Happy New Year Comrades! and welcome to the 41st edition of the Dispatch
The Newsletter and Entertainment Team started this year working hard to give you the most recent news about Tournaments, Clans, Maps and other information related to Conquer Club.
We hope you can find all this information helpful and interesting for you.
jricart -
Newsletter Executive If you would like to apply to join the news team, please visit the thread below for more details!
Click here for Recruitment Details... In this issue we say a fond farewell to the
elfish_lad whose messages from the bottom of the pit have entertained and informed us for over a year now - good bye elf and thanks, you have been a true asset to the team! Elsewhere
TheSaxlad celebrates the off-topics forum which has just racked up one million posts.
Victor Sullivan also introduces us to one particular area of that forum - mafia wars.
No Dispatch would be complete without an interview and this week we are speaking to
trapyoung , TOFU member, forum regular and much more besides.
From the Pit by elfish_lad show
Alrighty. Here it is. For the six (6) newsletter readers who actually give a snit: The Elf's last article. It's been damn fun. Thanks for reading as well as for your encouragement. It's been very much well recieved by me.very much more odder. And cooler. And I would hate to loose it. Because of being hacked off about a Clan Deal. That oddly went South. Even when everyone was looking forward to it. And then? Wow. It went South and then some.
SIB, 1,000,000 Posts!!! by TheSaxlad show
TheSaxlad Presents: SIB/TFTMNBN, 1,000,000 Posts!!! Gillipig . He had many interesting things to say about SIB, and here’s a selection!Gillipig wrote: The first of topic thread I started was about what could start WW3! I thought that Chinas future water problems would force them to conquer Southeast Asia and from there it would turn into a world war.
2dimes , the beauty of flame wars… lets see what he had to say…2dimes wrote: Basically
Autoload and I were the last acting 'stachers on the flame wars forum, our work there was maintaining the clan thread. Pedro (Pedronicus) was more into normal conversation so his move to off topics happened earlier and is a different story. Auto and I wandered over for a combination of DancingMustard and his pleasant chaps flow over from Flame wars, various lame wads and of course the Kramsley thread.
The eventual april fools shut down of Flame wars that "accidently" became permanent due to the desire to change the forum dynamics, left us homeless wandering around Serious Interweb Business looking for aluminum cans. There are still some that seem to wish Flame wars existed for berating site weenies, but the intent to stop flaming and its overflow to the other forums via a heavier moderating hand and the removal of Flame wars has been successful.
Mr. Squirrel , take it away!!Mr.Squirrel wrote: I started playing mafia in May of 2009. I decided to join after I read few a few threads. I thought it was really cool how strategic the game was so I decided to try it out for myself. Pmchugh was the best on our forum for a while. He was a great player and had great games. Other players who are great are fircoal, ga7, and nagerous. They are some of my favorite players to play against.
My favorite mafia was a newbie game run by pmchugh. It was my first game as a mafia member and I remember liking the idea of knowing something the town didn't. The biggest mafia I ever had was the New Briarsburg game that I just modded.
As for stories... well every mafia game is its own story. You have to play to understand it. We had plenty of really funny RT games though in the past. Read through any of those if you want a funny story. P.S the mafia forums can be found here --->
http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=213 Victor Sullivan(TheSaxlad) wrote: Well I think my Gameshow thread in there is top notch! There are also some really good threads in their as well like Comment on the avatar (OMG TheSaxlads avatar is soooo sexy) and another thread called Lingo! and Favourite Mod 2011... oh there all so good!!!
yay for forum games!
Victor Sullivan wrote: I currently have 3 successful forum game threads out there and one unsuccessful one about AndyDufresne and eating bananas that shall not be named for everyone's sake... Check out the
Favorite Mod Game 2011 and score the moderators,
LINGO and guess the 5-letter word, and my personal favorite,
Sully's Gameshow Extraordinaire! and answer a myriad of strange but fun questions and see if you can reach the top of the scoreboard! Check out Forum Games and see what the forum has to offer! (and TheSaxlad's avatar is supa sexy)
-Sully
Serious Interwebz Business/ The Forum That Must Not Be Named! Mafia Games Forum Games Strike Wolf wrote: not you the mule!
