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In This Issue....
Greetings Clan Member! "Expansion and Evolution" has been the theme this past month. Thanks to the continued generosity of our members (and a few non-members) the clan has established a firm enough financial status to expand with new servers, and even a new game type. Those of you who have been following things either on the game servers or in the forums already know all about these changes; the rest of you will simply have to keep reading to get the scoop. Some people have made it known that they have some concerns about our Half Life 2: Deathmatch traditions being lost. They ask "Is this still a HL2DM clan?" The answer is a loud and clear "YES", but it is also a peculiarly accurate "no". This clan exists to provide our members with the online resources required to play games and have discussions in a virtual community of like minded individuals of mature and responsible personalities. Our game of choice so far has been HL2DM simply because that is what our clan's founders played back when the clan was formed. This causes our clan to be comprised of individuals who are fans of games from Valve and users of the Steam distribution platform. It follows then, naturally, that our members are also interested in other games from Valve. So this month we took the first step in catering to those interests with new game type which most fans of Half Life will already own because it came as part of the bundle with Half Life 2: Episode 2 in Valve's "Orange Box". We want to be absolutely clear, however, in reassuring everyone that we are not about to abandon our HL2DM roots. We promise to maintain at least 1 HL2DM server, and we plan for the clan to continue running 2 or 3 at a time for the foreseeable future, along with organized scheduled events for our members to participate in. We are not leaving anything behind. We are still very much a HL2DM gaming clan. Indeed, our internal prioritization of server funds accounts for HL2DM Server #1 as our most important asset. We recognize, however, that like a plant or any other living thing, if an online community is not growing then it is dying. We are most certainly not dying, so therefore while our roots are firmly planted in the soil of HL2DM, we have chosen to grow up and outwards in to the realm of Team Fortress 2. Won't you join us in a game of capture the flag? Just be careful... "That dispenser's a spy!" Sincerely, The Grand Council Frag On! Back To Table Of Contents... * Clan News * We have added 2 new servers this month! The first of which is a private 10 slot Half Life 2 Deathmatch server for clan use only. It can be used as a lounge for members to hang out in, as an arena for clan battles, and as a proving grounds for clan applicants if they wish to demonstrate their skills. More information on this server, including the connect password, can be found in the Clan Only Chat section of the forums. The other new server added to our arsenal this month is for Team Fortress 2. A vote was held in the Clan Only Chat section of the forums to decide between Counter Strike: Source or Team Fortress 2, and TF2 won by a strong margin. We started it out at 10 slots but due to high demand and popularity, and because donations have been consistent lately, we have upgraded the server from 10 slots to a whopping 24!! Check it out if you haven't yet! Connect with Team Fortress 2 to: tf1.SoulsInExile.com . This server has only been open a few weeks, but it is already in the top 30% of all TF2 servers according to GameTracker.com! Please be aware that donations need to remain at this consistent level or increase in order for these extra slots to remain. If income drops then these extra slots will be the first thing to go and we'll be back to having only 10. There is currently a trial of a modified air_accelerate setting found on some other low gravity servers taking place on our own private HL2DM Server 3. Please take some time to meet up with members and actually test the setting before passing judgement on this change. A poll will appear in the Clan Only Chat section of the forums very soon to decide whether or not to implement this new setting on HL2DM Server 1. Lastly, we have some promotions this month, including two new council members: Professor PJ & Destructo! We're most definitely sure that they will do great in clan politics and ensure the clan's rules are being enforced on all servers. Also, our latest addition to the Grand Council is: soDo! soDo has done an extremely good job in handling clan events and battles so he will continue to be our Battle Manager as well as a GC Member. Back To Table Of Contents... * Council/Grand Council Discussions * Topics which the Grand Council has been discussing this past month include: The decision to upgrade the number of slots on the new TF2 server, Council and Grand Council promotions, what is to be expected of Council members & the air acceleration trial change on server 3. Topics which the Council has been discussing this past month include: The resignation of a council member due to time commitment issues, custom server sounds, a clan applicant's true identity, the term "admin" as it applies to the fun/build server (HL2DM 2), TF2 server plugins, Myers-Briggs typology, active vs in-active members, and the clan's steam community group. Back To Table Of Contents... * Recent and Upcoming Events * The recent biweekly scrimmages with the {MaX} clan have been a washout primarily due to only two members from their team showing up. We decided to play with what we had and a few =s!x= members played on the {MaX} team for a unscheduled event. Hopefully we will be able to have another one of these so please continue to check the latest news on this event in the {MaX} Clan Bi-Weekly Scrimmage Thread. Earlier this month, soDo set up a successful intra-clan "Combine Air Bowling Day”. You can check out the results in the Combine Air Bowling results thread. There are currently two scheduled clan events: Air Boat Racing & another Europeans vs USA intra-clan challenge! Please check out the battles section for the latest news & info about these events. If you have a request for a battle please follow the instructions located in the sticky at the top of the clan battles section. Back To Table Of Contents... * New Members In The Month Of February * Please welcome our newest clan members! In order of application acceptance:
Back To Table Of Contents... * Recent Donations For The Month Of February * This past month saw some great generosity. If you see these folks be sure to thank them. In alphabetical order they are:
A recommended donation amount is $10, though we would encourage you to donate as much or as little as your personal financial situation allows. You may also consider how much you get back from the clan in terms of play time and overall fun. If you play an average of 1 hour per day, then a $10/month (not even pizza money!) donation works out to just ~$0.32/hour. Every little bit helps! For financial privacy concerns, we do not release the amounts which people have chosen to donate. Back To Table Of Contents... * Article Submissions * Do you have a well written informational piece on the subjects of clan culture or computer gaming you would like to share with the rest of the clan? If you do, simply find a Grand Council member in the forums and send your idea or your completed piece to them via a private message. Please be aware that not all articles can be included, and that all works are subject to editorial review. See ya next month! Back To Table Of Contents...
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