&help
+===========================================================================+
|                    B A B C O M   O n l i n e   N e w s                    |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                  NEWS LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, May 2, 2000                  |
|     Available news topics are organized by date.  Type 'news <topic>'     |
|                                                                           |
| DATE            TOPIC                 DESCRIPTION                         |
| 05-02-00        admin                 Info about the wizards              |
| 05-02-00        rules                 MUX rules and building.  READ ME!   |
| 05-02-00        theme                 Theme and roleplaying info source   |
| 05-02-00        updated               Details improvements to B5.         |
| 05-02-00        contact               How to contact the Admin!           |
+===========================================================================+
           If you wish to add something to the news read News Subs
 
Use the @mail alias *HelpBugs to report errors.
 
&admin
MUX ADMINISTRATION:
    
To keep the MUX streamlined and avoid the problems of MU* run by either a
single head director or a board of directors,  Babylon 5 MUX is run by a
triumvirate of wizards, who are listed below.
   
WIZARD                 JOB
------                 ---
Valdar                 Hard Coder (Skills and Economy)
Mike                   Hard Coder (Space)
JohnD                  Building and RP
               
&avail
AVAILABLE FEATURE CHARACTERS:
  
If you would like to apply for a feature character or telepath position,
please fill out the form at http://www.pcnet.com/~jdutka/b5/char/regchar.html
completely and with extreme detail and accuracy, and the admin staff will
look it over and decide if you know the character and Babylon 5 universe well
enough to be allowed to play the character.  The below feature characters are
available.  All players whose applications are accepted will be given a brief
info sheet on that character as he/she applies to our theme.  Due to certain
features of the Babylon 5 season two story, this is necessary to insure
everyone starts off with a good idea of where their character stands on the
various issues.  Empire head names are preceded by a * and those already
filled are preceded by a #.  Non-feature (normal) characters only need to
connect to the MUX and go through the character generation process.  No
application is needed for them and no other features will be accepted other
than those listed as available below.
    
Earth Alliance: #Captain John J. Sheridan, #Commander Susan Ivanova, #Chief
  Warrant Officer Security Chief Michael Alfredo Garibaldi, Doctor Stephen
  Franklin, Lyta Alexander, Talia Winters, Alfred Bester
           
Narn Regime: #3rd Circle Member Ambassador G'Kar, Attache Na'Toth
           
Centauri Republic: #Ambassador Londo Mollari, #Attache Vir Cotto
         
Minbari Federation: *#Satai Shakiri, #Alyt Neroon, #Satai Ambassador Delenn,
  Attache Lennier, Satai Rathenn
                       
&build
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|     Available build topics are organized by date.  Type 'news <topic>'    |
|                                                                           |
| DATE            TOPIC                 DESCRIPTION                         |
| 05-02-00        bldrs                 MUX builder char policy             |
| 05-02-00        guide                 How to build on our MUX             |
| 05-02-00        inspect               Getting your projects inspected     |
| 05-02-00        needs                 Required rooms for each planet      |
| 05-02-00        quota                 Builder and player quotas           |
| 05-02-00        ships                 Ship and station building rules     |
| 05-02-00        zones                 Zones and their place on the MUX    |
+===========================================================================+
   
&bldrs
Builder characters own most rooms on this MUX.  While they are not MUX
admins, they are critical to the operation of the MUX, as a MUX without rooms
isn't much of a place to roleplay.  As such, builders are expected to follow
the MUX rules.  They are not to be used to help IC characters in any way and
are not to be used to get around players' absence of OOC powers such as @tel.
Abuse of this rule will result in @nuke of the offending player.
   
If one is needed, empire heads need to request one via @mail of JohnD, who
will provide the builder's name and password.  You are NOT to give anyone
access to ANY builder character without first clearing it with JohnD.  Please
send the below information in your request:
   
1. Name of player using the builder
2. Building project (planet or space station)
   
&contact
We've established a few @mail aliases to make contacting the wizard staff,
suggesting changes, and reporting errors easier.  In addition, you can use
our email addresses to contact a specific wizard directly, but do not do so
unless the text is too long for a @mail or if the wizard requests it.
  
Alias              Purpose
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
*FirstOnes         Sends all the wizards: JohnD, Mike, Valdar.
*HelpBugs          Use to send +help, help, and news errors to the wiz staff.
                   Include factual errors, formatting errors, bad grammar,
                   spelling, etc.
*FAQ               Submit a question you think needs to be addressed in a 
                     frequently asked questions article, especially for
                     space, econ, personal combat, IC communications and
                     Babylon 5 MUX rules.  Goes to Valdar, Mike and JohnD.
    
