me questions/comments/concerns/etc.

I will be spending the majority of this week continuing to get caught up on what I've missed, as well as prepping HerdFest for our planned Star Wars Day release(Which I am very excited for). We've got a couple new features coming within the next... ehhh... 6 months or so that are also super exciting, so stay tuned for that. You'll probably see them a bit after HerdFest winds down.

Finally, I want to send a super special thank you to all the members of the Staff and the Team Directors for their patience while I was gone. I was a bit worried that I might not be able to stay away as much as I was hoping to, but the members that make up these teams really supported me stepping back and did a fantastic job carrying the extra weight in my absence. I truly can't thank you folks enough.

Anyways, enough about me. Let's get back to our regularly scheduled programming, shall we? I think next up is DeathMatch... Oh and I'll be finishing that darn CP Room Map Bounty next week too. Final final final call. I promise.

______________________________________________________________________________

My fellow citizens of this glorious galaxy,

I want to thank each and every one of you for the overwhelmingly kind words sent my way. You all have been more than gracious and understanding with me taking my hiatus this past month, and for that, I say thank you.

I did a lot of self-reflection this month, and tried to find out where I was at in life. This month has been such a relaxing month for me, and I found there's more to life than some online Star Wars game that I've been playing for almost 20 years... 

So I guess I'll just cut to the hard part. I am formally announcing my resignation as ASim, and will be taking an indefinite break from the game. I plan to take this week to catch up on outstanding issues, help out where needed, and then I will fully step down. It's been a wonderful journey these past few years as ASim, and has been extremely rewarding for me. I'm going to miss you all, and I know many (not all) of you will miss me. But fear not, I have chosen my replacement, and I think you're going to be in great hands... for in my absence, I would like to congratulate and thank Evan Bluvius for agreeing to re-join the ASim team. You all probably know him as just "Evan" and he is who I aspire to be when I grow up (do we ever really grow up?).

If you'd like, you can send him a message by clicking on THIS LINK congratulating him on rejoining the team and offering tot ake on the workload left in my upcoming absence. 

Anyways, if you have any issues this week, feel free to send me a message on discord, or via DM, or you can always file a support ticket at http://support.swcombine.com.

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

Falcon Update Y25 D95:
Just popping in to say thank you to everyone who sent kind words my way. I'm headed out for the next month and am looking forward to taking a step back forever. You're in great hands with the remaining members of the Asim team (maybe someone try and find Tortle while I'm gone, eh?). In the meantime, you have Modular Factions phases 2.5 and 3 to look forward to, and let me tell ya, it's gonna be great! Thanks again to everyone for your support. I'll see ya never again in a month!

Ninja edit: Room bounty will be open until I get back, I suppose. poor planning on my part haha.
____________________________
Hello Galaxy, it is your resident space birb coming back to share some news. This is all gonna mostly be personal so if you don't care, then now is a good time to stop reading, as it probably won't affect you. 
 

As many of you know, I've been an Assistant Sim Master (Asim) for a bit over 3 years now. I have greatly enjoyed my time serving this community and bringing new things to the game. This community has been very rewarding to be a part of and is the main reason I'm around today. I admit I'm not perfect and I've made mistakes, but I value the fact that (most of) you all think highly of me and my willingness to work with you all. 
 

Now before you get all teary-eyed, no I'm not leaving you just yet. That time will come but it is not now(Sorry Noctis). However, around 6 months ago, I noticed I was getting a bit more temperamental and irritable than normal and I wasn't the same person IRL than I am in this community. Something was affecting me but I could not figure out what. Then last month (and really these last few weeks especially), I noticed a pretty sharp decline in my mental state which has started to affect my OOC life and my family. I realized it was coming from the stress and expectations that come with being an Asim. I don't blame anyone in particular in this community for my stress levels, so much as I do my own habits. 
 

So what does this mean? Why should you care? Well, I don't think you should lol. But for me, it means I need to take a step back, reassess things and take a deep breath of fresh air. So for the month of March, I will be stepping back (not down) from things. I won't answer support tickets, I won't monitor the forums, I won't engage in the community for as much as I can help it. I've become addicted to monitoring my phone for pings in the SWC Staff, SWC Teams, and SWC Main Discord Servers. I wake up and the first thing I do is check discord followed by monitoring it every chance I get until I fall asleep. It's just not healthy physically or mentally. I'm taking a break and clearing my head from things. 

