Welcome to the 77th edition of our current dispatch. Unfortunately, we have passed the deadline of fashionably late, but most of the news is still freshish. In this case, it is 100% my fault. I am far too busy to take my turns sometimes, let alone publish a newsletter. It is thus, with great dismay, that I announce the hibernation of the strategy section. With only one writer and one executive too busy to write, this section can not subsist. Of course, you can help! If you are reading this, you probably read the newsetter with some regularity. Please don't be afraid to join up and help write for the strategy section, or for any other section you are interested in.
Pirlo is the interviewee this week and as expected, there is a copious amount of phallic discussion in the interview. Who knew the newsletter could be so titillating? The tournament section is bursting at the seams with articles, as is the foundry. Many are awaiting on the "Death of the Foundry" report, so make sure to read that first. As expected, clan life is motoring on with many new wars and old scores settled.
DoomYoshi Chief 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... Welcome back to Freestyle readers. This issue, vodean discusses recent community events, there is a new scum insider, and Pirlo discusses an itch. Enjoy!
You Stay Classy, CC.
safariguy5 Freestyle Executive A Dying Way of Life? by vodean show
There has been a lot of talk, especially in the last couple of months, about why CC's membership is declining. People say that CC is lacking for developer attention - certainly, LackAttack has been busy with another, top-secret project. People say that maybe CC is becoming too clan-oriented, and is thus driving away new members. But since shortly before the start of the Olympic special event, membership has increased by nearly 1,000! In the middle of July, membership was at just over 14,500. Now, one month later, we are sitting pretty at 15,500.
The Scum Insider by safariguy5 show
The Scum Insider Newbie Help Mafia Information , Mafia and You , and Rules and Terms of Mafia .What is "Mafia"? Mafia News NCIS Mafia ended with a very close mafia win. The presence of a third party serial killer and an extra mafia player really put the town in a tough position at endgame. Mafia happened to target the SKer for the kill and the assist went to the SKer for taking out a townie. This allowed mafia to endgame the remaining townie and pull out a very close win.Mafia Callouts Replacement Thread to see what games are in need of reserves/replacements.viewforum.php?f=213 Advanced Roles and Strategy by safariguy5 The Friendly Neighbor What is It? Example How to Play this Role Town . In general, it's a pretty good idea to reveal to as many people as possible that you are town. If you reveal it to a mafia player, then mafia have no real advantage to gain by denying the message. So it becomes rather easy to establish town cred after a few nights. This puts mafia in a situation where the mafia has to decide when they want to deal with the neighbor. Towards endgame, mafia generally have to eliminate confirmed townies. An extra night of investigations/protections for town is generally the best outcome for a Friendly Neighbor. Soaking up a mafia NK near endgame can increase town odds of winning immensely.
show: Interrogation of Pirlo
Q. Will you play dubs with me (Campin_Killer)? A. Of course, I would play with any cool player, including yourself. Q. You're always in a good mood. You're always so kind and helping, how you doing that? A. I actually treat people as they treat me. Considering you are my sweetest friend around, you will always see me as much kind as possible Q. Why don't you love me (pmchugh) any more? Q. Why did you stop being a mercenary and start being a big fat ugly cow? A. I don't think I've ever been a mercenary. I started with TIME clan and left when there was a split and too much drama. Then stayed off clans for a while because I was kinda pissed off. A while later, General Brock II, a cool friend of mine, invited me to the 1RFG and it sounded fun. Meanwhile, KORT was a target for me, but I didn't bother to play because I didn't think I had enough skills to get there, so decided to wait for the right time. Timing is one of my most important tactics, even in real life. I know a lot of cows, and they are great fellas and very nice people who make you eager to be one of them. Although 3 of them invited me many times before I even apply, I still thought it wasn't the right time to say yes because I didn't want to take an immature opportunity and blow it due to lack of skills. Q. What is your favourite map and settings? for singles, doubs, trips and quads ;P A. Korea for 1v1. Feudal War for 2v2. Malta for 3v3. Europa for 4v4. I'm not a big fan of multiple opponents games like 1v1v1v1, or 2v2v2v2 because I don't like diplomacy and stuff. I just play a few of them at some private and escalating games where all opponents know how to play and wouldn't ruin your experience. Q. If you have to pick 3 partners for the perfect team(not only strategically perfect but also cool and funny) who would you pick? A. This is one of the most difficult questions I may ever have. Even math could be a bit easier, given that I really suck at math. Q. Do you have any trauma with penis? A. No, not at all. My penis was just itchy due to heat, but my lotion solved that problem. Q. Are you an ass or breast man? A. Breast of course, and love everything pink. Q. Where would you most like to live? A. My work is online and I could live anywhere I want with no work/job barrier, so I think I'm fine where I am now, but Milan and Paris are kinda my favorite cities. Q. Hottest female you have ever seen for real? Hottest model/actress? Hottest woman in CC? A. I saw the hottest female for real in Lebanon, and she was a prostitute, but I didn't f*ck her because I don't use hookers in general. Q. Do you think your time as mercenary made you a better CC player, or did it just burn you out? A. Although