@mail aliases are very easy to use.  You type them exactly like player
names when you send @mail, but they are both case sensitive AND you MUST
include the asterisk (*) character.
<Continued in NEWS CONTACT 2>
               
&contact 2
For example:
    @mail/quick *HelpBugs/Missing Entry=Valdar, "+help step 3 3" is
    missing. It is referenced from "+help step 3 2".
  
Note:  For those farmilar w/ TinyMUSE and TinyMUSH, the "/quick" switch tells
TinyMUX to not use the mail editor.  "/quick" makes @mail behave like
TinyMUSH @mail and TinyMUSE +mail normally does.  If you have something too
long to @mail, use email.  The email addresses for each wizard are:
      
Wizard             Address
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
JohnD              @mail only
Mike               wenk@en.com
Valdar             s-waller@nwu.edu
               
&guide
To insure a good roleplaying experience, a wizard will inspect all building
to make sure it lives up to our high standards.  The master zone of all rooms
will have a wiz-set special attrib which determines the planet's space object
ID number, so every single room on a planet needs to have the same planetary
master zone.  If this is not done, there will be problems later on, so please
remember to get this done.
           
Homeworlds for major empires (Earth Alliance, Narn Regime, Centauri Republic,
and Minbari Federation) will have a max quota of 500 with colonies having
max quotas of 200.  Minor empires will have quotas of 1/2 that.  Empires can
build one homeworld and colony worlds or space stations listed below.  Note
that an outpost is a military base with a minimal civilian infrastructure and
a colony is a civilian population center with a minimal military presence.
<Continued in NEWS GUIDE 2>
             
&guide 2
All building requires certain features, all of which are spelled out in this
series of news articles.  @fail and @ofail on exits can NOT list the reason
for failure, as it could be any one of a dozen reasons.  First, certain
building items require certain attributes to be set, as shown below:
           
1. Objects:  @desc, @succ and @fail
2. Exits:    @desc, @osucc, @succ, @odrop, @fail and @ofail
3. Rooms:    @desc
           
If an object is enter_ok, the appropriate attributes must be set, and nothing
should be set jump_ok.  Since we have IC locks, nothing should be @locked,
either.  All such attributes make navigation and roleplaying much easier and
enjoyable.  Note that there is no need for any MUX softcode or objects, as
they can be simulated in @desc and objects will be bought ICly.  Also, if you
want a door to be knockable, the exit must also have the attribs set as
specified in HELP KNOCK.
<Continued in NEWS GUIDE 3>
          
&guide 3
As the MUX has ANSI capabilities, all exits should appear in the following
format and no other:
            
Lounge <%chLO%cn>;lo;lounge;o;out
       
ANSI highlighting between the <> is crucial.  Similarly, there should be one
out;o exit in every room.  No exit alias should take the abbreviation (or
original form) of a global command.  The only exceptions to this rule are the
cardinal compass directions of n, s, e, w, nw, ne, sw, and se.  If an exit
has two words in its name, for example "main bridge," do not put main and
bridge as separate aliases.  Instead, "main bridge" (without the quotation
marks) should be one alias in the exit's alias list.
          
@descs must be exceptional and provide a true atmosphere for the location.
Spell checking and grammar is required prior to inspection and a @desc of at
least five lines and less than fifteen MUST be included in all room and
player descriptions or the inspector will reject the project.  Exit @descs
should be no more than two lines long, as is the same for exit @succ, @osucc,
@fail, @ofail, and @odrop when triggered by users passing through.  Poor
spelling, grammar or improper capitalization of words is reason for rejection
of the world.  There are NO exceptions to this rule.
<Continued in NEWS GUIDE 4>
               
&guide 4
On the other side of the coin, the accuracy, mood, and conciseness of a
description are more valued and respected than how attractive it is.  An
in-character player appreciates being guided, picturing the room the is in
and can visualize as much detail as possible.  As the builder, it is your
responsibility for insuring this happens.
          
All building requests go through JohnD, the RP and building wiz, and as such,
if you have a personal problem with one building inspector, speak to him.  If
a dispute begins, promptly and politely inform JohnD.  Disputes over building
policy are silly and a waste of everyone's time, so please try to avoid them
whenever possible, as these building rules are set in stone.
<Continued in NEWS GUIDE 5>
         
&guide 5
Listed below are things that stand out and need to be followed in order to
get your rooms passed quickly and easily.  One thing to keep in mind is that
consistency counts.  On average, room descriptions should be at least five
lines but less than sixteen.
      
