Hello tournament fans. This week stahrgazer takes a try at the News Hound position. Enjoy!
As always, if you have any ideas or just want to help out, drop us a line.
Thanks, and enjoy!
Gozar
Newsletter Poll
News Hound
Fun Facts
Currently Taking Signups
Tournament Updates
Coming Soon
The Tournament Roll of Honour
Interview with TaCktiX
Next Issue
Notes
Staff
Would you not join a tournament if it included an assassin, terminator or freestyle game?
Our poll is still running, so vote while there is still time!
Please stop by the Suggestion Thread and vote.
Clan Wars
Everyone who has been around CC for a while has heard the term, "Clan War" or seen members of one clan hollering for a member's victory over someone in another clan. A clan war is where clan leaders or members arrange rules of engagement with other clan leaders or members; then various teams from those clans engage. The clan of teams that win the most games, wins the war. It might be easy to assume from that that, that the clan with the most war victories is the 'best' of all clans, but it is not as simple as that.
Consider a clan that plays all freestyle games; is that clan "better" than a clan that won all its sequential games? What if one clan war ignored maps that were used in another clan war? How does one determine which is the 'best' clan?
A group of bright players, possibly headed by jpcloet, came up with the idea of a "Clan Ladder". Said jpcloet in his forum post, "Unofficial Clan Ladder,"
jpcloet wrote:Some of you may have seen the Clan Director's post around the future of clans on CC. One of the key messages is that some "unofficial" things could be done by the group here and I'm going to start another "unofficial" clan item. I've been asked to run another league and also another tournament, however there are limitations to both so I will avoid them for now. Please continue to post your clan's challenge results on that thread (final score needed) and I will update the ladder.
Using MarVal's thread on challenges that have been completed, and a number of other challenges that I'm aware of (Teams Doubles League), I've compiled the unofficial clan ladder rankings using the ELO system used for chess using all the statistical data I could find.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_rating_system wrote:
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess and Go. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo (1903–1992, born as Élő Árpád), a Hungarian-born American physics professor.
The Elo system was invented as an improved chess rating system, but today it is also used in many other games. It is also used as a rating system for multiplayer competition in a number of computer games, and has been adapted to team sports including association football, American college football and basketball, and Major League Baseball.
Impressive, no? It becomes obvious, however, when reading the forum, that no two clans are alike. Some detest escalating card rates for the same reasons other clans detest flat rates. Some like beta maps, others dislike them for warring purposes.
To fix this, fifteen clans have engaged in a multi-week, multi-clan war, or clan ladder. Games began the week of January 17th, with the last games scheduled to start on June 27. Just like baseball and football leagues, clans have home games, away games, and "bye" weeks when they do not start games.
There are 3 divisions of 5 clans, randomly placed sorting on RAND() in Excel 10 times.
Division 1
The Regulators
Imperial Dragoons
Empire
THOTA
De Veroveraars der Lage Landen
Division 2
Immortal Assassins
Generation 1: The Clan
The Last Warriors
Black Sheep Squadron
Mythology
Division 3
Sky Force
The Spanking Monkeys
Legion of the Damned
Legends of War
++The Legion++
Each clan plays 80 division games (home and away against each clan) and then another ten games against clans in other divisions (100 games).
Play weeks and bye weeks are organized, and no team is a home team more than 2 weeks in a row (to minimize game creation pressure). Divisional games alternate with cross-over games; Divisional games begin and end the season. Only Divisional games count towards the ladder. The scoreboard is kept by league, rather than by division.
Like most clan wars, certain rules for game setup were established:
No Freesyle, No Speed; No duplicate maps in a 10 game set; No beta maps, (that may change later). For this particular "Clan Ladder," all teams from any clan are doubles teams; each clan is responsible to select representative teams for any week being played. To participate in the league, a clan must be a competitive league with members who adhere to the rules for competitive clans - such as, each member of a clan belonging to one and only one competitive clan.
