The State of the Union

[DW_ToxicWaste]

Hi everyone,

I'll post this in general announcements as well, but I know this forum in particular gets the most traffic, so I feel it's appropriate to post it here.

I've played on a lot of servers in my time, and with a lot of people, and clans. I know they come and go like the wind. The reason why I'm posting this and posting it now is because I want to share with you the pride I feel about this clan, this community we've had form with us, and the work that we've done in providing you one damn fine gaming environment.


The DW Philosophy: Fun and Games

Some clans form on the basis of getting the best player they can, looking at stats, and turning away otherwise good people because their shock rifle percentage is not good enough. That's not what we're about. We're about getting people who are good human beings, and who know how to treat others with respect. These are the people we want to have in our family. And hopefully we can grow together as a cohesive unit and become stronger from within. The person is what's important. And that's not just lip service like you might hear from other clans. It's the truth. And you will see this truth unfold in the years to come. We have already weathered many storms, and I'm happy to say the ship is still afloat, that the sailors are still happy.

We respect each other's lives. We are all adults, and have real lives. Some of us (myself included) have families. There are times when things don't happen that are the "best" for the clan. But since we are good people first, and 1337 gamers second,
we handle these types of situations with maturity and grace, we accept the situation for what it is, and rather than harping on the problem, we focus on a solution for the future.


The DW Future: Bright

I can only see good things ahead of us. We are honing our skills in all game types for UT2k4. (and ultimately 2k7) We conduct semi-weekly practices to perfect our games. We review matches and scrims to hopefully learn something for the next match. We have focus, desire, and best of all we're in it together. Most of the guys in this group started as casual gamer types, who were really good people, and I'm proud to say there's quite a few of us who have gotten damn good in the time they've been with us. And the beauty of that is it’s all gravy. We brought these folks in because we like playing with them, period. I'm really happy with each and every one of us, and the fact that we’re able to play and enjoy each other’s company, and grow together. We’re looking to get sharp in ONS, and branch out into other areas as well.


The Servers & SVA: The DW Campus

It all started off with me looking for a place to host our clan. To make a long story short, through game server rentals and co location facilities, we wind up here, with the flagship server, Spam Vikings. And as you can see, I’ve been adding servers left and right. Why? Well I love running servers, and I really like the players we have playing here, and guess what? I don’t want you going anywhere else. I want you to have 6, 8 10, or whatever favorites in your list, and I want 90% of them to be DW servers. I feel like this is a college Campus, and I’ve gotten very used to, and comfortable with the people I see “walking” around the campus. I want you guys to start your games, connect to a server, play 5 different game types, and never have to leave the DW campus.

SVA’s have a special place in this whole thing. You guys are the ones who have shown your loyalty right in your name. You wear it for all to see, and wear it proudly. It means a lot to me to see half a dozen SVAs on the server, playing for hour upon hour.

Usually you will find either a public server with no clan behind it, or you will find a clan hosting a public server. With the latter you frequently get the feeling you are simply a second class citizen, and get kicked the moment another clan member needs to get in. This campus is unique in that we are a clan, but we are also the hosts of one of the most popular servers in UT land. We never put our clan ”leetness” above the pub player, because we were all there once. Hell, there are times when I cannot get into my own server! We enjoy your company. We enjoy playing with you.


The Servers: The Future

The DW servers are here to stay. Take it to the bank.

Come UT2k7, there will be two Spam Vikings 32p servers, one 2k4 and one 2k7.

There will also be a Conquest server capable of handling 64 players.

There will be other periphery servers such as TAM, Monster Assault, etc. for 2k7.

DW will also be branching out into new games where we find interest. There is an exciting new game on the horizon. It is called Cell Factor. It looks very exciting, and utilizes the Aegia Physix card (which incidentally UT2k7 also utilizes). Our plans are to include a server for this as well upon release.

So the bottom line is this: The future is bright for all of us. We’re here to stay, and we’d like you to all be a part of that. Join the new DW Campus and make yourself comfortable.

Rich (TW)

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You can find more information on the Aegia Physx card here: http://www.ageia.com/

See more information about Epic’s dedication to this new technology with UT2k7: http://ageia.vnewscenter.com/press.jsp?id=1141898679428


BFG is leading the technology race. They have a May release on tap for the BFG Aegia Physx Card. More here:

http://www.bfgtech.com/physx/index.htm

And check out this rocking demo of Cell Factor: (Warning, this download is 115 megs, but cool is worth 115 megs, isn’t it?)

http://physx.ageia.com/cellfactor_hd.mov

[Curly_Oxide]