* Formatting Descriptions
    Please include a %r at the beginning and ending of every room description
    and view. Please include a %b%b%b%b%b or [space(5)] at the beginning of
    every paragraph.  Paragraphs should not be less than four lines long.  
      
* Order Exits in a Room
    Alphabetize all exits in a room or place them in order of direction. This
    is simple, get the exits and drop them until they are in the right order,
    by exit name, not alias.  Be careful though - if you do not control the
    room, you will get messed up.
<Continued in NEWS GUIDE 6>
      
&guide 6
* Exit Aliases and Descriptions
    Each room MUST have an exit which has among its aliases o and out.  This
    should be done in such a fashion that typing o consecutively will put the
    player at the key point of connectivity to the rest of the MUX.
    Additionally, each exit (when appropriate, ie on land) should include
    among its aliases one of the following: n;north, s;south, e;east, w;west,
    nw;northwest, sw;southwest, ne;northeast, se;southeast, u;up, and d;down.
    Also do not forget to @desc the exits with what you would see should you
    look in that direction.
      
* Room Names
    All room names within a zone should be uniform in terms of color and
    phrasing.  Pick appropriate colors and try not to be tacky unless that is
    appropriate. Also, if you use dashes to separate notions in a title, use
    double dashes (--) for separating phrases, and single dashes (-) for
    hyphenating words.  Also, names should give an indication of the zone in
    which the rooms are located.  Do not use <>{}[] in room names.
<Continued in NEWS GUIDE 7>
      
&guide 7
* Spelling and Grammar
    Check and double check and check again.  Get a friend to slave away and
    read your desc for you and be sure to watch verb tenses and for odd
    hanging clauses.  Don't get us wrong -- poetic and theme writing is
    great, but make sure it reads well to folks other than you.  As for
    spelling errors, any cropping up will need to be corrected, hopefully the
    first time.  Remember, poor spelling, grammar and improper capitalization
    of words is a sure way to get your world rejected.
             
* +views
    All objects which can be +viewed from within a room or object
    should have the name of the view in the description highlighted with
    %ch<viewname>%cn, for example %chpainting%cn.  See HELP +VIEW for info
    on thew +view command and how to set up views.
<Continued in NEWS GUIDE 8>
          
&guide 8
* Special Exit Code
    If you want people to know if an exit's lock has been picked, make SURE
    you add on to the end of the exit's @desc a space then this code:
    [ifelse(get(me/va),It appears to have been picked by
    [name(get(me/vb))].,)]
      
* Zones
    Remember that ALL rooms on a planet and ALL rooms and exits on a ship
    need to be @chzone to the same zone object (read HELP @CHZONE and NEWS
    ZONES for help on this), with one zone object needed per ship, per
    planet, per station, and so on.  Failure to do this will get your
    building project rejected without further inspection.
            
&needs
Please ask JohnD on the MUX how many of each econ room the planet should have
since, for the most part, current planets already have theirs built.  Each
planet will need the following locations, each of which will be one room
only.  Each homeworld will have a max of three mines and three factories,
with colonies starting with a max of one of each.  In addition, each
homeworld will have a max of two each of warehouses, solar plants, oil
refineries, farms, banks, and water purification plants with colonies and
planets belonging to empires other than the Centauri, Minbari, Earth, and
Narn having a max of one of each.  Note that oil refineries and farms are
only allowable on planets with native plant and animal life, which does not
include domed colony worlds.  Also, if the world you are building is a
farming world that should not have much if any industrial capacity, note that
when you send JohnD a list of the required rooms.
<Continued in NEWS NEEDS 2>
               
&needs 2
Finally, each of the big four empires will need a total of two research labs,
non big four empires needing one.  Other rooms would be nice to have, such as
a communications relay station, common housing for players, perhaps a
university or training academy on the homeworld to deal with new players,
spots for stores, a military base, a spaceport, a hospital or medical center,
and so on.  Whatever you decide to build, remember to keep it in character
with the planet you are building and an entertaining place for players to be,
providing a good atmosphere for roleplaying.  Remember to record a list of
these rooms, their dbref number, and the city and planet where they are
located, as you will need to email them to JohnD.  @mail JohnD on the MUX
when you are done building a world.
             
&zones
Zones are organized by building characters so that multiple characters may
set attributes and otherwise alter those objects, exits, or rooms that are
@chzoned.  Players on the ZMO (Zone Master Object) enterlock can alter any
room @chzoned to that object.  However, only the owner of the ZMO may use the
@chzone command.  Please refer to the help files on zoning for more
information.  Note that EVERY ROOM on a planet, ship, or station MUST have
the same zone created just for that project.  Failure to do so is another
reason for rejection of the building project.
        