I know this is a blow to some of you who reach out to me personally for support issues, etc. and I want you all to know that I hear you. I won't be gone forever, and in my stead Platypus and Chupacabra will pick up the slack. I've coordinated some tasks with SWC Teams and they're working hard to bring you some new features. Most of which, I'm very excited for! I'll be back and in greater numbers too, and I'm looking forward to having a clear head. Platypus is doing a wonderful job stepping up, and I fully trust him and the rest of the staff to make informed and fair decisions, so please do not hesitate to spam him mercilessly with requests reach out to him if you have an issue. 
 

Now I'll ask you the same thing I've asked my fellow teammates and staff members: Please do not ping me unless it's an absolute emergency. I'd rather another Asim ping me for something they can't figure out or handle than have a player do so. Please respect my time away to clear things so that I can come back and continue to serve this community!
 

I'll be around until the end of February to help any transitions for Modular Factions to go smoothly, and to make sure Platypus and Chupa (and the rest of the teams) are set for my absence. 
 

As always, the best way to get support remains to file a support ticket or visit #swc-help in either IRC or Discord. Thanks for your understanding and support!

Falcon Update Y25 D95:
Alright, I've got the results from the survey I put out a while ago. We'll start with the juicy data bits and then we'll move on to popular feedback from the questions themselves. A quick note before we begin that although there are answers from members who did not complete the survey themselves, I did leave it open for them to provide feedback because they may have information from their newer players who gave feedback to them or from things they may wish their new players were taught. 

Ok, onto the results:

• Out of the 74 people that answered the survey:
  • 58 / 74 completed the tutorial (78.4%)
  • 16 / 74 had not completed the tutorial (21.6%)
• Out of the 58 people who completed the tutorial, and on a scale from 1-10 for how prepared it made them feel:
  • 10 / 74 people answered between 0 - 3 (17.24%)
  • 23 / 74 people answered between 4 - 6 (39.66%)
  • 25 / 74 people answered between 7 - 10 (43.10)
     

The following questions had some sort of "N/A", "No change", Blank responses, etc. response as their answer. I will provide 2 percentages for these. The first will be total responses based off the 74 people who responded(aka including blanks), the 2nd will be based off of only the people who answered the question(aka excluding blanks):

• What features (if any) would you add to the Tutorial? (62 responses)
  • 17 / 74 responses (22.97%)
  • 5 / 62 responses (8.06%)
  • AKA: Most responses would add more to the tutorial.
     
• What features (if any) would you remove from the Tutorial? (47 responses)
  • 61 / 74 responses (83.78%)
  • 34 / 47 responses (74.47%)
  • AKA: Most people would not remove anything from the tutorial.
     
• What did you like about the Tutorial? (54 responses)
  • 22 / 74 responses (29.73%)
  • 2 / 54 responses (3.7%)
     
• What did you dislike about the Tutorial? (50 responses)
  • 34 / 74 responses (45.95%)
  • 10 / 50 responses (20%)
  • AKA: roughly half of all responses either didn't dislike anything about the tutorial or didn't dislike anything enough to provide a response.
     
• Do you have any additional feedback you would like to provide? (45 responses)
  • 41 / 74 responses (55.41%)
  • 12 / 45 responses (26.67%)
  • AKA: Roughly half of the total responses or nearly 3/4 of the responses for this question had some sort of additional feedback (whether it was an unaddressed question or merely a thank you for the survey, etc.).
     

Now onto the individual questions. For the next section, I will provide the individual question at the top and the most common answers below it (text in parenthesis is mine):

• What features (if any) would you add to the Tutorial?
  • Additional quests
  • An overview of some non-covered topics (Construction, Production, and Mining were the 3 biggest requests. We also saw a few for Prospecting and Recycling)
  • An overview of the UI/buttons, etc.
  • Space Combat/Bandit Combat/Room Combat/More explanation of combat
  • The importance of factions (See also, but also probably an overview of Modular Factions?)
  • Change the location of the Quizzer
  • Time Dilation (aka make things faster)
  • Space Travel
  • A quest log
     
• What features (if any) would you remove from the Tutorial?
  • The level cap
  • The slow speed of things
  • The level cap
  • Change the location of the quizzer
  • The level cap (Ok, I think I see a common theme here)
     
