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As some of you may have noticed the counter on the TS Viewer hasn't really picked up since the New Year like you would expect. However this is not because of a lack of gamers online it is simply because everyone is trying to move to Teamspeak 3. If you didn't know this its because you've not read Getaways Merry Christmas message for some reason. Though at the moment still in a Beta stage it is looking quite nifty with its ability to adjust volume of individuals to name but one useful tool. However as with all upgrades its not without its cons, for instance it doesn't let you password a server but instead the channels themselves within that server, hence most players can be found in the clan members area. The usual dominatrix style voice is gone and in its place is Stephanie Hawkins,though i am assured that this can be changed i have yet to find the chance to fiddle as gaming usually takes president over what my computers voice sounds like. If you haven't already made the switch to TS3 there are a couple of download links below. Just open it up and log on to the normal TS address with your usual name and passwords and you should be away and running.




Anyways i hope the New Year is starting well for you all and will continue to do so,speak to you all soon on the battlefield!

Hi Guys

Merry Christmas to everyone.

The Beta version of Teamspeak 3 was released to the public on the 19th December.

I have installed a this on the clan server (alongside the original)

I am now after a few volunteers who'll be happy to give me a hand to do some testing.

Let me know by PM.

Cheers

Absinthe
[Submitted by Absinthe]

So its been two weeks since the inauguration of the epic game of CoD:MW2. We're a little older, a little wiser, Fatals a dad and Bluescreen got his first pube.However i feel its time we all finally came to a conclusion of the game. Suicidal has pointed out that the game feels more like an add on pack than a sequel and in some respects i lean toward agreement. Pyscho has had nothing but problems trying to get into games,whether through Steam or IWnets fault we have yet to ascertain. Raiders feels its the best thing since sliced bread and i've yet to hear any complaints from Bluescreen beyond his normal "i'm getting rinsed on this server!"(albeit with more colourful language usually). We've had several positive gaming nights where a large amount of members has appeared on TS to join the games which is definitely a pleasant thing to see. On top of that we all seem to be of the understanding we will each game if and when we can. With no conversational references to each others ranks, only our own and experiences of various means of death, it really has become more of a single driven effort whereas in the past there has been competition among clan mates to reach certain ranks before each other. I know the Raiders and myself raced to the top ranks of 2142 and CoD4 which for me began a long run of unexciting matches with not much else to look forward to. Its nice to see that we're more interested in the weapons we're using aswell, only last night did young Psycho get his extended mag for his SCAR, kudos dude!I personally am striving for my last unlock on the M4 which is also the extended mag.

My opinions of the game have been well vocalised over the past couple of weeks though probably not as well as id like. It runs fine on my machine, games are of a good pace and spread of players. The singleplayer was awesome and i can't wait for the next installment whether it be a fabled addon pack or the next actual game.I have no problems with the IWnet or Steam, or at least didn't until last night when Psycho and myself got nuked four times by two different people using aimbots, which after some forum researching i've found is actually becoming the bane of the game fast due to a vast amount of "undetectable" aimbots available for this game. The only thing that can be done is to report gamertags/names to Steam and hope they are band, as Steam have a delayed banning policy to lull offenders into a false sense of security apparently and with a lack of screen shot ability built into the game this instantly becomes harder. However it still doesn't stop them in the meantime. Raiders also reported to me a dodgy game where his team lost 900-7500, his final comment on the subject being "we should have gotten more than 900 by accident man!" It seems the oh so secure VAC is actually bollocks and we have to begin policing it for Steam ourselves. As to the game itself other than having a bit of trouble with the mouse aiming system not being as smooth as id like(whether that's the games fault or my computer i have still to decide)i've had no real issues with anything beyond players. Hardcore mode has become a bore for me as it seems to have become a haven for the "camper" where i can run through an airport terminal and not see anyone and die each time by the same people who are hiding all over the place. And once you kill them and move on you have another to contend with in the short time before that person comes back to the haunt the place again you just killed them. I personally spawned the other day with a heartbeat sensor and four red dots immediately appeared, wearing my ghillie suit i hit the deck and watched to see where they would go. I instead ended up timing how long it was until one of them moved, three minutes fourteen seconds roughly and even then the other three didnt before i got hit with an predator. TDM is swings and roundabouts with some good players, douche players and noobs caught in the middle. Whether or not this has any majority of one or the other is luck of the draw im afraid. Though i think i finally found a game mode to enjoy in Domination as Psycho and myself were finally getting some good scores last night as was Network before he left for the night(even got a gunner seat kill streak and torn the enemy apart).

