Welcome Comrades to the 63rd edition of the Dispatch
I hope you all are enjoying your casual battle royales! Behind the scenes, the other Executives and I have been hard at work preparing for the big release next issue! "What's that?" you ask? Well, you'll just have to wait and see!
safariguy5 has a Mess Hall brimming with fine articles, including the new series, "JD's Hot List", and the return of DoomYoshi's "Random Game Analysis", plurple debuts with his first brief article in War Games, koontz fills up another Cartographic Surveillance with hippo's return on the horizon, and Leehar's back to introduce this issue's Platoon Report with skillfusniper33, QuikSilver, and DJoach! But first things first!
Our Subscriber of the Issue this issue is [player]barterer2002[/player]! PM me a new name that is under the "ConquerClub Dispatch Team" heading and the medal is all yours!
And what about that little contest we did last issue? Let's see who won...
The winner of the Phony Paragraph contest is...
[player]L M S[/player]!
Congrats on your 3 months of premium and General Achievement Medal! (To be awarded soon)
And congrats to our runners-up who will also be receiving General Achievement Medals: [player]Ffraid[/player] (2nd), [player]barterer2002[/player] (3rd) (Wow! 2 medals in 1 issue!), and [player]DoomYoshi[/player] (4th)! There were still two more medals up for grabs, but only 4 players answered correctly!
Enjoy the fruits of our laboring fingers!
[player]Victor Sullivan[/player] Chief Executive
P.S. I've taken a break from Ask A Mod! this issue. It will be back next, however! Feel free to ask me more questions in the meantime
If you would like to apply to join the news team, please visit the thread below for more details!
Exciting things are happening in Freestyle this issue. The mafia forum is organizing a Mafia Awards to honor the best mods, players, and other general scummy characters who frequent our forums.
We also welcome [player]Jdsizzleslice[/player] to the team! He's kicking off a new column about hot topics, which will become an every issue article.
Finally, we have a special double interview with OT poster extrordinaire Quirk and his Wife. 2 interviews for the price of 1!
[spoiler=Interrogation of Quirk and Quirks Wife]Q. Are you just the same person pretending to be a married couple to escape the multi banning system? Quirk: She won four out of the first five games she played against me. If she's my multi I'd say I'm doing it wrong. Quirks Wife: No.
Q. How do you fit your obsession with CC into your daily lives? We aren't crazy about Facebook or any other forums. We only play a few games at a time. So it's easy to get our daily dose of CC. She's on during the day while I'm at work and I'm on later at night. It just sort of fits in there.
Q. So quirk's wife, I (betiko) heard you liked scrabble? She's too good at Scrabble. That's why I had to get her into CC. Yep. Current rating 1287.
Q. Quirks: Why do you both rarely venture outside of the Off Topics forums? I browse through the other forums but I usually don't have anything to add. Only the most important things draw me away.
Q. You seem more involved in the forums than games...what types of topics do you enjoy the most? I like threads about current events. I don't have time to filter through all the crap in the news these days. The regular CC posters provide some informative links. As for games - We've been more active in the last few months. The amount of time I spend in each varies. I mostly read the forums. Give me an AoG thread any day.
Q. Do you all discuss Conquer Club at the dinner table? Often. We eat as soon as I get home from work. So I always ask "What's up in CC?" Of course.
Q. Do you find it amusing that only a select few have figured out your real IDENTITY? It's always funny to see how new posters in the longest thread react to me.
Q. How has Conquer Club impacted your marriage, if at all? It always helps to have something we can share. I can't see that it's really made a difference one way or another.
Q. What do you enjoy most about Conquer Club? It doesn't take as much time as some of the games I used to play when I was single. It allows me to have some gaming time without neglecting my family. The false idol worship.
Q. Do you prefer to play against your spouse or on a team with your spouse? On a team. When we play together we play in games where all the players know each other. I enjoy a good game against the spouse.
Q. Do you suppose Quirk Jr. will ever make a CC account to complete the CC Quirk family? He's only three but he sees us taking our turns so he pretends to take his turn. It's only a matter of time. Of course.
Q. What is your favorite forum game? The Song Game, of course. I like The Song Game. I can post as many Todd Rundgren songs in there as I want.
Q. What is your favorite longest thread, thread post? strike wolf and I used to talk a lot about music in the longest thread. I posted a list of my favorite concerts in 2008. It was a lot of fun going through all my old concert tickets. It's lame to choose one of my own posts as my favorite but it took some time to make the list. Some of my old tickets where in bad shape.