Zones are occasionally given out with builder characters and we are highly
selective in coordinating them.  Zones generally cover wide areas such as
a space station or city on a planet.  Seldom does an individual RPing
character own a ZMO.  An academy or city is an appropriate locale for a zone
to be based on.  IC players can then own rooms linked off those main rooms.
Essentially, zoning is a method of networking.
    
The hierarchy can get rather complex.  All $-commands placed on the ZMO act
as globals for those areas @chzoned to the object.  As such, one must be
careful not to repeat the same commands with different functions in the same
area.  Every object in space needs one unique master zone.  That is how we
will distinguish a room as being on one space object or another for IC
communications, and so on.  Note that Babylon 5 MUX does not believe in
softcode, which clogs up the queue, so please do not use any in your building
projects and you are not to add any attributes to your zone objects.  You
are not to add ANY locks to your zone objects, as they are OOC and so,
forbidden.
            
&quota
Note that, without exception, only builders and wizards will have quota.
The only exception is the +QUOTAME command (HELP +QUOTAME), which charges
players IC money to get a quota of two.  Do not create wasteful things,
rooms, weapons, armor, vehicles or any things you can buy with the econ code.
The quota available for builders can be found in NEWS GUIDE 2.
                     
&inspect
All rooms, objects, and exits must be accepeted for IC use by a building
inspector before it can be roleplayed in or officially linked to the IC
environment.  Inspection refers to the checking of several key attributes
that must be set appropriately and presented before a building staff member.
Such attributes are @desc, @osucc, @succ, @odrop, @fail, @ofail, and others.
Some circumstances (such as an object which is enter_ok) require added
attributes, as specified elsewhere in the building rules.  Refer to the help
files and the NEWS BUILD file, or consult an inspector.
  
The Babylon 5 MUX building staff is a small one, and the three Wizards may
perform inspections as they have time available, as listed in NEWS ADMIN.
Please respect them and their time, approach them via @mail preferrably if
they are off duty or via page if they are on duty.  All rooms must be
inspected, so get to know your inspectors.
                 
&ships
All ships must be inspected as specified in NEWS INSPECT as with planets.
Each ship will be allowed a quota determined by their size and class, as
listed in the table below.  Once you build a ship and it is helmed, it can
not be altered, so remember to build what you want that first time.

Size                 Max Quota         Size                 Max Quota
Fighter              3                 Light Freighter      6
Freighter            9                 Heavy Freighter      12
Scout                9                 Frigate              12
Destroyer            12                Light Cruiser        15
Cruiser              18                Heavy Cruiser        18
Battlecruiser        21                Battleship           24
Dreadnought          24                Outpost              24
Orbital Base         30                Orbital Warbase      33
<Continued in NEWS SHIPS 2>
     
&ships 2
The idea when building ships is to make the most efficient use of your quota
as possible.  For example, a fighter only needs the cockpit and exit airlock,
while a light freighter only really needs a bridge, airlock exit and cargo
hold.  As ships get larger, you generally add common crew quarters where
everyone can sleep and call home, docking bays, hallways, offices, command
staff common quarters, medlabs, and so on.  Remember when building ships
that, like planets, you need to follow the building rules listed in NEWS
GUIDE and create quality work that throws the players into the roleplaying
environment presented by this ship in the Babylon 5 universe, and repeat this
over and over again: "efficient use of available quota."
     
&setting
THE MUX THEME:
       
The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace: a self-contained world
five miles long located in neutral territory, a place of commerce and
diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens, a shining beacon in
space, all alone in the night.  It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind,
the year The Great War came upon us all.  This is the story of the last of
the Babylon stations.  The year is 2259.  The name of the place is Babylon 5.
     
Welcome to Babylon 5 MUX.  This MUX is set in the time between Season 2's
episodes "A Race Through Dark Places" (episode 207, which oddly came after
208) and "The Coming of Shadows," (209) but we will diverge from the series
after that.  What happens, within the theme and basic framework set into
motion in the two years before that period, is up to the players.  You can
play any part from a member of a plentiful supply of empires to an
independent trader to the president of your own corporation.
<Continued in NEWS SETTING 2>
     
&setting 2
Humans have gone to the stars, and found that they are not alone.  They
moved quickly out, establishing relations with other civilizations that
let them leapfrog technologies via an information and cultural exchange with
at least one other culture, the Centauri.  Many contacts have been friendly.
Some have not been quite so benign.
     