Not you the mule!
The Scum Insider by Victor Sullivan show
The Scum Insider Newbie Help Mafia Information , Mafia and You , and Rules and Terms of Mafia What is "Mafia"? Mafia News Winners' Hall New Briarsburg Mafia by Mr. Squirrel - ga7 (who won the premium prize), theherkman, TheSaxlad, FloresDelMal, Commander9, karelpieterje, naxus, thezzaruz, strike wolfRudolph the Red-Nosed Slayer by Victor Sullivan - The Weird One, jeraado, Mr. Squirrel, Haggis_McMutton, Commander9, Jace22Red Dead Redemption Mafia by naxus - Jace22, Commander9, Haggis_McMutton, TA1LGUNN3RMafia Callouts viewforum.php?f=213
show: Interrogation of trapyoung
Q. Hi Trapyoung!
Join This? Or Not! by jleonnn show: JOIN THIS - OR NOT
If you're interested in AoR, then join CD's War in Age of Realms with only a few slots left open! Darin's AoR2 Tournament III I'd say join. He's a solid organizer of AoR maps. He's done a ton of aor1 tournaments already. And last but not least greenoaks' Blind dating on AoR3 Official Clash of the Classes 2010 Tournament It's gonna be an epic battle with 124 players(If my math is correct). How will you fare against players of different classes? The only thing is that you must have a Premium Membership.kawe85 is still running the huge tournament, Great Family Tournament Join if you wanna get the "OH YEAH I DID IT" feeling when you win benga 's angels and devils Which are you? benga 's Strain your Brain series, currently organizing Strain Your Brain om Woodboro , Strain your Brain in USApocalypse [4/16] , Strain your Brain in Solar System and Strain your Brain in Austerlitz
Meet the Tournament Winners! by Dukasaur Greetings and salutations to all! For those who have never encountered me, I'm the new CC Dispatch reporter on the Tournaments beat. My special project is to interview the winners. Here are some of the people I have spoken to:
Vaicius was the winner of the
Dungeon Bash ! tournament put together by
NotNowKato This three-round tournament pitted 32 players against each other on three Sword & Sorcery themed maps -- Castle Lands, Siege!, and Draknor.
show: Interview with Vaicius
Okay, Question 1: What attracted you to this particular tournament? Q2: This is your first tournament cup. Was it an exciting moment? Q3: I've had a look at the games you're currently in. Looks like you're playing tournaments almost exclusively. What are you in, about eight or nine tournaments at present? Q4: That's a point I could learn from, lol. Maybe if I got my active games down below 115 my rank would go up... Q5: I thought NotNowKato did a nice job with his sword & sorcery theme in that tournament, even small touches like referring to players as "fighters and wizards." Do you find details like that help make it an enjoyable experience? And did the players go along with it in any way, making Dungeon-themed announcements in game chat or anything? Q6: I think we've covered everything I planned to ask about. Is there anything you would like to add? Any general advice for tournament players? Anything you haven't seen yet in a tournament that you would like to? Good luck to you too.
Ubcman64 was the winner of the
Prince of Wales 4 , hosted by
tokle . This is a straightforward 1-on-1 elimination bracket tournament. It is repeated on a regular basis, crowning a new "Prince of Wales" each time.
