First person shooters have been around for quite a long time and, while not the first shooter, DOOM has left its mark on the genre. Traveling through the demon-infested science facilities on Mars was fun, unique, and just a shadow of what was to come. Several sequels, almost countless mods, knock-offs and references galore made influence of DOOM quite apparent. One even took the concept of Doom and took the technology back to a more primitive time, a demake as they're called.DOOM Rogue-Like, or DOOM RL, took the concept from the originally and gave it a twist; instead of a first-person shooter, DOOM RL was a turn-based RPG with painfully simplistic graphics. Despite the change of presentation, the game is surprisingly still action packed; despite being turn-based, the game's set up is simple enough that you can easily go through dozens of turns in just a few short seconds. Random enemies, loot, and levels and a new experience and tension to every play through, and the addition of experience, character levels and skills lets you tailor the game to your play style any way you want.Despite being a free game, there's a surprising amount of content ranging from TONS of differing weapons, abilities, and even game modes. The challenge of the game makes it difficult to beat the game, even once you've figured out what you're doing. A small in size, but big in content, DOOM Rogue-Like is a game that I've sunk countless hours into and something I think anyone should look into.
The man in charge of PS 2's Oceanic ops? Kazumi. After years in TAW and climbing the ladder through every conceivable position, he has taken charge in PS and is building his empire one kill at a time.
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First off tell us a little about yourself.
I've been with TAW for about 4 years now. I'm currently serving in the US army in Japan right now. Been a gamer for years, and just really settled into TAW, it's the only community that I found I enjoyed.What are the challenges with being the CO of one of the fastest growinggames in TAW?Adapting to a new style of gameplay, and recruitment. Unlike your traditional games with Match making, or private servers with running recruitment scripts. You don't have that in Planetside 2. You've got a massive world with roughly 2,000 players running around from 3 factions. I had to adapt our normal recruitment into a method that suited planetside 2 massive player base, and active platoons. I took the TS3 public channels and formed that as our backbone of recruitment. And it's paid off greatly!What do you think Planet Side 2 brings to TAW that other games are do nothave?A much more diverse community, a community with a very loyal and creative background. Players are motivated to work together, and accomplish the mission more so than any game I've ever played. I feel they will bring a new level of strategic gameplay experience to TAW, as well as providing insight into the new recruitment methods we have employed to gain so many great members, as quickly as we did.What other divisions and positions have you held in TAW?My first position was as a DI for Bad Company 2, I quickly moved up to HDI and held that position for a fair amount of time. I've also been a Regional Officer, a XO, SO, and of course a CO these days.What are the circumstances on getting your Silver Star?Oh man, the silver star? In all honesty I've forgotten ha. I don't look at my awards to often. I'm the type who looks to the future, no matter what is offered. Every day that I help a member of TAW, assist a training, or complete a bootcamp is just a day I enjoy. Everything I do, is for the community.But thinking, back, I believe it was for a tournament for Bad Company2. Sorry I cannot be much help!What can you tell us about your military service?I've been serving in the US army for 5 1/2 years now. It's been a great experience. At times it can be hard, and rough. However, the great people you meet, the different cultures you can interact with, and just the experience has really shaped me into the person I am today, and I'm thankful for that.How about you personally, what are some things others might be surprised toknow about you?Things that could surprise some folks? I own and actively ride a few different motorcycles. I've always been a gamer at heart, but something about racing around a track on a 160hp engine with wheels is exciting! It's been a activity I've enjoyed now for 6 years.
