CC Dispatch [Issue 111 02-02-14] The Cat Nips Back
Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 12:38 pm
by Dukasaur
Welcome Comrades to the 111th edition of the Dispatch
Our interview with [player]Catnipdreams[/player] is featured here, and ironically it's also Groundhog Day today? Do you think groundhogs like catnip, also? Will the groundhogs perform better today if we feed them some?
With Valentine's Day soon to be upon us, we all start to wonder "what will this year's Annual Valentine's Day special bring?" In past years, it has brought us Cutesy Club, pink fuzzy dice, an epidemic of love, and a Wall of Pink.
So, what will it be this year? If I tell you, will you blow me a kiss through cyberspace? Hush, move closer now! I'm not allowed to tell you much, but I know that Cuddling will be involved, and a lot of sweet talk in Live Chat, and.... wait for it....
Valentine's Day will bring a huge array of contests, events and prizes!
Ok, watch out for official announcements coming up, but in the meantime, here's some more love from around the Club for you:
Welcome back readers. Happy year of the horse! May your dice ever be in your favor. We've got the next round of trivia, a Scum Insider, and catnipdreams talks about cats, tofu, and friends.
Also, love is in the air! Be on the lookout for our Valentine day themed events. Keep your partners in harmony and the dice rosy.
You Stay Classy, CC.
[player]safariguy5[/player] Freestyle Executive
Dispatch Trivia - A Valentine's Special (Round 6 of 10)by iAmCaffeine
[spoiler=Interrogation of catnipdreams]Q. Assuming you like cats, do you own any? How many? What are their names and types? Any pictures to share?
It's a sad, sad story. Do you have a box of tissues nearby? May I make free use of them while I sneeze as I cuddle YOUR cat? I adore cats. I am utterly allergic to cats. Oh the irony.... If I could be the servant of a cat, I would first look to the humane society. Actually, I would never buy a cat from a pet store - a reputable breeder, maybe, but unlikely. I would love to have a Maine Coon cat, or a Norwegian Forest cat. An intelligent cat, that keeps me on my toes, or, a cuddly cat, or, a playful cat, or a needy cat, or.... Well, yeah, dream on...
Q. Do you prefer any wild cats over domesticated?
I like a veneer of civilization with a strong streak of wild underneath.
Q. Have you ever fed a dog, or CoF, cat nip?
I'm a vegan - I love anything that is leafy green. I would be perfectly willing to share, with any species, however... It appears that dogs are more interested in anise. So I suppose I could make some sort of stir fry with anise in it. CoF is a pretty sophisticated guy, so it might be challenging to cook for him...
Q. Have you ever met, or did you already know, anyone from CC? If so, who?
Nope. I found CC from a web search. None of my irl friends like Risk.
Q. How often do you dream about cat nip? Ever had nightmares about cat nip?
I have very vivid dreams, but they are usually pretty boring. I do tend to get lost in major cities quite often, and wake up while I am trying to figure out which subway train or bus to get on. Maybe I need better directions irl? The worst nightmare I ever had involved evil space aliens. I don't think they were interested in cat nip.
Q. What is your favourite cat nip? Please give three points explaining your choice.
That's a really tough question. Exotic varieties of lettuce are quite tasty, but I'd have to say cooked spinach. Not raw spinach - it has to be lightly cooked, with perhaps some tomatoes, or some kimchi. Three points... Um, taste, ofc. Micronutrient density. Vibrant color (assuming one starts with fresh spinach, and does not overcook it).
Q. Do robotic cats dream of electric nip?
Perhaps, but that is a classified Feline Consortium project - may I ask how you heard about that? Do we have unidentified canine infiltrators??!!
Q. What is a non violent vegan doing on a war/world domination website? How many more troops should you kill before you consider yourself responsible of a mass genocyde?
I toy with my prey in a very gentle fashion. The end is swift and (usually) painless. I honor those who have fallen to my feline dice. Since the CC troop breeding program is very robust, I doubt that even I can make a significant dent in the troop population, so let's not worry overly much about genocide labels, k?
Q. What is more enjoyable...the win in a team game or the "team" aspect of a game where everyone pitches in, offers ideas, and the right moves are made?
The team aspect, absolutely. Winning all alone, with no one to "high five", is a pale shadow of winning with a lively team. And a lively team mitigates the pain of losing.