• What did you like about the Tutorial?
  • That there is one.
  • The instant immersion into the swc galaxy
  • The storytelling
  • The starter ships(and that you got them)
  • It was quick(which directly contradicts all the answers that say it was too long/slow lol)
  • Having something to do while respawning
     
• What did you dislike about the Tutorial?
  • The level cap (no guys, really, I think I get it lol)
  • The amount of abandoned characters/entities [me too guys... me too :(]
  • Too many timers
  • Lack of starting credits (I agree)
  • The Quizzer quest (which one person called a Sand Panther and another called a Quizzle)
  • It's bare minimum
  • The lack of faction content
  • The lack of how to navigate the UI/interface
  • "Everything." (rude.)
  • It was too slow
  • It was too fast (guys pick one)
     
• Do you have any additional feedback you would like to provide? (I'm going to exclude the thank you messages and the ones offering their assistance in helping with future tutorial work)
  • It might be nice to clean up the UI/Interface to make it easier
  • The tutorial needs regular wipes of abandoned grear/entities (and I'd even say characters)
  • It was difficult to navigate the tutorial either by talking to NPCs or knowing where to go
  • Move the level cap
  • The tutorial as it is now, combined with the wiki/rules pages are not enough (While I agree, this is a tough issue to address. Perhaps more of a focus on showing the players the rules page and where to find information is how this should be approached.)
  • There should be somewhat of a focus on joining a faction, and explaining the importance of getting involved in the community. (100% agreed)
  • The tutorial needs more Noctis (agreed.)

All in all, thank you to everyone who provided input. You can find the results of the survey at the link below, and I'll leave it open, but I will no longer be monitoring responses or collecting data.

A huge thank you to both the original members who worked on the tutorial to make it happen in the first place as well as the current Quests Team for helping me sort though this information. We've already collected some key areas to improve upon and have some ideas for things to add to the tutorial. Perhaps we will even see a level cap increase...

That's all for now, but stay tuned in the future for updates on the tutorial!

______________________________________________

Y25 D57 Update:
I've gotten 64 responses so far, and all of it has been great feedback! Thank you all for your feedback, and if you haven't answered yet, there's still time! I'll be going through in about a week (now that it's slowed down) and taking some of the major points I've already identified (with the help of the Quest Team) and post it in an update here. I hear your feedback and read every entry, no matter if you've completed the tutorial or not, essays or single word responses. All feedback is appreciated and we're already drumming up new ways to improve the Tutorial and expand it. 

Please don't hesitate to keep the survey responses coming, and like I said below, if you don't feel comfortable using Google Forms to submit your response, you can DM/PM me your response. Additionally, if you'd like to remain anonymous, feel free to send me an email at swc.falcon@gmail.com. You can use a 10-minute-mail or another anonymous email to send me a response that won't be attached to your name.

Finally, if you submitted feedback with ideas, and would like me to contact you about it, not everyone left their Handle, so if you'd like to discuss ideas more, please reach out to me so we can discuss them.

Thanks, and enjoy your day!

______________________________________________

Good day, my little birdies,

I've finally gotten around to some housekeeping and made a brief survey on Google Forms asking for feedback about our Tutorial. This survey does not require you to be signed into a Google account to fill it out, nor do we collect any personal data from it. Below is the link:

https://forms.gle/p4HX2qiaSPJkTaUg6

If you do not feel comfortable filling out the survey on Google Forms, you are more than welcome to PM me your responses to the questions below, and I will input them manually on your behalf no questions asked. We'd like to collect this data to figure out popular additions/removals/suggestions for the Tutorial so that we can enhance the New Player experience and best prepare them for the game. 

You do not have to have completed the tutorial to answer the questions, however, I expect the most beneficial responses will come from players who have. 

Questions are below (Mandatory items marked with a **), but as always if you need anything, feel free to DM me in-game, send me a message on Discord or submit a support ticket.

___________________________________________________________________________

Survey Questions (Feel free to copy/paste into a DM to me):

1) Have you completed the tutorial? **
( ) Yes
( ) No

2) On a scale from 0 - 10, how do you feel the Tutorial prepared you for the game? **
( ) 0 - Not at all
( ) 1
( ) 2
( ) 3
( ) 4
( ) 5
( ) 6
( ) 7
( ) 8
( ) 9
( ) 10 - I was fully prepared for the game

3) What features (if any) would you add to the Tutorial?