It is an innovative idea, a step up from "clan wars" and "tournaments" and we applaud those who worked to organize the system. Upon successful conclusion of this league, we can hope that another CC Clan World Series will begin, perhaps to include Triples and Quads teams.
Helping Hands
In a recent thread, a member of one’s clan was accused of cheating and abuse. Well, this writer would not have known about it but for an inter-clan forum post, that made the author look at forums other than tournaments and clan information.
Something that caught one’s eye before entering the appropriate thread was the number of comments posted in Flame Wars and Tower of Babble. In and of themselves, the numbers are not necessarily notable, but 113846 (Flame Wars), 156664 (General CC Discussion), and 731460 (Babble) compared to 123752 (Map Foundry); 57655 (Suggestions and Bug Reports) and 160322 (Tournaments) reveals some interesting characteristics. We CC citizens would apparently rather flame each other than add to maps designs; would rather chat than provide ideas on improvements; and are almost five times more likely to babble than add to tournaments. The numbers only get worse if one reads the threads to see the quantity of inanities and arguments being posted under the guise of suggestions. The statistics of the matter could be quite discouraging.
Eldridge Cleaver said, “You are either part of the problem or part of the solution.” For those who do not recall their black history, he was a prominent member of the Black Panther Party which was characterized “by a revolutionary ideology and by the commitment of the membership ... to promote its agenda for fundamental change...” (http://www.blackpanther.org/legacynew.htm)
While the membership of CC may not be as organized as the Party became, we do have members who are committed to making this site more enjoyable. Moderators (it’s a tough job but someone has to do it); Clan Leaders (with power of leadership comes responsibility of same); Cartographers (we may not like all changes to maps, but we sure appreciate having a variety of maps); Tournament Organizers (the job entails much more than just getting a medal on a wall); and others, all contribute a piece of the pie that makes for sweet enjoyment.
While reviewing the general forum, one came across the Tournament Newsletter. Oh, that is not to say it had not been seen before; after reading one issue, one determined to organize a tournament. Reading the latest issue, one determined to add one’s talent, such as it is, toward the newsletter. As jpcloet stated, “People should ask themselves, how can I make another member's experience a more enjoyable one?”
If a community is to remain, it requires members who are willing to find an area in which to add their talent, innovation, and drive to improve not simply their personal rank, but to improve the experience for many. Fortunately, CC has such members. If the editors are willing, perhaps we can explore together, in future issues, what it was that drove someone to organize the Society of Cooks, what spearheads a member into organizing a new clan, or begin the trend toward organized tournaments.
As one non-premium member said, things that members enjoy on CC are, “different maps, different strategies, the chat, old, young, mid,” in other words, the variety of games and people. He added, almost as an afterthought, “Helping people learn.”
“Chat can be as much or more fun as the games,” but it takes a community of helping hands to keep us chatting. Kudos and applause to the helping hands that keep CC running – maybe not always smoothly, but at least, reliably. And with the help of all those behind-the-scenes hands, CC makes continual positive improvements.
The first speed tournament has completed! DJ Teflon hosts Speed Doodle Terminator!
Here are the tournaments that are currently taking signups. Just click the title to visit the thread.
Teams Tournaments
Mixed Maps 3
Organizer: Natascha
Mixed Maps 2
Organizer: Natascha
Credit Crunch
Organizer: Pedronicus
Freestyle Speed Doubles
Organizer: Jeff Hardy
1 versus 1 Tournaments
Best Players of the 2000’s NCAA
Organizer: blacky44
From Order Comes Chaos
Organizer: GrimReaper.
New College Basketball Season
Organizer: dutchxc
Around All CC’s Maps: CCU
Organizer: HighlanderAttack
Conquest of the Ages
Organizer: jim save
Around All CC’s Maps: Centerscape
Organizer: HighlanderAttack
General Tournaments
Final Fantasy Wars
Organizer: frozen_flame
Jump the Castle!