From 2245 through 2248, war raged between the Earth Alliance and the Minbari,
an alien federation.  The Earth Alliance was losing badly and as a last
resort, a suicide perimeter was set up around Earth, known as The Line.
Every last ship Earth had was sent to The Line in a desperate defense of
Homeworld.
       
On the brink of winning the war, just as they were breaking through to Earth,
the Minbari surrendered.  To this date, no one knows why.  They could have
won, but chose not to.  The secret behind their surrender will gradually play
a part in our story.
<Continued in NEWS SETTING 3>
     
&setting 3
That was now ten years ago in our story.  There is now an uneasy peace
between the Earth Alliance and the four other alien federations.  To help
cement that peace, the Earth Alliance has constructed Babylon 5.
     
Babylon 5 is a five kilometer long space station in neutral space more or
less central to all five of the major empires.  To get from one to the other,
you generally need to pass through this sector of space.  Thus, Babylon 5 was
created as a sort of port of call for travelers, statesmen, emissaries,
traders, refugees and other less savory characters.  Five kilometers long and
two kilometers wide, Babylon 5 is divided into separate, discrete sections
that rotate to provide different gravities to accommodate those who come to
the station.  There are also sections with alternate atmospheres.
<Continued in NEWS SETTING 4>
       
&setting 4
The station boasts living quarters, customs areas, docking bays, meeting
areas, a casino, several bars and nightclubs, a command and control sphere
located on the fore end, and a decent defensive grid.  In addition, each of
the various federations has one official representative aboard the station,
with the station's commander representing the Earth Alliance, so that it also
functions as a sort of miniature United Nations.
     
It is home to humans and aliens in various roles, some arriving or departing
every day, others working there full-time.  They live on the very edge of the
frontier, in the sense that if they get into trouble, there's no one who can
arrive in time to help them.  Because of the nature of the travelers, they
bring their stories with them to Babylon 5 rather than having to seek them
out.  The stories are of people in flight, seeking sanctuary; stories of
smugglers, assassins, traders, mappers, dignitaries and others, all on urgent
missions of one sort or another.
<Continued in NEWS SETTING 5>
     
&setting 5
It is humanity's last hope for peace, a single bright island in a sea of
darkness, and it is fragile and dangerous.  The station is called Babylon 5
because the first three efforts to build the station were sabotaged and
destroyed.  The fourth one disappeared without a trace twenty-four hours
after becoming operational, and no one knows what happened to it.  That is
only the beginning of our story.
     
While the Babylon 5 station will play an important part on the MUX, it is by
no means the only location at which players will be located.  The various
empires and federations will have their own worlds and various stations, some
of which will be represented on the game.  What happens on this game is up
to you, so enjoy, and if you wish to find extensive sources of online
information regarding the Babylon 5 universe, please read NEWS ONLINE.
       
&online
BABYLON 5 ONLINE DATA:
  
Tons of info is available online dealing with Babylon 5 universe.  Newsgroups
include rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5, rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.info and
rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated.  Yahoo also has a B5 section somewhere at
http://www.yahoo.com and a set of useful web pages are:
  
SITE                                                EXPLANATION
http://www.pcnet.com/~jdutka/b5/                    B5 MUX Home Page
http://www.agentsofgaming.com/                      B5 Wars Space Combat Game
http://www.babylon5.com/                            Official B5 Page
http://tnt.turner.com/babylon5/                     TNT's B5 Page
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/                      Lurker's Guide to B5
http://interweb.uml.edu/B5/                         Babylon 5 Resources
http://www.visi.com/~wildfoto/spoilers.html         B5 Spoiler Junkies
http://www.ps.ucl.ac.uk/~jmorley/gold_channel.html  Gold Channel
http://home.earthlink.net/~scorp666/index.htm       Scorp's Babylon 5
         
&players
MUX PLAYER RULES:
    
The administration of Babylon 5 MUX takes harassment rather seriously.  Any
player found harassing a player or wiz, whether verbally, sexually, or in any
other way shall be summarily @nuked and locked out.  Also, be sure you log
all incidents of harassment, as it will make ruling on the matter much easier
for the Wiz staff.  Also, you should read NEWS RECRUIT, as it involves the
rules on recruiting and directly influence each player.
    
Anyone using a crude, rude, or curse as a name will be asked to change the
name and if that is not done, the player will be nuked without hesitation.
We believe that there is no place for that on our MUX.  Further, attempts
to annoy or harass either the players or wizards will result in a warning
or nuking as is appropriate.  The MUX is supposed to be a fun place for all
to play.
        