me being a mercenary is disputable, let's say yes of course. Playing with a big variety of people is definitely effective. Q. Is it still itchy? A. No, not at all. Q. How many PJs do you need a day to satisfy your need? A. Well, I can't get enough of any oral sex in general. Not mention how amazing your mouth skill is. Q. How much do you enjoy giving me (vodean) BJs? A. A lot. XD I actually enjoy giving Cunnilingus, and if you were a chick, you'd probably love it more than penetration itself. Q. How deep and unending is your love for me (vodean)? Is it greater or less than your love for loes? A. Sorry bro, my love for loes is unmatchable. No one is like her, no one is even close. Once you or anybody else put themselves in a comparison with her, they just like started an absolutely lost battle/challenge. Q. Why do you have 69 people on your friends list? How many are on your foe list? A. Because 69 sounds hot for an oral fan. Q. What are some of your ideas for making LC a friendlier and more appropriate place? How can we encourage new people to come there? A. LC is good enough IMO. It wasn't so a while ago when IR was there, but it's a lot better now with a great liberty and free speech made by friendly people who wouldn't abuse that liberty to insult people, albeit I take no offense no matter how much effort one would make to bother me. Q. Would you still consider yourself an Independent Mercenary now that you are in KORT? A. I thought of KORT as my final destination, and now, it's my home. When my tryout games where on, I wanted to be in; and if I failed to make in, I had a plan to not join any other clan, including my ex clan which I had decided to leave even before I know whether I was going to be accepted as a cow or not. I was like either KORT or none. Q. Did your anti-itch cream finally work? And once it does, will you stop posting about it in LC? A. Yes it did, and I already stopped posting about it everywhere. Q. Why do you pretend to be gay in LC? I don't. many people are aware that I'm straight and just joking around. I think I'm flexible enough to get some people confused about my sexual orientation. I still wonder how the f*ck I was accused of homophobia. It was just ridiculous lol A. Well, I'm highly confident you know that I don't "like" to jab anybody unless they wanted so for the sake of joking and fun. Q. Do you feel that there should be a point reset in the following game? Game 11177036 A. Maybe. I don't like to talk about past, especially when it comes to a game. I trust the decision made by the tourney organizer regardless of its effect or whether it was in my favor or not, he still has the final word, although I might disagree. But I just don't want to talk about it. Q. Are you an Ace or Ass (assassin) man? A. I prefer the latter. Q. What's your favorite sport? A. Football (aka soccer in America.) Q. What would be your perfect soccer team? A. If I have the ability to pick an all stars team. GK = Buffon. Defense = Tiago Silva, David Luiz, Fabio Coentrao and Dani Alves. Midfield = Xavi, Iniesta, Andrea Pirlo and Luka Modric or maybe Recardo Kaka. Offense = Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. A. I think it's sometimes fun to drive the mod crazy. Q. Do you realise you have the same number of friends as Ace has medals? A. I didn't really know this. Q. When are you going to teach me the Monster map for real? A. I'm sorry for forgetting this. But we already started a game to fix this and you missed a turn. I forgot to tell ya that missing a turn and/or a tiny mistake are not affordable on that map; well, it depends on your opponents to be clear. Q. What do you say to the people who would say that this is the most pointless interrogation yet? A. Nothing. Q. Why does it itch? And didn't it stop itching after being cut off? (before it grew back again I mean.) Q. Who's your greatest admirer and who do you admire the most? A. Are we talking about CC community/game? I don't think I know my greatest admirer. As for who I admire the most, there are few, but for now I can name italianipastido, Ace Rimmer and josko.ri Q. Who's your daddy? A. I'm afraid you need to ask my mom about this. Q. What is the square root of 34? A. I told you how much I suck at math, seriously. I can't answer this. Q. Am I (gillipig) being funny? A. Yes, at least for me. Q. Do you enjoy being GLG's "maned man"? A. Yes I do. Q. What does being "GLG's maned man" mean to you? A. It means a lot, and you know that you are one of my very first friends on CC. Q. You are 6-0 in team games with GLG. If you played 14 more games, what do you think the record would be? Is he any good, be honest? A. I think it would be 20-0. And yes, he definitely is, quite honestly. Q. Why did you join KoRT? A. You join a top clan like KORT to become a champion. Not to mention how many cool people are there. Q. How have you found KoRT? Fun or no fun? Exciting/boring? A. Like anyone finds his own home. Q. Can you eat my (vodean) pie please? A. Maybe. Q. How about if I (vodean) feed it to you? A. It would depend on the situation. Q. How can you hold back from freaking out when you're trying to teach dummies like me (queen victorious) on Monsters? Don't you get frustrated? Oh wait - I think I know how you may deal with that A. People who ask you for help are willing to improve a certain skill, and their willingness to learn should be an enough motivation for any sound teacher. Add to it that you are a special sweetheart, and yes we deal with it very well, if you know what I mean. Q. Why did you leave 1RFG before I (queen victorious) got a chance to play with you in that clan? You promised to play with me there, then all of a sudden you were gone. That was not very nice ;-( A. We don't have to be in the same group/clan to keep playing together. Also, my quit was already planned to happen by summer simple because I had nothing more to add. You are great guys and I long the time when we used to post in the forum and celebrate after every victory we made. Q. Do you