Victor Sullivan has apparantly been busy selling his best friend into slavery. Er, I meant to say, standing beside his buddy while he sells himself into slavery. Oh screw it! I mean he's Best Man at his buddy's funeral AARGH! goddamn autocomplete! (Yeah, blame it on the autocomplete. That always works!) His buddy's wedding!
So, while Victor is becoming inebriated, I get the joy of staying here and publishing the newsletter! And what a sublime joy it has been!
CC's resident Austrian School Economist, BigBallinStalin, faces your most erudite and incisive questions in the Interrogation Room. (No, I'm happy to say we did not have to use the toe clamps. Just a harmless bit of waterboarding! That was a blast!)
In the Mess Hall, DoomYoshi's brings us a (historically genuine) letter from the American Civil War, which gives plenty of food for thought about some of the moral implications of war.
The Office of Strategic Services is is now onto its second issue. The SoC's Official Ambassador, Viceroy63, has his second article in that section, while CJ Lues and WorldCup4James each have their first. A special thank-you to the hippo for editing that section this time around.
I won't say much about War Games, since I've already had my chance to speak in there. Just read it, will ya?
Cartographic Surveillance, as usual, accounts for more than 60% of the total volume of the newsletter (and according to some experts, possibly 33% of the total volume of Cyberspace -- believe it, or not!) Sometimes I wonder if koontz1973 is human or cyborg. Can any human consistently produce so much quality work?
Last but not least, another exciting Platoon Report, including a very special Valentines' Day edition of Hardballs. Fenrir's Hardballs has always been one of the most popular regular features in the newsletter, but I think this one will be even more so than usual.
Speaking of Master Fenrir, he is the Interrogation target for the next issue. You have a little time to put in your questions to him, so don't delay!
[player]Dukasaur[/player] Tournament Executive (acting for [player]Victor Sullivan[/player])Chief Executive
If you would like to apply to join the news team, please visit the thread below for more details!
Hello Freestylers. After a short hiatus, The Scum Insider is back with your mafia strategies, DoomYoshi brings us another Historical Perspective, and BBS is interviewed.
Q. Games or forums? BBS: FREEEEEEDDDOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Q. Why won't you accept my (john9blue) facebook friend request??
Q. Why did you choose the name Big Ballin Stalin? Is it an affinity for moustachioed dictators? In Soviet Russia, name choose YOU. omg, I love pistachios!
Q. Considering your anarcho capitalist ways, how do you feel about the olympics? If the state didn't take your money to support it, you could've spent that money on whatever you actually want. + Nationalism is teh best!
Q. Deregulated marketing? Fraudulent behavior should remain a crime. Lying that causes significant harm? No thanks, but that's about it.
Q. Does C+I+G+X give you a hard-on? If not, what economical phenomenon really gets the blood pumpin in the downstairs area? Spontaneous order, the creation and development of social orders (like institutions) without intentional design.
Q. Where is your favorite place to log on to CC? Top left of the screen.
Q. Who is your favorite Iowan? jefjef, of course!
Q. What is your favorite thread? I dunno. I usually have fun wherever.
Q. What is your most memorable game? Messing around.
Q. Why do I (jefjef) not have you foed? Cuz yous a retard.
Q. Who do you enjoy trolling the most? Why?
Q. What does BBS stand for? BigBallinStalin Stalin was a baller; you can't explain that!
Q. Why are you so knowledgeable about economics? I am? Reading and writing help!
Q. How did you settle on your username? Things pop up in my head, and I take them.
Q. Did you ever consider alternatives like ColossalCoconutKruschev? or LintasticLenin?
Q. Do you work out? I bike everyday; it accounts for 90% of my transportation. I used too lift weights to make funny faces in the mirror.