Finally, since the MUX will be used by a number of underage players, please
keep all adult oriented activities or discussions private and in private
chambers.  Any violation of this rule will result in a warning and then
nuking if the incidents continue, or simply a nuking if the situation is
severe enough.
<Continued in NEWS PLAYERS 2>
             
&players 2
Note that if you do something ICly, it will have IC effects on you and the
people around you.  If things get bad enough, you may just find NPC nasties
brought in to bring things in line, and when we say nasty, we mean nasty.
Keep IC activities IC and OOC activities in OOC locations.
       
Any harassment, insulting, attacking or threatening any administrator or
wizard on this game will result in banning for a period of time or a complete
site lock or permanent ban, up to the discretion of the wiz staff.  Remember:
you are here purely at the sufferance of the wiz staff and playing here is a
privilege, not a right.
           
As a change of policy, players will be allowed two alternate characters.
These characters must all be in the same empire and no character may promote
or enrich the other (meaning, you can't give your other characters money,
items and so on).  Further, you need to inform the wiz staff of your
alternate character or characters before you actually create them via @mail
to them.  Finally, you will also need to realize that what one character ICly
knows probably isn't known by the others.
       
&facrules
MUX FACTION RULES:
    
Empire leaders will be expected to adhere to the rules of the MUX.  As the
head of their respective empire, they are responsible not only for the
performance of their faction, but also their players.  Faction heads, their
high command, and all players are required to know the rules of the MUX, and
ignorance of the rules will not be accepted as an excuse for their violation.
Empire heads will also be responsible for the survival and success of their
empire and ultimately, they are the ones responsible for making sure all
their planets and ships get built and accepted by the wizzes.
    
The rules of this MUX are few and they are simple, but we take them rather
seriously.  It is our hope that they will enhance the enjoyment you have
while playing here.
       
Be sure to read NEWS RECRUIT, as it contains important information on
recruiting on this MUX and the rules governing it.
          
&recruit
MUX RECRUITING RULES:
      
One of the problems so common on TrekMUSE and BattleTech 3056 MUSE is
illegal (OOC) recruiting.  Behind harassment and multifactioning, this is
probably the most serious rule you can violate on the MUX.  It is a violation
of MUX rules to recruit anyone from another faction, through any means
whatsoever, whether it be your friend, a complete stranger, or something in
between.  Any violation will be handled by a punishment up to and including
@nuking of all those involved and the recruit will be returned to his or her
former faction.  Repeated incidents of this by a faction will result in the
faction as a whole being punished by the MUX staff as they see fit.
   
&telepath
MUX TELEPATH RULES:
   
Thanks to the hard work of Valdar, we now have the code to support allowing
players to apply for and become telepaths.  In order to be accepted as a
telepath, you must first submit an application for a feature or non-feature
telepathic character using the web page at http://www.pcnet.com/~jdutka/b5/,
located in the chargen info section.  This application must be accurate,
extremely detailed, list and justify each of the telepathic skills (+HELP
CHARGEN) the player requests, and provide sufficient justification for all
of them.  Note that, on the show, only one in every thousand humans is a
telepath, only one in every ten thousand telepaths being a telekinetic, half
of whom are all clinically insane, so don't count on being a telekinetic.
    
Also, the number of P1 to P12 level telepaths follows a logarithmic rule,
where there are an order of magnitude more P1s than P2s, an order of
magnitude more P2s than P3s, and so on, meaning there would only be one P12
for every one trillion P1s, making them extremely rare, indeed, so aim for a
low or mid ranged P rating, nothing above P5 unless the wizzes suggest it,
the P rating being expressed as twice your psionic attribute level.
<continued in NEWS TELEPATH 2>
             
&telepath 2
Note that the use of telepaths on our game will require cooperation between
telepaths, normals, and the wizards, since some of the abilities of these
telepaths will have to be roleplayed out and not implemented in the code.
One of these items includes the necessity for all players to @mail JohnD with
four dark secrets they wish nobody to discover.  These secrets must be
sufficiently negative and harmful to the player and/or his reputation or
position and consistent with both the character's background and the B5
universe as represented on the MUX.  No more or less than four dark secrets
will be accepted and, upon approval of all of these secrets by JohnD, you
will be given a bonus of four skill points to allocate up to but not
exceeding your learning attribute in any legal skill you would have been
allowed to purchase in chargen.
    
If we find that a telepath is OOCly abusing the telepathic powers, that abuse
will be dealt with.  Likewise, if normals do not cooperate with roleplaying
of telepaths, that will also be dealt with.  This cooperation is necessary to
successfully integrating telepaths into our game.  For a list of telepath
related help and commands, read +HELP TELEPATH.  Note that there will be a
limit placed on the number of telepaths allowed per empire, those numbers to
be decided by the wiz staff.
        
