Contest: AE You Tube invasion!

Hi guys!

Hot on the heels of the success of the Astro Empires Everywhere contest we've decided to give you all another chance to get those creative juices going! Today we're launching the AE YouTube invasion!

The rules of war are simple, we want you to make a video that is AE themed and post it on YouTube and/or Blip. What type of video you ask? Well the universe is the limit! Video journals about server ongoings, game reviews, guild propaganda, war declarations, video guides for AE, AE themed pranks / humour are just a few examples of what you can start with.

As per AE Everywhere we will be posting the best selection of videos on the blog as we get them to allow everyone to enjoy. We'll be handing out literally years worth of upgrades in prizes so dust off those video editing programs and get started!

Some Guidelines:
* Entries are to be sent to 'community@astroempires.com'
* Emails should include a link to the posted video, not the video itself
* Entries should be no shorter than 1 minute
* Entries must be AE themed.
* Astro Empires must be part of the videos title
* The videos description must have a link to Astro Empires website (Maybe your referral link? ;-))
* Please include your server, username and game ID when entering
* We will be confirming you are the owner of the video when entering so please don't claim you made a video you didn't!
* Please keep entries clean, I don't want to hear Xaman shouting 'Won't someone please think of the children!'

* The best entries will be posted on the blog
* Entries will close on April 30th
* The results will be announced in early May

AE Tumble Weed

Hi guys, it’s been another of those quiet weeks here at HQ. Everyone has their heads down and is working on advancements to the game, tweaks and the new ship images so not that much to report. In game news however there have been a few edits to the new player tutorial, details on the forums. Helion has also expanded to include the H50-59 cluster.

In other news Ikari has just booked his flights to head out to HQ this coming October. He'll be sure to post a few pic's of the sunshine to make you all jealous like last year!

On the forum's artwork section Hawk Light has shared a pretty epic re-imagining of the AE logo. I thought I would share it with you guys!


That's all for this week guys, till next time, adeus!

Belenus Interview (cont)

Hi guys,

As promised, though belated here is the second part with Forum Global Moderator Belenus!


How did you join the Astro Empires team?

Following one of the many server wars on Alpha, the AE team began looking for a new local moderator to handle the overwhelming job of cleaning up Alpha P&W. Nereus had become to busy in real life to handle the drama that had arisen during that particular war. So I submitted an application and was chosen to be the new moderator.

It's a regular occurrence for the word 'bias' to be thrown about on the forums. When these accusations are made how to do you deal with it?

Well, I was the target of a large number of bias accusations during the most recent Alpha server war because I was a well known and high ranking member of one of the two sides. It got to the point were certain players from the other side decided to "punish" my actions by mass reporting numerous posts on the forums in protest of one of my decisions. However, in recent weeks those same players have started to realise that I was merely doing my job and that it was nothing personal against them.

My usual reaction is to brush it off, so long as their responses do not violate the forum rules I ignore it, though I will keep a close eye on their posts to ensure they do stay within the rules. Even now on Fenix I get some accusations thrown my way because I warned a player for doing something but this other guy didn't get warned for something similar. Usually it's just a case of not seeing the other guy's post. People need to realise that we have to actually read the post before warning it, and with some boards it's nearly impossible to read every single post.

How do you feel the development of astro empires is going? Don't worry, you can be honest ^^

The game needs new content. Period. This is the most common complaint from people and as a Volunteer and Moderator I see a lot of these players repeating the same things they want to see happen. At the same time I also have a grasp of what it's like on the other side of the fence, and knowing that the development team consists of only two or three people gives me some understanding of why new content is so slow in being released.

Where did you get the idea for your forum persona?

Belenus is the Sun God of Celtic mythology, and the surname of a character I am working on for a novel.

Music, games, television or movies. Which steals the majority of your free time and why? If you could also share a few of your favs :D

Games definitely. Though I watch TV while playing computer games sometimes. I'd say my favorite computer games are at the moment Half-Life 2, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I also have a Wii and GCN because the Nintendo franchises like Mario and Zelda are quite enjoyable. I like to watch cooking shows also, the Food Network gets my attention a lot, and any sort of action movie is good.

