In Case you haven't noticed, USI has a NEW Website. Talk about a major overhaul from the last site. :) The new site was created due for a need for a more dynamic site. The old site lacked alot in graphics and visual appeal. This new site hopefully will fix many of the problems we had with the old site (Browser incompatibility, dull, clausterphobia) and should help out with getting pepople to want to join USI. IN the future we will have many of our database features built into the interface so its one nice happy website. :) Kudo's goto Christine and Talmage for helping me out with the creation of the site.

-Seccour

 
I will be going through the Species database in the near future and changing species to be Balanced ( Zero Point Rule ) among each other. This is to hopefully make not one single species omnipotent (thus preventing having a large recruitment of that species) and give other species credit for being in there in the first place. I also hope that this will cure some SHS which has been gonig around again with a certain species.

-Kriss Orton

 
USI would like to welcome the newest recruits to join this week:

Devin Andre - USI Orton,
Joshua Crane - USI Orton,
Vile Cuckoo - USI Gibson,
Johnny Deveraux - USI Gibson,
Jal'Nak - USI Means,
Quidar Anomsilie - USI Means,
Joseph Caine - USI Means,
Darron Ger - USI Means

-Catherine Hexham

 
Email Update :
We have recently moved our primary email services to the new server.
IF - you have email with USI-RPG and you cannot login, then contact me and i will give you the correct info to connect.
IF - you cannot send email to the lists, you might need to give it a few hours before everything is happy and functional.

Thanks!

-Kriss Orton

 
USI would like to welcome the following new recruits to the game: RazorBack - USI Orton, Mak Todos - USI Orton, Karasu Kaneda - USI Gibson, Scorpilatga - USI Gibson

-Catherine Hexham

 
Today is USI's 5th birthday! It's hard to believe we've been going strong for 5 years! It's all thanks to players like you, else we wouldn't be around today! Feel free to celebrate in any way necessary on your ships, since Kriss and I will be celebrating all day long!

-Christine

 
USI would like to welcome the newest Cadets to join this week:

Brandon Lee - USI Orton
Kerkics - USI Orton
Kurnik - USI Gibson
N'Var - USI Gibson
Jeff Knight - USI Means
Guinevere of the White Wave - USI Means

-Catherine Hexham

 
USI would like to welcome our newest recruits to join this week:

SonMalo - USI Orton
Donlad Ramgol - USI Orton
Tarax Noir - USI Gibson
Robin Banks - USI Gibson
Nulan Elenoc - USI Means
Jonathan Blackstone - USI Means
Terlock - USI Means
T-82 - USI Means

-Catherine Hexham

 
All of you might have noticed that the forums are in a state in which they do not function. IE, they are down.

Well not to fear, this is only temporary. We are upgrading to a new version of the software, and unfortunately upgrades can be bumpy and annoying and ...

So in short, don't panic, they will be again. HOPEFULLY all old forums posts members etc from the old version will be saved.

------------------------------
We are upgrading to the new version of the software due to a security bug in the old software, and a switch to mysql database backend ( currently we were using a pgsql backend )

-Kriss

 
Due to a HUGE bug in the forum software, the old installation is having some problems upgrading to the new installation.

For the time being, the new installation is already up and running. I do have all the old information backed up and saved so hopefully in the future we can restore the information. I am current in process of developing a way to get the old info into the new forums.

For the time being, just reregister. I will get the old avatars back into the forums soon enough.

On the bright side, these forums fix a ton of bugs and have alot of new features which i hope to use. I will get the old skin back up hopefully tonight, with some minor changes to the graphics.

I am sorry for the inconvenience this has caused, i will work very hard to get the old data back up for you. At any rate I might just setup the old forums on a new subdomain.

For more info email me.

-Kriss

 
The applications for USI keep going up more and more every week! I'm glad to see so many people with us! Here's the newest recruits to join:
Matthew Enhoffer - USI Orton
Belgarth - USI Orton
Mark Reese - USI Orton
Dr. Deskalet II - USI Orton
Florna Holty - USI Gibson
Chris Able - USI Gibson
Hrrrek - USI Gibson
James Kolveska - USI Gibson
Aod - USI Means
Awaali - USI Means
Ramirez Virote - USI Means
Jin-Urufu - USI Means

-Catherine Hexham

 
Well, it finally happened. Christine had the baby on August 23rd 2002. He is in the Bio Database, and you may see him at http://jco.usi-rpg.com as well. :) His name is Jay.

