Hello one and all,
I've decided to do my part to keep this place interesting and organize a totally spontaneous idea for a contest I came up with just this afternoon.
Sure, we all think we're great pilots. We go and spend tons of cash on our favorite warship or uber-vessel, and go lay waste to those unlucky enough to find their way onto our screens. And just to tilt the odds, we use it to capture an elite fleet to cover our rear thrusters. And in the case of a tough fight, well, we can always land somewhere and take off with replenished shields.
Well, the purpose of this contest is to measure how good you guys REALLY are! As a vetern pilot I know all the mainstays EVO pilots rely upon for an advantage--in this contest, I'm going to take them all away from you and send you off to do battle nonstop until you drop (or explode). The goal of the contest is to destroy as many ships as you can with only your own ship and piloting skills to rely upon, WITHOUT stopping to refuel or land. The ones to win the competition will be those who pick the best ship/configuration for the job and use it most effectively.
All those who participate in the contest MUST adhere to the following guidelines. Please note that I reserve the right to modify these rules if an error, inconsistency, or oversight is pointed out to me.
1. All participants must use ONE, and only one, ship for the contest. No escorts of any kind allowed!
2. Most ships in the game are at your disposal. You may use whatever class you like for the challenge, be it a fighter, warship, or even a cargo vessel. However, you may NOT use the following vessels:
-UE Cruiser
-Voinian Cruiser
-Igazra
-Crescent/Azdgari Warship
-No Azdaras--sorry speed demons, but I consider it an uber-ship
-No captured ships; this means your vessel must be purchased and built from scratch. This also means no Voinian Dreadnoughts or beam-equipped Igazras. Basially, you can't use a ship that isn't normally purchasable.
3. All outfits are fair game to use EXCEPT for Azdgari Shield Generators, experimental or otherwise. That means no enhanced fighters or Aradas. Also, NO plugin-related ships or outfits may be used! Your plug-ins folder must be EMPTY while you take the contest.
4. You may use no more than 10 million credits to purchase and upgrade your choice ship as you like. Furthermore, if you're playing you need to post your ship & configuration with your entry.
5. Once your ship is outfitted as you like, you may travel to a designated system and start blasting whatever crosses your path; the goal is to destroy as much as possible until you die.
You may NOT leave the system you're fighting in during this time, nor can you land on any stellar. You are allowed to board ships to steal fuel and weapons (the former is allowed because the phased beam and plasma siphon take up fuel, as does the afterburner), but you MAY NOT CAPTURE them as escorts or to replace your ship.
6. You must fight with a deadly or ultimate combat rating for your pilot file so you will experience maximum difficulty right from the start. You must also play using version 1.0.2 of EV Override.
7. You may take as long as you want to play the contest. You can do it all in a day or over several days, it doesn't matter to me. However you MUST pause the game should you want to take a break, and you must stop after the last day of the contest. Furthermore, as I don't want people with less or more busy lives to have a lesser or greater advantage, you may not exceed 10 hours of solid gameplay each round (more on this to come). Your foray comes to an end after that much time has passed, or you are destroyed. You are expected to keep track of the time with a timer or your watch!
8. Should you run into a situation where no new ships are hypering in, you may do one of two things: Demand tribute from a stellar in that system to provide a steady stream of enemies, or hyper out of the system and then IMMEDIATEDLY return (NO RESTING, and no taking refuge in an outside system!)
By the way, should you actually end up dominating the system you are placed in, it'll greatly improve my opinion of your skills--and hence, your chances of winning.
9. How will all this be enforced? Simple, you guys are on the honor code. If you cheat or plan to cheat it means you suck, and shouldn't bother being in the contest. 
10. This contest will have several parts to it, and will be a long-term contest. 
As it stands right now, I plan to have it last 2 months at the most. I will be judging you guys on overall performance. Therefore, there will be several "rounds" characterized by region. So basically, each round you'll all be trying your luck at outdoing your competitors in fighting against the forces of a particular Gov or race. Since you'll all have the same amount of time to do your thing and more than long enough to clock in the required hours, everyone will be on equal footing. Note that with each round, if you wish you may start anew and configure a new ship to fight in that particular region of space.
When you are done, you will be expected to post how well you did and the experiences you had--that's half the fun! Also note that if you aren't happy with how you did or you died prematurely, you may try again as often as you like to improve your results until the round ends. While discussion is encouraged, only post your best results--once you do, you'll be considered to be "finished" with the round and no more entries for that round will be accepted.
Now, here is the schedule*
Contest Begins Monday, Nov 18th--you have until Sunday the 17th to enter the contest.
Round 1, vs. the Voinians (Nov 18-25th): You must fight within the Voinia system, easily the most dangerous part of Voinian space, until you die or your 10 hours run out.
Round 2, vs. the UE (Nov 26-Dec 1st): You may fight within the Bakka or Yandros systems, where UE warships are most prevalent (if someone knows otherwise for a fact, let me know).
If you want to be bold, you may opt to fight in the Emalgha system--but if you do, you are restricted to Voinian technology since it'd be WAY too easy otherwise. If you do well under these conditions, I will be especially impressed.
Round 3, vs. Human Renegades (Dec 1-8th): Riomor system. Freeport. Kill, kill, KILL!
Round 4, vs. NT Renegades (Dec 9-16th): Time to play Zachit ace--go to DSN-2131 (The Rock) or Hrekka (North Tip Station) and cut loose.
Round 5, vs. The Zachit (Dec 17-25th): You must go to Zachit system and attack the Zacha on their own turf. It'll be a tall order to survive 10 hours.
Round 6, vs. the Zidagar (Dec 26-Jan 1st): Attack the Zidagar system. ph33r phased beams.
Round 7, vs. the Igadzra (Jan 2-Jan 9th): Endless Igazras in Igadzra. Be afraid. Very afraid.
Round 8, vs. the Azdgari (Jan 10-Jan 17th): Its you vs. the speed demons--with 3 moons to demand tribute from, you'll have no shortage of enemies. How many Azdaras can you snag before they swarm you?
That's about it, I think. Once you finish a particular round, post the results--and have fun posting your experiences before, during, and after each round.
To enter, its as simple as responding to the topic and saying "I'm in." Winners will be determined based on points earned from each successive round, and will be added together at the end to showcase the top 3 "Iron Man" pilots. More details to follow as we approach the start of the contest!
UEC
*Schedule subject to change--if everyone finishes a round before it ends, we'll just move on
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(This message has been edited by UE Crusader (edited 11-12-2002).)
(This message has been edited by UE Crusader (edited 11-13-2002).)