What are some of your favorite real life hobbies outside of gaming?I enjoy wrenching on my own motorcycles, building Custom PC's for my friends who do not have the experience, and I'm working on my degree in computer science. That's pretty much my activities in a nut shell! Any closing remarks for the rest of TAW?Adept to the modern generation of gaming. Every game coming out willhave their own set of challenges, it's our job as the CO's and leadersto find the best solutions and adapt them quickly. Every game cansucceed like Planetside, it's all a matter of finding that perfectbalance of recruitment and enjoyment and using that as your wedge tosucceed.Thanks for the interview, hope this helps!KazumiPlanetside 2AU/OC BattalionCommanding Officer
Planetside 2
Barney, Elmo or Smurf? ...choose wisely! Whether you are a returning veteran of SOE's 2003 ground breaking FPSMMO or a new devotee to this year's release, Planetside2 will spoil all other online shooter experiences for you. The game takes place on a persistent world, spanning three continents that sprawl across sixty-four square kilometers each, of bases, outposts and warp gates. The map never "resets" and the battles rage around the clock. Servers are capped at six thousand client connections, and each continent will accommodate up to two thousand combatants. Welcome to Auraxis soldier! The game provides three factions to choose from, each of them with their own backstory, weapons paradigm and esthetic. The PS1 North American Battalion proudly represents the Terran Republic, a benevolent government that only wants to reestablish order and peace, although some would slander them as "Space Fascists". Their weapons have little recoil, large capacity magazines and high rates of fire. Our brothers in the PS4 battalion, that reside on the Miller server in the European Union, would agree with us. Their uniforms are the appropriate black, red and gray. The Vanu Sovereignty say they are progressively advancing humanity through the use of alien technology. We disagree with the PS5 and PS8 Battalions and feel their slavish adherence to alien tech to border on religious extremism. Their energy weapons suffer from range-induced damage degradation, but have no projectile drop over distance. Lavender and teal are the colors of the future of the human race. The third group is the New Conglomerate, which currently has no TAW.Net Battalion representation. Propaganda would label them as freedom fighters and rebels for a cause. Some would call them terrorists. Their weapons are reminiscent of cobbled-together mining and industrial equipment and anything they can scrounge or appropriate. They hit hard, suffer from excessive recoil and have limited ammunition capacity. The colors yellow and blue represent this "organization". The PS1 NA Battalion plays on the East Coast Waterson server and runs the standard two mandatory operations a week. These are currently scheduled for Thursday and Sundays starting at 6PM Eastern Standard Time. We also have two "optional" nights, on Fridays and Saturdays, that also draw a decent showing. Typically our turnout is around forty-five people, seeded into two in-game platoons. We love guests, so please join us to give this free-to-play game a try. Transfers can easily be arranged! Training can be either formal when sponsored by the Battalion Training Office, or self-motivated using the in-game Virtual Reality Room. Given the faction-driven, persistent world "metagame" of territory capture mechanics, working with other groups is virtually mandated. We can't do it alone, and often work with other outfits to accomplish strategic goals as we push the enemy factions back to their warp gates. This layers yet another level of complexity onto a game known for its steep learning curve. Real world "diplomacy" applied to gaming at its finest. Future updates are going to add more continents, connected via a dynamic lattice which will expand the complexity even further. Server events are almost exclusively created and organized by the players themselves. From the seriousness of inter-outfit callouts to mass ATV races across enemy territory, there is something for everyone. This combined arms, science fiction themed, warfare simulator has to be experienced first hand. Otter. PS1 NS SO TAW.Net P.S. This article is not biased in any way!
Barney, Elmo or Smurf? ...choose wisely! Whether you are a returning veteran of SOE's 2003 ground breaking FPSMMO or a new devotee to this year's release, Planetside2 will spoil all other online shooter experiences for you. The game takes place on a persistent world, spanning three continents that sprawl across sixty-four square kilometers each, of bases, outposts and warp gates. The map never "resets" and the battles rage around the clock. Servers are capped at six thousand client connections, and each continent will accommodate up to two thousand combatants.
Welcome to Auraxis soldier!
The game provides three factions to choose from, each of them with their own backstory, weapons paradigm and esthetic. The PS1 North American Battalion proudly represents the Terran Republic, a benevolent government that only wants to reestablish order and peace, although some would slander them as "Space Fascists". Their weapons have little recoil, large capacity magazines and high rates of fire. Our brothers in the PS4 battalion, that reside on the Miller server in the European Union, would agree with us. Their uniforms are the appropriate black, red and gray.
The Vanu Sovereignty say they are progressively advancing humanity through the use of alien technology. We disagree with the PS5 and PS8 Battalions and feel their slavish adherence to alien tech to border on religious extremism. Their energy weapons suffer from range-induced damage degradation, but have no projectile drop over distance. Lavender and teal are the colors of the future of the human race.