Do you have any pets? If not what animal would you like as a pet?

Me and my girlfriend have two cats, both and black Bombays and are brother and sister. We adopted them from the humane society when they were about 5 months old. We are also looking after a third cat for my girlfriend's aunt while she is travelling. It's a Calico kitten that is about 6 months old now.

That's all for now guys, catch you Friday! Adeus!

Belenus Interview

Hi guys,

Its been a pretty quiet week here at AE HQ so I decided to have a sit down with one of our Forums Global Moderators, Belenus. For those of you unfamiliar with Belenus he is the chief moderator for the Fenix boards as well as having a tour of duty on the Alpha boards.

This is the first part of our interview with Belenus, catch the second part on Monday!


Tell us a little about yourself. Who is Belenus?

Well, as most people already know I am one of the few mods who has freely given up their secret identity. I play the Drake Colin Rene account on Alpha and have in the past played Ceti and briefly Delta. I am also Canadian, and I'm not 100% sure, but I may be the only Canadian moderator, even though there is a substantial player base from the great white north.

Could you give us an idea of what you do as part of the Astro Empires team.

My role is two fold really. As a Global moderator I am responsible for enforcing the rules across the entire forum and filling in where the Local moderators miss something or are unable to. As the Local Moderator for Fenix forums, it's my job to make sure the lolfeta politics don't overflow the forums and cause undue harm to the poor innocent players on the other servers. Clearly I was hand picked to contain their menace.

You originally joined the Astro Empires team as a local moderator, how did you become a global mod?

Ikari thought I was epik win and picked me? Seriously though the Global Moderator team was dwindling due to most of the original mod's retiring. With Ikari's promotion to Forum Admin they needed some new blood to help keep the forum from being swallowed up by those TTers. So me and Green were promoted to Global, though we still retained our positions as local mods of Alpha and Ceti respectively.

As we all know moderators are meant to keep their game identities secret to avoid a perception of bias, could you give us an idea of how challenging this is?

It's really not that challenging to keep it secret, it was more a personal choice to reveal my identity. However, having now revealed it, it does increase the amount of complaints directed at you. You make enemies in-game that will try to cast you as corrupt in your other roles in life regardless of whether you really are or not.

What other MMO's do you play? Which is your favourite?

Me and my girlfriend used to play World of Warcraft together however we both got bored of it. That's not to say we won't go back to it in the future but for now we have too many other things to worry about. I may eventually pick up a copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic when it is released also, it looks amazing and I have always been an avid Star Wars fan. However, I'd say AE is my favorite at the moment, though every so often things happen that make you want to stop playing, you eventually get past it.

If you could mod any other board which would it be?

I mod them all anyway? I wouldn't mind being the TT mod I guess, Sammael is too leniant...I'd just ban them all. <3

Is there anything else you would like to pass onto our readers?

Sure, follow the rules or I'll catch you, it'll be when you least expect it too, mostly because I'm lazy and don't react quickly anymore in my old age.

That's all for now guys, catch you Friday! Adeus!

New Blood at AE HQ!

Hi guys!

This week has been exciting at AE HQ where the team has been expanded once again. Our latest developer, Helder, will be assisting Luis with 3D modelling for the new ship images as well as other further reaching images and game promotional material.

We hope this will be the start of many new 3D features and developments in the game; watch this space for the inevitable interview and sneak peaks at his work before anyone else in the AE-verse!

In game news Wizard launched the games new tour to allow new users to get a peak at what the game will be like for them when they sign up. Why not have a look yourself?

That's all for this week guys till next time, Adeus.

AE Everywhere Omnibus

Hi guys,

As promised here is our final omnibus edition of AE Everywhere where we will show you all the entries we received for AE Everywhere. Enjoy!

Thanks to Catfud for these entries

Thanks to Mr.Craaazy for this entry

Thanks to Vile and Zyi for these entries

Thanks to Xeno for this entry