Q. Dostoevsky or Tolstoy? Never read either TBH.
Q. Are dices random? As randam as Nazi Grammars.
Q. What are your thoughts on the legalization of marijuana and it's effects on today's economy?
Less non-violent criminals in prison; back to contributing to the economy. More focus on violent crime for police officers. If you want to create jobs, value, gain-from-trade, etc., then stop prohibiting marijuana.
Q. Who does the best chicken little impression on CC? owenshooter, I think.
Q. Why is your ballin so big?
Q. What were you doing in Taiwan and what does it have to do with the American government? "Penetration testing."
Q. What is your favorite WWII Soviet tank?
Q. Do you play any other strategy games, e.g. Axis & Allies? I used to play Hearts of Iron 2 and stuff like that.
Q. Why weren't you Discussions Mod longer? It was cramping style.
Q. What would possess you to root for an NFL team as incompetent and unlikable as the Chicago Bears? I don't believe in ghosts, sir.
Q. Do you steal rolls? Lulz can't be stolen, only replicated!
Q. In snooker, if the red is blocking the pink would you pot the brown? I sink all the red balls because I hate communists. The colored balls have got it bad enough, so I leave them alone.
Q. Imagine the person you hate most in the world. if you could kill them, knowing with certainty that you have a 100% chance of getting away with it, would you commit murder I don't hate anyone that much.
Q. If you could confer immortality on five people (including retroactively) who would you choose? On myself, and the next 4 highest bidders.
Q. A bunch of my friends and I (tkr4lf) are getting together on Saturday for a good, old fashioned game of grab ass. Would you be interested? Ready.
Q. What's your view on religion(ie spirituality, organized religion, gods, usefulness and whatever the hell else)? You can believe whatever you want, so long as you're not going around hurting people (involuntarily). Suicide cults are fine with me; they filter out the most gullible and trusting of people.
Q. What's your view on the state(politics, economics, regulations, police, army, courts of law and whatever the hell else)? Politics: Limited government (city-state level) or none. Economics: Capitalism Regulations: To be determined by the individuals themselves. Common law is acceptable. Defense: I'm not sure. If you want to defend the "motherland," then fight or move someplace nicer. Police and courts: provided by the market. Not necessarily privatized because groups can be self-governing/self-organizing (see Governing the Common by Elinor Ostrum.
Q. WHO IS SAXITOXIN? Serbia's lover, whom Es despises vehemently.
Q. I will give you $100,000,000 provided you agree to live in either (a) Sweden, or, (b) Somalia, 11 months out of the year for the rest of your life. Do you take the money and, if so, which place do you choose to live? Why? I'd take the money, do research in Somalia, then leave whenever I wanted because you couldn't enforce the contract (the transaction costs would be too high).
Q. You may choose as a gift any one item that appears - at the time you answer this question - on the first two pages of the popular accessories blog uncrate.com. However, you may not sell this item or profit from it in any other way. What item do you choose and why? f*ck yea.
Q. Would you rather - for one year - move in with nietzsche or have nietzsche move in with you? You must choose one of these options. Come move in with me. Me and the fellas would have a good 'ol time. YEEEEEE HAWWW!!!!
Q. Have you ever earned beads in the French Quarter? Knowing that the correct answer is "Serbia", who do you think could earn more: you or Serbia? "Earned"? What is this, some social justice question? I'll outflash you any day of the week, lil Serbs.
Q. What is your opinion on communists and fascists? Misled.
Q. Top 5 favourite movies? Top 5 favourite books? Honestly, I don't have favorites. People ask me these questions, and I don't get it. Sometimes, I like this; other times, I like that.
Sorrrryyyyyy.
Q. Why do you choose to frequent this shithole forum? Gotta take a dump somewhere!
Q. Stormcloaks or Imperials? Both die by my blade!! I FIGHT FOR ME!!!! RAARRRRRHGGHHH!!!!!!
Q. Is your sister hot? Do you like CP?
Q. How many humans would you kill to save a baby seal? OH HO!!! THE TABLES HAVE FLIPPED!!! ZERO. Then I'd film the baby seal getting crushed, then I'd send you the link. Blarga harga haraga haraga harga har!