The third group is the New Conglomerate, which currently has no TAW.Net Battalion representation. Propaganda would label them as freedom fighters and rebels for a cause. Some would call them terrorists. Their weapons are reminiscent of cobbled-together mining and industrial equipment and anything they can scrounge or appropriate. They hit hard, suffer from excessive recoil and have limited ammunition capacity. The colors yellow and blue represent this "organization".
The PS1 NA Battalion plays on the East Coast Waterson server and runs the standard two mandatory operations a week. These are currently scheduled for Thursday and Sundays starting at 6PM Eastern Standard Time. We also have two "optional" nights, on Fridays and Saturdays, that also draw a decent showing. Typically our turnout is around forty-five people, seeded into two in-game platoons. We love guests, so please join us to give this free-to-play game a try. Transfers can easily be arranged! Training can be either formal when sponsored by the Battalion Training Office, or self-motivated using the in-game Virtual Reality Room.
Given the faction-driven, persistent world "metagame" of territory capture mechanics, working with other groups is virtually mandated. We can't do it alone, and often work with other outfits to accomplish strategic goals as we push the enemy factions back to their warp gates. This layers yet another level of complexity onto a game known for its steep learning curve. Real world "diplomacy" applied to gaming at its finest. Future updates are going to add more continents, connected via a dynamic lattice which will expand the complexity even further.
Server events are almost exclusively created and organized by the players themselves. From the seriousness of inter-outfit callouts to mass ATV races across enemy territory, there is something for everyone. This combined arms, science fiction themed, warfare simulator has to be experienced first hand.
Otter.
PS1 NS SO
TAW.Net
P.S. This article is not biased in any way!
The Gree Event Ends, and a new planet is on the horizon- Makeb, inhabited by the Cathar
The alien species Gree have landed upon Ilum! During the past two weeks, Ilum's old battlegrounds of player-versus-player open-world war were dominated by players seeking reputation trinkets with the Gree for fantastic-looking TRON-like armor and weapons. Star Wars spanned the planets with new missions and data-gathering enhancements that will reiterate time to time throughout the year. With huge world bosses and challenging robot operations, the players were pitted against each other singly or in groups or sometimes even mutual collaboration to get the job done. Secrets and lore were uncovered, and now the community has new toys and pets and skills to get ready for...
Makeb, the new planet coming this spring (most likely, spring break). The new planet will be inhabited by the cat-like species "Cathar" which will also be a player-available species to choose from in character creation. The new missions and quests on Makeb will be available for all, rather than specific for each of the eight classes, and include a new companion to win favor with. While I'm personally hoping for a Catwoman or Black Cat, perhaps there's a little Lion-O in the future- either way, the companion in question will be an unbiased romance option.
The player level will be increased to 55 and the new operation called "Scum and Villany" will focus upon defeating the Hutt's stranglehold upon Makeb. The Player Test Server is up now- Get in there and start trying out the newest content a month early. Characters transfer one at a time to the test server, but you may have up to 12 transferred in total. Our SWTOR NA division is making a test-server guild; the more presence we have on the test server for our guild, the better recognition we get from the developers and from the community.
In the distant future, we are told right from the developers and from Jeff Hickman that a Guild Update is coming this year which will greatly enhance the features and benefits of guild life. Guild perks are coming and we are saving the credits to be able to plunge into the best Star Wars can offer.
May the Force be with you always,
In the olden days of gaming, games were graphically simple, based little in reality, and fairly often hard, a triple-threat for many young gamers who could not resist the odd combinations. You could spend hours traveling through a digital world filled with unique enemies and settings and leave with a true lasting memory of that game. The games often challenged you, testing your reflexes or coordination by switching up enemy movements or level design and often forcing you to learn and improvise to continue through the levels. My latest fling with indie gaming, Super House of Dead Ninjas, pulls heavily on these elements.