-Kriss

 
This list is long, but a delayed welcome to everyone on it:

Damon Macavity - USI Orton
Hiro Kuma - USI Orton
Mark Edge - USI Orton
Jari McSteve - USI Orton
Breeze - USI Orton
Gattsu Rage - USI Orton
Dermont Yesryn - USI Orton
Galadriel Star - USI Orton
Lezli Caruso - USI Orton
Travis Gray - USI Orton
Noelani Celeste - USI Gibson
Liadon - USI Gibson
Teirnok Oshinami - USI Gibson
Karen Irene Ange - USI Gibson
Reynard Bond - USI Gibson
Hope Hopeful - USI Gibson
Sandra Ransom - USI Gibson
Vahn Saotome - USI Gibson
Satainki Windwalker Jr. - USI Gibson
Rutegg- USI Gibson
Jadek 145 - USI Means
Tinn Man - USI Means
John Stewart - USI Means
Kaylyn D'Ruuk - USI Means
Clifford J. Fine - USI Means
Kirby - USI Means
Dan Malenchi - USI Means
Kendrith Halnyr - USI Means

-Catherine Hexham

 
Welcome to the newest recruits to join USI!

WarWick Quill-Wyrm - USI Orton
Night Wolf - USI Orton
Joshua Phoenix - USI Means
Caitlyn Olivier - USI Means

-Catherine Hexham

 
Fernando Alvarez - USI Orton
Haxot Pi Beta - USI Orton
Dirk Rieper - USI Gibson
Geto2964 - USI Gibson
Karl Riesh - USI Gibson
Sparcs - USI Gibson
Bendar Silhouette - USI Means
Jacob Evans - USI Means
Audrasyne Crusell - USI Means
Diesel Flets - USI Means

-Catherine Hexham

 
We've had a lot of new recruits come in over the past couple weeks! Welcome to them all!

Draco
Jarek
Leon
Sauron Darsho
Jen
Sair Novarr
Jin Kazama
Gideon 76987
Si?n Dda
Frag-Yew

-Catherine Hexham

 
Welcome to the new recruits on the Gibson!

Rhian Aster
Hudson
Dante Kuehn
Connor Ashe
Kahn Parthak
Xavier Macht
Alex Brobe
Kathryn Jenkins

-Catherine Hexham

 
Welcome to the new recruits on the Means!

Octobob
Max Harris
Kai Kasshu
Gattsu Rage
Kalor Leikvold
Thomas Gilmore
Master Chief
Sci Fi

-Catherine Hexham

 
USI would like to welcome its newest recruits!

Dracos Cain - USI Orton
Chen Wei Wong - USI Orton
Spinner Leddger - USI Gibson
Om - USI Gibson
Rossinio - USI Means
Riyah - USI Means

-Catherine Hexham

 
11/5/02 10:47 -

Around 5:00 the list server stopped working. This is due to USI being so popular and the hard drives filled up of the USI logs which we keep for archival. So when the service stopped working, i checked the File system and we only had 2MB left on the drive.

I have since cleared up a substantial amount of space to allow Lyris to work and let everything go back to normal. I will post it when its for sure back up and running.

- Kriss

-Kriss

 
Well, although it was thought that by clearing up more space, lyris would function as normal. However, due to being on long enough without enough space to archive and work, it corrupted the databases which lyris pulls the information from. I have been able to fix some of the Databases, however some of the key databases remain corrupted and we are unable to fix them. Lyris functions as far as recieving and sending mail, however the documents, web interface, and a few other key files are beyond repair required for a fully functional list server.

Halo, the List project by Talmage and myself (Although he has done 100% of the programming), will be used in place of Lyris. Even in Beta Test, Halo has shown to be fair superior to our version of Lyris, and hold much more promise in the Future of USI. We certaintly are glad that we have it.

All lists have been transfered from Lyris over to Halo, and the users are all now on Halo. You may post to halo by using the same prefix on the email, and instead of @usi.usi-rpg.com, its @lists.usi-rpg.com.

I am glad that we had a minimal down time with this minor accident, and that my Administrative Staff and Admirals acted quickly to make sure that USI stays up and Running. I thank them greatly for their work and efforts.

- And, if you haven't heard, Tryst Commons is back up and running ! :) Have fun!

-Kriss Orton

 
We left the old server up as long as it would so hopefully process any excess mail. But, as i forsaw it began to degrade the databases and spew more errors.

So, after nearly 4 years of dedicated service, USIRPG01 has been shutdown from USI-RPG's services. We will be extracting the information shortly for archival.

A moment of silence.

-Kriss

 
Hotmail users may not be able to recieve their own posts, however will recieve all of the rest of the USI-RPG posts.