Q. How many baby seals would you kill to save a Dukasaur? 1000+ 10,000 or 100,000 depending on my opportunity costs.
Q. If I (TA1LGUNN3R) were to come over to your house, would you make me some genuine ma's recipe gumbo? None of that out-of-a-packet seasoning crap, but some real, spicy, been cooking all day long Cajun gumbo? Sure, TG!
Q. Now that you have gone freemium, are you going to try to become a mod again? HEARSAY!
Q. If you are making gumbo, do you know how to make a roux? Out of your bones.
Q. What's good in life? WAT living?
Q. How do you feel about follow-up questions?
Thanks for your time![/spoiler]
Well, great minds have great things to add. The first instalment of the Strategy Section was a humdinger, I'm sure you'll agree! Sully is having a day off, so it's your's truly stepping in. In this installment, [player]Viceroy63[/player] weighs in with that perennial question after the game begins: " ... egads! What now? " And it's an even bigger question when you have teammates! So [player]CJ Lues[/player] takes us for a spin in the quad dance! Finally, [player]WorldCup4James[/player] sees red and wonders whether that's an advantage in its own right!! But whether you follow these words of wisdom or not, remember the words of Napoleon Bonaparte when he said:
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
[player]thehippo8[/player] -- Foundry Executive
Not attacking on the first move; A point in particular.by Viceroy63
Hello again my friends, and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments!
After the mammoth War Games section that we produced for Issues 63 and 64, it is almost refreshing to have somewhat less material this time around...
Our most consistent and hard-working writer, DaveH, is back with another installment of his "Tournament Tips." This time, he tackles the issue of structuring your brackets for Double, Triple, and Quadruple Elimination tournaments. Sensfan gives us a roundup of this week's TPA news, and I finally get to unveil my interview with Swifte!
Tournament Tipsby DaveH [spoiler=Double, Triple and Quad Elimination Game Design]In the last newsletter, we covered double elimination tournaments and I mentioned the splendid triple elimination tournaments that Butters1919 runs. Well, he has kindly pointed me in the direction of information relating to the scientific design behind such tournaments. Whereas such tournament design may have originated for spectating tournaments, nevertheless many of the principles remain valid for CC.
* There are the obvious ones! In any multiple-elimination set-up, it must not be beneficial to lose a game in order to progress more easily via the loser stream! i.e. are there fewer games via the loser match-up stream?
* You want your tournament to flow so as to avoid any problem where the single player who comes out of the top (winner's) bracket does not play until a single opponent comes out of the bottom (loser's) bracket or brackets. i.e. to try to ensure that no player sits idle for more than one round.
* You want to try and avoid immediate replays and hope to limit how often two players meet up, although in the final stages this may be unavoidable.
* To meet the above, you may have players with different numbers of losses playing each other - and the possibility that a planned game includes a player who might have exceeded the allowed number of tournament losses! To get around this, there will be "if necessary" match-ups.
* You also may want to design multiple elimination tournaments to maintain ranked position match-ups so that the higher ranked players do not meet up until the final rounds.
Well, all these points are easier to consider looking at different types of tournaments that take these issues into consideration - and explain why they may look a bit strange at first! With thanks to Joe Czapski at tournamentdesign.org for his hard work on these and all the other designs available on his website and Butters1919 for his advice!
Let's start with a 4-player double elimination tournament in which the players are ranked from 1 to 4: Game 7 is only necessary if the winner from Game 4 loses in game 6, so has a second chance, as did his opponent. You might want to have this format of game for 4 groups of 4 individuals - the winners going through to a fifth "tree" and gaining a two more elimination "lives"! In this case you would divide the rankings between the 4 initial "trees" so that, in theory, the 4 highest ranked players have the opportunity to get through to the final. (I might even try this one in my next tournament!)