Good one Toxic. I think I'm going to cry. And you're right, those are the things that make this a great server. Just as I did with {CLR} before Cain's Lair moved on to BF2, so I will proudly do with SVA> as long as Spam Vikings remains. Though I am not legally an adult, I appreciate the goodness of DW. I can usually look to the DW faculty to school me left and right (then left again) and that is respectable. VOIP really enhances the community aspect of the server. When I'm playing with DW's they're not saying, "Curly you F'ing n00b". They're saying , "Hey Curly thanks for linking me." It's encouraging. It may be because I'm a loser but I am proud to be a part of this community. I can't join DW because my parents only let me play on weekends, but I'm a card-carrying SVA. Thanks ToxicWaste, Achilles, BigRed, Bathroomrat, Bomzin, CandyLick, Cheap Shot, Damnidge, Dudester, Feces, Frenczy, GoatBoy, Hornet, Namu, Pomona, Resurrection, Skaank, Skully, Ifondlesweaters, UT99 Vet,
WhurlWind, Wraith. I salute you.

[UT99_VET]

Curly u know what ? u said u are young , but believe me when I said you speak truly like an adult .

And is the people like you Curly who make us proud to wear this Tags and represent this server...
Toxic said the future is bright for our clan, and you know what Curly? You are part of that bright future, I definitly can see you there ...but first , first things first, School cause that is why your parents work their butt off. To give u a better life.

and Curly I salute you back buddy
peace

DW>UT99_VET

[DW_Ifondlesweaters]

Yeah, back at ya Curly. Pleasure playing with DWs and SVAs alike. Playin Unreal with you guys at night keeps me out of gangs and away from drugs.


Well, at least out of gangs...

[Purity_the_Kitty]

Toxic, you've inspired me to finally unlazy myself, open that Settings box, and add that SVA>. Thanks. :cat:

As for Cell Factor, I'm checking out the demo, but those PhysX guys can KISS MY FUZZY KITTY ASS as long as they refrain from putting out Linux drivers. UT2004 was and is a Linux game first and foremost (it was developed almost completely in Linux and for Linux, as much as they don't officially want to support it) and 2k7 will follow suit. Hell, I'm going to NEED to play 2k7 in Linux just for the extra framerate (yes, it's faster, try it).

[Edit: Okay, watched the movie, and I'm not impressed. Certain things are cool - like the gravity well gun, but we've got one of those in UT2004. The destructible environment ROCKS, but...all of that movement-altering stuff? I like the concept of psychic soldiers and stuff, but...no. As a player, one of the most ANNOYING things is spending half of a match being flung around. I've played Tractor Beam CTF, I know. Same problem, I feel. I like a lot of what I see and may try the game if it turns out not to be a single-platform Windows game, but...I'll stick to UT2007, with a nicely tested gameplay model and proper compatability, thanks. As a game dev myself I can't support all of those Windophiles continuing to make uninnovative games for a slow and bloated OS. Why can't they see that you can play UT2004 on a P3 in Linux?] :cheers:

But anyway, back to the goodness of DW. MAD PROPS TO YOU TOXIC AND ALL OF DW! May we enjoy eternal gaming, and may our frag counts never fall below 0! :cheers:

[UT99_VET]

amen

[killrob]

<sniffles -man how do you get over that, We love you and your servers Toxic and will always wear the SVA name tag proudly. I too have a family and work nights (and I'm 30 years old Curly) there fore i'm only on weekends too. Yet i will stay on for up to 10 hours in a sitting because its that enjoyable on your servers. I have played other servers and none even come second to Spam Vikings. - "stands" - "salutes' ALL DW<

people make a server enjoyable:

[DW_ToxicWaste]

Hey Purity, all, glad I struck a cord. It comes from the heart. Certain things happen around here that make me go off the emotional deep end, and I just can't help myself :cheese:

As for the Cell Factor game, yeah, there's always the possibility that it could suck, but we'll make that determination when the demo comes out. I won't run a server for it if it sucks ass.

In the mean time, I'll be sending off another physical server soon. I don't know if there's interest in a different game in the mean time. TBH, I'm not even sure what's out there besides UT, BF2, Doom, etc.. But if you guys want to help me put together a list, I can put it to a survey and see about starting one.

Rich (TW)

[Purity_the_Kitty]

Well...you really did, Toxic, and there was audible profanity when I realized SVA>Purity_the_Kitty didn't fit! ARGH! So I'm still Purity_the_Kitty, but just remember that I call this place home! :cat:

I'm not liking the new GPL for Linux now...restricting closed-source, 3rd-party hardware drivers is a nice ideal, but bad in practice. As a software dev myself I'd LOVE all of my projects to be open-source, but until we can shoot all the managers (FLAK MONKEY!!) that won't go.

[DW_e_aLpHa]

Sacryfice Thy Name .. Purity.. as I did .. I dint liked the distortion thing in the game as it seems so used. I think i t could make me dizy .. But the graphics are just Evil