In Hotmail they have a junk mail filter setting, which when set to Medium, will filter out their own posts. This is because their posts get to their mailbox with their email address in the " from " field. So hotmail see's this as Junk mail and filters it out.

That means that Hotmail users are recieving their own mail, however hotmail filters it out.

This problem has been solved server side.

For more details please see: http://www.usi-rpg.com/halo/hotmail.php


-Kriss

 
The first of several planned server upgrades was a sucess, with only 1 hour of down time. Server speed stability and capability will begin to increase as we update the server hardware. We will keep you posted.

-Kriss

 
Another Server Update occured yesterday. We are sorry for the 17 hours of down time, however it was necessary to ensure the security and stability of the Server.

- Thanks!

-Kriss

 
We are currently updating the interfaces to the database. The Tech and Species databaes are almost done! Many thanks to Christine who is doing this for us. :)

-Kriss

 
We are starting to implement the new character system. At this time the system is in BETA, and will be likely be modified and changed to balance it out. Nothing which you currently see in the system is 100% final or set in stone. If we make a change to one thing or another, its to help balance the game out. Species will be subject to modification for this reason.

We appreciate your patience while we set this new system into place. Thank you.

-Kriss

 
With the introduction of the new character system, we are in need of species based abilities. If you have submitted a species to USI, We need from you upto 10 abilities for that species which are unique to that species. The species based abilities can be Psionically based, but we ask that you try and include abiltiies which may be physical as well.

Thanks!

-Kriss

 
Well here they are. The newest of logo's and a few redone ones. :)

 
Many of course have noticed the Transfere Tokens in Tryst Commons, and if you took the time to check out USI-1 you would know of their purpose. :) However not everyone has done so the scoop is this...


You get a single token when you join the game, and if you use it (submit it to Christine), you get another after a year. We mark the date that a token is given to us so that we can reemburse them a year later.

The ability of Selling tokens and auctioning off the tokens is a new side effect of introducing the Auction section of Tryst Commons, as the Transfere Token was put into effect months before the Auction was. However, if you sell your token or give it away or do something where you lose the token and its not given to Christine for the purpose of transfering, you will not be reembursed for the token.

SO choose wisely when dealing with your Transfere token !

:) Have fun...

-Kriss Orton

 
We have made a slight modification to the Transfer Token system as by recommendation of an Admiral : When you recieve your Token, you must keep that token for at least two months before being able to auction or give it away. This is hardcoded into the Tryst Commons System.

-Kriss

 
The website has been updated with such new things as they top menu being changed, and additions in other areas. If you are looking for anything that was under the "Other" section, it is now on the Home page. Also, the Communities section has been udpated for easier use. If you have any problems feel free to contact info@usi-rpg.com

-Christine Orton

 
We have had our own IRC server for awhile, but not too many visitors. We are trying our best to make it easy to get onto this network so you can chat to people from all over USI.

So, we have added a few things to help you get on IRC.

1. If you have windows and are wondering how to get on IRC, there is a tutorial at the link below that will walk you through installing a client and connecting to our IRC server.

http://www.usi-rpg.com/cina/chat.shtml

2. If you want to chat from anywhere, you can use this online chat applet (requires java):
http://www.usi-rpg.com/halo/irc/irc.html
Click ?yes? to any security warnings.

3. If you have questions you can contact talmage@usi-rpg.com

Or go to the forums at http://players.usi-rpg.com and look under the IRC help forum.

4. For those of you who already have an IRC client, we are located at: irc.usi-rpg.com

Thanks, I look forward to talking to you!

-Talmage

 
I have updated Halo to improve speed and I have also added a Xpost option. These were major updates, and I hope there are no errors.

As always, if you fail to recieve a post you sent, or notice any errors in your post, contact talmage@usi-rpg.com

Thanks!

-Mike Thompson

 
We recently submitted to the lists some information regarding Copyright and USI ownership. At the time of the writing we were grossly misinformed so at this time we are looking at the proper and legal way to protect both your rights as an Author as well as USI-RPG's rights.

-Kriss

 
The new Communities website is almost finished (see the communities link at the top menu.)

That means you can now submit your application to the Communities, even the new Trisector Pirates is available!

-Kriss

 
We have updated the information on the Darkarians. Go check it out for your information!

-Kriss

 
With the fleet plot coming to a close, I will have time to get back to working on Halo.

