Hello all!

We will be holding a "What's Coming Up In Modus Operandi" forum, which will provide a chance to get the scoop about some of the things we're planning for the Island, and give you a chance to voice your opinions, concerns and desires for future plans for the game!

The forum will be hosted by GameMaster Siri Macallan, and I will be there as well to answer any questions related to the particular projects I'm working on.

We hope to see you there!

-- GameMaster Trevor Rage, Modus Operandi Staff
http://www.modusoperandi.net
http://www.simutronics.com
http://www.role-players.com
 

Sounds great--I'm looking forward to it! Maybe we'll finally find out why all the bus drivers have been missing for a few weeks now and what the perpetual construction going on at the Port Authority is all about...a new monorail terminal perhaps? :)

Will you be discussing the results from the new opinion survey with us then?

By the way, I liked the new "Modus Operandi Informer" via e-mail! It was really nice since I couldn't get to the island for several days.
 

Benton:

We'll be talking about some of the subjects in the recent survey. As to the busses, well they have been a nightmare in technical terms, just because of how they work :)

-- GameMaster Trevor Rage
 

Ever thought it would be cool if you could tilt your head up, down and all around to examine things in your surroundings? Try out the expanded TILT verb on your friends, your inventory and even that hooligan who keeps looking at you funny!

Options for TILT are: head | hand | up | down | person | object | NPC. The default usage is to tilt your head.
 

From the ingame NEWS:

Dateline 12/1/2004: A GRAB BAG OF GOODIES!

Like sand through an hourglass on a Moradian beach, the world has turned through another year and it's time again for a festival of fun, reflection and, of course, shopping! Here is just some of what you can expect!

Morada's favorite sneaky gift giving! Secret Mobster returns in the first week of December - check out the details and sign up in the foyer of the Mercado de dos Palmas.

Get into the Christmas spirit, brighten up your surroundings and sing along to carols while you decorate the Commons tree or perhaps a tree in your own home! Celebrate Hannukah with the lighting of the Menorah and a Hannukah feast! Have your photo taken with Santa!

Other celebrations to look forward to include karaoke (Sunday 12th) and the winter solstice party (Saturday 18th), as well as a special event hosted by the Island Guides on Sunday 19th.

And did someone mention shopping? Over the coming weeks a wide variety of specially selected goods will be available for purchase, as well as opportunities to have that special gift or holiday item custom made!

All this and more - watch for more information as it becomes available!

END NEWS ITEM

This message was originally posted in Happenings around Morada, Events and Contests. To discuss the above follow the link below.

http://www.play.net/forums/messages.asp?forum=50&category=4&topic=1&message=571
 

Torian,

Last night you altered a jacket for a friend of mine, Piper Santiago. She was going to get a Scream King Studios (my studio, in West End) jacket, and I had told her it was okay. Piper says that you weren't sure you could do that. Is there any chance you could come back and add the studio name to the jacket for her? She has my complete blessing (as does anyone else who wants SKS merchandise).

--Jay
 

From the ingame NEWS:

Dateline 12/12/2005: A RUSSIAN FANTASY

Winter Solstice 2005 is upon us! Mark your calendars and get ready for A Russian Fantasy Winter Solstice Party on Saturday, December 17th. The party, which begins at 9:00 pm Eastern in Stoyanov Garden, will include food, dancing, games and perhaps a few surprises! Scheduled events include:

 9:00 pm - Gates to Stoyanov Garden open
 10:00 pm - Winter Solstice Poetry Slam!
 11:00 pm - Game Time in the Garden
 12:00 am - Pass the Parcel!

Party attire is requested.

END NEWS ITEM

This message was originally posted in Happenings around Morada, Parties, Parties, Parties. To discuss the above follow the link below.

http://www.play.net/forums/messages.asp?forum=50&category=4&topic=5&message=69
 

I'm so glad you all are enjoying the new accusables. I have reduced the amount of stuff sent over the PBRs, after much feedback about the scroll. It's now name only. I may add back in crime later if it wouldn't bother too many people.

I welcome any feedback you have, here or using FEEDBACK in-game. Hope you all continue to enjoy it. :)

- Ryan
 

Ryan,

Great job!! I know my good friend, Amanda Jackson, for one, is prolly in heaven right about now...or in bed, as it is past her bedtime :) But thanks so much for getting that back into 'play'. We all had fun with it this evening, as well.

Looking forward to getting out of the caves more and running down all the wayward folks who now inhabit the other parts of our island, for my crime traning!

~Miranda "Homicide Investigator" Myles
 

The accusables are great!

Actually, I think listing the location is better than listing the crime. (Though don't you just feel more fulfilled when you capture someone for the crime of pimping?) I know I'm a lot more motivated to get up from my seat at the Pub and go chase down a perp when I hear they're just a few blocks away. When I just hear their names, it's not as exciting.

Isn't there a way to squelch police notices for people who don't want to hear them? Maybe a reminder of that in game would be helfpul to the people complaining of scroll.
 

There is... you can block the police band under the 'set' command. Leyra
 

I agree with what Sin and Leyra have been saying, about a) being able to block the police channel, and especially b) how much more motivating it is when you hear their location.