show: Interview with Ubcman64
Congrats on your victory in the Prince of Wales tournament. Okay, Question 1: What attracted you to this particular tournament? Q2: I'm curious about why you prefer 1-on-1. I personally don't like 1-on-1 because it's so unforgiving. In a large group if you have a disastrous turn you can hide in the shrubbery and lick your wounds while the others fight amongst themselves, but in 1-on-1 a bad turn can be unredeemable. Q3: You don't find No Spoils games having a tendency to deadlock? Q4: You've got 15 tournament victories now. Are there some that were especially memorable? Any that made you sit back and say, "wow, that was amazing?" Q5: I can see how that would be quite a thrill! Were you playing for quite a while before that happened, or was it still early in your CC career? Q6: Besides winning 15 tournaments, you've also organised one. How was that experience, and did it give you a new perspective? Q7: Would you change anything about the way tournaments are organised? A strong endorsement of the tournament system! Thank you very much for your time. Good luck in all your future tournaments!
aalii and
CAPK81 won the
2v2 - Asia tournament hosted by
sdh . This is part of a long series of 2v2 tournaments on many different maps. I contacted both of the winners.
show: Interview with aalii
Q1. What attracted you to this particular tournament? Q2: I see you're in quite a few different team tournaments, but unlike some team players it's always a different team. How do you find and choose partners? Is it based on strategic considerations or more of a social thing? Q3: This is your second tournament win. Do you find they're getting easier? Are you going in with increased confidence now? Q4: Ok, you have the podium. Is there something you would like to say to the CC world? Is there some kind of competition you would like to see which hasn't been done yet? http://www.annualriskclassic.com Very much well enough! Okay, thank you for your time, and good luck in all your future tournaments!
show: Interview with CAPK81
Q1: Ok, here's my standard first question, and after that we see how the conversation goes: What attracted you to this particular tournament? Q2: So you take strategy seriously, and are not happy with a high luck factor? Q3: Do you prefer the straight-geography maps or the maps with complex conditions? Q4: Is there anything that you haven't seen yet on CC, that you think somebody should try to do? Q5: What about yourself? Have you set any goals to achieve on CC this year? Okay, thank you very much for your time. Good luck in all your future tournaments!
One concluding note: when I volunteered for this project, I offered to interview "all of the tournament winners." How naive I was! I had no idea what a staggering number of tournaments there really are. Now I understand that there is no way I will be able to get to everyone. I intend to publish three or four interviews in every edition of the Dispatch, but even so I will probably only get to talk to about 5 or 10 percent of all the winners. My approach will be partially random and partially targetted. Some will be chosen because of their fame or amazing stats, some will be chosen because I find the tournament that they were in to be unusual or especially interesting, and many will be chosen completely at random. I will pay special attention to those that are winning a tournament for the very first time.
If you are looking forward to telling the story of the exciting tournament that you were just in and want to be on my list, please feel free to PM me any time. Until next time,
Dukasaur .
This month we have a packed issue overflowing with foundry goodness. Sully brings us an update on what maps have been progressing through the foundry as well as a look back at the maps of 2010. The Bison King brings us his final interview with non other than natty-dread. And our series on the military history of the Unites States continues in History 101. For those of you that are artistically inclined you'll want to check out this issues "wanted ads". --
dolomite13 Maps Briefly by Victor Sullivan show
New Maps - Design Brief Submitted: Colonial Africa by The Bison King - A map of Africa and the Middle East during European colonization.Chinese Civil War by Industrial Helix - This map of China pits the Communist Party against the Guomindang during the Chinese Civil War from 1946 to 1950.Hawaii by esiemer and saberty - Two promising new map-designers come to the Foundry scene with a graphically beautiful map of the geographically beautiful Hawaii.Moon Race by DukeHazzard - Race to the moon! Take a rocket and proceed to take the moon to take the laser and destroy your fellow Earthlings!Stickied Maps: Resurrected Maps:
A Year in Review by Victor Sullivan show