I have been working on several new features, which I plan to include in the upcoming version:

* Improved integration with other USI Game System Elements
* Ability to post from site
* Easier navigation of post archive in Halo.
* Ability to track the delivery status of posts to your mailbox
* Ability to choose if you receive multiple copies of posts or not
* Place posts from old lyris server into Archives
* Better handling of cross posts


I will also be working on the players email system, which I plan to show at the upcoming USI Convention (email convention@usi-rpg.com for details)

Please keep checking back here for further updates on the Halo system. As I complete these new features, I will need help testing them to ensure that the bugs are worked out before this new system is put into place.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as I continue to develop the Halo system.

-Mike

 
Captains, a few of you have really been lax on the IIR's. Remember, that if you get four warnings, you are demoted to Commander Elite and you LOSE your captainship.

-Kriss

 
The server was down for a few minutes this morning in order to fix a problem with one of the hard-drives in the server.

Halo failed to restart when the system came back up. Once again I have readded the auto-start function to Halo, and hopefully it will not happen again. Please resend any posts that do not appear within the next 12 hours.

Thank you for your patience while I continue to develop the Halo system.

-Mike Thompson

 
We would like to apologize for any troubles that you have had sending posts or accessing the site lately. There was a few errors made in the server configuration that is responsible for managing the domain names for the server.

I fixed those errors as of tonight and there should be no more problems with the site being down.


-Mike

 
I am making a few changes to the database structure in preparing for the new Halo version. If you notice any problems with posts please contact talmage@usi-rpg.com

I am looking forward to being able to place the new system into use as soon as possible. There is a topic on the forums where you can suggest items you would like included in the new version.

-Mike

 
My apologies for the downtime, there was a change in the database structure and has caused a few errors within the Halo primary email processor, I am currentely working to resolve the issue and will notify you when Halo has returned.

-Talmage

 
Hello Everyone,

First of all I apologize for the Halo downtime. This downtime occurred from approximately 4:00PM MST to 11:00PM MST(GMT -7).

This downtime was caused by an unexpected change in how the database handles certain data types (I will not bore you with the technical details). When the database server was upgraded this caused Halo to view all accounts as "frozen" and caused it to not to send mail during the time frame mentioned above.

I have fixed the database to handle these values correctly. However, in converting the database to fix this error I was forced to reset the default list settings for all users.

What this means:

1. Hotmail users, if you had your list settings set to make it so you could receive your own posts, you will have to set the option back to have posts sent from the list address.
2. If you had selected to use the signature you provided, you will have to go back into list settings and set use signature to yes again.
3. If you had selected to not receive mail from certain lists, you will have to go back into list settings and select that option again.

Once again, I am sorry for this downtime and any inconvenience it caused.

Please resend all posts sent from: 4:00PM to 11:00PM MST (Gmt -7)

If you notice any further errors with receiving posts, please contact Talmage@usi-rpg.com immediately so I can resolve the issue.

-----

I thank you all for your understanding as I continue to develop the Halo system.

Mike Thompson

-aka-

Talmage
USI Game Systems Programmer
USI Systems Administrator


-Talmage

 
If you hadn't noticed, there are some new games to play in the Arcade section in Tryst Commons! I am in the process of doing more, and overall there will be 14 new games in the next few months. Look for Space Slots to return soon!

-Christine

 
We have removed the Attribute feature of the new character system. This is an effort to give more flexibility with the characters. We also have noticed that with all the revisions we COULD make to the attribute section, none would ever fully be able to describe the vast diversity of characters which we already have.

-Kriss

 
Thank you to those who alerted me of the fact that you were not receiving messages, I have found the problem and it should be corrected now. As always, please email: talmage@usi-rpg.com if you are having troubles getting posts.

-Talmage

 
For those of you who use the USI IRC server, you will have to re-register your nickname when you connect, the nickserv database was accidentely reset.

For those of you who dont use IRC, please come join us!!

You can use the chat applet located to the left of this article, by clicking on the chat room link or you can follow the link below for a demo on how to setup a windows IRC client!

http://www.usi-rpg.com/cina/chat.shtml

-Mike

 
From approximately 11:30PM Jan 22 -> 1:20PM Jan 23 we had a bit of downtime. The cause was an corrupted Lilo and Missing Kernel which was caused by an inadvertant reboot of the server to refresh some unresponsive services. At this time some critical updates were being addressed and were not allowed to finish. The downtime has been resolved and services are back up and running.

If you have sent any email during the last 24 hours which have not yet been recieved, please resend those posts.

Thank you.

USI Server Administration
- Kriss Orton
- Mike T.

-Kriss

 
As you may have read from the Enzign, we have had some abuse in Tryst Commons. One of the methods we are going to start to use to help deter those wishing to abuse the system is employ verbose logging of all tryst commons activity. Accounts who are seen abusing Tryst Commons will have their inventory wiped and their credits depleted.