Basically, this post is a plea for that. That was SO cool! Bring it back! ...yeah.

Lei
 

Simutronics rested.

As much as I hate to be the bearer bad news, I'm here to announce that this year we've decided to take a break from SimuCon.

Many folks have noticed that in recent years we've started the planning and organizational process later and later and this year it's become clear to us that we need to take a brief respite and regroup. Our hectic schedules this year simply will not allow us to take on this formidable task and keep what's left of what little sanity we had to begin with. Therefore, we made the tough decision that we need the time to plan a better SimuCon experience and with help and feedback from you all, whether you're telling us what you liked about every one of the 10 Cons you've been to or what was missing from any of them that kept you away, we hope to make 2007 our best SimuCon ever.

We do hope you understand and we hope to see you in 2007.

Regards,

Bubba, Melissa, & Tamma
The SimuCon Coordinators
 

For those of you who weren't at the Forum tonight or haven't talked to those who were there ...

After a long time pondering the pros and cons, I've decided that it's time to retire from Modus and spend more time with my family, and on my other projects. Having worked on the game for ten years, it truly has been a significant portion of my life. Everything has a beginning and end though, and it's time for me to move on. My last day of PM for Modus will be Dec. 31st.

Ceit and Eve will be taking over the reins as co-PM, each attending to their specialties within the game. The game will continue on, changing, growing, and moving foward with ideas, and all your other "usual contacts" will remain the same.

Thank you for sharing your recreational time with me during the last decade. It's been a learning experience, as well as a time when I've had the pleasure to make some exceptional friendships. I wish you all well, and hope to see you in Modus when I come in to play!

Regards,

Siri Macallan
 

Before I get into details... I am not leaving the staff of Modus Operandi!!

However... I am stepping back from jointly running Modus Operandi in a regular staff role. Eve will be continuing as the Product Manager.

As a PM, I've felt guilty if I?m not spending every moment of my time working in Modus. So all of those things that I'm supposed to be doing in RL have all been causing me to have feelings of guilt (since I?m not spending time in Modus while doing such things). Everyone should feel like they can take care of their responsibilities and have fun in RL without having constant guilt. I want to be able to enjoy the projects I work on and enjoy the time I spend on the island. So, this is the best move for me so that I can balance my life a little better and not always want to be doing everything at once. I'll be working on Morada and seeing everyone on the island once I get my RL caught up some.

I can assure you, this is not a result of any conflict with Eve or Modus Operandi or the staff or the players or Simutronics. I love Morada, I really do. I just need to be able to enjoy all of the facets of my life, Morada included.

--Ceit

"To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest." -- Gandhi
 

Cross-post originally written by Solomon:

---

To our members who are in the Armed Services and may be called away from home unexpectedly:

We at Simutronics will do everything possible to support our community members who are in the military. If you can let us know of your situation (all of this info will of course be kept confidential), we can watch your account to take various actions while you are absent, such as putting your account on hold while you are gone, so you do not rack up any charges. Or, if you are concerned that you might be called away without notice, we can put an inactivity timer on your account, so if we do not hear from you for a few weeks, we will list your account as "on hold, do not bill" until you can reactivate it.

We will keep your in-game characters and homes safe for you, until you return.

If you are in the armed services or otherwise involved in any conflict and are concerned that you might be called away suddenly without notice, please contact us, either by calling our billing office at 1-636-925-3172, or by writing to custserv@simutronics.com with your instructions. All of this information will be kept confidential.

In order to process your request, we will need the following:

Your account name
The security answer on your account (not your password!)
Which action(s) you would like us to take, such as:

Option #1: Inactivity Hold - If we do not see your account used for one month, we can place it on hold so that it does not incur any further charges. Premium account members will also continue to maintain their premium status, so that their premium homes and other benefits will be maintained safe as well.

Option #2: Immediate Hold - If you wish, we can put your account into immediate inactive status. Your characters and premium benefits, as applicable, will be maintained safely, but you will not be charged. If you wish to login again, simply contact us to reactivate the account.

Option #3: Delayed Hold - If you know you are going to ship out on a certain date, we can make arrangements to put your account on hold on or after that date. That way you don't have to worry about your account status while you are preparing to leave.

Option #4: Friend Guardianship - You can give one of your friends or family members limited control of your account, such as to activate it or inactivate it, but not to play the characters, or take other serious actions such as transferring characters or changing subscription levels. If you choose this option, please give us the contact information for your friend, and some sort of security question/answer that they can use (different than the one that's on your account!) so that we know it's them.

We can also combine the above options, or work with you to do something entirely different if that is your choice. Our goal is to reduce this one small worry in this part of your life, so that if you are called to service unexpectedly, you don't have to worry about what will happen to your character or premium home while you are away.

Solomon
 

Dateline 1/18/2004: TIME TO GET YOURSELF SOME AUCTION ACTION!

We are pleased to announce the upcoming 6 weeks of auction action for our premium players! While we can't give you exact times for each auction for another week or so, we can tell you the following:

On the weekend of Feb. 14th, we'll give the premium players a valentine in the form of an auction item preview!