27 maps quenched and 2 revamps (well, technically 1, but let's not be nitpicky, mmkay?), including 2 seasonal maps. It sure has been a great year:Classic** by sully800 ; December 31, 2009Third Crusade by Kabanellas and AndrewB ; February 6, 2010Jamaica by cairnswk and dolomite13 ; February 20, 2010Chicago by Scott-land ; March 5, 2010Fractured America by isaiah40 and Gilligan ; March 30, 2010Germany** by pepperonibread and WidowMakers ; March 31, 201013 Colonies by Industrial Helix ; April 9, 2010Japan by RedBaron0 ; April 9, 2010South Africa 2010 World Cup* by MrBenn ; June 11, 2010Dawn of Ages by Kabanellas and AndrewB ; June 24, 2010Nordic Countries by natty_dread ; June 24, 2010Central America by lgoasklucyl and oaktown ; June 24, 2010Good Morning Woodboro! by Evil DIMwit ; July 23, 2010Macedonia by n.n. ; July 23, 2010Atlantis by premier2k and NemesisChild ; August 18, 2010Monsters by dolomite13 ; August 18, 2010Unification Germany/Unification Italy by Industrial Helix ; September 18, 2010First Nations of South America by Tisha ; October 29, 2010Stalingrad by cairnswk and saraith ; October 30, 2010Cyprus by thenobodies80 and Gilligan ; November 30, 2010Orient Express 1883 by natty_dread ; November 30, 2010Cricket: Silly Mid-On by cairnswk ; November 30, 2010Mexico by fumandomuerte and MrBenn ; November 30, 2010Napoleonic Europe by Kabanellas and ender516 ; November 30, 2010Conquer Christmas* by MrBenn ; December 15, 2010Flanders 1302 by DubWarrior ; December 27, 2010Thyseneal by The Bison King and ender516 ; December 27, 2010Celtic 7 Nations by The Bison King and ender516 ; December 27, 2010Lunar War by natty_dread , isaiah40 , and Gilligan ; December 27, 2010*Seasonal map **Revamp viewtopic.php?f=127&t=134527
Map Spotlight: Age of Steam: Trans-Sib 1914 by The Bison King show
Well it's been fun but sadly this will be my last interview with the CC newsletter. So I thought to myself who would be better for my last interview than the guy who first recruited me as a team member? That of course would be the one and only Natty_Dread. Natty_Dread has been an extremely active member in both the Newsletter team and the Map foundry. He is currently working on a few maps, one of which is of Russia's classic Trans Siberian Railroad. However most of this interview... well it doesn't exactly stay on topic, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. It kind of starts in the middle of us talking about the live chat, but I'm sure you're all very smart readers so you'll figure it out quickly. viewtopic.php?f=468&t=116410 ‹The Bison King› Live chat's kind of a mystery to me. I never come here.‹natty_dread› oh me neither, but it seems to work much like irc. Lots of same commands...‹The Bison King› › Irc?‹natty_dread› internet relay chat it's kind of like an older version of im‹The Bison King› Older? wow‹natty_dread› well yeah, irc has been around since before the web‹The Bison King› how is that possible?‹natty_dread› it was made in Finland actually. Internet was around before the web, without all the fancy graphics and stuff, though. then it got a makeover and got all popular, think ftp servers. Telnet connections etc. - that's the old internet, but i digress... i think this thing was about a map or something ‹The Bison King› I guess that's the idea, but let's start with you. Who is the real Natty Dread?‹natty_dread› well what about me... you already know where i live dammit ‹The Bison King› This is true, and if I could afford a Ticket to Finland I'd come over there and mess with you‹natty_dread› what can i say.. I'm kinda a regular guy, do what i can to get by.‹The Bison King› and make maps for the Conquer Club‹natty_dread› yeah... funny thing that, when i came to this site i was just looking to kill some time with some casual gaming. I didn't expect to find something that would enable me to challenge myself creatively... but hey, there it was, the map foundry... and by now i sometimes feel that mapmaking gives me more fun than actually playing the maps ‹The Bison King› Orient Express turned out sweet By the Way‹natty_dread› thanks‹The Bison King› Did you know you wanted to do the map pack before you started OE or did the idea come as you worked on it?‹natty_dread› no i didn't... at first it was all about OE. Then there was some concern, what with the numerous maps of Europe already on the site, if there would be room for one more... so I think it was IH who suggested I make the map about Asia and the trans-siberian line instead... that's when I thought, why not just make a‹The Bison King› Yeah I remember that, to me though I never really viewed OE as a "europe map" in the traditional sense. Since it was just a section of the continent it always struck me more as a concept map set in Europe. Transsib on the other hand covers such a huge amount of land. How did you decide on how to break up the various regions of Russia's East?‹natty_dread› well... i just kinda fudged it ‹The Bison King› Honestly I think that's the best way to go about it, If you stick to what is exclusively historically accurate I think you'll often find yourself in a situation where the gameplay is very weak.‹natty_dread› true‹The Bison King› Have you ever been to Russia?‹natty_dread› no... I've been to Latvia a few times though... and Estonia...‹The Bison King› was it before 1991?