see a lot of difference between in how KORT is run/forum activity/etc than you did in your previous clans? Do you feel that it makes a difference as to the success of the clan? A. I think I do. KORT is full of veterans who have a lot of experiences. The forum clan is no difference. I think it's the same everywhere because you don't always have new people to add something unusual. Q. What is the length of the biggest penis you have seen? Felt? A. I never felt any penis of course, and the biggest ones I've see were in porn movies. Q. Why does everything revolve around MY (vodean) sex life?? A. you might be obsessed with sex? Q. If you could travel through time and be present for any famous historical event, what would you go see? A. I'm not a fan of historical places. We have Petra here and I didn't enjoy my trip there. But I think I would enjoy Athens and Rome. Q. Are you Italian? With any connections to La Cosa Nostra? Or would you have to kill me if you told me? A. No, I'm a pure Palestinian, at least up to 5 generations ago. As for La Cosa Nostra, I'm a fan of mafia stories and movies. The Godfather is my favorite movie of all time, and Al Pacino is my saint. Q. Why does vodean like to act like he's gay? Do you two have gay relations together? How often do these encounters take place? A. You need to ask him this. And no, we don't. I think he's just as flexible as myself, and we just like to joke as humor fans. Q. Why do people have problems with homosexual behavior? A. Some people are just to nosey to leave everyone alone. I have no idea why people have to care about whom I f*ck as long as they are not directly or indirectly affected. Q. Has there ever been a woman (or man) that you feel was the "one that got away"? A. Not sure. Things change a lot and nothing would remain the same. Q. Are you having more or less sex now that you are single? A. Considering I don't use hookers, and I don't have enough time on weekends to go to bars and night clubs, my sex is near zero. Q. Craziest masturbation story? (preferably public masturbation!!) A. I think it was in a cinema when a guy sitting beside me started masturbating. For the record, he didn't do it because the movie contained hot scenes, but because a couple sitting in front of us were kissing and playing. I think it was disgusting though. Q. Are you keeping Victor Sullivan hostage? A. No. lol Q. How much Nivea do you use per day? A. I used 100 ml only, and my penis is fine. Q. Baseball or Softball? A. Neither. Q. Gloves or Mittens? A. Gloves of course. Just because it reminds me of my sweetie FoxGlove. Q. Mittens or Kittens? A. Kittens. Q. Seals or Elephants? A. Neither. Q. Peanuts or Snoopy? A. Neither. Q. Linus or Schroeder? A. Neither. Q. The Great Pumpkin or the white-bearded chimney sweep? A. Neither. Q. Mozart or Beethoven? A. Both. Q. Are you going to answer: 2, 4, or 8 of the questions in this post ? (must choose one of the answers provided) A. I'm answering all questions, with no exception, all of them. Q. Are you worried that x-raider doesnt know how to count? There were nine questions. He is not ALLOWING you to answer them all, apparently... :/ A. No, I'm not. Q. Who are 5 CC members that you would love to teabag but haven't done so yet? A. No one I think. I even teabagged lackattack, so this should tell ya that no one is untouchable. Q. What do you think is the single most important change that can be made to CC to help save it? A. Giving freemiums a free speeder per day because people join to play not to get stuck in a casual game with deadbeats. Q. Are your days as a free agent among clans complete? A. I'm a happy cow now, and not a free agent. I have a commitment to KORT. Q. Do you feel any regret at leaving 1RFG for greener pastures? A. I don't regret my decisions because I take my time before I make them. Q. What do you miss most from your previous clan? A. The cool people, because the game is the same everywhere. Q. How did you go about deciding with italianipastido to try out for KoRT? A. italianipasito and I didn't make a mutual decision. I left alone, and he came alone. JaneAustin invited me last summer, and as I said, I didn't feel it was the right time. In February, loes invited me and I wasn't ready. In March, Bruceswar invited me and I should give it more consideration because it came from 3 different cows and none of them knew about the 2 others. I had already told General Brock II of my quit because I won't be available for clan games in summer, and one day, I told loes that I was ready to make the tryout games before the busy summer started. Therefore, I played few games with some cows, then loes found out that italianipastido is my full time partner and like my other half on CC. She liked him and thought of him as a potential cow, so she asked me about him. I told her to ask him if she wanted him. We didn't go to KORT as a package. Q. What do you enjoy most about your new clan? A. Playing with some cows who I didn't know before like drunkmonkey and denthefrog. Q. How is the environment different from your previous clan? A. The environment is almost the same, maybe because I haven't been involved in clan games in KORT colors yet. But cool people are here and there. I think the competition level would be the only difference though. Q. What do you think are the primary contributing factors to KoRT's double Conquer Cup success? A. I wasn't there, so I can't tell. I'm not a lot into the clan world, I just focus on my own games and let people focus on theirs. Q. Has your new clan helped to improve your CC abilities, and if so, How has it done so? A. As I haven't played any clan game with KORT yet, I haven't felt a lot of difference. But I have to admit that I learnt some new tricks from josko in our tryout game. Q. What is/are your favourite game type/s? A. Team games and no spoils. I like trench too. Q. What is your favourite map? A. Europa. Q. Who is your favourite player? A. italianipastido. Q. Who is your favourite teammate? A. italianipastido. Q. Who