On the weekend of Feb. 21st, we will host a Weapons & Armor auction.

On the weekend of Feb. 28th, we will host a 50th Level Home Goodies auction.

On the weekend of March 6th, we will host a Clothing & Accessories auction.

On the weekend of March 13th, we will host a Toys & Gadgets auction.

On the weekend of March 20th, we will host a Potluck Potpourri auction.

To participate in these auctions, you must be premium for at least 30 days. If you are not currently a premium player, you still have a few days to sign up in order to be eligible for the first auction on February 21st. All eligible premium players will be allowed to win a maximum of 2 items total, across all 5 auctions. Full rules will be posted as we approach the madness.

END NEWS ITEM
 

>Eve? Any news on that Avalon? (Mariko)

Actually, YES! Darn, why did you have to beat me to it?!

I've tested this latest version of Avalon and have had no problems with it. As it is not yet available on the website, I'm going to send a download link via email to whomever needs it. Mariko, I have you down for it, and from a few other posts, I know some others who need it ... The download invite will be sent to your play.net addresses and will go out later tonight for those already identified as looking for an Avalon that works.

Any other Mac OS X users out there looking for the latest version of Avalon? If so, please drop me a quick note at MO-EVE@play.net!

This message was originally posted in Help for Modus On the Web, Problems On the Web. To discuss the above follow the link below.

http://www.play.net/forums/messages.asp?forum=50&category=3&topic=2&message=143
 

For any interested Mac users, the following message was posted by GM Ethereal on the Simutronics' board on 11/3/2005.

---

As of this morning, Avalon Beta 4 has been placed on the website. You may download the new version at: http://www.play.net/software/warlock-info.asp. This version incorporates quite a few bug fixes and feature enhancements as noted on the website.

Note: There's two versions of the application included in the .dmg file. 10.2/10.3 users will need to use the 10.2 application. 10.4 can use both (Though the 10.4 version was compiled specifically for 10.4).

GM Ethereal

This message was originally posted in Wizard Front-End Support, Wizard (Macintosh). To discuss the above follow the link below.

http://www.play.net/forums/messages.asp?forum=90&category=5&topic=4&message=2366
 

We are going to reset the Billing Server on Wednesday, October 7, at approximately 8:00 am Eastern. This will affect all game logins, the Play.Net website, and the forums. Anyone logged into the games before the maintenance starts should not be affected. We expect this should take less than 1/2 hour to complete.

As usual, we apologize for any inconvenience.
 

I just have to say it was SUCH a great time meeting all the awesome Modus Players this past weekend.

It reminded me of how fun you all were and has gotten my fishing fingers itching to get back on the Lucky Strike.

Hugs to all,

Bubba
 

I concur... MO friends, MO party! I'm getting all eMOtional!

GM-Kabosh
 

>I just have to say it was SUCH a great time meeting all the awesome Modus Players this past weekend.

It reminded me of how fun you all were and has gotten my fishing fingers itching to get back on the Lucky Strike.

Hugs to all,

Bubba>

Thank you for the BANNER! Seeing the Modus Operandi banner rocked our world! Thanks for the great time at Simucon and thanks for supporting our game. We do notice these things, it matters to us. And yeah we have some great people, players and staff and we are pretty proud of us.

This was my first con and I loved it. I plan to come again. I think we have a very special staff and they worked their hineys off at con this year to give us a great time. And I enjoyed the heck out of my fellow islanders that came. We are fun, we rock.

And it was great meeting you, Bubba. Thanks for turning up the volume so we could hear you at the banquet. Thanks for coming out and saying goodbye on Sunday when we were all gathered in the lobby waiting to take shuttles to the airport. Thanks for your support of our staff and players. We noticed and we appreciated it.

And a tip if you come on over to fish on Modus, the Lucky Strike, well it's an okay boat, but the SeaWench er SeaGirl is the boat to fish on.

Jesser

 
 

From the ingame NEWS:

Dateline 10/22/2006: BEACHSIDE BOWLING OPENS FOR BUSINESS!

Beachside Bowling is now open! Located at 3005 Calle del Amanecer, Beachside Bowling offers fun and entertainment for everyone! Casual bowlers can pick up a pair of rental shoes just for that visit, or for the more serious player, visit the Bowler's Edge pro shop and select a customized ball, shoes or bag! Don't miss the other accessories also available at that location. If you're feeling peckish, visit the Back Alley snack bar for a wide range of burgers, snacks and pizzas or drop by The Gutter for a refreshing cocktail, beer or other beverage. Full lane service is also available!

Beachside Bowling - Morada's newest and best entertainment hot spot! East of the Morada Critical Care Facility and south onto Calle del Amanecer!

END NEWS ITEM

This message was originally posted in Happenings around Morada, Events and Contests. To discuss the above follow the link below.

http://www.play.net/forums/messages.asp?forum=50&category=4&topic=1&message=745
 

The billing department will be closed on Tuesday, May 5th for a company function that is coincidentally not Cinco de Mayo related. We will reopen as usual on Wednesday, May 6th at 1 PM Eastern.