The game play involves you controlling a ninja down a massive tower, aiming to defeat the terrible demon and its minions that reside within. At your disposal is a host of various melee, ranged, and explosive weapons that can be mixed and matched in your loadout to customize your type of play. A rage system strongly rewards quick and accurate kills while avoiding being injured; kill enough enemies quickly enough without taking a hit, and you become an unkillable minion-slaughtering machine filled with rage. The levels, which are randomly put together from different rooms, and a wide array of enemies makes it difficult, if not impossible, to have the same experience twice. Finally with two difficulty levels, you can play a more relaxing and lower stress game, or have a game where your ninja's life dangles from a thread.
House of Dead Ninjas was originally a game on Adult Swim's website. The game recent move to Steam came with a host of new features, a price tag, and addition of "Super" in the title, and that extra word is definitely earned. The flash game on Adult Swim's website feels just like a flash game; a bit unrefined, fairly little content, and just a bit off in general. Super House of Dead Ninjas feels like a blast from the past though; everything from sound, graphics, and controls have been improved, there's more unlockables, more levels, and just more of everything. I feel like I've easily gotten my money's worth having purchased the game having already sunk a full 8 hours into the game already. And I still have a long, LONG way to go before the game is even warn out for me.
Denmark's Konrad has been in TAW just under four months and has already made waves in the NS2 Division. A participant of the ENSL League season 1, he moved quickly into a platoon leader position. Now, he sits down with USNnuke to share his thoughts as a freshman member of the world's premier gaming community.
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Hello Everybody. My call sign is Konrad, I come from Denmark and I have been playing games since I got an Amiga 500 on my 7th birthday (which was about 20 years ago, greatest machine ever!). I play almost anything since I have friends with different tastes, but what takes up most of my time these days would be Heroes of Newerth (Which is a MOBA type game). I would say I have a pretty friendly personality, though some people can find me a bit annoying since I like to speak my mind. If you ask me if I think you did something wrong, I WILL tell you what you did wrong, if a girl asks me if she looks fat in those pants, I will say yes! (Probably why I don't have a girlfriend >_>). Whenever someone does something REALLY stupid I will be the first to laugh at them and the last to haunt them with it in the future, for the most part though I end up laughing at myself since I’m really, REALLY bad at making decisions. I mean it all in a good heart and spirit of course
After having 3 months in TAW. What do you think of it so far?
I think I'm going to be in TAW for a long time... Even if at some point I get tired of Natural Selection 2, I will still try to hang around TAW as much as possible. I really like the mandatories where people have to show up 2 times a week, since it really help people to get to know each other and have a lot of fun, and without the pressure of everybody having to be perfect pro gamers. Even people that are not as good at the game still having a lot of fun with the skilled players, and learn a lot from them. There is always a good and mature atmosphere around Team Speak. In total I would say it is WAY more fun than I had expected.
What do you feel TAW offers that other NS2 clans do not?
I haven't really been in any other NS2 clans, but when I compare it to other clans from other games; I think TAW offers 2 things:
1) When playing the game: A more casual gaming atmosphere. Normal clans recruit based on skill witch normally means they are really good, but they don’t necessarily have friendly people or an enjoyable atmosphere. Instead TAW recruits based on character, and gets friendly, well-mannered people. Sure we might not be as skilled as "normal" clans, but we have way more fun, which in the end is what it's all about
2) When NOT playing the game (NS2): TAW has a lot of friendly people to play with in other games, or just to chill on TS with. Whenever I'm not doing stuff with my real life friends, I try to get on TS ASAP to see if there is anyone online to talk to, because people are so friendly here in TAW and I don't think I would find that in another clan.
How about you personally, what are some things others might be surprised to know about you?
What people will be most surprised to learn about is my temper. If someone does something that irritates me by misbehaving, cheating, harassing or even boasting (and meaning it in a non-light hearted manner), I will tell them to stop once, or even twice, but the third time people will have to turn down the volume on their headset, or they will have to see a doctor about why they have bad earache. I can't stand it if people are not behaving properly just because we’re on the internet... We are still all people here, and we should respect each other!
What are some of your favorite real life hobbies outside of gaming?