1. Jimmy Page/Robert Plant - The Omni - Atlanta, GA March 1, 1995 2. The Who - Lakewood Amph - Atlanta, GA August 8, 1989 3. Fishbone/Primus - Georgia State Univ - Atlanta, GA Nov 27, 1991 4. R.E.M. - The Fox Theatre - Atlanta, GA Nov 27, 1987 5. The Smashing Pumpkins - 40 Watt Club - Athens, Ga August 8, 1992 6. Pearl Jam/Follow for Now - Legion Field - Athens, GA April 16, 1992 7. Lollapalooza (Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Living Colour, Nine Inch Nails, Ice-T with Body Count, The Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band) Lakewood Amph - Atlanta, GA August 18, 1991 8. Bob Dylan - Classic Center - Athens, GA Oct 28, 1997 9. Pink Floyd - Bobby Dodd Stadium - Atlanta, GA May 4, 1994 10. Rush/Primus - The Omni - Atlanta, GA March 4, 1992 11. U2 - Georgia Dome 7th row - Atlanta, GA Sep 25, 1992 12. The Allman Brothers Band - Macon City Auditorium - Macon, GA Dec 28,1991 13. Digable Planets - Georgia Theatre - Athens, GA May 25, 1993 14. Mötley Crüe/Guns N' Roses - The Omni - Atlanta, GA Nov 20, 1987 15. Outkast - Legion Field - Athens, GA April 18, 2001 I used to enjoy targetman's newsletters. Where are you, targetman?
Q. What is it like living in Athens, Georgia? Mild climate, good sports and food, with a variety of music and art. I love Athens. I've lived here for twenty years. I hope to raise my son here. It's one of the more liberal towns in Georgia. It's really great. I'll never leave.
Q. Do you spend a lot of time training your hair to stand up like that? I wake up with some version of that hairstyle every morning. This is obviously not a question for me as I have perfect hair.
Q. Have you eaten at Weaver D's? Because it was closed when I (macbone) was there. Weaver D is one creepy dude. I prefer Wilson's Soul Food. Mom's Kitchen was my favorite before she retired. I have not ever eaten at Weaver D's. I hear that guy's kinda creepy.
Q. What's your favorite place for music in Athens? The Georgia Theatre Hands down the 40 Watt Club. Some people like The Georgia Theatre.
Q. Best restaurant? Kelly's Wings an' Tings or The Taco Stand I have eaten at a lot of pretty good places in Athens, The Grit being among them, but I must say that a brisket taco from Taco Del Sol on Prince Ave. is the best thing I've had lately.
Q. Best college team in the city? My alma mater UGA Go Dawgs!
Q. Favorite bulldog statue? The one at Quirk Jr's favorite park. I like the Banker in front of Athens First Bank and Trust in downtown Athens. He looks spiffy with his pocket watch.
Q. Do you play fleet strategy games? Axis & Allies War at Sea. That's my Japanese fleet in my sig. I don't know what that is.
Q. What other strategy games do you play? I've been playing strategy games since the early 80's. I occasionally still play Magic and Axis & Allies Miniatures. I've been in the mood for chess lately. Magic the Gathering
Q. If you were to join a clan, which one would it be? Whichever one would have me. The sacrilegious one. Is there one of those?
Q. What's your favourite thing to do at Christmas? Surprise someone with an unexpected gift. I really enjoyed playing the Christmas map on CC.
Q. Who's better at CC? The original board game? I'd say we are about even at CC. We haven't played the original against each another. I have more experience but she's a natural. Quirk got me into this, so I'll have to say he's probably better. I have beaten him plenty of times on CC. We've never played the RISK board game together. I think I played it once in the 90's. I won that game. We have the Axis and Allies Miniatures, but we haven't played with them in awhile.
Q. Do you actually have any quirks? Do you, for instance, insist on walking down the stairs backwards or anything like that? My name is Sean Quirk. It's an Irish name. My father's parents met on the boat coming over from Ireland in the 1920's. I don't have any specific quirks but I have my own odd way of doing things. Of course it doesn't seem odd to me but people seem to think the name is fitting. I have Tourettes Syndrome, so I'm a bit more ticky than quirky.
Thanks for your time![/spoiler]
Hello again my friends, and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments!
The big news in the Tournaments World is the combination TO of the Year/Tournament Primes contest. The Primes are the CC equivalent of the Oscars, and the name "Primes" is in honour of [player]Optimus Prime[/player], the "godfather" of CC tournaments. If you've played in a tournament this year which struck you as being particularly memorable, I suggest you drop by the nomination thread and nominate it!
[spoiler=some details about the nominations]Because there is still some confusion about this, I want to help clear it up. What you are nominating is a specific tournament, not a tournament organiser. Within each category, there will be Bronze, Silver and Gold Primes handed out based on the tournaments nominated. Although the contest is called "TO of the Year" you are not nominating the TO directly. A TO will automatically be considered nominated if one of his tournaments wins a Golden Prime.
For a complete list of the categories, the eligibility rules, and the nomination process, please read the first post in the contest thread. To find the contest thread, click at the bottom of this sign: Still looking for nominations! >>> Nominate your favorite tournaments now![/spoiler] Now, on to our regular features.