-Kriss

 
I am glad to announce to the members of USI-RPG that you may advertise your RPG on the USI and RPuniverse.com website for free. If you are interested, please email seccour@usi-rpg.com with the subject "RPG Exposure". You must have some webspace to host a banner and a site to link to.

-Kriss

 
With the introduction of new admirals, we have decided to mix the fleet up a bit to help players get involved with different admirals and other players. Admirals will be assigned to new task forces and ships within task forces will also be mixed up abit. With this change, we are also announcing the retirement of the USI Stealth, to be replaced by the USI Englanand. The Stealth will still be used by admirals on the Tryst Ops list. Terra Nova is also being put into retirement, and being moved to the RPUniverse.com RPG Hosting site. Terra Nova will return to its original setting of Star Trek's Baku. Players who are currently on that list may remain. The rest will be related to the USI Axater, a hope class (medical) vessel.
The date is set for these changes to take place on February 28th.

-Kriss

 
We have made a typo in the name of one of our new ships, it shows USI Englanand when it should be USI Eglanand. We apologize for the confusion.

-Kriss

 
USI,
The fleet reorganization is finished, and it seamed to go over pretty smoothly i must say. Below is the listing of the new setup. Note that the Academy Fleet/Task force did not change. There was no reason to considering its purpose.

Fleet Force One - Christine
Task Force Academy - Christine
Orton, Miller, Bateman, Gibson, Means, Brower

Fleet Force Two - Kriss
Task Force Alpha - Quelthar (Super QT)
Eglanand, Storm, Stingray

Task Force Beta - Leya
Zion, Pheonix, Avalon

Fleet Force Three - Kealan Sells
Task Force Delta - Kealan Sells
Chaos, Guardian, Core Station Zeta, Remex

Task Force Kappa - Neliah Fitzhugh
Galaxia, HeXaN, Adumar, Axater


-Kriss

 
I'd like to welcome USI's newest Admiral, Star Admiral Daeja West. She will be commanding Task Force Delta, comprised of CSZ, Chaos, Remex, and her previous post as Captain, the Guardian.

Congratulations

-Kriss

 
USI will be getting a slight upgrade in its uplink services. WE are getting an upgrade from our current T1 line to a 8MB DS3 connection. Because of the change of our actual uplink provider, we expect sometime within the next few weeks to have some downtime extending as little as two hours or more. We anticipate a smooth transition, so hopefully this downtime will be minimal. If you have any questions, please contact info@usi-rpg.com.

Thank you,

-Kriss

 
We are going to be moving the server to a different location to take advantage of a newer, faster connection. Friday, APril 23rd in the morning is when it will take place. We hope that downtime will not occure for more than a few hours. Thank you for you patience in this transition.

USI Administration

-Kriss

 
As some of you may have noticed, there may be a few troubles connecting to the site, irc, or sending email. The USI administration is aware of the issue and is working to get these address troubles resolved as soon as possible. Please pass this information on to any other players you may know who cannot connect to the site, irc, or send email.

A message will be posted here and in the forums as soon as the issue is resolved.

Thank you for your understanding,

-Talmage

 
The server link change went over mostly as planned, at least server side. We are still ironing out some details regarding the DNS situation ( This is why when you type in irc.usi-rpg.com it doesn't work sometimes ) and its mostly been cleared up. I would expect everything to be nice and peachy within the next 36 hours. If you send a post and it doesn't go through, please be patient for the time being. Likely your Email provider will keep trying to send your post for thier own specified duration ( usually a week .)

Thanks!

USI Admin

-Kriss

 
After many hours of work on the issue that caused USI addresses to not resolve correctly Kriss has managed to get the addresses back in working order. You should all be able to contact the list server now and browse the USI websites.

If you have any troubles contacting the list server or the website please contact info@usi-rpg.com

Thank you for your understanding,

-Mike

 
We are pleased to announce the promotion of Captain Vile Cuckoo to Star Admiral. He will be placed as Task Force Commander of TF Alpha. I know that TFA will be gratefull to have an Admiral finally they can call their own.

We are also pleased to announce our newest Ship, the USI Onaqui, a Providence Class ship. Her Captain and TF are TBA.

-Kriss

 
The Halo list service will be down until further notice.

One of the hard drives in the primary USI web server failed today causing various utilities USI uses, including Halo, to fail.

The USI Administration is working as quickly as possible to get all services restored.

We thank you for your patience and understanding,

-USI Administration

 
Don't forget to join us for the Birthday chat in the chat room today at 5:00 pm MST. There will be games and prizes to win!