is your most challenging opponent? A. Josko.ri and Rodion. Q. Which player/s do you respect/admire the most? A. Josko.ri. Q. Which player/s do you dislike? A. I don't think I dislike anyone. Q. How did you get introduced to the site? A. Search engine. Q. How did your development on the site happen? (how did you improve etc?) A. I used to play as a noob until I met Big Yuma Ripper who said he wanted to be friend with me because I'm from Jordan and he like to meet people from different cultures. We started playing team games with codeblue and larsin as a quad team and I learnt a lot from those great and nice guys. I gotta admit too that GLG helped me a lot when I needed advices and asked consulted him about what the right move I should make in my own games, and he explained a lot to me. Q. Are there any distinct stages or games you went through to become the player you now are? (Did you farm for a period of time, just play for enjoyment etc?) A. Ya as I said above, meeting Big Yuma Ripper was a turning point for my CC skills. A while later, I met italianipastido and he was the reason why I got back to the cite after I had gotten bored and decided to not renew my premium, then dazerazer insisted and buy me a premium so we played a lot of monsters games. (I farmed for 2 or 3 games then got bored and sick of it.) lol Now I play for enjoyment only. Q. What is your most memorable game? A. I barely remember the past, and I don't usually look behind. But I think there was a California trips game with jsnyder and zidane -21. We were losing and my teammates did say "gg" in game chat. We actually started our turns and just drop and end, so that accumulated a stack after a round or 2. Our opponents who were sdh and two others got really really bad rolls and epic dice fail. I decided to use the accumulated stack and got a lot of regions count then a bonus, while sdh's team dice remained awful and we ended up winning the game. It's not easy to see this in a no spoils game. Q. Where did your name come from? A. The footballer, Andrea Pirlo, I love his style and mentality in the football game. A. It's more about the Country because I'm fond of Italy and Italian lifestyle. Q. Do you like his position particularly much? A. Yes, it would be my favorite position as a maestro if I was a footballer. Q. Can you explain some about your heritage? A. I believe in individualism and I don’t care about any people heritage. Q. What are your feelings on the Middle Eastern Environment? A. Normal, just like any other place. I don't have loyalty to any nation in a patriotic sense. My race = human, and my homeland = earth. Q. What do you consider your religious affiliation to be? A. I'm defined as a Muslim Freethinker, albeit I'm not practicing. I depend on my own logic to interpret stuff and to tell what's right and/or wrong. I don't trust any clergy of any brand of faith/religion. And in general, I'm not a big fan of religions. I rather tend to believe that religions are poison especially when they are abused for personal interests. Sadly, this is happening everywhere; hence, I'm a big fan of secularism. Q. What do you think about the 'Arab Spring'? A. It started greatly in Tunisia and Egypt, the USA and NATO decided to make that useful for their greed and interests, so it turned to crap in Libya, Syria, Bahrain… etc and I don't like how the radical Muslims (supported by USA & NATO) are raising to power in some countries after they were secular nations. I don't also like the rise of bigotry and hatred against Shiites minorities around. Q. Specifically, what do you think about the situation North of you in Syria? A. Miserable thanks to USA and NATO again. I think Syrians revolted legitimately in the beginning, then traitors who live abroad and supported by world leading powers decided to use the ignorance of those desperate "rebellions." Q. How has the above affected you? A. Personally, I wasn't affected due to the nature of my work (online business) which has nothing to do with national/regional security. But a lot of my relatives and friends were negatively affected. That's for the economic side. As for humanistic side, violence pisses me off, plain and simple. Q. What do you think are the environment and other aspects that have shaped you into the person you now are? A. I experienced a lot. Being a son of Palestinian parents who were forced to leave their home and move east after the Israeli invasion some decades ago, I was raised away from a homeland (pretty homeless.) For a long period of time, my own parents had to deal with the fact that they were dismissed off their homes and the fact that everything is possible in our world. Then I happened to have a similar firsthand experience. I was born in Kuwait which was invaded by Iraq in 1990. This means I was in a war zone for months, and then had to move to Jordan. It wasn't very easy to move from one of the world richest countries to one of the poorest places. For about 10 years, I live in one of the poorest neighborhoods in one of the poorest countries. It was a neighborhood where terrorists come from Afghanistan to recruit ignorant, poor and desperate teenagers. With my bare eyes, I witnessed some recruitment processes and I saw neighbors I knew being recruited and taken to Afghanistan to be prepared for some suicidal action somewhere. You might be curious about me; but yes, recruiters approached me, and I think I was to smart to for their criteria that requires ignorance for an easier brainwash. Q. Did your hands cramp up while answering Leehar's questions? A. I like Leehar's questions. I enjoyed answering them. Q. Did you have a "ghost writer" answer them? A. I'm a writer and journalist, so you tell me if I would get bored of answering and writing. XD My typing skills will still be very good and almost free of spelling mistakes even when I get drunk. Q. When you saw tbc did you cringe? A. Not really. Q. What's your take on cow tipping? A. Cows are just amazing, and everything they do is fun Q. Penis? A. Yes?