Organizer: riskyman1221
Tourney of Disaster!
Organizer: Jennybh
Poketourney
Organizer: juliusceaser
Class Struggle
Organizer: TaCktiX
A metamap tournament based off of The Citadel, both in map and in reality. Very low game load (likely 4-5 most rounds), but likely a high number of rounds.
Players needed: 18 regular, 5 reserves
Terrorism 101
Organizer: anamainiacks
World War II
Organizer: JweezyIII
WWII Europe Skills
Organizer: Iron Maid
Country Clash
Organizer: dellmanlego
European Knockout Club
Organizer: DJ Teflon
Moody Non-Premium Classic 2
Organizer: MrMoody
Best Movie Ever – CC Edition II
Organizer: poptartpsycho18
Amazing Race I
Organizer: blacky44
American Idol Season 8
Organizer: Tupence
Pearl Harbor Game Series
Organizer: stringybeany
Bounty Hunters Tournament
Organizer: der sniffter
NFL Draft
Organizer: blacky44
Here are how some of the currently ongoing tournaments are progressing. Just click the title to visit the thread. Want your tournament listed here? Use the form at the end of this letter!
2008-09 College Hoops season
Organiser: flexmaster33
The 2008-09 College Hoops season has moved into conference tournament action. Here’s a quick congrats to the regular-season champions in each of our 11 conferences. And best of luck to all of those chasing an automatic NCAA bid as Selection Day approaches.
Big East: Pittsburgh (Easy N Dirty)
ACC: Clemson (Aesop Jones)
Big 10: Michigan State (yammers)
Big 12: Kansas State (Lincecum)
Pac 10: UCLA (lardass76)
SEC: Alabama (kevlove)
WAC/Mt. West: Air Force (pimphawks)
Big Sky/WCC: San Francisco (endar1077)
MAC: Bowling Green (knighthawk)
Valley/CUSA: Illinois State (Lubawski)/Houston (wrexham)
Atlantic 10: Rhode Island (doochbagbill)
Around the World in 80 Days
Organiser: stahrgazer
Around the World in 80 Days Tournament 80% Complete.
The battles progress around the world using the history of flight as a theme; the tournament director, stahrgazer, had a passion for aerospace early on and worked for 15 years in an aerospace engineering firm while co-director nemrehs1 had experience with prior tournaments.
This tournament, which comes complete with half-year premium prizes for each of the members of the winning quads, began as 8 1v1 matches starting off where world flight began: Balloon races in Europe. Each contestant had to win 2 of three singles matches on different maps before picking a partner to continue on to doubles (Wright Brothers) rounds. Doubles partners who won two of three picked a third to go into the Triples Round, and triples winners (again, two of three matches each on a different map) will pick a Quads partner to battle for "Earth supremacy" on World 2.1.
The setup was so popular, the maps so diverse and the theme described with such fun that the many "reserves" the tourney garnered requested a second tournament, "just for fun" (no premium prize for the Around the World in 80 days "R" tournament) which is ending the "doubles" rounds.
Says the director, "I couldn't have done it without great advice from several tournament moderators, both past and present; and co-director nemrehs1 has been a great help in setting up tournament games." And stahrgazer adds, "I've been so pleased that the participants are enjoying themselves; even those who have not progressed this far have said the event is well-organized. No tourney is complete without great combatants."
So, which quads team(s) will be named the Conquernauts? We'll only know at the end of the 80 days.
Good luck, CC flyers!
Bar Double Dutch
Organiser: PaulusH
Using a 3x3 windmill setup
First table stopped with their cola and are waiting for beer now.
Planned End Date: 14 April
City trip
Organiser: PaulusH
Using a 7x7 windmill setup.
Last group in Berlin.