-Christine Orton

 
USI's Birthday bash in the IRC room was a huge success. We had quite a few people join the room and lots of prizes were given out like a Poison Death Orb and an Unlimited Health Potion just to name a few. Marina won the Money Wheel and walked away with over 1000 Credits. THere were many other winners of the games ( some totally over 2500 Credits ) and we were glad to see those that came. Next year, plan on this again and hopefully we plan to have more!



-Kriss

 
We are pleased to announce the arrival of one of our new servers and its just about ready to go. After a few more tweeks and modifications, we will begin the process of moving the USI site and services over to this new system. This new system features triple the Ram and 6 times the speed. :) We will naturally post information in regards to the move.

-Kriss

 
Fleet Announcement for USI-RPG

We are excited to announce the promotion of Admiral Kealan Sells to Fleet Admiral currently played by Duncan, whom many of you are already familier with. He currently resides over Fleet Force Three and with his promotion will assume command of the Corps ( Fleet Force 1, 2 and 3.) Duncan has also accepted the NRPG promotion as Head Administrator over the RPG services. We would all like to congradulate him on this achievment and provide him our support in this task he will be undertaking.

What does this mean for you ? What happened to Kriss and Christine ?

First things first. This means for you continuation of game play and services that are provided currently. No doubtably Duncan will make some changes to the game and its policies and we ask that you respect these changes and cooperate with him fully. Problems in game, RPG or otherwise must continue to be done through the chain of command, captains, their TFC, and then High Command ( Duncan .) Other questions which don't pertain to playing the game may also be brought to him. Please use the address info@usi-rpg.com to contact him unless he gives you a different address.

Kriss and Christine are still apart of the game, however in different capacities to help allow the game grow more effectively and provide better support and services.

Kriss will be concentrating on universe development and details. If you have questions in regards to the universe, technology, factions, etc feel free to contact him at his usual email address. He will also be concentrating on Services which USI provides such as email, IRC, Website, lists, etc. These are the services which the game relies on to run smoothly and do require time and maintainance. Questions about these may also be directed towards Kriss.

Christine will still be maintaining Tryst Commons and its associated system.

She will remain as the main site programmer for forms and databases. If you have any questions in regards to these specifically then feel free to contact her. Remember, the RPG administration will have no say as to consequences for CHEATING in tryst commons.

Some Questions that may be brought up :

Does this mean the game was sold to Duncan ?

No. The RPG administration role was offered to duncan to help maintain the game longevity and increase its capacity to grow. It is still owned by Kriss and Christine.

Does this mean the Universe was sold ?

No. Kriss still maintains copyright ownership over the universe and its trademarks.

Sincerely,

The USI-RPG Administration and USI Admiralty


-The USI-RPG Admiralty

 
As part of the our effort to provide the best expereince and keep up with technology, USI-RPG.com has published our SPF records. We realize we are about 5 months late however the information for the SPF RFC was just barely made known. Hopefully this should help clear up some email troubles which have been experienced.

-Kriss

 
WE recently did an update to the forums. We moved the forums and their database over to our new server. From our end everything seams to be working okay. If you end up with missing posts, its because you posted after our database move and your DNS had not yet recieved our changes to the system ( Means you were using the old server to post the message instead of the new one because your ISP didn't know we moved yet. )

Please just redo what you did that is missing to fix the problem.

If you notice any critical errors while using the new forums, also please let us know so we can fix the problem. We will need EXACT details to correct your issue, so what you were doing and the exact error message ( Copy and paste into email please. )

Thank You!

- USI Administration

-Kriss

 
We apologize the extended server down time. The situation has been resolved and both servers are now back online and running great.

We ran into a problem where one of our powersupplies went out and we didn't have a replacement immediately on hand. This has been fixed and the powersupply has been replaced.

We thank you for your patience in this matter. If you notice any posts that you sent during the last 36 hours, and you don't see it within the next 24 hours, please try resending that post.

-Kriss

 
As you may have noticed not everything on the site is functioning as it once was. We have currently moved our web services to another server and so we are still hammeringout the paths and bugs with this move. Most of the functionality of the site should be still there so don't fret. We are working on it.

Thanks!

-Kriss

 
We are still suffering from a few miner DNS issues which are the result of our server keeping time differently than our other server which causes the records to drop until they are syncronized properly. This issue has been addressed and should be resolved now.

Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.

-Kriss

 
Many of you have noticed that we have updated the Ranking structure in USI. The old list and new list are available at Here

These may be considered SUGGESTED rank equiveleents, however your new rank IS entirely dependant on your captain.