4) What features (if any) would you remove from the Tutorial?

5) What did you like about the Tutorial?

6) What did you dislike about the Tutorial?

7) Do you have any additional feedback you would like to provide?

As expected, the Asim Bias won out on the final round of deathmatch. Jar-Tan, you put up a valiant fight, but the people need their bird. I wish you the best of luck in your next Deathmatch (Maybe Tomas will finally be in it and you can crush him).

Long story short:

Click me for Deathmatch

Click me for Grudge Matches

Click me if you hate yourself

Good evening,

Word has made its way to me that Vito Royan (also known as Grom de Ghrul and Loucina Al-Muzzum) has passed away as of October 2023. We send our condolences to his family and friends(both ingame and OOC).

Thank you.

My condolences to Adrian and Vernon. You made it to the semi-finals, but that is where you will remain. 

Hello folks! As eluded to, Deathmatch has been updated, along with new grudge matches! I have to admit, none of the winners of the last round of grudge matches surprised me.

In any case, have fun with this round, and thanks to our 3 Grudge Match submissions!

EDIT: Y25 D53: If you get the debugger error below, it's because you do not have a free slot open to accept the keycard from the guard (RULES LINK). Make sure you have an open hand/utility slot and it'll pop in there.
 

Debugger Output:
----
`guardpost-give-key`: Another item is currently occupying that slot (on line 511)

Entity F4LC0N:

Backtrace:
(guardpost-give-key NPC("F4LC0N")) ; Line 511
(board-filter-and-go 1075651065 1075646514) ; Line 79
(precheck-keycard 1075651065 1075646514)

__________

EDIT: Y25 D49: It would seem a fellow birb has been hired to guard the entrance against party members and naysayers. Please do not disturb him. 

((OOC: Due to some individuals bringing party members onboard the station even though attempts were made to dissuade them, a guard has been placed in the entrance room. External NPCs are not allowed on the station and will be purged in 24 hours unless removed. We will not reimburse them. For those of you who cannot make it past the guard at the entrance, please send me either a DM or reach out to me on discord and I will teleport you (and any party members) to the entrance room without removing your NPCs.

Ninja edit: No droids either))

__________
 

Folks, I've been getting a bunch of reports of a distress beacon coming from an abandoned research station in The Maw. If anyone is in the area, I'd suggest checking it out to see what's going on and if you can help. 
 

Be warned! This station has been abandoned for a while now and you may require some gear to protect you from the environment(or lack thereof) before you can board it. 

((This is not the start of an event, just the announcement of a new quest))

Deathmatch has been advanced! The Birb vs the Fox! The Spider vs the Bug! Who will win?? Only you can decide!

And while you're waiting for your hyper trip to the Maw to end, why not peruse our lovely assortment of Grudge Matches that have been advanced as well?

Enjoy!

But the very next day, you gave it away...
This year, to save me some tears,
I'm giving you something special

That's right folks, if you haven't seen the GNS Flash News yet, it would appear that a major scientific discovery has been made! We humbly welcome the Lasat race, hailing from their home planet of Lasan!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the SWC Staff! We hope you enjoy your Christmas present this year! :) Feel free to thank Noctis for all of his hard work giving us this new race and homeworld.

P.S. Congrats to the 11 or so players that found my hidden message in the previous Sim News.

We would like to congratulate Molerat on his retirement! He made it 13 months before deciding to return to being a player, but his time was well spent assisting the team with support tickets and other important decisions.

On behalf of the SWC Administration, we would like to thank Molerat for his contribution, time and effort. It's been a good ride, and we're gonna miss having him around!

Should the rest of you get lonely, don't forget that your Administration team consists of the following individuals:

Selatos

Arjuna
Kyle
Erek

Noctis
Falcon (Hello there!)
Chupacabra
Tortle
Platypus

Deathmatch has been progressed to the next level. VOTE NOW!

grudge matches have also been updated.

It seems people liked the Force Awakens most of the Sequel Trilogy, and the majority of our playerbase is mono or bilingual. Interesting.

Please submit more grudge Matches!

Until Next Time... molerat out!