Planned end date: 26 February
Trippel Trappel
Organiser: PaulusH
Using a 6x6 windmill setup
Two groups still singing in Actium
Planned End Date: 5 May
Mac Dinner Date
Organiser: PaulusH
Using a 5x5 windmill setup
Something wrong with the French Fries, people quickly stopped eating it
Planned end date: 10 October
The Legend of Tor Na’Mit
Organizer: Gozar
Round Nine begins soon.
Eight In One Tournament Headquarters
Finals are now pending.
Here are some tournaments that noted tournament organisers are planning on running soon.
From PaulusH using a 4x4 windmill setup- Puzzle Mix will need 16 doubles teams
From keiths31:In keeping with the "Musical Chairs" theme there will be:
Musical Chairs: Mini Maps
Musical Chairs: North American City Tour
Tournament ideas from the mind of barterer2002 in the New Year
The Serbian Conquest
Kaplowitz's Unrelated Tournament
God of Godds
Night Sticks and Stones
Down and Dirty V
Brothers in Arms
Here are some recent tournament winners.
"Conqueror Crusoe, Ruler of the Islands" -dustin800 and sam02
"Last Man Standing Classic" -odratsab
"Band or Die 3" -Goggles Paisano, Vexx, PaulG, Easy n Dirty
"JRs 1v1 Challenge IV" -killmanic
"Conquer the New World" -Phr34ky
"Quick and Painless Tournament" -banana_hammocks
"Alliance of Feudal" -enterprise74 and WoWaholic
"Fight Together, Die Alone" -rudolphirvinpoir and jdenvil
"Championship Series: Caribbean Islands" -HighlanderAttack
"Championship Series: Canada" -jpcloet
"Melee" -Jackofalltrades
"King of Luxembourg" -Jess-95
"Around All CC's Maps: Battle for Actium" -White Moose
"Fuzzy's Freshman Fiasco" -AgEcon
"Fog of Feudal War" -psilotum
"The Land of Luck" -seamusvibe
"Don't Take Too Long - 2v2 Edition" -oldbenjamin & ctgottapee
"City Mogul Series Fast Track" -banana_hammocks
"North American Wars II" -Bad Speler
"Extreme Global War(ming)" -Gilligan
"Prime's Singles Season" -RedBaron0
"Difficult Maps Double Edition" -lt.Pie, waseemalim
"Quick and Simple Tournament 3" -MEK
"Master of the First Age" -Silver-
"Kot's Feudal War Singles" -killmanic
"Speed Tournament Doodle Terminator" -hundredand1aces
"World Cup 2010 Africa" -Shai
"Moody's Non-premium Classic" -olkok
"You're Eliminated X" -Godd
"Twiztid's Terminator 2" -Barry Zuckercorn
"There Can Only Be One: Terminator" -PHALIM
"King of Luxembourg 2 Freestyle" -banana_hammocks
"Union of European CC Championship 2007" -MarVal
"Grand Prix Season 1" -Daviedoo
"Pearl Harbour" -Shatners Bassoon, Chariot of Fire, Daryth, Jpeter15
"Assassins Creed Tournament" -fwblb
"NFL Season" -Jojo123
"Doubles Elimination III" -MudPuppy and Checkmated
"16 Bracket Showdown" -Godd
"Around All CCs Maps: BeNeLux" -killmanic
"Realms War" -BamBam
"Tupence's African Tournament" -BrotherWolf
"Dictate the Universe" -Velodra
"Hitman Europe" -shoop76
"Around All CCs Maps: Battle for Iraq" -killmanic
"EIOT Battle for Warterloo" - waseemalim
"Drug Lord Hitman" -madman7
"Pirates of the Mediterannean" -Natelya
This week we had the chance to talk with TaCktiX. All the questions in the interview are based off input from newsletter readers. Next week's interview is with HighlanderAttack. You can get your questions in by posting in this thread.
Now, on with the Interview!
Q: Hello, TaCktiX.
A: Hi.