Hello again my friends, and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments! Now that the Olympics are over
(Congrats to all our British members on a job well done!) , perhaps we can all turn our attention to more serious matters, like CC..
To, let me introduce to you our newest reporter,
Campin_Killer ! Campin will be taking a stroll down a special Memory Lane, to shine a light on some of the very first tourneys ever played on CC! I find this a fascinating subject myself, and I hope some of you do too. Certainly Campin has given us and excellent first look.
Dave continues with his
Tournament Tips , and also with Updating the TPA. His
Update begins with the words
We have scores!
which quite likely is enough to sell it to most of you...
The discussion is
under way for what changes should be made before launching TPA3, so if you want your input, get in there!
James is on vacation, but in a true show of dedication he logged on long enough to produce
Join This? Or Not! Thanks again for this exemplary effort.
Dukasaur Tournament Executive Down Tournament Lane by Campin_Killer show
Ever wondered what tournaments were like back when CC started? Back when the classic map looked like this and back when tournament organizers were strictly premium?xiGAMES Tournament , hosted by the long-standing xiGAMES group. Back then, there were no medals for hosting tournaments, no medals for winning them. People did it because they loved doing it, and most of all, for fun .Scarus and the xiGAMES clan, was a very simple tournament. Six games of six players had been created by xiGAMES premium members with private passwords. Joining was simple: All you had to do was PM Scarus with the intent of joining, and he would randomly assign you to a game. After the first round of games was over, the six winners played in a six player championship game.Game 11516 was the championship game. thegrimsleeper .Greatwhite Q. How did playing in the first tournament feel? Was it awesome, or same as any other tournament? Q. Were there any difficulties or problems when trying to join or play the games? Q. How do you think tournaments have changed from then and now?
Tournament Tips by DaveH show: Excel coding to set up a tournament - Part 3
As we continue the coding for setting up a tournament spreadsheet, in this article we will start the "Create Template" menu heading coding.Code: Select all Sub FormatCode()Code: Select all For j = 0 To k 'One or two player rowsCode: Select all Cells(irow, icol + j).Offset(i / (k + 1), 0).SelectCode: Select all Cells(irow, icol + j).SelectCode: Select all For l = 0 To i / (k + 1)Code: Select all Sub FormatCode()
TPA Wrap by DaveH show
TPA 1: State of Play TPA 1 Standings TPA Season 2: State of Play http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=175194 is an additional tournament now open for entrants. The map used is AoR2 (which is one of my favourites) and you will be entered twice - but may have to play yourself! It was scheduled for Week 41 but has been assigned to Week 37 on the schedule(to fill the gap left by a non-starter).TPA 2 Standings TPA Season 3: Planning Issues http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=175675
Join This? Or Not! by WorldCup4James show
Much of the world is already in the competitive spirit with the London Olympics; let's keep the flame burning! Here's a look at some featured Conquer Club tournaments in sign-ups.NCAA Football: 2012-2013 Season Campin_Killer , and Live Chat contributor vodean , this 120-player competition is modeled around the massively-popular college football sensation. The tournament features each of the many conferences, from the Big 10 to the SEC to the Sun Belt. Choose your favorite map and settings for 1v1 play, and lead the beloved team from your college years to victory! Or just pick one with an amazing name. tbay's NFL Season 1 Dubs tbayjosh 's Doubles competition. The tournament is set to coincide directly with the real NFL season, with invites arriving weekly. Battle on eight home and eight away maps, and an even tougher Playoffs to the Superbowl. Only one team can raise the Lombardi trophy! The Ultra Mod andyf23 offers a new twist for 4 mods and 64 players. Moderators put forth their own perfect tournament format--from Standard to Terminator to Assassin games--and play amongst themselves to determine the format in later, more decisive rounds. Meanwhile, the players battle to emerge among a select group of four representing their Mod. In the end, the Mod whose players are the only survivors is proclaimed the (unofficial) Ultra Mod!patrickaa317's 8 Chance Tournament patrickaa317 's tournament, but each player is guaranteed eight spots in the bracket. You're therefore allowed sixteen losses; hopefully the intensity cubes won't fail you that many times! Players will fight in 1v1 games on Random maps and the CC default settings.Create/Join a Tournament or Tournaments Tab and take a look at the many others waiting to be filled.Requests for Immediate Players section of the tournament forum. You can be playing very quickly after signing up as a reserve.