‹natty_dread› no... i think the first times i was in Estonia were a few years after I was young back then... something like 13, 14... don't remember‹The Bison King› I hear that Estonia is a big party location for Eastern Europe... not that you'd be partying much as a 13 year old.‹natty_dread› well back then it was a lot less "westernized" than it is now... everything was really cheap there... old Finnish ladies were doing their groceries shopping in Estonia when the cheap boat rides begun... by now, the price levels are almost the same as here so no one bothers with that anymore..‹The Bison King› interesting, what would you consider "westernized" Where would you draw the line?‹natty_dread› well... it's hard to say, and a really good question. The lines of what is considered "western" or "eastern" or "socialist" or "capitalist" are so blurred these days... the west is becoming more like east and the east is becoming more like west... it's inevitable when cultures mix and clash... To answer your question, i don't think one really can draw a line like that... it always depends on the point of view. In the end, we, as in humans, are not so different, no matter what culture we represent... sure there are differences but the basic things are the same.‹The Bison King› I agree with that but I think a lot of people look to make separations. It helps them think. If they can separate one thought from another and associate one with good and one with bad they can go on with their day with out having to think as much‹natty_dread› yeah that's true unfortunately... in the internet we're all just names on the screen though.‹The Bison King› Do you ever think that technology is progressing to fast? or do you tink it's better that networking advances faster than government can regulate it?‹natty_dread› well... i don't think that technology as such can progress too fast. progress is good... it gives us more options, but technological advances can be used for wrong purposes, just like almost everything. I think at this point, the "cat is out of the bag" and we can't go back trying to stop progress from happening... in the words of Homer Simpson: "don't you think I'd rather be some ancient pagan, living naked in the woods and playing the pan-flute?"‹The Bison King› In the words of Clutch "You can't stop Progress" So anyway let's get back to the maps... Do you still plan on making a Pacific Rail map?‹natty_dread› yes, i will, eventually... it's in queue... and it will most likely be a lot different from both OE and TS, both in gameplay and in style...‹The Bison King› how so?‹natty_dread› well... again, the subject is different. Each of these railways have a unique history... i think the maps should represent it rather than trying to fit some sort of pre-defined mold... and after all 3 are done, I'll probably have had enough of rail maps for a while ‹The Bison King› yeah... well you've got quite a queue lined up for yourself don't you‹natty_dread› well.. it's good to keep productive, I have learned much from each project i have gone through.‹The Bison King› So what is your method when it comes to foundry?‹natty_dread› hm.. which part of the foundry?‹The Bison King› getting from one end of it, to the other.‹natty_dread› oh, that part... well, pretty straightforward: you get an idea for a map, you post it on the forums... get some feedback for it... then make a draft, and I don't think i follow a specific method... i just get an idea, let it stew in my head for a while, and when i think i might have something that could possibly make a fun map, i'll post it and see what others think. On the gameplay, i just try to listen to everyone's opinion, and pretty much just try to steer it in the direction of something that i myself would enjoy playing. i like innovative gameplay as long as it's not overly complicated... but then I'm not really a gameplay genius. On the graphics i usually have at least somewhat of a vision of what i want to do with a map... also i feel that i've developed as a graphics artist recently, and i hope it will show in the quality of my coming maps...‹The Bison King› what comes next?‹natty_dread› well, i haven't really thought about it... besides what we have already discussed... time will tell. There are some ideas floating around in the foundry...‹The Bison King› Is there anything else you'd like to say?‹natty_dread› well... i don't think so, it's been a long interview and i should probably get to bed... but it was fun. oh... my secret goal is to break cairns' mapmaking record... one day... but since it's a secret, don't tell anyone
Wanted Ads by Victor Sullivan show
WANTED Baseball: King of Diamonds by Evil DIMwit :Evil DIMwit wrote: A few people have tried putting out baseball field map ideas, but none really panned out. This is my take on the game. It's a conquest style map, with the pitchers as starting positions and every other territory starting neutral. I tried to design the gameplay in a way that mimics the basic elements of baseball: Every player has to go through the bat and land somewhere on the field to start conquering.