For an example of a triple elimination tournament, many of you will already be familiar with Butters1919 series of tournaments; this is one of his latest ones: [bigimg]http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/4277/tko17egyptnubia.jpg[/bigimg]Note how colour coding is used to clarify the number of eliminations.
An example of a 4-player quad elimination game: [bigimg]http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/401/tt654p4.jpg[/bigimg]Get's complex, doesn't it! However, you will see how the layout is designed to try and meet the above set of criteria. Anyone want to design a 16 player quad-elimination tournament??
(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] Meet the Tournament Winners: Swifteby Dukasaur [spoiler=interview with swifte]On December 1st of 2011, [player]Swifte[/player] has won his 14th Tournament Cup, with a victory in 313's 100th DE Tourney. This tourney ran from June 10th to December 2nd of this year, and was hosted by [player]merch313[/player]. I started an interview with him, but with all my many projects it got sidetracked, and while I was getting around to finishing it, Swifte went on a tear and won three more tournaments: 313's Unification of Italy, 313's Halloween Hallows Trips, and CC Beta 2011 Quads - Korea by [player]alstergren[/player]. Swifte now has 17 tournament cups.
So, Colonel Swifte, what attracted you to this tournament?
Sometime back in 2010, I wanted to start trying 1 v 1 tournaments, but single elimination always bothered me because 1 bad drop or 1 bad round of dice could eliminate you. Then I stumbled upon merch's Double Elimination series and I've been hooked since (now it takes 2 bad drops and/or 2 bad rounds of dice!). By the time this torney started (the 100th of the series) I had won 4 of them. Merch invited all those of us who had previously won multiple DE tourneys to pick a map for the first round (16 player double elimination bracket) of the 100th tourney. So between my history of playing merch's DE tournies, and the opportunity to get to pick a map for the first round, there was no way I was going to miss this one! You chose Portugal for your home map. Why Portugal?
Portugal was my favorite of the 4 maps I had already won merch's Double Elimination tourneys on, so I decided to stick to my guns and see if I would have the same success again. It's a fun little map, with a couple different relatively small bonuses, so the game play can shift from end to end and back again pretty quickly - if you don't know the map well it's easy to get fixated on the smallest bonus, and knowing this gave me a slight advantage.
Finishing round 1, the Portugal bracket proved to be the most memorable part. I defeated [player]Bruceswar[/player] in the semi-final game, sending him to the losers bracket, and awaited my Finals challenger. To no surprise, a game later back came Bruceswar, making the finals a rematch. I jumped out to an early lead, up 11 troops or so and holding a bonus, but Bruceswar stormed back and took me to the brink, at which point he declared in chat "gg! Revenge is mine!" and I quite agreed it was likely over. He then proceeded to lose about 11 armies on his next three turns, killing none of mine, and that was enough for me to have it won 3-4 turns later. We agreed he should star in an episode of "When Dice Completely and Utterly Fail" for that one. Always fun to comeback after someone's gg'ed you though, am I right?
Yes, I went and had a look at it (Game 9700140) and that is pretty amazing. Truly a legendary dice fail!
Your only loss in that tournament was Game 10163692. I was pretty startled to see you say in game chat that you've never played WWII Poland before. I thought you were exaggerating but I looked and that really is the only time you've played it! Pretty wild that in 1000 completed games you've never wandered into that one before! Were you really worried at that point?
Yeah, even with 1000 games under my belt, there are still about 50 maps I've yet to complete. When 200 of your first 300 or so were on Doodle Earth (yeah, I was one of those guys when I started ), it's not so crazy). Joining a clan and deciding to go after the Random medals have definitely broadened my horizons on here, but I kind of like having a few out there I still haven't done, more to explore in the future.
I wasn't immediately nervous because I've played several of the WWII maps before, and it wasn't the first time in the random phase of the tournament that I got put on a brand new map (Round 3: Game 9955797 - Operation Drug War)... but WWII Poland is pretty unique, so I did feel like strategically I was fumbling in the dark a bit, and I'm sure it showed. I was put at ease a bit by some good dice early on, but hmsps knew what he was doing and he bombarded the snot outta me, I was easy pickings after that. Definitely made me nervous about what our last game would be!
