---------- Crack Clan Fall 2005 Newsletter ----------
“Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change, but pretty soon...everything's different” --Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes
In this issue:
1. HOW WE’VE GROWN
2. BATTLEFIELD 2 UPDATES
3. COUNTER-STRIKE: SOURCE UPDATES
4. DAY OF DEFEAT: SOURCE UPDATES
5. CALL OF DUTY 2 EU LAUNCH
6. MMO/RPG/OTHER UPDATES
7. SPONSORS
8. GATHERING II FOLLOW UP
---------- HOW WE’VE GROWN ----------
Looking back on the last seven years I am simply blown away by what has happened under the Crack Clan moniker all this time. Today I write to you surrounded by an atmosphere of competence and maturity; this summer brought a lot of challenges and changes and we’re currently in a bit of a renaissance. Having drifted away from our original ideals for a little while we’ve snapped back to what seems to be an old-school revival both in players, games and leadership. It seems that we’ve gotten a hold of what “Crack Clan” really is meant to be and I’m surprised by how close it is to the ideals originally set out on that fateful day May 4th, 1998 when Crack Clan Ten was founded.
The purpose of this newsletter is to bring you up to speed as to what is going on throughout the various divisions of this clan. Keep reading and you’ll learn about what’s been happening over the past few months, I promise it’s all interesting! We find ourselves with strong core groups and have managed to handle any previous questions about embracing new games and alternative levels of participation from our members – there’s something for everyone now!
Last but not least you may be a bit shocked to hear that we’re considering a name change – file in to the forums to read all the details, see 3D renders, hear new music, take a peep a new proposed logos and tags!
http://www.cc42.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7461Here’s to another chunk of GGs, HFs and GLs for the Crack Clan!
Cheers,
- dox
---------- BATTLEFIELD 2 UPDATES ----------
We now have the most interesting Battlefield roster ever assembled in Crack Clan history! Not only are we in the unique position of having a brand new NA council that has all met in person but we’re seeing incredible results from the EU side as well! The wiki system employed for our tactics and strategies has unified both sides of the pond, EU has some very successful public servers (ukbf1.cc42.com:16769 and ukbf2.cc42.com:27805) and NA has really stepped up the sophistication of their game; both sides playing at their highest levels to date!
More specifically on the North American side we’ve discovered the idea of “chemistry” – this was something that smacked NA right upside the head having freed themselves from some members that didn’t make a good mix. A brilliant combination of old-school cc42 DC players as well as the best parts of what was known as EC and extended family have coalesced to a hard working unit that knows what it takes to perform at the highest level having been invited to the TeamWarfare Invitational league and currently fighting for a playoff spot.
The European side has since shed their roster problems and is rapidly finding themselves dealing with the same issues that were once exclusive to the North Americans. Their recent entry to the ClanBase and EnemyDown cups will challenge them like never before and we all know they are going to pull together and put forth what it takes to make it happen!
Congratulations and high fives to BlackHawk5, Coolshot, Humor, PhoeniX, Ringo, unsivilized and xill for doing so well with their divisions! You guys are awesome!
---------- COUNTER-STRIKE: SOURCE UPDATES ----------
After the crumbling of the North American division things really quieted down for Crack Clan in regard to this premiere FPS game, but it seems that it was not meant to stay that way! The North American Crack Clan division is currently being rebuilt with a brand new high performance Chicago-based server (uscss1.cc42.com:27015) and a new Council of one: weezer! With a little more effort we expect to have the same influx of applicants to join this division and put forth a good showing in CAL/TWL while upholding the general principles of the clan. The European CS:S division will now have someone internal to challenge as well!
---------- DAY OF DEFEAT: SOURCE UPDATES ----------
These divisions are moving along more slowly than anticipated mainly due to conflicting schedules with the NA BF2 division. We do have both North American and European servers up (usdod1.cc42.com:27015 – 66 tickrate, European server public launch this week!) and are hoping to attract new and existing members to this outstanding offering from Valve which puts you in an WWII class-based infantry battle either playing as Americans or Nazis to control some flags in gorgeous war-torn environments. If you already have the game come check it out and try on some scrimmages or matches!
---------- CALL OF DUTY 2 LAUNCH ----------
With the release of this exciting title Coolshot jumped headfirst in to spearheading a CoD2 European initiative for the clan, we’ve got a server (85.236.100.81:29160) for the next six months and intend on both having some fun and competition with this game. If there’s any significant interest from the North American squad the game will certainly be supported from that side of the world as well!
---------- MMO/RPG/OTHER UPDATES ----------
As mentioned at the beginning of this newsletter we’ve decided to take the “gaming community” principle and apply it correctly to our clan. Though it is understood that these games involve an entire different set of requirements from the overwhelming majority of FPS games played in the clan we have decided to support them as best as we can. From 6 hour games of Civilizations 4 to romping around the World of Warcraft we have forums and TS rooms to facilitate your gaming desires! If you’d like access to this section then all you have to do is ask – it’s also a perfect venue for some of the more casual gamers that want to play any game in a less competitive environment.
---------- SPONSORS ----------
A while ago it was revealed that the clan has been in negotiations with potential sponsors and announced the first one:
http://www.gamingmouse.com/ – embarrassingly we’re still woefully short as far as coming up with a visual design for the high performance gaming mouse that they offer and it’s holding up the full-fledged realization of this relationship! With the discussion of re-branding the clan we should have a lot more to work with which will pave the way for more sponsors.
An effort put forth to assemble an agreement with a sponsor that would play a benefactor role (specifically in regard to sending a team out to the Quake 4 CPL Winter competition) did not pan out in time but talks have not ceased and continue to show promise for the months ahead!
---------- GATHERING II FOLLOW UP ----------
Another summer has run away from us and the leaves in Toronto are currently displaying a few last days of incredible colour before things settle back down in to yet another Canadian winter. This years Gathering was better than the last, more new friends, more time, more empty wallets and more ghetto-tastic adventures! Highlights included some pretty heavy duty eating and drinking, some great times on the beach, a shirts vs skins indoor hockey game, a wonderful day on the Toronto Islands, an all-night dance party (as well as the first-ever in-person welcoming of a new member: Rage!), a pretty dodgy bathroom, a crackhead for a landlord and some dogs that decided to come home after being sprayed by a skunk! The clan left Toronto more united than ever before and grateful for having such an incredible collection of cool lads/ladies around. We’re also left with memories in the form of over one thousand photos and a bunch of videos that are up in our team gallery.
There will certainly be another Gathering – the when, the where and the how are definitely up in the air. It seems likely that next years Gathering will have to shed some of its more dodgy elements and be just as long! Get yourself a piggy bank and start saving now so that we might have the best Gathering yet!
There are talks of a mini-gathering in New York this Winter (somewhere between the 11th and 19th of December) about 4 hours east of Toronto and 3 hours west of Montreal, so check those forums for details!