Q:How did you find this website?
A: I saw a fellow Electrical Engineering major playing it several times. Took me a while to get around to joining, but here I am.
Q: Why did you join CC?
A: Since I first played it, I've loved Risk. Thing is, I've never been physically around people who play the same games I do. Add to that the large variety of maps on CC, and I was sold.
Q:Why did you start to play tournaments?
A: I wanted to test my wits against other people in a form other than a public game. Tournaments are great for bringing people of similar gaming interests together and let them beat each other up.
Q:What made you want to start running tournaments?
A: I like organizing and running things. Seeing that the tournament system allowed for both creativity and flexibility, I had to try my hand in it.
Q: How long have you been organizing tournaments?
A: My first tournament was posted on August 21st, 2008, so I'm fairly "new" compared to a lot of the people out there.
Q:What tournament did you first run?
A: A Trip up the Nile, a tournament using the recently-finished Egypt maps. Other than that, it was a very standard tournament with little frills.
Q: Where did you come up with your tournament ideas?
A: Every tournament I've made so far has catered to "something cool" I want to do. If I organize a tournament it's based on rules or setup that I would play myself (and thus far, I've played in all of my tournaments, though never intentionally, my reserves fall through too much).
Q: Who do you look to for inspiration when organizing your tournaments?
A: Every Single Setting: Classic was heavily inspired by the Map Blaster series Dazoot and brandoncfi have been putting on for a while now. The others are generically inspired from all the tournaments I've been in.
Q: Describe the experience of your first tournament ran, and first played in.
A: My first was A Trip up the Nile. It was a fairly simple tournament that took quite a while to finish thanks to slow turn-takers, but keeping track of it and putting things in order wasn't that hard. I made quite a few mistakes in the organization of that tournament, but it all worked out. It was quite a learning experience.
My first tournament played in, I forget. I entered the tournament forum and veritably BINGED on tournaments, so they all muddled together. It ended up being a major point drain for me, but I had fun.
Q: How many tournaments have you run already, and do you have a goal in mind for how many you want to run in total before you "retire"? How many are you running right now?
A: I have completed 1 tournament, have 2 in progress, and a 4th is still awaiting 7 more people to join it.
Q:What tournaments have you organized?
A: A Trip up the Nile, Every Single Setting: Classic, Bring a Friend Along, and Class Struggle
Q:What is your favourite tournament you have run?
A: ESS:C, easily. It's only on Round 2 (of 7), but it's been going since September or so. Compiling scores, making witty banter about the progress of game completion, and adjudicating the rules has been very fun for me. Most people would consider handling 387 games (Round 1, had some remakes), then 216 games (Round 2) insane, but it's what I do.
Q: What is your favorite tournament you’ve played in? Why?
A: Map Blaster IV. Thanks to that tournament my score got to the highest level I've ever had it (1800+). It helped my realized that Standard Sequential Escalating Unlimited Sunny is a setting I'm really good at, even if I don't play it as often as I used to.
Q:Do you prefer to run or enter tournaments?
A: I prefer to run them.
Q: Is there a specific type of format that you tend to gravitate towards? Why? Is there a format that is your favourite?
A: Format as in game settings? It really depends on the maps I'm using in the tournament. I pick the map(s) first, match the best play settings according to my experience to them, and go from there.
Q: Do you find it easier to choose tournament settings yourself, or to let the players customize them?
A: So far I've determined the settings in all my tournaments, though I have made edits based on people's input. I like adjusting things to the satisfaction of most people.
Q: Overall, are you playing a lot in tournaments? If not, then why and where do you find your games to play?
A: Currently I'm in only 2 tournaments: my own Bring a Friend Along (two people dropped on me, including the reserve) and a King of the Mountains one. I tend to lose far more than I win in tournaments, so I keep them to a minimum. I've had a long-term goal since shortly after I got on CC to win on every single map out there. I've come VERY close many times (hence my crossmap medal being where it is and then some), so I'm always joining games on maps I'm yet to win on. I'm also slowly working on my Doubles medal.