I was just looking through your Tournament Cups, and I realized: out of sixteen Cups, thirteen of them came from Merch313's tournies! I think this is an amazing degree of specialization! I know you mentioned right from the beginning how much you liked Merch's tournies, but I don't think I noticed until now how concentrated on them you are. Do you join all of Merch's tournies?
I do make a point to join merch's double elimination tournies whenever I see them. There are a lot of 'regulars' in them that I enjoy playing. One of the biggest draws for me is that merch keeps track of who has won how many of his DE tournies, so it's been fun to compete with others for places on merch's wall of fame so to speak. They're the right combination of maps, good touney organizer, good opponents, and that wall of fame keeps sucking ya back in.
Tell me about some of your other tournament wins.
Probably the only trophy in my case I hold in higher esteem than that of merch's 100th tourney is that of my first and thus far only TPA event win: the Super Smash Bros. Triples League, for which I teamed with [player]Pyrhhus[/player] and [player]SeriouslyANewb[/player]. It was a gauntlet of round robin's that took just shy of a year with with the field slowly narrowing from 32 teams, to 24, to 12, then a 6 team finals. Each team making the finals played a total of 74 triples games over the course of the tournament. Teams got to pick a home map, and we were able to maintain something like a 75% win rate on our home map (World 2.1) and a 50% record on away maps, which was enough to rank us in the top of 3 of the 4 rounds. It was memorable for the duration, having to start with a clean slate multiple rounds and rising to the top each time, and the thrill of stealing games from some tough competition on their home turf.
Those two will certainly be standing out in my mind for quite a while, I bet!
In total you had to play in 74 games in that one, and against some really tough competition, so your performance is doubly impressive. Are you in any major tourneys like that at present?
The biggest tourney I am in right now is the Travel By Rail - Quads tourney, which is an 8 team round robin style tourney, where you play every team on all 4 Rail maps (Europe, USA, Australia, and Africa), with different settings each round. Currently in Round 6 of 7, the field has started to separate into contenders and pretenders. Denthefrog's team has come back to build a pretty amazing one game lead over my team - and I say it's amazing not just because they're ahead of me , but because we beat them 3 out of 4 games in Round 1, and since then they have been undefeated 4 consecutive rounds, to make their record 17-3. That's an impressive run with different settings each round - we'll see if they can keep it up, cause I know my team won't be letting up . Other than that one, I've joined mostly smaller tournaments recently to keep game count low heading in to the holidays (and giving myself a chance to grab some more trophies a little quicker). Not sure what the next big one will be - we'll have to see what's out there in 2012!
Due to my tardiness in continuing this discussion, this tournament has moved forward quite a bit since last we spoke.
Sadly it looks like we will lose that tourney by one game. Team KORT played a great tourney, going 23-1 in the last 6 rounds, on a variety of different settings. Hats off to them! They have been warned that I plan to host a rematch once some new Rail maps come out... so they'd better stay sharp! Ended up being a long tourney, a lot of detailed planning in games, swearing when things didn't work out, cheering when they did, and I'm glad we participated.
You also took over the running of the tournament. So you will be getting an organiser's medal even if you don't walk away with the winner's trophy..
Do you play more team tournaments than individual tournaments? I guess there's a natural progression there from your Clan games to team tournaments. I remember reading not too long ago, somebody saying that team tournaments are the most fertile Clan recruitment grounds.