Well, congratulations CC community. You pulled together, had your say and made a difference. All in all a great fortnight's work. And long may the efforts behind the scenes continue! So much to do so much to gain. But the best thing that has been gained, particularly in the last fortnight, is a reinvigoration of the foundry and general comraderie. Again, well done one and all!
This issue, I bring the
News and
What's Where again. Hopefully next issue you will have
Koontz1973 taking back those reigns and providing you with the familiar (and somewhat more knowledgeable) framework that you are used to!
Nolefan brinds us an update on XML, I write an esoteric article about
Gamification and
Koontz1973 has been run ragged catching up but has taken time out to give us the promised part two of his Special Report. Enjoy! And finally, let's all prove
George Beernard Shaw wrong given he said:
The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
thehippo8 -- Foundry ExecutiveFoundry News by thehippo8 show
Well the foundry is alive and kicking. The protest is over and action has happened. Check out koontz1973 's article for more detail. In the meantime, the fruits of the protest are New toys !New toys thenobodies80 has announced some new innovations . Bonus collections allow the xml to be decreased - simplifying coding and increasing the overall functionality of the site. Conditional borders allow for a whole new level of strategy - own this to get that stuff. Read the thread to get the details. Moreover, thenobodies80 tells us that a new Map Database and a public map gallery are on the way.Zimmah also helpfully explains: basically the updates mean that it became a little bit easier to make complex continents work. so that really complex maps that were in development for years can finally be finished, because otherwise the code would be too big to handle for the site. It also saves time on other maps that would be big but still playable. as far as i know they don;t really unlock new options other than complexity limitations due to size.
Gillipig notes: Nice update!! This was one of those things we really wanted. It should open up the creative process quite a bit.
Pamoa comes up with this brilliant idea: and now what about a map competition using a draft with all those great new features so we can quick see what we gained
DiM and Oneyed point out that this is nice but there is still much for the foundry to do. Incidentally this lively debate is not negative and I implore you to read through the whole of the thread to see that there are valid points being made on all sides of the discussion. All I can say on this point is that it is great to see some life being infused into the foundry. As DiM notes: i've never been one to take small safe steps. i'm more a man of risky leaps. sometimes i fail, sometimes i win, but it's always exciting.
Snippets just in case you didn't know! Cairnswk shares the fonts used on his maps. why small versions are need before moving intoamusing farce. 12 player games? Raglan Castle.
Maps in Development by thehippo8 show
Drafting Room Last week New this week Main Foundry Last week New this week Final Forge DiM
Conditional Borders by nolefan5311 show
As I'm sure most of you out there in CC land are aware, the Foundry was on strike for a while (discussed in great length by koontz in our last newsletter). Well, as I'm sure you're also aware, that strike ended as a result of us mapmakers being given some new toys to play with in the form of XML updates. For the technical breakdown of what these updates allow mapmakers to do, please see Foundry Foreman thenobodies80's post here . What I'm here to do is point out some maps in development that are taking advantage of this new toy, while also mentioning some maps where development stalled that could implement the new feature.Research and Conquer , currently in the Recycling Box. One of the more anticipated maps in development for quite a long time, the previous limitations in the XML stunted it's development. Now, four years later, the release of the Conditional Borders update can perhaps facilitate the realization of isaiah40's vision, so stop by the thread and leave some encouragement! This map could completely change your gaming experience on this site and it looks like isaiah40 is going to pick it back up soon Click image to enlarge. France 2.0 . When you manage to peel your eyes away from the truly stunning graphics, you'll notice there are some very cool gameplay elements being developed which could possibly take advantage of the new XML capabilities. Notice the Paris winning condition being discussed? The mapmakers could very easily implement conditional borders in the taking of Paris, i.e., having to hold a Regional Claim before being able to attack Paris. Could this be the first map to take advantage of the new possibilities?Click image to enlarge. Spanish Armada . cairnswk, the mapmaker, has requested some input on if the conditional borders can be used with his map, and he has gotten some very interesting responses. Should the Command Vessels be allowed to attack without holding that ships Monarch? Or vice versa? Should a player be able to advance up his Treasury without holding the Supply Ship/Land Base? There are a multitude of possibilities to enhance the gameplay and cairnswk appears to be open to suggestions of all kinds, so make your voice heard!Click image to enlarge. Labyrinth , koontz1973's vision of Greek Gladiatorial games. Notice Prometheus? Well, holding him opens up attack options on the starting positions which otherwise can't be attacked. The theme of the map in and of itself yields several different options for conditional borders, so stop into thread and leave your ideas.Click image to enlarge. Hellenic Wars . A redux of qwert's Pelopponesian Wars, this map expands the battle featured on that map with such features as starting positions, winning conditions and losing conditions, and autodeploys all over the map. So how appropriate would it be to add some conditional borders? Maybe a capital can't be attacked unless a player holds a Fleet? The possibilities really are innumerable, so long as it makes sense from a gameplay point of view.Click image to enlarge. War of Wizards . A very exciting map that was put on the backburner, this, like Labyrinth, appears made to exploit the use of conditional borders. Currently the gameplay is very complex, so adding a couple of conditional borders wouldn't throw things off too much. I encourage you to stop by the thread with your own ideas, and maybe these new features and renewed interest in the map will encourage natty to pick it back up Click image to enlarge. Conquer Ship . This one is currently on vacation but should be picked up soon, and with the setup conditional borders very well could come into play. Do I need to hold all of one battleship before I can attack another? As is there don't appear to be a lot of options for conditional borders, but that doesn't mean the mapmaker couldn't make a change here or there to further facilitate the use of conditional borders. So, once again, and for the final time Click image to enlarge.