Q: How excited where you with your first CC win?
A: Very. I lost the first 18 games I played on CC, quite badly. My 19th (I think) was a Speed game on Classic, Escalating Unlimited Sunny (Game 1742560). Against all odds I won, gaining a lovely sum of 326 points and beating Scott-Land of all people. I was straight ecstatic, couldn't believe I had won.
Q:Have you ever won a tournament?
A: No, but I have gotten to the semi-finals.
Q: What is your most disappointing tournament loss to date?
A: My semi-finals loss in an Arms Race tournament. I had rolled straight through the rest of the tournament and I thought I'd surely win. Then I got shut out in a best of 3.
Q: In your mind, what makes a successful tournament?
A: A good idea organized by a proactive organizer, played by active people who take a stake in making the organizer's life easier.
Q: What do you consider to be the most successful tournaments you've seen run?
A: Not to toot my own horn, but Every Single Setting: Classic thus far. So far I've had to handle deadbeats, people leaving the tournament between rounds, people joining the wrong games on accident, and numerous rules revisions. All the while I'm assuring that 32 (now 28) people are joining up to 90 games each in the right groups and keeping the scores up to date. I've been told by virtually everyone participating that it's been one of the best tournaments they've ever played in, and that's including people who left after Round 1 because of the game load. I don't have enough experience observing other people's tournaments to know, but likely someone has surpassed me in having that level of proactive involvement with the tournament.
Q: What is the best Tournament that you think has been underestimated?
A: Not enough experience to say, really.
Q:Have you ever been disappointed in a tournament you have run? What about one you entered?
A: Not yet I haven't. There have been a lot of cases where people have dropped out or not responded and left me scrambling for a solution for the sake of everyone else, but I'm yet to get a Brain Crushing Disappointment. Entering, there was a tournament that I had won the first round in, then the organizer disappeared. The idea was picked up by someone else and restarted, and I lost in the very first round.
Q: What makes a successful organizer?
A: Proactivity. It may sound like you're not trusting your own players, but double-checking, reminding, and the like makes a difference. Being proactive keeps them involved in helping out your end, and from my experience you get thanked for it. And a proactive organizer is far less likely to "lose interest" or "slow down" the tournament unless the players want that.
Q: How do you attract players to your tournament, and what aspect (besides a reward of a premium prize or something like that) of a tournament do you think appeals to a lot of players and why?
A: I hope that the pictures I stick in my sig make a difference, but I have no way to be sure. So far I've done one standard tournament, one "super" tournament, a teams tournament with a small twist, and a metamap tournament. Of these, the standard tournament has been quickest to fill. The latter two have taken (or are taking) quite a while, with bumps from the bottom of the Create/Join forum being necessary. I try to go for unique and different themes, but I have a tendency to either have complex rules (Class Struggle) or high game loads (Every Single Setting: Classic). That certainly slows down any joins I get, but the people who do join are very committed to participating.
Q: Is there anything in particular that you dislike about tournament organizing?
A: The time lag between setting up a tournament and it starting. When I start a tournament and go through the full idea, rules, and explanations, I'm ready RIGHT THEN to pile some people together, send them games, and doing things. Waiting 2 weeks to a month for a filled tournament can be very frustrating, as I certainly don't have the reputation of Gilligan or Natewolfman.
Q: For you, what is the best part of being a tournament organizer?
A: Being able to look at a job well done. Taking an idea, bringing people together under it, and then executing that idea is always satisfying, and tournaments are no exception.
Q: What mistakes do you see tournament organizers make the most?