&rp
MUX RP GUIDELINES:
    
To avoid some of the OOC problems found on locations such as TrekMUSE, if you
wish to join an empire, you must be of the dominant race of that empire.  As
an example, if you are joining the Narn Regime, you must be a Narn, with a
suitably Narn @desc and so on.  There are no exceptions to this.  Also, if
you pick a specific race and sex, note that your IC opportunities will be
limited or expanded depending on that choice.  For example, Centauri females
do not serve any role other than wife, healer or seer.
                     
&rules
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|     Available build topics are organized by date.  Type 'news <topic>'    |
|                                                                           |
| DATE            TOPIC                 DESCRIPTION                         |
| 05-02-00        avail                 Available feature characters        |
| 05-02-00        rulings               Recent rulings on space, RP, etc    |
| 05-02-00        build                 World and ship building policy      |
| 05-02-00        players               Rules governing players             |
| 05-02-00        facrules              Rules governing factions            |
| 05-02-00        recruit               Rules of MUX recruiting             |
| 05-02-00        telepath              Rules for RPing telepaths           |
+===========================================================================+
          
&theme
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|     Available build topics are organized by date.  Type 'news <topic>'    |
|                                                                           |
| DATE            TOPIC                 DESCRIPTION                         |
| 05-02-00        setting               Our wonderful theme                 |
| 05-02-00        online                Online B5 info sources              |
| 05-02-00        rp                    MUX roleplaying information         |
| 05-02-00        war                   A Statement On War                  |
+===========================================================================+
      
&revisions
This news topic details revisions to the news file.  Use this to keep up with
what changes in the news file in more detail.  For clarity, it always
contains the date of the change and who made the change.
 
6/9/97, Airam: Updated avail topic, Shakiri and Neroon no longer available.
  Update revision dates, added @malias topics and the stupidity of war topic.
6/14/97, Airam: Updated the "updated" topic, changed appropriate dates.
7/3/97, Airam: Added info from Valdar on IC locks, communications, elevators,
  skills, and more.
9/7/97, Airam: Updated +help to fix chargen problems.
9/21/97, Airam: Updated news to reflect changes from JohnD in guide topics.
11/14/97, JohnD: Updated just about every item, especially news guide.
12/30/97, JohnD: Updated building guide, planet requirements, and wiz email
  addresses.
1/17/98, JohnD: Moved chargen FAQ to +HELP, edited most NEWS items.
    
&updated
This topic lists recent updates along with who installed them, what was
updated, and the date of the update.  We will try to keep this as current as
pratical.
 
5/5/97, JohnD: Planets, ships, and one station were placed in space.
5/6/97, JohnD & Mike: Jumpgates placed in space & a skill code bug fixed.
5/7/97, Valdar: One other skill bug fixed, docking with stations bug fixed.
5/8/97, Valdar: One bug causing an infinite loop was fixed.
5/9/97, Valdar: Player death code and exit blocking added.  During testing,
  you will just get sent to the death room with some code commented out.
  Traderoom ESELL command was added so you can now sell things AND buy them.
5/11/97 thru 5/17/97, JohnD: Created IC personal combat weapons with final
  specs.
5/12/97, Airam: Help.txt updated to include chargen system help.  Added
  "updated" topic to news.txt.
5/13/97, Airam: Fixed some nagging problems w/ help.txt and new topics.
5/24/97, Airam: Moved chargen system help to plushelp.txt file, removing
  everything from help.txt.  Added the RP guide items to plushelp.txt file.
  All future subsystems help items will be there.
5/27/97, Airam & JohnD: Updated news.
6/3/97, Airam: Updated +help to fix player reported errors.
6/9/97, Airam: Added econ system to +help.  Added new news topics about
  contacting wizzes with suggestions, questions, and reporting help problems.
6/13/97, Valdar: Added hard coded elevators.
6/14/97, Airam: Added elevator commands to +help, install details to wizhelp.
6/25/97, Valdar: Changed personal combat "END" command to CEASE.  Admin
  accessible changes for easier, more realistic weapon creation.  Added taxes
  to economy and revised the price modifer code.
7/1/97, Valdar: Commun consoles now player accessible.  Commands added.
7/2/97, Valdar: Fixed bug in look command to account for B5 MUX specific
  changes.  Also, now allow admin types to see skills for debugging reasons.
7/3/97, Valdar: Auto increase of skills not supported and installed.  Also,
  installation of new and better IC locks.
7/5/97, Valdar: Added the ASELL and SSELL commands to the chargen system.
  Also added the archetype generator to further simplify chargen.
7/7/97, Airam: Made requisite changes to the +help files and news.  There's
  many, many minor changes, command additions, etc.
9/20/97, Airam: Changes to chargen for numbers problems.  Updated news topics
  with change pages from JohnD.
10/15/97, JohnD, Valdar: Planets and stars placed in space.
11/13/97, Valdar: Personal armor, medkit, and cargo vehicle (lift) code in
  but needs to be debugged.
11/14/97-6/3/98, All: Space bugs fixed, econ rooms set up, more bugs found.
    
