A Message from Cherry 14 years...who would imagine that TAW would not only last 14 years but in the fashion it has with over 2600 members. A lot has happened over those 14 years to make it possible, mainly YOU our dedicated and fun-loving members. Without you TAW wouldn’t be what it is today and what it continues to become. The dedication and participation is evident where ever you go in TAW. Hats off to you for making TAW what it is today.
A Message from Havoxa 14 years of TAW is a massive feat and I cant tell you all how privileged I am to be covering this years 14th anniversary. I decided to cover Vanguard this month due to it being the pinnacle of The Art Of Warfare due to it being the reason new games are introduced to our community. This month has been hectic and myself and everyone in News working extremely hard to get this issue out. Its sad to farewell the old news DC Smypm as he is non-activity due to technical issues .I hope to bring new abilities to the table and produce quality article to you monthly.
TAW on Social Media Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and Steam.
Vanguard Update Last month in Vanguard, saw the launch of DayZ on the 22nd of February and more recently Hearthstone on the 8th of March. We also welcome Homeworld under PWRR and Star Citizen under Zoloft into TAW. Unfortunately, Warframe was forced to close down due to staffing issues. Congratulations to Nightshaper and Ffaen for stepping up as Division Commander and Division Officer in Vanguard respectively. Shmeecow and Metzger also joined the Vanguard team as Permanent SUL’s. Unfortunately we must say farewell to Andrewki who is moving to Third Corps as Corps Lt. Commander. Kingcheese will be taking his place as Vanguard Lt. Commander. His experience will be an advantageous addition to the team. Launch Reports Hearthstone Hearthstone started June of 2014, with three officers and we had a rough start. The Blizzard Collectable Card Game was met with a lot of speculation in Vanguard as well as being launched into a corp. EaglesStreet was named SUL of the group once it reached tier 2, with the help of Bjerdinn and Conceited she built the group up. When EaglesStreet moved out of HS, she passed the torch onto Bjerdinn, he took over and built the group up to almost 50 members. It is now in March of 2015 we finally get to launch it out of Vanguard. Hearthstone took a lot of extra work and dedication to build to what it is, and as a team we are so proud to see this group launch and into a corp. We have all worked together to make this possible and it is an amazing moment for us all. We hope everyone will join us in celebrating and always feel free to check in to Hearthstone for a couple of games. We would love to have you! Eaglesstreet [HS XO]
Unit Reports Evolve TAW's Evolve division has grown fast in its first month since spinning up. As of writing this we have 40 members listed in our unit. Recruiting has especially gone well with 32 brand new recruits, and 1 former member re-joining after seeing us in game. We are now officially tier 2 and can accept internal transfers. We are still in need of more officers from Europe or OC regions, if you are interested contact SixthGear. We are especially pleased to announce that we have a competitive team setup and intend to be a force to be reckoned with in the tournament circuit. Speaking of tournaments, two TAW members represented TAW in the PAX East ESL tournament for Evolve. So a heartfelt thank you goes out to SixthGear and MaddCowQQ. The final piece of news from Evolve is regarding updates. A major patch has been announced which is intended to fix some bugs, and evens out the power levels of some characters which were overpowered (ex Wraith) or underpowered (ex Val). As an extra bonus the much waited for Observer Mode was announced as "Coming Soon" by a TRS press release on March 4th. MMOHealer [EV SO] Insurgency February was another exciting month for us. INS split off into two battalions allowing for growth in our leadership positions. This month revolved around the competitive teams. First, we had a game update released to fix well needed bugs, glitches, and exploits. However, the most prominent update was balance tweaks for the leagues. Which, leads me into my next item, the “Digital Gaming League�. Season two has started! While we weren't able to compete last year for various reasons, we officially have a team on the board! So please stop by and see where we are ranked! We'll be at the top soon enough! Nem [INS SUL] Guild Wars 2 Hello everyone, this is our Guild Wars 2 family here. We have gotten a number of new members to our ever growing family. Some great news is the leader of the old TAW Guild Wars 2 guild has offered to give us the guild from when they got the game running the first time and is donating it to the EU platoon. We are looking forward to gaming with you all really soon, so swing by and join us some time. Kina [GW SUL] Homeworld After a few teething problems with the multiplayer option, Homeworld has gone from strength to strength. We have managed to recruit 26 new members into Homeworld from outside of TAW. This is a great achievement and it goes to show the commitment of the team members to get new talent playing the game. At the moment we have been designing new logos for the ships. So, whatever rank you are within TAW will show on the ship that you fight with. This has been warmly received as it gives them the option to know who they are battling with as they may not know that talent that they are playing alongside. The new members and I are making a video of actual gameplay demonstrating TAW resilience of "never give up" which is taking up a lot of time but it will be worth it in the end. We had our first match night which was well attended and we started a tournament so by the time that the next newsletter comes out we will be able to announce a winner which of course will be a TAW member!!