A: I'm not going to speak for TO's in general, for I am not that observant or experienced yet. As for me, I've continually made the mistake of starting the tournament before I had more than 1 or 2 reserves. It's that "psyched to get started" loss of patience that's bitten me in the butt more than once. Then 3 people who signed up drop from tournament and I'm stuck scrambling to fill their spot. As much advice to others as a reminder to me, wait for all your reserves to be ready if at all possible.
Q: With experience comes the wisdom of knowing what mistakes you've made in the past so you can avoid them in the future. What mistakes have you made in your tournaments that you are sure to avoid in future tournaments?
A: For A Trip up the Nile, I put the signups in the 2nd post, so to note the filling of the tournament I had to edit both the 2nd post AND the title post. Far more effort than required, the signups have been in the first post from thence forward. My other big mistake I detailed above.
Q:What is your opinion on organizer neutrality? Should organizers be allowed to place themselves against their own clanmates in tournaments? Should organizers be allowed to join their own tournaments at all?
A: I make tournaments I would like to play in, so my position is definitely leaning toward "play if you want to". Me personally, I only play as a reserve if required.
Q: Do you use a "schedule" for updating your tournaments, or do you just wait until they need an update?
A: I check in on them as needed. Some tournaments are low-load (Bring a Friend Along), while others are high-load (Every Single Setting: Classic) that require multiple updates a day to keep above board.
Q:Should “question marks” be allowed to join tournaments?
A: No, because their likelihood of deadbeating, not joining, or other tournament slowdowns is pretty high.
Q:Do you feel it is better to give a bye to players whose opponents deadbeats the tournament, or to use a reserve?
A: It depends on the situation, both the players involved and the tournament in question. So far I've given a bye (a person deadbeated in ESS:C Round 1, and by virtue of their score being lowest they got eliminated).
Q: If you could change one thing about Conquer Club in general, what would it be?
A: More transparency on what's coming. Build some hype, let people suggest edits to "the next thing". A lot last year Lack and Twill were busy doing so much business that had to be closed-door that we saw nothing new for months. Fortunately that trend is reversing, but being able to put any finishing touches on a suggestion that will be implemented soon would rock.
Q: If there was something that the Conquer Club administrators could implement into the game to make tournaments easier to manage, what would it be? Similarly, is there anything you would like to see taken away from Conquer Club to make running tournaments easier?
A: Metadata on a group of games. Right now all information I could possibly want can be farmed from each individual game, but if I could compile the information from a set of games it would drop my update time significantly.
Q: If you are thinking purely on balance of tournament games is there anything you would want changing?
A: [No reply]
Q: Is there anything that you would recommend to encourage new tournament organizers?
A: It's not as hard as it looks. Pick a map, pick some settings, pick a number of players and some sort of elimination. The most basic tournament can be thought out in full in less than a minute, and typing a topic up for it less than 10.
Q: List your top 5 biggest tournament headache's to this point
A: #1: Players who sign up but don't join their games
#2: Reserves that aren't available when requested.
#3: Deadbeats in tournament games. Find a sitter, dangit.
#4: Slow signup times in my tournaments.
#5: Multiple reminder PMs about joining games.
Q:How much time does CC take from your day?
A: Depends on the day, but due to my activity in the Foundry and elsewhere it's upwards of 3 hours on an average day.
Q:Are you a member of any clans or usergroups?
A: I'm in no competitive clan at the moment (I'm looking for anything, I rock at crossmap!), but I'm in several usergroups: An Animated Description of Mr. Maps, the Foundry Newsletter forum (where we build all the issues), Layer Battle Arena, the Scoring Adhoc, the Strategy Guide Adhoc, and a couple other ones that are behind closed doors.
Q:What was your inspiration for the Foundry Newsletter?
A: The offhand comment about "hey, it'd be nice if we did a Newsletter like the Tournament guys do to bring attention to all the cool maps in here." That, coupled with the knowledge that someone else (Coleman) had done a couple of issues of a Foundry Newsletter in the recent past (at the time in May 2008) was enough push to get my brain thinking. I outlined the basic coverage and our extra segments then asked for volunteers. 9 months later, here we are.