This issue is absolutely chock-full of tournament how-to stuff! [player]Sensfan[/player] and [player]DaveH[/player] have launched a new idea: co-ordinated articles about the same type of tournament. Sensfan, in his "World of Possibilities" series, will discuss the basic layout and the pros and cons of various tournament formats. DaveH, in his "Tournament Tips" series, brings his spreadsheet genius to bear on that format and shows you how to keep the scoring process smooth and efficient.
Also in this issue [player]plurple[/player] brings you "Dodging Bullets" about avoiding some of the pitfalls of tournament organising, Sensfan continues the "TPA Wrap" and [player]NoSurvivors[/player] takes over "Join This? Or Not!" which is now our longest continually-running series!
Tournament Tipsby DaveH [spoiler=Round Robin Scoring]Sensfan is covering Round Robin type tournaments in this edition, where everyone plays each other, perhaps just one game on a neutral map or two games on a home and away map, with points allocated as required. This article adds a few hints at managing these types of tournaments.
The simplest way is to use Challonge or Leaguerepublic sites to do the hard work for you - just update the game results on the sites and the results table is updated automatically - with a handy link that you put in your tournament thread. One hint if you use these sites is that, when you update the results also update your thread in some other way, say round number. Otherwise after a number of rounds, it may be flagged up as an abandoned tournament!
Alternatively, you may want to publish the league table using your own spreadsheet. Refering to the league table that is in Sensfan's article: This has a list of players and their number of wins and draws. Of course, we can't draw a game in CC, so let's assume that only one game is played on a neutral map. The points column of your spreadsheet therefore has the code of "= pointsperwin x number of wins".
If two games are played, one on a home map and the other on the away map, then there is a point for a home or away win plus a bonus point for winning both. The points are therefore 0 for two losses; 1 point for each player for winning one game each and 3 points for winning on both maps. The code for your spreadsheet for the points is therefore:
which gives 1 point for a 1-1 draw and 3 points for a 2-0 result.
Of course, as Sensfan says, the possibilities are endless - limited only by the scope of your imagination! They can get as realistic as you want (depending on how much work you want to put into your tournament!); for instance flexmaster33's "Major League Soccer 2011" viewtopic.php?t=139081has teams of 3: The forward player plays 3 games against the opponents back player and the midfield players play 4 games. The team then plays 1 game to determine the goalie's point! Of course there are home and away maps apart from the team game. Fantastic!
Other Round Robin formats may have points awarded according to other factors. For instance, in terminator games such as trinicardinal's "Trini's Terminator Tournament (TTT)" tournament, the points are recorded according to the termination sequence: viewtopic.php?t=157017.
But there are so many variations on awarding points that you can be as creative as you like! I have tried awarding points equal to 15 minus the round number (so as to to award fast finishes!) and also the CC points that a player gained when winning. All in all, the points are whatever your imagination can come up with - and the game format can be as simple or as complex as you like - proving that you already have planned how you are going to update it - otherwise it can be become quite a burdon to update.
(These "tips" are ones that I have tried to make it a bit easier in managing my own tournaments. I am sure there are many different and better methods than these, so please let me know. Any queries on the above I'll be glad to respond to!)[/spoiler] Dodging Bulletsby plurple
Welp, this is my last issue of deja vu for the Foundry section! thehippo8 should be back on duty next issue Anywho, koontz returns with his "Foundry News" and "What's Where in the Foundry" series - enjoy!
It's been a busy start of the clan year, with the commencement of the 4th edition of the highly acclaimed Clan League with games set to start imminently. With just short of 40 clans participating to make this likely the biggest and best Season yet, it's sure to be a cracker! In aid of that, we'll also be looking for reporters to take on the challenge of reporting on events underway in the different divisions of the League, so if you're interested in documenting the journey of your clan in the quest for League glory, shoot us a pm and get a free GA medal for your efforts!
We've also had a changing of the guard at the helm of the Clan Directorship, so please Welcome Bruceswar as Head CD as he replaces fellow clan member and leader [player]Masli[/player] who resigns to take some time back for himself after the drains of modship.
Stay Tuned for the next issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch for an interrogation of [player]dhallmeyer[/player]. Post any questions you may have for them here --> Interrogation with dhallmeyer
Submitting Your Own Articles
If you have a story you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to [player]Victor Sullivan[/player] and you may just see your article published in the Newsletter!
Subscription
Did you enjoy this Issue? Have you subscribed to the Newsletter yet?
If you want each and every issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch delivered right into your Inbox, then Subscribe Here!
“In the beginning God said, the four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric, second rank tensor equals zero, and there was light, and it was good. And on the seventh day he rested.”- Michio Kaku