Q. Highlight of your CC experience?
There is no one highlight; I've been very fortunate to have found great people to play with almost from the start of my time on CC. [player]Macbone[/player] may well be psychic - he was one of my SoC instructors, and without me having posted much of anything at all, and I don't believe any kind of feline related meanderings, he teased me with feline humor! How cool is that? He also was one of my first dubs partners - forever imprinting on me the critical nature of excellent team communication. He's a keeper. Then I encountered [player]Denise[/player] - love at first sight! She was teaching SoC team skills, and I happened to read some of the team chat she had left in a teaching game. It was perfect. Just... perfect. Strategy, politeness, assertiveness, details... Couldn't ask for more. We played a game together, and I was invited to join Empire's training group. That was great fun! I learned so much, and had all the team games I could handle, with top notch players. Empire ROCKS! Then I was a part of Empire itself, had more great games, always learning more. Then a change of pace, and TOFU. Both great clans, and if I was a multi, I'd have loved to have been in both at the same time. Alas, the one competitive clan rule (and my law-abiding, rule-following nature) prevented that. My growth as a player continued (and continues) in TOFU, with excellent clanmates. Really, really excellent clanmates. I could write several pages of praise about them - suffice it to say I ♥ my clanmates! It's been an interesting, exciting adventure, and with all the site changes, there is definitely more to explore!
Q. Why are vegans so f*cking awesome?
Oh, indeed, such an amazing experience being a vegan. We are awesome in so many ways - I could list hundreds, likely thousands, of great reasons to be a vegan. But that's all over the web, for anyone interested in veganism to explore. And you didn't quite ask that. Being vegan is challenging in some ways - many vegans have to live with non-vegan family, friends, and communities. It's easier to just do what most others do, grab a burger from a fast food place, eat freely at a buffet, be an "easy" dinner guest, and so on. But taking control of one's health, and providing nutritional excellence to promote the healthiest possible organ and system function - that is charting one's own course through life, not just letting the current of life take you wherever others are headed. Perhaps off a cliff somewhere ahead. Folks who are taking deliberate steps to improve their lot in life are very attractive to me. Vegans do this. Therefore vegans are sexy as all get out.
Q. I've heard that happiness is a warm pussy. What's your phone number opinion?
My opinion is that you should stop letting [player]freakns[/player] post from your account.
Q. What's the most dangerous thing you've done on purpose?
Purchased (and rode) a motorcycle in a major urban area with crazy traffic when I was young(er) and stupid(er).
Q. If you could live anywhere, where would that be?
San Francisco Bay Area, back when it was mainly farms and orchards. Wonderful climate, but waaaaay too many people there now.
Q. What's your favorite joke?
Anything from the movie "True Lies".
Q. Do you always wear identical socks?
Er, well, sometimes the holes in them are not identical...
Q. How many times will you use these ... " " in answering the "questions"?
I am "restraining" myself... Barely...
Q. You will often cross you claws during important dice rolls when you hope for luck. Will you please explain how you manage to roll the dice with your claws are crossed? Your paws must be quite dexterous.
The dice know what will happen to them if they do not respond immediately to the slightest tap from any one of my exceeding sharp claws.
Q. Do you enjoy the new poly games or dislike them, and why?
I enjoy them. It's a change of pace, and although it is lonely there in team chat with only myself to talk to, it is also strangely therapeutic...
Q. What is your favorite recent update and, if you have one, your least favorite?
I am so very glad there are bots now! I think it will really help folks new to the site to get a sense of what is going on. When I first joined the site, I had no idea about so many things; playing bots at first would have been a lot easier, both on me, and the other players in my first few games. And I'm enjoying playing the bots now, even after a few years of experience on CC.
Parachute forts are really fun, and I'm looking forward to more poly games when I have the time.
My least favorite was the transition from BOB. Not that the new panel system is terrible; I think it's great that popular add-ons are being made "official". But I was so very messed up for a few days! I had BOB set up perfectly; I can't make the new system the same as BOB, so it's causing a lot of extra work for me to do the same things I did almost effortlessly with BOB.
Q. Do you have a favorite game and if so what is it, and why?
One game totally stands out, not for my brilliant strategy, but for the amazing quality of the poetry in the public chat. Game 7969462
Q. What are your favorite maps & settings?
I enjoy giant, complex maps with lots of unusual paths/bonuses, nukes are just plain fun, trench is a nice twist, and fog... Lovely, tricky fog! The more thinking required, the better. I get a nice little thrill from using the random map option, but sometimes I end up with pedestrian maps...
Q. They say cats have 9 lives. Can I (Chariot of Fire) sponsor you to play polymorphic vs Josko?
Sure, I'll try anything a few times.
Q. catnipdreams is quite a surreal name (which I (Chariot of Fire) rather love btw). How did you come up with it and do you really dream of catnip?
Watching cats high on catnip - they seem to be having a ridiculous amount of fun - I like having fun! However, I don't react well to mind-altering substances irl (weird body chemistry, I guess), so I can only dream of being as goofy as cats on catnip are. What's that? I'm goofy anyway? Oh.
Q. Best player, best partner, best communicator?
I am so very fortunate to have several "Bests" in my CC world. You know who you are, and I'm not naming you publicly, because I don't want all your game slots taken up by other players! (I'm kinda possessive....)