All in all a good first few weeks for Homeworld. PWRR [HW SUL] Star Citizen Star Citizen is Back! After a year of hiatus, Star Citizen Division has been resurrected as a Tier 4 Horizon team in Vanguard. Leading the charge is LTC Zoloft, an almost 4-year veteran of TAW who recently joint-led a TAW University on “MMOs in TAW - The Divisions that Never Sleep” based on extensive leadership experiences in SW Division. Also acting as an advisor is GEN Hook, former Commander-In-Chief and a very enthusiastic supporter of Star Citizen and the reboot effort. One of the main issues surrounding the initial spinup in early-mid 2014 was that there was not enough content at that time for members to participate in together during the long pre-alpha stage of the game development process. Here in early 2015, we’re still in pre-alpha, but what has changed is the amount of modules that have been released as well as the anticipated content throughout 2015. Members can currently group up together to do team-based dogfighting and racing modules and in the upcoming weeks we will be having an informal dogfighting tournament. In the upcoming months we will organize events around new content and will continue to build the community so we will hit the ground running when the Persistent Universe (the sandbox MMO aspect of the game) launches. Our goal as a division is to provide a large, robust, organized unit so that people can do the content that they want to do and be successful at it, in both small-scale teams and as an entire fleet. Our first large missions will be centered around exploration of the universe, discovering and utilizing natural resources, establishing a solid economic foothold, and defending ourselves and our resources. As far as the upcoming content release timetable, the First Person Shooter Beta (being debuted right now at PAX East) is coming soon in Spring 2015 with the Planetside / Social Beta arriving soon after. Arena Commander 2.0 with multi-crew ships is anticipated for Summer 2015. Squadron 42, the Single-Player / Coop Campaign is coming Fall 2015. The Persistent Universe Alpha, the aspect of the game that we’re all waiting for, is planned for the End of 2015. The Full Game Launch is anticipated for 2016. We are very excited for Star Citizen. It’s a great fit for TAW, and with our structure and leadership it has an excellent chance of success. If you want to learn more or want to buy a ship, check out https://robertsspaceindustries.com/. You’re also welcome to visit us in the SCZ Division channels in Vanguard Horizon Division, near the top of teamspeak. Zoloft [SCZ SUL]
Homeworld Those who have been into gaming for the past 20 years should of heard of the massive Real time strategy 1999 game “Homeworld�. Made by one of the most renown developers (Relic), This game was a pinnacle of RTS games for the 90s due to the influence of games such as Red alert, Command and Conquer and Dune 2000 however the rein of best RTS was very short lived due to the release of Age of Empires 2:Age of kings being released a few days later. The Community plummeted and the game was thought loss. It was an end to an era dominated by RTS games.
Fast forward 16 years, past all the horrible sequels and shocking RTS game (That we at news would rather leave unmentioned due to causing a uprisings and riots), We see a glimmer of hope on the internet. A rerelease of a game thought lost in time, Homeworld Remastered. Finally RTS is back on track and the pain of the last 16 is finally healing we thought. I can guarantee if you ever played the old Homeworld you would be in heaven, Not only is it the same space crawling, enemy smashing and base demolishing the old game had to offer but it looks damn good doing it. As a huge fan of the 1999 release of the game and playing it as a little tyke it feels just like a RTS should feel like. Total and utter control. You can go from having no army to rolling your enemys main army in a matter of minutes if you play your card right. Then when you get into that position you have to fight to keep your head above the ever growing threat of the enemy counter attack
With the Battlefield that the ships can use all three Dimensions to plot their tactics to outsmart the enemy, This game is very unique and is always a dynamic battleground that is just as unforgiving as it is beautiful.
The boys down in home world have done and excellent job of not only spinning up this remake but exceling in the growth of a difficult game to get members for. I for one am looking forward to seeing how far this game is get and how big the community in Taw is going to grow for this old but still alive Real time Strategy. If you ever have any questions on the game feel free to jump down and talk to PWRR in the Homeworld channels and he will point you in the right direction.