The friends list is also an interesting animal as Psycho, Network and me discussed last night. Its always mildy amusing to begin with when your all in a server list together knowing you'll know where each other is from the blue arrows mingled with the green arrows and red dots on the map in game. And then suddenly the game starts and one of you is in a different server all on their own whilst the others have joined another server lobby.I get fed up regularly with it counting down into a match and then suddenly losing five players from the server playlist either through not wanting to play certain maps or IWnet itself removing them and dumping them in another list. I've always believe they're just douche bags who leave at the last second coz they don't want to play that map, or worst of all they've seen the entire enemy team is a clan and decided "sod that for a game of soldiers"(ironically quite literal considering the game content,lol)leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves against not only a full team that outnumbers us anything up to two to one but is also in constant communication with each other. Then other times you join your group of friends click on a find game and your all in game on the same team within a matter of seconds and this can last all night or it can be a night of nothing but problems.

With all these negatives one wonders why play the multiplayer at all. Well is because of the little things. Its because you never spawn wearing the same uniform. You have to earn your ghillie suits for each environment snow,urban and woodland. There is more varied customisation to the weapons systems, no one single random attachment with a bright red weapon. Now its a thought out piece of kit with camouflage for specific occasions such as my current incarnation of sniper kit. It's a Barrett that has a heartbeat sensor for early warning of proximity of potential knifers. It has FMJ rounds because i love shooting through things as you all know. The sidearm is a pair of Glock18s with FMJs(which Psycho found to be good fun when he picked them up off my corpse last night) there are for those close quarters encounters and can be quite good up to distances where you need to start using the Barrett. And on top of all that because I don't use my thermal scope on winter maps this ones in arctic camo because weapon camo actually works on this game aswell,lol. The maps themselves are good for various levels of combat, CQB and Sniper warfare is common on all of them. Killstreaks are great fun aswell. Nothing more thrilling in MP warfare recently than assaulting the enemy team under cover fire from and AC-130, and like it or not this game has nukes in MP,nukes dude,thats just funny even when it gets used on you,lol. In fact as i've already stated the only thing that makes this game less than what i'd hoped for is as usual the other players which is slowly pulling me in the direction or wanting dedicated servers back so they can be forcibly removed. It is sad that this is the one thing making me want dedicated servers back but im afraid its the truth cheats have been allowed to prosper on this game because of the lack of policing available to us.

Anyway, rant over please discuss this issue as i feel i've only scratched the surface so far.

And so the wait is over the supposedly best game ever made is here.However due to unforeseeable circumstances i was originally going to be saying something clever like,sorry no news today coz im too busy playing the new CoD! or If your reading this then your not playing CoD with me,which you should be,or something to that effect. Instead i have only to report that my copy has actually,believe it or not, been lost in the post and so i will be waiting for it to arrive for the time being. Um,not much else to say really other than what i've heard. I've heard the the IWnet is about as useful as a hernia. For those that don't know anything abou the IWnet because they've not played it yet or just don't care heres a couple of links explaining more

http://www.fourzerotwo.com/?p=745

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETK_vY5lf7A

The singleplayer is yet again a touch too short as most people have already finished playing it today,the day of release. Though pretty much all agree that the singleplayer is actually amazing. Other than that i hope that everyone has got a copy and is going online with it tonight,if not within the next couple of days. I know that at least two members have it,i can only speculate over anymore. If you would all be so kind as to actually check in as it were in the comments section whether you've got your copy or not that would be good. Anyways good luck on the field and i hope to join you all soon!

And so it came to pass that with no Call of Duty 3 to keep us all entertained the new incarnation of Battlefield, Battlefield 2142, filled the void of clan game and gave rise to legends among us all! MikeSanders became SuicidalSanders and lived up to his name by perfecting the art of flying transport gunships in targets of opportunity. Sicknote became NetworkError and became famous for always having health when you needed ammo and ammo when you needed health. GeneralFailure became FatalError and could always be found rolling around in tanks with the odd foray into walkers. I myself found the the zen like art of guerrilla and long range sniper warfare going to the lengths of hunting the entire clan down one by one on one particular map. Stonedraiders began taking up the art of support gunner,mowing down several people at once when defending titans. It was sadly at this point where we began to lose one of the original sons and RikoShay parted ways with the clan for a time for the World of Warcraft. Getaway, still a fair pilot from the days of Vietnam and BF2 was only to happy to continue being squad lead and air support for anyone who needed it but he could mostly be found moving around providing whatever support was needed for fellow members. It was also on this field though that PsychoSi began his delusion that he could take on clan members and eventually became of the clan himself, with several sniper kills on me i have yet to pay back. Unfortunately this golden age of the clan came to a stand still the nearly ended the clan altogether. When most if not all members had reached the goal of BrigGen, nobody had anything else to look forward to from the game and so unlocks were rendered worthless and the game had nothing else to give and so the term "Brig Gen Apathy" was coined in reference for the lack of attendance of various members over and extended period of time. After a time Network and Fatal went the way of RikoShay shortly followed in part by Suicidal. Arguments about a clan server threatened clan memberships over and over again. Responsibilities were always argued for but never given or actually lived up to when they were. It was definitely a dark time for the clan.