Q. CC soulmate?
[player]Denise[/player], with several lovely teammates right up there with her, but I don't want the guys getting jealous of each other, so shhhhh, no other names!
Q. If you could design a CC map what theme would you go for?
Kliban cats - they are fun loving, goofy, and creative - I'm sure something interesting could be done with them.
Q. As a peace-loving, non-meat-eating female.....how on Earth did you come across CC?
I'm weird.
Q. What would you do to break the ice between TOFU & KORT?
Lock CoF and Josko in a small room together, provide plenty of room temperature unseasoned tofu and filtered drinking water, along with unlimited fresh wheat grass juice. To unlock the door, both must solve a complex series of puzzles together. The puzzles require extensive conversation, as the solutions can only be discovered by sharing innermost thoughts with each other. Er, both must stay alive to unlock the door!!! Then, once out, the partnership will continue, as they begin searching for me irl, to, um, er... Thank me for bringing the two of them together in perfect harmony? No? Eek! Run! Hide!
Q. Would you kiss Josko if you were drunk under the mistletoe on New Year's Eve and he was wearing make-up?
Possibly. The timing would be critical. If I drink alcohol, I have about 5 seconds of impaired judgement, then I throw up and pass out. Josko would have to be really, really fast...
Q. Did you know that apart from me (Armandolas) of course,you have a someone crazy for you in CC? [player]crazy4catnip[/player]
Isn't that wild? We were in a tournament game together; I had to reassure the other players that we weren't a team! And no, we don't know each other irl, and we did not coordinate our userids! But I am ofc very flattered...
Q. Who's one of your real-world heroes?
Anyone who helps make the world a happier, nicer, safer place is a hero to me.
Q. How much advice did you give Jennifer Lawrence to help her develop her character in The Hunger Games?
Sadly, my answering machine malfunctioned, so I never knew she called until after the movie came out. It appears that she had no trouble accessing her inner feline, though!
Q. You're walking across the beach and come across a partially submerged treasure chest. You open it, and inside you find your heart's desire. What is it?
Peace, respect, care, and love in people's relationships with themselves, each other, with other living creatures, and with the environment and earth herself.
Q. How many recipes for tofu do you know off the top of your head?
Hundreds! Or maybe just one. Tofu is a lovely chameleon, taking on the flavor of whatever you mix it in with. I tend to make a dish, and toss in the tofu, or legumes, as a neutrally flavored protein source. But seasoned baked tofu, cubed, and tossed with plain steamed broccoli, is just fine all by itself. Or maybe with a couple spoonfuls of kimchi, but that fights with the baked tofu, so I'd likely nibble on the baked tofu all by itself, and have just the kimchi and the steamed broccoli together. Rats! Now I'm hungry!
Q. What's your favorite color?
I like green and blue quite a bit, with cream and gold a close second. I tend to wear the greens and blues, and my home tends to be decorated in the creams and golds.
Q. How much of a troop advantage do you need before you feel comfortable that a game is won?
mmmm.... Usually triple digits, but I feel really warm and comfy with 4 digits...
Q. Which dog do you fear the most?
The slobbery ones - yuck!
Q. Why do cats always dig their claws in before they sit on your lap? Do they not know that the human body does not need fluffing like a pillow?
They want to make sure you are properly attentive to their needs. The gentle piercing of your tender flesh is a subtle reminder that you are the feline's servant, and that the feline is your owner.
Q. Are you the only vegan Cat on the planet?
Probably. Do you know any others?
Q. As Cats like to play with their prey before killing them, have you ever had a C&A report for holding a player hostage in a game?
Shhhh! I make sure my prey enjoys the process...
Q. Are you as sweet a person in real life as you are on here?
Er, well... [blush] I try to be. When I don't have my paw in my mouth. When my dear hubby isn't doing something that makes me totally insane, like putting icky garage junk on my nice clean kitchen countertops...
Q. Do you miss me (swimmerdude99)?
Of course! By the way, there is quite a bit of confusion about certain feline abilities. Cats definitely can swim...