See here we are going have a problem. I'm not really sure I have any other hobbies... Does watching pro-gamers on steams count? My Whole life revolves around gaming, I'm not really fond of traveling, I'm not that crazy about exotic food, and for music I really only follow 1 band (Infected mushroom). I like sports but I haven't really been practicing sports for 4-5 years now. I guess "Watching NFL" is on the top of my list if I can't include any gaming related stuff, then watching Arnold Schwarzenegger movies.
Any closing remarks for the rest of TAW?
Thanks for giving me this opportunity to speak my mind, and thanks for making this gaming community for me to join guys. Best online experience ever! Also: You like RTS? NS2 is the game for you. You like FPS? NS2 is the game for you. If you don't like any of those... well come play some NS2 anyway, it's a great casual game as well!
The CO of the NS2 Division's EU Battalion, Icewhynd has done much and gone far in his one year with TAW. USNnuke of the newsletter staff caught up with the Major, and here's what came about.
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Well, my name is Peter, currently running quite close to my 3rd decade and I live in the quite beautiful city of Vienna in Austria. For my gaming hobby I must blame my Grandpa,
since he started with introducing me to PC games, soon after that i got an NES/Famicom and so it continued. RTS games were my favourite and at some point I was quite good at Starcraft:Broodwar. Later on, I got into FPS as well. Being part of a group of like minded individuals, has driven me to several gaming communities and finally to TAW.
Currently i am working with mentally disabled adults/teens, taking care of their day to day needs and getting their stuff sorted out. This really helped me out sometimes in the depths of the internet ;)
Tell us the story behind your Gump Medal?
Not much to tell there really... As DC and DO of Nuclear Dawn, Metamorphyse and me had a meeting with the kind and dazzling Ekis. He claims up to this day, that he told both of us that we shouldn't use the "[DND]" tags on channels in Teamspeak. At the next day Meta and me had a discussion and we closed of a channel, sadly the allseeing Ekis did catch us and gumped us... (just for you Ekis http://i.imgur.com/6UxYVyK.jpg)
If you want a better story, you should just ask Metamorphyse about his other gump *hint hint*
You have been the CO of NS 2 EU for just over a month now. What do you think is the most challenging part of you duties?
The most challenging part? Easy answer: Keeping something close to me to plug my ears, when my DC - Artemiss (a.k.a. "The Destroyer of Channels") - decides to start singing in Teamspeak. ;)
No honestly, mostly keeping up with all the developments in the different offices and trying to have an open ear to the members problems, suggestions or just to have a chat.
Also i want to point out that i am really glad of the Battalion Staff, each of them is doing a formidable job, making mine easier :).
What do you think NS 2 brings to TAW that other games do not?
Natural Selection 2 is just a nice mix of RTS elements with the fast pace of an FPS, moreover the asymetric gameplay adds alot of replayability to it (besides going for Oni and stomping everybody)
Also the overall Community is quite mature in comparison to other games.
Also as a sequel to the awesome Berlin BBQ, NS 2 (or the Division) brings you the "Applied Darwinism"-Meet up in Berlin this July --> http://taw.net/forums/t/6754.aspx
I am actually a quite nice person :). In my younger days, I was writing with a few friends a DSA(Das Schwarze Auge, something like D&D) shortstory book. I was a Metalhead with hair down to my knees. And last but not least I was disguised as a Penguin once.
Speedskating on the Donauinsel, Beach Volleyball, cooking and baking for/with my friends and reading.
Ladies and Gentlemen, thanks for making TAW what it is today, every one of you is shaping the face of TAW. A big "OohRah!" to you, and if you can, think about dropping a few bucks to your division and/or the community funds ;)
Oh yes... you are always welcome in 3rd Corps' Natural Selection and "The Thirsty Onos", if you want to play a few games or just chat a bit.
For decades people have argued about which of the thousands upon thousands of video games is the best. Many have claimed Super Mario Bros, Final Fantasy 7, or the latest installment of Halo or Call of Duty is the greatest of games. They, of course, are hilariously wrong. I happen to know the greatest game, and I have chosen to share my infinite wisdom with all of you.