What seemed like an age later posters and trailers began coming out for a new game Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare.With Hollywoodesque set pieces and an action packed front cover of a marine that looks remarkably like Terence Howard from Iron Man, members of the clan pricked up their ears and started quietly refurnishing their machines with new hardware anticipating the graphical onslaught that the new games graphics promised. Within a week of release the entire clan was back online and had slipped into the game like it was and old pair of shoes, ableit in this case nuclear powered sprinting shoes you wear to run away from dogs with Uzis attached to their heads. The single player delivered a monumental success in story telling and character development and we all felt bad when that nuke went off.(Personally i felt worst for the guy who falls out the back of the helicopter).The multiplayer was even more successful especially among the clan,the complete diversity of the armory made available to us through perks and weapons customisation made for truly creative and one of a kind gameplay where practically nobody had the same stuff in their kits. Loadouts started to become named after their creators. The Psycho kit had the stopping power of a fully automatic elephant gun. The Getaway kit was designed with the pure instinct to kill snipers whilst defending oneself from "normal" enemies. The Dealer kits were designed to be sniper kits that enabled the sniper to take part in standard firefights without being hindered by fire rate. The Network kit became synonymous with the death of everyone from fire from behind and was eventually re-branded the Sneaky Bastard kit. These kits became the norm to combat each of the other kits and it worked for a while, but soon it became stale and boring. When in smaller numbers the sneaky ones could easily move up on the snipers who couldnt defend themselves and so could do what they were proficient at. The sneaky ones would get pinned down by the snipers who could shoot through walls. Controversial moves were taken within the clan to curb this inner turmoil about the kits ending in the resignation of Getaway. These steps have since been rescinded for use only when voted for by all players involved. A Clan server was being run at the time and due to the conflict within the clan and lack of active members again it was eventually taken offline. Months passed before members began appearing online again and Getaway though not officially back with the clan decided to fire up a CoD4 clan server for general usage. Teamspeak and the Website were moved to a more stable server to handle more traffic and the foundations laid for when the clan began gaming again. Throughout the months many games were played ranging between CoD and BF series games though one thing was generally agreed upon. We were all just biding our time until the next game would hook us in...

So where were we,ah yes roaming the jungles of Vietnam dropping napalm on innocent bots and gamers and generally laughing a lot whilst doing it,lol.When word spread of new games coming to us the same hype rattled through the clan that has done about CoD:MW2. Everyone went out on day of release and bought CoD2 and proceeded to enjoy running around the fields of Europe once again. Getaway was once again a feared sniper, Raiders was the man with the plan, Riko was the man with a Bren gun and i was the nutter running around just killing everything that moved with a Thompson. Germans,British,American and Russian troops all fell to our bullets. Some of the most visceral multiplayer maps encountered in our FPS games so far were seen in this edition of CoD with Russians vs the Germans around the Reichstag building in central berlin, set mere minutes before Hitler would kill himself and the Third Reich would fall. This was a map that snipers and machine-gunners sweated about alike as there wre two parts the main square and a burnt out urban complex in on the front side of the square. Urban fighting happened in burning ruins with up close and personal combat with melee kills being as common as grenade and machine gun kills. But when you moved up to the square you would have to murder a sniper or two for weapons and ammo to enable you to survive any further across the bleak no mans land in front of the Reichstag building. However CoD2 didn't really see its fair share of action because though it was an amazing game,it hadn't stepped itself apart really from its predecessor with anything more than epic scenery and a heightened graphics engine that actually went on to be refined so much that many of us will still be playing the same engine on Tuesday.



With this it was no surprise that when Battlefield 2 came out mere months later the entire clan membership shifted to that game instead. 64 man servers were common place and there were still black hawk gunships flying around Strike at Karkand in this time. The M95 was so over powered and accurate over distance that one shot really was all you needed. The introduction of squads with voice chat began to radically change the behavior of clan members who until this point had been lone gunmen and fire teams began to form within the clan. Raiders and Riko could invariably be found rolling around the countryside in a tank armed with anything to hand. Getaway unlocked the L85a1(SA-80 to others) for his medic kit and never went back and took on the default of Squad Lead. I myself unlocked the G36c for my Spec Ops kit and was always found behind enemy lines sticking C4 to enemy assets and then holding back until their artillery started to fire and then pushed the button for maximum repair time. It was this point where we began to behave like a real clan, organising game nights and moving around servers as a clan,joining proper squads for specific reasons like demolition and fire support. Though most nights consisted of Raiders,Riko and myself as it was also this point where Riko and Dollars began using the same account to accrue as many unlocks as possible for maximum combat effectiveness. One time Riko and me went on a Songhua Stalemate server, which many may remember was a foggy swamp map. We spent the entire matched hunting people down with nothing but knives and achieved our gold knife badges in one night. Many moons was spent on BF2 and its subsequent expansions, even inviting new members along to come and play the game with us. We discovered ways to run servers with bots so we could have full control over the enemy we were facing without having to worry too much about noob tubers and nade whores. We began experimenting with mods to aswell as new map downloads finding several maps that ended up with us being massacred every time by bots but it was always fun trying to survive as it always is when you have control over the odds.