Q. Tell the truth. In your deepest of deepests, do you not yearn for a nice juicy steak, dripping with blood?
Surprisingly, not so much. I haven't been vegan for my entire life; for many years, I ate vegetarian and vegan meals interspersed with nice rare well marbled steak meals, and chicken wings were a favorite, too. As I moved into full on veganism, I gave myself permission to have non-vegan foods, if I craved them, but to get the absolute highest quality non-vegan foods, if I were to do that. What I discovered is that I crave fat and salt, not the animal protein. Think of the leanest (cheapest) cut of meat available, now grill it without any marinade, just the meat, and no salt, no steak sauce, nothing added. You kinda have shoe leather, whether rare or well done or in between. So if meat is really a substrate for marinades, added oil, salt, and so on, why not use vegan substrates? The taste is different, but with proper seasonings, quite tasty. Since I have not gone to the trouble of searching out a source for top quality beef (pasture raised/grass fed, no feedlot finishing, no routine antibiotics, humane treatment at all times, zero stress slaughter right there on the farm, and so on), clearly my cravings have been minimal. I've had more difficulty with the wing bar that is near the salad bar in my local grocery store. The smell permeates that area of the store. Thing is, if you analyze wings, you get to the same place as beef. Would you really eat a platter of, say, unseasoned chicken wings that had been (shudder!) boiled in a big pot of water? Would you really want to eat the skin when it's been boiled, not broiled or deep fried? And again, consider where those chicken wings came from - factory farms, where the conditions are beyond appalling, most likely. Ever had a chicken wing break in the middle? That's not a sign of a healthy chicken!!! If I encountered a wing bar that had real free range chicken wings (and I mean those chickens had real access to the outdoors, spent plenty of time outdoors, ate bugs and whatnot outdoors, were as contented as chickens can be), that had been marinaded in high quality oil and seasonings, then oven baked (commercial deep fryers are disgusting!!!), I might be tempted. But again, I can buy wing sauce and use it on a vegan substrate, and recreate the fatty/salty taste of wings without all the baggage.
Great questions! It was fun to think about the answers; thanks for asking me to do the interview. [/spoiler]
Platoon Report
Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 4:28 pm
by Swifte
Welcome Conquer Club clan enthusiasts to another edition of the Platoon Report!
First off, congratulations to Manifest Destiny on winning the first ever edition of the Lindax Handicup, and to Imperial Dragoons member [player]Twopoint[/player] on winning the MVP award for the event.
This edition of the Platoon Report, [player]IcePack[/player] brings us an update to the F400, including a new number 1 in the rankings... so be sure to check that out! I also take a look at the Shakers and Movers from January 2014, where we've seen another flurry of player movement on the clan scene, including 2 new clans and one clan that has been around since 2009 closing up shop.
Thanks for checking out the Platoon Report - more updates on the major clan events next issue!
[player]Swifte[/player] Clan Executive
F400 Updateby IcePack
The F400 is a results based ranking system, based on (almost) all available results that include 12 games or higher. Most league results are reflected within this ranking system, as well as most wars*. (*Unless leagues do not meet some minimum entry requirement criteria, and wars with multiple clans involved).
Hello friends, and welcome to your favourite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments, and other stuff in the Tournament scene!
In this issue, [player]mcshanester29[/player] takes a personal trip down memory late, reminiscing about the time he organised his first tournament, in Remembering My First Tournament! Hopefully this will inspire some aspiring TOs out there to try your hand tournament organising! We do indeed have a wonderfully supportive community out there that is more than happy to give assistance along the way!
Now pulling double duties for the Freestyle Team and Tournament Team, [player]iAmCaffeine[/player] has kindly taken on the responsibility of what I hope will be a regular section in our CC Dispatch for a long time to come - the monthly Tournament Winners Update. I'm really pleased to have him on board, and must say he has done an excellent job so far! So, here is our very first edition of the feature in all its glory!
Tournament Winners Update: January '14by iAmCaffeine
Aside from those exciting new features, our writers continue to deliver their news staples with [player]mcshanester29[/player]'s latest MTTW Interview with [player]RKCVED[/player] and my selection of tournaments awaiting signups in Join This? Or Not!. [player]DaveH[/player] has been on vacation lately, but he has still provided us with an update of TPA happenings in TPA Wrap, correct as of 16 January.
Welcome my fellow map enthusiasts to issue number eleventy-one! Speaking of J.R.R. Tolkien, does anyone know of a beta map that has one of his quotes on it? I'll give you a hint, when you find it you won't be getting hotter, you'll be getting colder.
In this issue we'll continue to highlight all those great maps in development, and I'll borrow Koontz1973's spotlight and shine it around to see what we can see.
And as Alex Berger said, "Maps are the foundation on which adventure is built." Enjoy.
Next Mission Brief
Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:31 pm
by Dukasaur
Submitting Your Own Articles
If you have a story you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to [player]Dukasaur[/player] and you may just see your article published in the Newsletter!
Mess Hall and Interrogation Room
Platoon Report
War Games
Cartographic Surveillance
Next Mission Brief
Do you have a box of tissues nearby? May I make free use of them while I sneeze as I cuddle YOUR cat? I adore cats. I am utterly allergic to cats. Oh the irony.... If I could be the servant of a cat, I would first look to the humane society. Actually, I would never buy a cat from a pet store - a reputable breeder, maybe, but unlikely. I would love to have a Maine Coon cat, or a Norwegian Forest cat. An intelligent cat, that keeps me on my toes, or, a cuddly cat, or, a playful cat, or a needy cat, or.... Well, yeah, dream on... 
Sure, I'll try anything a few times. 