Untold hours every day are lost to this game as thousands upon thousands across the globe spend moment after moment clicking away their lives. The game play has been perfected over decades, if not centuries, and perfected formula lays at your fingertips at nearly any location. Rules are simple and nearly universally know, as are the graphics. I would bet that more people that not all over can be shown the game and correctly identify it.
Surely with such prestige and pervasiveness, the game could be worth a fortune. And yet, the game is free and nearly on any system, even from those decades back. The name may vary, but there's no disputing. By far the greatest of all games is, of course, Klondike Solitaire.
The stark realism that console online gaming supersedes PC gaming has come to fruition in the realm of one of the largest gaming communities in the world – The Art of Warfare. Leadership for TAW has officially announced that starting in June of 2013 they will scrap all PC gaming and launch what has been called the bravest move in gaming history – a move to Console gaming only. Although PC gaming has gained popularity over the years Console gaming is gaining ground exponentially. With the release of Wii U, the Xbox 720, Playstation 4 and the gaining popularity of GameStop, TAW saw the future and has begun to prepare for the transition.
“It has been a struggle to assimilate our platform but with the great OS crew we have on the job, we’re confident in a successful transition”, says Commander in Chief Icarus.
In a recent move to boost membership and media exposure, The Art of Warfare [TAW] has purchased sponsorship in NASCAR. Starting in the 2014 Racing season the #13 TAW car will be driven by Commander in Chief of TAW, Icarus. “I look forward to leading TAW and Leading the pack on the NASCAR circuit” says Icarus.
In charge of all of Army is one man...and that man is Bravehardt. But we are terrified to talk to him so instead we here at OSM bottom feed for information from his secretary SoonerOKC. Sooner is a big name in CC channels with tons of responsibilities like getting Bravehardt coffee and handling member requests while Brave plays My Little Pony games. Sooner graciously took a few minutes away from picking up lunch for Bravehardt and Icarus to give us the inside scoop on the newest changes coming to TAW.
First off tell us a little about yourself:
I was born just off the coast of Korea on a small island named Jeju. I was adopted by missionaries who brought me to the US. Once they found out I was not Korean or an orphan they soon gave me up and returned me to my real parents.
I dropped out of college a semester shy of graduating from med school to follow my dreams of being a Rodeo Clown. Work was slow but I got all the bull *&%$ I needed for my organic garden. After 10 years of doing that I hung up my rodeo clown hat and helped my neighbor's son (his name is Bill G.) with some software and start up company and developed an Altair emulator that ran on a minicomputer and a basic interpreter. That took off pretty will and I really never had to work after that.
As the ALC can you give us some answers on some of the rumors that have been going around TAW. First one that TAW is going to change from PC games to console games
I'm not sure which rumor your talking about. I know we are discussing a lot of options and new directions for TAW. As you know there are a lot of "Free to Play Games" out there with Miro Purchases. One thought is to have a 5 Cent charge for every time a member logs into TS. If a member wants to change channels it would cost them 3 cents for each move. We predict this will generate enough money to send all of Central Command to a convention called DomoCon at the end of the year...."All First Class"
We do have a big change coming very soon...As you know we are growing and well...let's admit it this Chain of Command thing really doesn't work... So coming in June we will be getting rid of all TFO positions and have a new position called "Time Zone Czars". That member will be in charge of all games played in his time zone...regardless of game or game type you will show up in one channel and have practice all at once. I think this will help cut down on game envy...think about it...BF3 and Mine Craft all played at once (in one channel) as if it was one game.
What do you think is the best game of all time?(and why)
I have a Commodore 64 and play Arc of Yesod so I really don't know of any games made after 1985. Hmmm Maybe we could start a Arc of Yesod team?.
What major changes are going to come to TAW in the next 6 months?
I kind of covered that in the last questions but the biggest would be letting all member have a vote on all policies. Right now we have CC votes and it takes an hour or so...but we feel it would be good for all member and guest to have a vote. With 400 for 500 hundred people in channel we think the Sunday "Czar Meetings shouldn't take more then six to seven hours.
Tell us something that will surprise everyone about yourself.
People say I sound young on TS but I'm 87 and was a U-Boat Captain in WWII.