&war
                               A Statement On War
                  "The only way to win a war is not to fight."
  
Many of you play several different MU*s, each MU* has a different theme,
operates within a different universe.  Indeed, all of the wizards participate
in other MU*s.  Because of our accumulated experiences with MU*s, the wizzes
realize there might be a tendency towards large scale war.
      
War in the Babylon 5 Universe is never nice, never pretty, and invariably
results in massive deaths, extensive devastation including planetary
annihilations and complete racial genocide.  Waging war in the Babylon 5
universe will involve forces of unimaginable power and ruthlessness.  Mass
drivers, planet killers, Vorlons, and other general nasties can and will
expunge whole planets, whole solar systems, and whole races.
<continued in NEWS WAR 2>
             
&war 2
The Babylon 5 Universe traces the history of several such races.  The Xon
were annihilated by their planetary cousins the Centauri.  The Dilgar War
ended with the Dilgar sun going nova, and now only a handful of Dilgar
survive: they will soon join the Xon.
  
The  Minbari/Earth war graphically illustrated how starting a war on Babylon
5 will get YOU killed at best (or worse, the Minbari planned to kill all
Earthers).  Throw in the Vorlons, who possess the ability to eradicate the
infestations that annoy them, and you have a situation where war is, at best,
a death wish.
  
Babylon 5 MUX will *not* disallow massive warfare.  Realize, however, there
are consequences.  We will make no judgments as to which race is most
deserving of survival.  If the Centauri want to attack the Minbari, they can,
and the Centauri will, in all likelihood, cease to exist like the Xon before
them.
<continued in NEWS WAR 3>
         
&war 3
On Babylon 5 MUX, if you die you die, period.  Your name, likeness,
possessions, everything is gone (well, possessions can be ceased, stolen,
sold, etc.)  You start over, from the beginning.  Feature characters can
suffer the same fate, less any believe themselves immune to the universe's
will.
  
To borrow a phrase from Lorien in season 4 (and, no, this does not imply this
becomes canon), "You cannot win this war through force.  You must understand
your way out of it."  Understand this: if you start a war, many, many, many
players will die.  This is not Star Trek, as the Babylon 5 universe has no
qualms about eradicating whole races.  If you enter someone's space without
permission, they will react and maybe even strike back.  If you try to kill
someone or attack an opponent, they will defend themselves.  Ignore this at
your own peril.
          
&rulings
BABYLON 5 MUX RULINGS:
     
1. Ship theft is not allowed due to the fact that mechanisms to defend
   against it are not yet installed.  When they are, everyone will be
   informed.
     
2. If you're in space, disconnect, and your ship is then destroyed, the ship
   destruction will be ruled IC.  If you don't have the time to make the trip
   and have no crew online, you shouldn't be in space anyway.  The players
   will be ruled to have escaped via escape pods, but to avoid twinks
   disconnecting and then claiming their ship dying was OOC when things start
   to go against them, this rule will NOT change.  If you want to blockade a
   planet, you'd better have enough crew online to cover all the time in
   space, or be prepared to risk your ship's destruction.
<continued in NEWS RULINGS 2>
    
&rulings 2
3. If you aren't able to defend against someone intruding upon your planet,
   base, or territory, with player characters, you take responsibility for
   that inability.  NPC guards will not be set up and will not be considered
   in any situation.  This is a game where PLAYERS roleplay and fight and
   interact, not imaginary nonexistent NPCs.  Your failure to properly secure
   via hardcoded locks or player character guards and planetary defense is a
   failure of the player to plan out security.
      
4. Loan repayment will be handled ICly.  Earning enough money to make
   payments for all but the smallest cargo vessels is near impossible without
   finding alternate forms of income.  Be original, be sane, and be IC, and
   you should be able to make it.  This is both an IC and RL way to limit the
   expansion of independents in an acceptable way so that everyone doesn't go
   independent instead of joining empires and was found to be a more IC way
   of running things in line with the B5 universe.
    