Gamification by thehippo8 show
I've written a few articles on ideas like game theory and design concepts in general. Continuing that, I discuss here some other concepts about game theory. When pulling together a map and trying to work out what is working and why some things aren't a little bit of theory can go a long way!Gamification defined Gamification is the use of game design techniques, game thinking and game mechanics to enhance non-game contexts ). Arguably, Conquer Club is an example of Gamification applied to Cartography. Let’s face it, how many of us really cared about geography, history or cartography (including how to draw a useful map) prior to our experience in Conquer Club? Sure some of us played games like Risk (TM) but ... really? Conquer Club has brought that to new heights for all of us!Gamification ” is a modern word. Practically unheard of before marketers got their mits on it. Now it’s such common parlance that even Penn University offers a course on it ! In a recent newspaper article , Gamification was applied in multifaceted ways - to new marketing solutions (like advertising chippies with game apps) to making networking more ascribed (like Foursquare) to improving employee performance (as in SAP). The best application I’ve heard of in applying Gamification to the real world is the Speed Camera Lottery !! But I reckon that there are some interesting things for map-makers to learn here too.Early theory of games, role-playing and simulation the following comment is made :The differences between simulations, games and role-plays are significant. Each fits with a different set of teaching objectives. Games generally have an agreed upon set of rules that limit possible final solutions or agreement. Success, or winning, in a game depends on adherence to a predetermined formula. Participants seek a solution that fits the rules of the game. Role-plays typically involve a set of specifications of characteristics that are assigned to each participant. They are devised to impose specific restraints, pressures and influences on the participants similar to those they would experience in a parallel real life situation. The shape of a final agreement, however, is generally not limited by the rules in a role-play. Simulations combine elements of games and role-plays. They typically consist of at least three parts: a written background piece that sets the stage, confidential instructions for each role player, and a teaching or debriefing note. The background introduces the rules of the game. The role-play, computer simulation, or related activity involves the players in a problem-solving situation. Typically, multiple groups or “tables” play the same game at the same time so that the results can be compared.
Dewey’s Experiential Theory . The purpose of that academic article was to seek to apply such things to the learning context. In doing so, it considered the various theories of learning. Dewey considered that people prefer to have objectives (rather than simply sit as passive vessels waiting to be filled) and it is interesting that so many of the newer maps have objectives built in. Dewey postulated: The formulation of purpose is, then, a rather complex intellectual operation. It involves: (1) observation of surrounding conditions; (2) knowledge of what has happened in similar situations in the past, a knowledge obtained partly by recollection and partly from the information, advice, and warning of those who have had a wider experience; and (3) judgment, which puts together what is observed and what is recalled to see what they dignify. A purpose differs from an original impulse and desire through its translation into a plan and method of action based on foresight of the consequences of action under given observed conditions in a certain way.
hermeneutics – the continuous cycle of interpretations and reinterpretation leading to new understandings. The article concludes that simulation is the best type of learning model because it most closely follows real life experience. I personally found the article a bit lacking in support for these findings but it is certainly food for thought. an article about applying the theory in teaching political sciences. Their article discussed the ICONS project at the University of Maryland (International Communications and Negotiation Simulations). In practice, they found that there are three main elements to any successful simulation:To get the simulation going, you will need to develop several components to provide to your participants. The first is a clear statement of purpose. It is not always necessary to share this at the beginning of the simulation, but it should definitely be discussed at the debriefing to help participants put their participation in the proper context. (In fact, you might not want to share the purpose if that might alter the way that students will behave in the simulation, and therefore undermine the learning objectives.) The second is an introduction or scenario to describe the negotiation environment, introduce the issues, and generally, set the stage for the simulation. The third is the “game mechanics” that lay out the rules for the simulation.