I suppose I play more team tournaments than individual, but it's probably a 60/40 split. I have a couple of groups of players (some from real life, some from my clan) that I enjoy going to war with. If you have a good group that communicates well and can get everyone moving in the same direction (If 4 of 4 Colonel or higher agree it's the best move, it's *probably* the best move!), I have always felt that gives you solid leg up on a decent portion of the competition - though of course no semi-finals or finals games around here are ever easy. I enjoy the team games as a chance to work as a team, and to continue learning from other players, some of whom have played 5 or 10 times as many games as I have. It's also more fun to celebrate the team wins... I think some my friends are sick of hearing about me winning merch's 1 v 1s since I've had a string of luck with those lately .
Well, at this point I generally offer an open soapbox. Anything you wish to say, about tournaments or about CC in general?
*Hops on soapbox* The CC world is a happier place when complaining about the dice is kept to yourself or your teammates, it does no good to berate or complain to an opponent or the other team about their dice. Those of us that have put over 1000 games in to the site can tell you that they've won a few hundred games just on dice and probably lost a few hundred mostly on dice. Does it get frustrating? Of course, but it's not anyone in the game's fault.. so keep your head in chat and move on to the next game or the next turn... maybe that one will be luckier. *Hops off soapbox* Thanks Dukasaur, and keep it fun everybody!
P.S. to Merch... I need more DE tournies in my life... hahah!
Thank you very much, Swifte, for sharing your experiences with us. Also, I would like to offer you a very special thank-you for your patience with me in particular![/spoiler]
Well hello again to all of you. I've been away so long I feel rusty all over! And bang, waddayaknow but it's *tweet tweet* Valentines. So I kick off this issue with a run through of where that idea came from and where it might lead some bright spark mapmaker! The ever-reliable [player]koontz1973[/player] gives us our dose of Foundry News and What's Where in the Foundry. And with his own maps making great progress through the foundry he is starting a multi-part article Diary of a Map: Rorke's Drift. It's a fascinating insight for those who haven't the experience he has (and a great read for those who have)! I finish off this issue with my experiences playing super-speedy games and crystal ball-gaze what maps working their way through the foundry may prove to be popular in that forum. So lots here to entertain and inform you, enjoy and keep up the good work! Thanks and regards and in the immortal words of Jon Bon Jovi:
Map out your future - but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip.
For Valentine's, we're proud to welcome back a testosterone filled edition of Hardballs, as [player]Master Fenrir[/player] returns with interviews of the CC celebrity femme fatales. Bruceswar fills us in on his personal piece to celebrate the noteworthy events in Clans for the year 2011, and Skill has another update events on the exciting Newcomers Cup
Elsewhere we congratulate Foed as the winners of the inaugural Random League , and eagerly watch the outcomes of the CC2 and ACC Championship Finals as both matches stay tied at 12-12 and 3-3 respectively. The 39 member strong Clan League Season 4 gradually starts to gather steam in Phase 1 as more and more results start to trickle in with top contenders of the likes of Kort, Tofu and Empire again looking at impressive scores in their battles. Perhaps the biggest surprise package however, is VDLL's 10+ triumph over DB in a mid-table clash in Division B.
We're also glad to welcome AoC co-leader [player]Nicky15[/player] to the Clan Directors team as she commences her duties this week , and remember that our Exclusive Fantasy League is still running, so submit your entry now to have a stab at the myriad of prizes available!
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!
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So many great articles you could comment on, but your primary concern is that you didn't get a cheesy prize.
Some days I wonder why we bother.
god just give him a medal to shut him up....... i enjoyed the read but in the next one can you have less words and more picture's like the playboy mags i read
I can show anyone interested a couple of options for quad-elim brackets, depending on your preferences. I've done them for up to 32 players for various RL events
Jimfinn is looking for regular doubles/triples/quads partners. Please contact him if you are interested!
, but because we beat them 3 out of 4 games in Round 1, and since then they have been undefeated 4 consecutive rounds, to make their record 17-3. That's an impressive run with different settings each round - we'll see if they can keep it up, cause I know my team won't be letting up 
, and eagerly watch the outcomes of the CC2 and ACC Championship Finals as both matches stay tied at 12-12 and 3-3 respectively. 