-Kriss

 
This is for users of Yahoo Mail Users. It appears their servers are having some internal resource problems for email accounts and may be rejecting email (it will be resent again.) Because of yahoo's problem, you likely will be missing email's from the lists. Its Strongly advised to use the Halo Web interface or you may request a gmail account from my self ( Just send me an email to seccour at usi dash rpg dot com ) and i'll hook you up.

-Kriss

 
We have completed a small and brief rewrite of the email list sender in hopes that we are able to get email from the lists to your mail box more effeciently, especially given the troubles that hotmail and yahoo seam to be having lately. WE would like to thank talmage for this patch!


-Kriss

 
We are aware of a new issue in regards to Gmail. Members of lists who use a gmail account will recieve email however may find that their posts never get to the server or end up with the body missing. We are looking into this and hope to have a idea of whats going on in the near future.

-Kriss

 
It appears that Gmail may have changed how their web form email composer structures the mail, though we cannot confirm this. There are two Methods of working around this. The first is to the use Halo to post your emails. The second is if you use Gmail as a pop, meaning you use Outlook Express, ThunderBird or other Pop Enabled client, to use this and your emails will work just fine. We are looking into compensating for the change of Gmail's composer so that you may use their normal web interface again.

Thank you for your patience in this.

-Kriss

 
I have found a cool little program for us to use so you can add in your requests / wishes for USI-RPG programming staff to do.

the URL is

http://players.usi-rpg.com/wishlist/index.php or click [URL=http://players.usi-rpg.com/wishlist/index.php]Here[/URL]

Username is players
password is players

DO NOT REGISTER.

Login in on this account to add your wishes.

IN the notes field, PLEASE for the love of USI, add in your NAME and EMAIL ADDRESS so we can contact you if we have questions about trying to fullfill your request. :D

DISCLAIMER: WE will soley choose what wishes we try to do and what we don't. Not all wishes will be fulfilled. Some wishes will be immediately rejected, and you will not be contacted about this rejected. This tool is to help make sure your requests are not forgotten. Do not abuse the tool or spam it or anything like that. I will delete any users other than the USI account and my admin account.

:D

-Kriss

 
Maintaince Downtime will be expected this SATURDAY between 1-6PM, MST. Durnig this time the server will be unavailable. The server itself is not going through any maintainance, rather one of the main network links is. I will be upgrading this link to handle more bandwidth.

Thank you.

-Kriss

 
The upgrade on the backlink which our server uses was complete. Everything should be back to normal now.

-Kriss

 
We experienced a power outaged which caused an unexpected downtime. The downtime lasted for approx. 4 hours and the server came back online when the power was restored. Thank you for your patience. If you notice your post not going through, please resend.

-Kriss

 
I have added a Image Gallery which shows images that have been created for USI-RPG over the past 8 years. There is a link on the home page or you can click Here

-Kriss

 
Kay has been added to our Art Gallery Community Albums. Look there to see what art she creates inspired by USI!

-Kriss

 
With World of Warcraft becoming more and more popular its only natural that many of our players are playing the great game and would like to play with other USI players.

USI-RPG has chosen the server " Frostmourne" as the server in which USI players should go to meet. Its a new Oceanic Server so it should be good for both US and International players. We have also chosen to play as the Allied faction. If there is a desire for a Horde Play server we will find another one to play on for those Horde enthusiasts. After enough players are playing on Frostmourne, we will create a USI guild for chat and what not. :D

Hope to see everyone there!

-Kriss

 
The lists, website, and forums will be going down for extended maintenance. This may extend several days and we do not have an estimated time of bringing them back up. If you have any questions, please contact Kriss at seccour@nebonet.com

Players, if you have a @players.usi-rpg.com email address this will be unavailable indefinitely.

We are sorry for the inconvenience and hope to have all game services back and fully operation as soon as possible.



-Kriss

 
Some of the Maintainance isn't finished however most USI-RPG.com Services should be working and functional. As you can see the forums have been restored and are working as intended. I will notify you when we work on the rest of the maintainance as it will directly effect web and list services. We will be waiting on some additional hardware to complete this maintainance.

Questions may be directed at seccour@nebonet.com

-Kriss

 
We have recently decided to move from the ancient but great software of IPB to one which will last us longer. Since IPB is no longer free, we have decided to move to SMF. SMF is free and will allow us to recieve new developments.

You may locate the new forums at http://forums.usi-rpg.com/smf/index.php

The old forums were converted and so if you find any thing strange please let us know. Thank you!

-Kriss

 
Since this seams to have cropped up again...