Havoxa
Guild wars 2 When someone says lets play a fantasy MMORPG everyone automatically thinks of the very successful World of Warcraft. This being said most people have ether played 200+ hours of it.(Come on admit it we all know someone like that) And/or they are to high or low of a level for them to be any use to you. So that’s it no decent MMORPG to play for you. Well not completely true. Guild wars 2 is the legacy and protégé of ArenaNet’s “Guild wars” with no subscription fees and huge map just to name a few things. Still not sold about this game, Well let me take you guys back to the basics. Being able to choose a hero has never been so easy with the selection of 5 races (Humans, Asura, Norn, Sylvari and Charr) do I also need to mention the 8 Professions (Rangers, Warriors, Thieves, Engineers, Guardians, Elementalists, Mesmer's and dead last Necromancers) .Each of the classes have different armour grades and each armour set can be customized beyond your wildest dreams. So if you are sitting on the fence about whether to get this game or not, The story is dynamic with multiple plot twists and a huge community that is not just friendly but happy to assist a newcomer who is yet to learn the fine art that is MMORPG.
With a epic story line that reflects every action you take and influences the world around you. Every one your triumphs and your defeats, Your enemys and your allies to fight by your side and the battles your party will fight will add to this dynamic universe and show you as a player that Guild Wars 2 is a unique MMORPG that will keep you guessing and wanting more for longer then the 200+ hours that your friends have in World of Warcraft.
So that is my monthly article on this Amazing game. If you have any questions about Guild Wars 2 then please head down to the Guild wars 2 division and talk to the lovely KiNA and Darchem and discuss this one of a kind game.
Havoxa
Evolve On February 10, 2015, 2K Games published Evolve, a first-person shooter (FPS) developed by Turtle Rock Studios, the renowned developer of the Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead series. The game is currently being spun-up in TAW’s Vanguard Command Corp unit led by members Sixthgear and ShmeeCow. Unlike other FPSs, Evolve pits four players, called Hunters, against one player, the Monster, in sizable maps that vary in terrain and theme, but all set on the planet, Shear. To win a match, Hunters must kill the Monster before it evolves to stage 3 and destroys the final objective or the Monster has to kill all four Hunters. Currently, there are four game modes that can be played: Hunt, Nest, Rescue and Defend. Hunt can be played in solo or pre-made groups. There are four classes of Hunters—Assault, Trapper, Medic and Support—and currently, three types of Monsters—Goliath, Kraken, and Wraith—each with the ability to evolve into stronger versions of itself by killing and eating smaller creatures throughout the match. Within each class of Hunters, there are different characters with custom skillsets and weapons. To achieve victory, the Hunters must work together to defeat the Monster. Communication is critical for a well-coordinated attack. Hunters must locate, trap and inflict damage on the Monster and kill it before it can reach its final stage in evolution. On the other hand, the Monster must employ different tactics to ensure it can evolve uninterrupted, as during the cocoon stage when it’s changing, Monsters are vulnerable to attack. Thus, while seemingly ironic, these hulking creatures must use stealth and trickery to achieve its objectives. The Evolve division in TAW currently has 40 members spanning four platoons: Competitive, European, North American and Oceanic. The mandatory practice times for each are as follows: Competitive: To be determined European: 7 p.m. GMT (GMT +1 starting March 30) North American: 8 p.m. Eastern time Oceanic: 7 p.m. Australian Western Standard time For more information about Evolve events, contact Sixthgear or ShmeeCow.
DoctorKajita
In the scope: Nightshaper Let's get to know you - can you describe yourself in five words? Chill, Philosopher, listener, audiophile, Funny (maybe?)
Tell us about your history in TAW. Started out in the early days of the Tribes division when Tribes was in Horizon and ended up working myself up the ranks into there, after tribes fell apart and the NA Battalion was finished i took a little time out of TAW, till a couple months ago when Eifer contacted me about taking up the permanent VG SUL position, which i filled till getting promoted up to position
Tell us about your current division, and what you do there. Well, i'm still currently getting use to the job, but alot of what i do is the administrative aspect of the horizon division. I also am there to help all the new SUL's with any questions or issues they may have come up, and i try to help them find there ground as a leader and guide them to make the choices that would best help the division they are spinning up.
Do you have any special hobbies or activities outside of TAW?
I love music, and am usually listening to some kind of music, I even have a Small Vinyl Collection going and am slowly working on building up. On top of that i like to read and research philosophy, even have my own personal ideas floating around that i have been trying to set up and sorted out. I also enjoy just nerding out, doing stuff like Table top gaming (Pathfinder, Magic the gathering, or a variety of other board games) as well as just chilling on games in general.