Firstly, we'd like to apologise for the delay on this announcement.

Round 30
Signups will open at http://game.planetarion.com on Monday 12th January 2009 at 20:00 GMT, with ticks starting on Friday 23rd January at 20:00 GMT.

The round will last 10 weeks until Friday, 3rd April.

Buddy packs will remain at 5 members per buddy pack, with 2 "late joiners" allowed after tick 336. There will be a change to allow planets in protection to take advantage of this, so all reset planets in protection after tick 336 will also count as "late joiners".

The "counted" alliance limit will remain at 60, with the total alliance limit rising to 100. Because of this rise, the support planet rule will no longer be enforced.

We will be aiming to announce the new game features at a Creators Hour on Tuesday, 30th December at 20:00 GMT.

Havoc will be extended for a further week, until 20:00 GMT on Friday 2nd January.

30-second speedgames with private galaxies will be ongoing in their 2 day 'loops' (1 day game, 20 hour havoc, reset, 4 hour downtime...) - visit http://speedgame.planetarion.com for more information.

Public beta testing will also be aimed at starting in January, with 20:00 GMT on Wednesday 14th January the aimed public beta signup time.

Merry Christmas to you all :)