In Gmail web based email when composing an email to send to the lists, you need to use PLAIN TEXT formatting, not RICH TEXT. There is a problem with their rich text and it never makes it to the server for some reason (it doesn't even make it to the server...)

This is a gmail issue and not USI / Halo. Just use plain text or a normal email client.

-Kriss

 
Added Unisec Corp (USC) to the faction database. We have starting details and plan to expand in the near future.

-Kriss

 
THe Halo Login has been fixed however we are still hearing some reports about inability to login. This is actually due to a caching of the DNS being stale and not updated to our new webserver. Give it another day and it should start to resolv correctly.

-Kriss

 
I have finally found time to restore the USI Gallery. Enjoy!

-Kriss

 
IIR's have been fixed by christine for compatibility with the new server. Please let ME know if you encounter problems or post count inconsistancies. Thank you!

-Kriss

 
This IIR Period, I am going to be giving out extra Experience points to the ship which achieve the Top Posting Ship award. I will also give out points for the 1st and 2nd runner ups. These points are based on post count so will vary from ship to ship. Get a posting!

-Kriss

 
the NPC portion of the website as well as the ability to upload Bio pics have been fixed today. Please email me at seccour[at]usi[dash]rpg[dot]com if you encounter problems. Thanks!

-Kriss

 
Hopefully as our Summer vacations come to a close we can all get back into the posting of the game. What a better time than the birthday of USI ?? This year marks USI's 9 Year in Operation -- Thats right 9 whopping years. USI sure has the stamina to survive the .com boom, upstarts, and even people trying to take over the game illegally.

If you haven't checked out the USI Galactic map, now is a good time. I have a low res version of the map located at [url]http://www.usi-rpg.com/gallery/v/misc/newgalaxy_lowres.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=2[/url]. HOpefully this can help you with where you are at in the galaxy and what there is to do. The gallery also has pictures from our players as well as images of various things such as ships, hand held weapons, and technologies.

We have also introducted a few more unplayable bad guy Species which some small beginning descriptions on the website. To let you know whats on the Horizon, I've been working with a few players on developing a Cyborg add-on to the Character system which will allow for greater expansion to Cyborg skills without being so vague and bland with mere abilities. Release date for the system is not yet determined, but anyone is allowed to make suggestions to my forum inbox.

Happy posting and Happy birthday USI!

-Kriss

 
PDD is now an open forum, available for everyone to participate in for discussion and input on Technology Reviews. PDD participates in the USI Forums, if you do not have a Forum username and password, please let me know.

-Kriss

 
A power outage caused some extended downtime while we waited for utilties to restore power and then for use to reenable our systems. All the servers came up normally and do not appear to have any negetive Impacts. Thank you for your understanding.

-Kriss

 
I would like to announce and congratulate Captain Roland Selaht and Captain Teague Vates-McGraw on their promotion to Star Admiral. They will remain on their own ships as Commanding and Ranking Officers. They both have been found to be great leaderships in the game and already we are seeing their desire to serve in the game.



-Kriss

 
We apologize for the downtime last night. We were down from approximately 1AM to 9AM due to a inverter that suddenly started having problems. We have replaced the component and have restored services. Thank you.

-Kriss

 
We had a minor List server glitch last night. Everything is running and the lists are caught up. If you had sent in a post and have not seen it yet, it will likely come through soon. Please wait 24 hours before trying to resend your posts to avoid duplicates. Thank you!

-Kriss

 
So many have come to me asking how they can get rid of their writers block and really dive back into the universe.

So I thought I'd bring that discussion line, and rather ask you the players : What makes it hard for you to *not* post, why is it hard to post only 3 times a week ?

Email me at seccour (at) usi (dash) rpg (dot) com and I'll reward anyone who does with additional XP for their Character(s)

THink hard. I'll publish the results to hopefully help those who are in need of extra help in the posting dept.

-Kriss

 
I know many of you suspected this, but its been a great Ten Years. I've never would have expected the game and Universe to last this long, but it did. I know we've had a lot over the past few years, but some very important RL things have come up with make maintaining this PBEM RPG at this time Impossible.

There is always a chance that I'll open the game up. If you wish to be notified if we do so, please email me at Seccour@usi-rpg.com . Should that time ever happen, i'll let you know.

Lists will remain up and operational for the time being so that players may wrap up their posting, however the Halo List Service will be shutdown at the end of the month.

I want to thank everyone for making USI what it is, what it was, and all the fun and friends I made during the last ten years. I'm sure those close to me will keep in contact.

Thank you. Thank you ever so much.

-Kriss