Q:How much work do you put into it?
A: Between 4 and 5 hours over the course of the two weeks. Most of that is spent compiling the Maps in Development section and updating all writeups to reflect present development. The rest is mostly admin stuff as I ask people for Editorials, give opinions of other Staffs' choices, and the like.
Q:How do you feel it has benefited the community?
A: I think, but cannot prove, that it has had a major effect in the large amount of new people in the Foundry every day. There's a lot of "new blood" making maps now, and call me naive, but I think the Foundry Newsletter has had a major part in that.
Q:Anything planned in its future?
A: We've been introducing new columns and segments over the past few issues, and we hope to keep those new ones going as well as the occasional one-time segment (like the one we've got coming this upcoming issue).
Q:Who are you?
A: I'm a 21-year-old senior majoring in Electrical Engineering at The Citadel.
Q: Why did you pick the name TaCktiX?
A: The origin of the name dates back to 2004 when I joined a StarCraft Snipers clan. I had a tendency to change my name for every new clan I joined, and I was big into phonetics at the time when making names. Hence the improper phonetic form for "tactics", what I claimed I would exhibit while playing. The name stuck, and I use it everywhere.
Q:Why am I always capitalizing the wrong letters?
A: It's intentional. People miss the "k", capitalize the wrong letters, all over the place. When I first made the name there were two styles of capitalizing screen names: EvErY OtHeR LeTtEr, and CoNSoNaNTS oNLY. I split the difference and where one would expect either the "KT" or the "T" to be capitalized, I didn't.
Q:Whats with you and beta maps?
A: As stated before, it's my goal to win on every map present on CC. Thus, the newer maps always get played by me until I beat them. On the development side, I'm always looking for things I don't understand while playing the map that I didn't notice while looking at an image back in the Foundry. Myself and a few others are the direct force behind a small change in Rail Australia to make bonuses clearer.
Q:Where are you from?
A: Charleston, SC, is where my school is located, and where I spend most of my time. "Home" is Newberry, SC, a city no one has really heard of outside of the state (small town just off the interstate).
Q:Favourite play colour?
A: Blue. If they had a black play clolor, that'd be my favorite, but alas it is not so.
Q:Favourite and least favourite map?
A: Really tough question for me for favorite map. There are at least a dozen I really like, with a disturbing tendency toward maps WidowMakers has done (Draknor, King of the Mountains, Arms Race among them). Least favorite: France, easily. Map rank me on it and you'll see why.
Q:Favourite settings?
A: Assassin, Escalating, or No Cards. I really play all manner of settings, those are just my most successful or most memorable victories.
Q:Freestyle or sequential?
A: Sequential, as I'm under no time crunch to make The Move.
Q: Any tournaments planned for the future? What are they?
A: I'm going to wait until my present one, Class Struggle fills up. Very few metamap tournaments have happened to my knowledge and I don't know what its load will be like when it starts.
Q: Any parting shots?
A: You need to rename this interview the Interview of Doom. That's a LOT of questions to answer and it took me a couple of hours to finish them all off. Here's a graphic to help you along with that:
Q: Thank you for your time.
A: Thanks for having me.
Interviews Interview with HighlanderAttack
Notes
If you want your tournament included in a future issue, please PM Gozar using this form:
----------------FORM-------------------
Tournament Name: (with link)
Organiser Name:
Status:
Brief description or update:
Rough estimate of percent complete/signed up:
---------------FORM---------------------
You can also write articles to submit for publishing, I can't keep this running by myself, I need YOUR help!
To subscribe/ unsubscribe for the tournament newsletter, visit this thread.
-
-
-
Staff
Editor in chief- Gozar
Recruiting Editor/Fun Facts- Gilligan
Graphics- Sir. Ricco/samuelc812
News Hound- stahrgazer
Contributors- People like you!