Evil DIMwit wrote: I don't know that there's anything specific that I'm looking for; appreciation of the sport is nice but is not required.
Victor Sullivan , to have your callout in next issue's article of "Wanted Ads"!
History 101: USA Part 3 (1945–1990) by Dolomite13 show
History 101: The Military History of the United States of America (1945–1990) Cold War (1945–1991) Postwar Military Reorganization (1947) Korean War Lebanon crisis of 1958 Dominican Intervention Vietnam War Tehran hostage rescue Grenada Beirut Panama
Map Surveyors Want to follow the pulse of Conquer Club's Map Foundry?
Join this usergroup and receive notifications when new maps are at key stages of development, and receive advance notifications of Foundry contests or official Foundry projects.
We're indebted this week to the players who have sent us reports on the challenges their clans are involved in for State of Play. There's a lot of great action going on between the clans so it's great to get these updates - if you're playing a clan war and want to send us a rundown for future issues, please send it in to the editor,
laughingcavalier .
Less happy on the clan front right now is the amount of heat being poured out in the forums. Over the last year there has been more and more flaming and baiting between clans. Some of it has been very unpleasant indeed. Trash talk can be fun and friendly rivalry can add to the fun of the game. We are taking our clans more seriosuly now and that naturally generates some heat. But some of what's been posted has gone too far. Different people have different opinions on what is friendly rivalry and what is a poisonous attack, but remember the nature of the internet is these things escalate and if you're not careful you can get yourself involved in a slanging match that is good for no-one. Keep a lid on it guys.
Clan League and Conqueror's Cup by laughingcavalier show
Conqueror's Cup Finals THOTA (7) vs. KoRT (13) Clan League 3 - Standings & Results jrh_cardinal , Commander62890 , pmchugh and leehar . See Competition - PREMIUM PRIZE - predict the Clan League .
State of Play show
Clan players report on the challenges they are playing. Memento Mori [24] vs Grim Reapers [18] of 60 games TheMissionary (Memento Mori) wrote:
AKA V OSA stokiepaul (One Step Ahead) wrote: One Step Ahead started their 1st clan war this week, taking up the challenge thrown down by Always Kicking A$$.
The war, made up of 7 doubles, 7 triples and 7 quads from each clan, started well for the newly formed OSA with them taking first blood with a doubles win for
Mizzou3181 &
Stokiepaul on the Canada map.
The first quads win went to AKA with the foursome of
dorsettrob ,
Wile E Coyote ,
far2ezee and
eddie2 winning through on Jamaica to level the score at 1-1
Keep track as the war continues at
viewtopic.php?t=134770 1st Regiment vrs FFS General Brock II (1st Regiment of Footguards wrote:
Stay Tuned for the next issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch for an interrogation of
eddie2 . Post any questions you may have for them here -->
Interrogation with eddie2 Submitting Your Own Articles If you have a story you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to
nagerous and you may just see your article published in the Newsletter!
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