here is another article about applying these concepts in the educational sphere generally and this one is more targeted . Anyone who doubts the usefulness of games in general should read this . Gamification in the modern context Gamification Research Network . There’s lots of good stuff there so feel free to explore. At the 2011 MindTrek Conference, this paper was delivered. For those inclined, you can join in the debate by attending the one day Gamification Summit at the Game Developers’s Conference in October this year. So, Gamification is the use of game bits to enhance experience of other things. Well, isn’t that exactly what Conquer Club is? in-depth analysis of the book here - as it seems a little silly to just repeat what they say. But for our purposes, the following can be garnered:Some games are intrinsically motivating so long as it involves mastering challenges – whether by the aesthetic joys of beauty and pattern; the autonomy in choosing who to be, what goals to pursue and what strategies to pick in doing so; the creative expression of yourself; novelty and humor; excitement in suspense and its release; the sensual pleasures of physical movement; the immersion in exotic fictional worlds and stories; the relaxing reassurance of affecting and ordering a constrained world with minimum effort; supporting others and being supported by them; having a pretext to socialize Intrinsic motivation comes from the need for self-determination - the need to experience competence, our ability to control and affect our environment, and to become better at it People like loyalty programs – if gives them feedback on their achievements Social status is a powerful motivator but you need to take account of the four types of motivation personalities (originally from here) – Achievers are interested in acting on the world, that is, achieving game-related goals they set out for themselves, measured in levels reached, loot gathered, experience collected, etc.
more up-to-date research and the short point is that many things motivate people – intrinsically, extrinsically, intellectually, culturally, emotionally and so on. Meaningful and valid rewards will create loyalty - identifying and creating value in a continuous authentic relation with your customer is the only sustainable (and worthwhile) business model to be in today. Gameplay elements need to be interesting, meaningful and challenging Frankly, I encourage all of you to read the article for yourself. It is probably the best example of lucid criticism I’ve seen in a very long time. Not only is it backed up by numerous links, but it’s dang interesting as well!this article . Ian Bogost rightly lambasts those who would have exploitative notions about misusing gaming against the general populace. He also applauds those who wish to add value with the right motivation. Whilst I am uncertain whether ethics and marketing ever belong in the same sentence (okay I’m rather cynical), he does have a point that done well this is a very powerful tool (I hearken back to Foursquare). But understanding these concepts is also powerful to the map-makers (and the administration) of Conquer Club too. Wrap up shebang has to be, well, for want of a better word - honest! As heady as the theorists try and make this all sound, all this requires is effort on your part (as a map-maker) and useful feedback (from the rest of us).Dukasaur ): Compare Bartle's four standard types (referred to above) to
Keirsey's four personality types . Could this account for the reason for declining enrollment in CC - do we have a serious shortage of explorers and killers?
RIP foundry - Long live the foundry. Did it work? koontz1973 show
Last issue (as always) was late out to you (this issue is the same greenoaks wrote: conditional borders definitely would suit a Dungeons Of Draknor Level 2 map.
crazymilkyleftlegman wrote: once i saw this, me and my friend started working on a draft.
Bruceswar wrote: I am happy for these updates. Lets see them in action!
DiM wrote: aside from conditional borders the others are....meh.
No . No . natty dread wrote: QoH wrote: I can't wait to see what Natty does with the conditional borders update. Should be spectacular.
I'm not going to do anything with it.
DiM wrote: lack successfully drove away a lot of mapmakers and it's time he did something to keep the ones he has and even bring some new ones. otherwise in a couple of years the only person in the foundry will be cairnswk.
The
All Comers Cup 2 is just about to start underway with 20 Clans registered. Look for the first round to be started in about a week or so.
The Voice is walks us through a quick overview of seedings and expectations for the 1v1 challenge.
This issue we have a new Clan Executive taking over the clan section in
Skillfusniper33 .
Newcomers Cup 3 Update by Skillfusniper33 (IGNI) show
The first round of NC3 is come to it's end with all but 1 war being decided. The 1st round came by pretty quick, IGNI vs RH Fallen vs M8 MB vs 1RFG TNC vs TFFS
Heads Up! by The Voice (EMP) show
The 1vs1 clan tournament is back under new management. First hosted by barterer2002 in 2011, the competition is overseen by IcePack this time around. Six of the 17 clans entered are returning from last year, but the team to beat after this year’s seeding was established (KoRT) is new to the tournament.Make sure you double check your predictions Visit the play-in round and first-round matchups in the tournament thread. EMP (1.75; 2; 2; Range 1-2) FOED (3.50; 3; 3; Range 1-10) ID (4.69; 4; 4; Range 4-11) TNC (6.75; 6; 6; Range 3-12) LEG (7.88; 9; 10; Range 3-10) OSA (8.19; 8; 7; Range 4-12)
Stay Tuned for the next issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch for an interrogation of
agentcom . Post any questions you may have for them here -->
Interrogation with Agentcom Submitting Your Own Articles If you have a story you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to
Victor Sullivan and you may just see your article published in the Newsletter!
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