December 2006 - Volume I, Issue 4

[Zeli]

Circle of Trust Newsletter
December 2006
Issue #4 - Officer Edition

Welcome to the official newsletter of Circle of Trust.
If you have any suggestions, questions or concerns, please email them to [e-mail].



Profiles are Ready
by Zeli

The good news is that they're all uploaded! Get the scoop on your guildies here: circleoftrust.org/GUILD_PROFILES.htm

Some profiles of our more mysterious guild members are scarce on information. If yours is one of them, it does not mean that I do not love you. It's simply because I could not find a "getting to know you" post on the boards from you. That's okay, you only put up what you're comfortable with. You can always add to your profile if you want to. Just post on the forums or drop me an email.

I didn't do profiles for folks who haven't registered on the new forums. These folks are still welcome in CoT and welcome to a profile. If you are missing one and would like one, I'll gladly make one for you, just let me know. The only reason why I didn't include some folks is because it's tedious work to do when I'm not sure the person is even interested in CoT anymore.

Images were chosen because they were the first ones I found with your name on them. If you would like me to use a different picture, quote, screen shot or signature, please either post or email me the image or link to the image you want me to use. Please do not describe an image and ask me to find it. If you would like me to add or remove Q & As, please be specific. Also, don't be afraid to request something that's different from the other profiles. I won't change the colors and I'll keep a similar basic layout (to maintain the overall style of the website), but I can add in more or less images and information. I can add in almost anything you'd like. I will update your profile as I get time.



December's Guild Position Highlight: Reliance Members

Reliance Members were first Trust Members of the guild. They also help guildies and run an occasional event when the mood strikes them. A Reliance Member can invite and vote on initiates and be nominated to the Trustee position. This is the highest position of our members before taking on the responsibility of an officer in CoT.



Personal Gratz

Happy Birthdays this month to Lanir, Nyd and Shenro!
Aruth bought a new home and moved!

Molley and Horrton are all moved in and back on the internet.

Molley also got robbed at her job this month. She kept a cool head and totally pwned him when the police caught him and she pointed out the bad guy.



I found the most awesome thing!
By Molley

SQUARE bagels! for sandwiches. I LOVE bagel sandwiches. Somebody is a genius. Too bad I can only find them in whole wheat though, twelve grain is better. Everything fits so much better in square bread.



Full-Assed Review (tm)
The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess
by Aberrant

Well, after spending nearly 20 hours with the game I feel I am just now scratching the surface. I will try to avoid spoilers for any who are looking to play this game, but be warned, I might let some minor details slip through. First off, this game definitely revs up the story versus some of the older games. The older Zelda games held my interest through fun combat and interesting locales, but this one has a story that has twists and really makes you think about the motives of the people you interact with. This is also a more mature storyline, they show children in very real danger and there are some pretty heavy tones. The cutscenes also have some very good production values, you almost think you are watching Lord of the Rings at times.

Besides the great story, the gameplay is fantastic. The Wiimote is used for swordfighing, with a simple shake to unsheathe your sword, and another to swing. It is very intuitive and I can't imagine going back to a regular controller. It is also excellent for the bow, you can be pinpoint accurate. Shooting baddies with your bow while riding your horse has been the highlight of the game for me so far. This type of combat continues when you 'wolf-out', ala TeenWolf. It's a nice change, and the wolf senses are a nice touch. The remotes are also used for fishing, with your nunchuck acting as your reel. It is fun, and more fleshed out than full-fledged fishing games I have played. You could waste hours fishing away.

Graphically, the game is excellent from an artistic standpoint. The twilight world you switch back and forth from is beautiful and haunting at the same time. From a technical standpoint, you are constantly reminded that this is a game built for the Gamecube. Plenty of low res textures abound, but you find yourself forgetting about them and focusing on the gameplay.

Overall, I am having a blast with this game. 20 hours in, I can say this is the best Zelda game I have played, with Ocarina of Time a close second, and Wind Waker and Link to the Past tied for third. If you get a Wii, you are already buying this game without reading my little take on it. You won't be disappointed.



Battlestar Moves To Sundays
By Aruth

SCI FI Channel's award-winning series Battlestar Galactica will move to a new timeslot starting Jan. 21, 2007: Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT, following the premiere of the new original series The Dresden Files at 9 p.m.

Battlestar Galactica has been airing episodes of its current third season on Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

The current season picks up the story of the ragtag fleet of human survivors as they flee the Cylon menace. Executive-produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, the series stars Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, James Callis, Tricia Helfer and Grace Park. —Patrick Lee, News Editor



WAR Guild Beta Sign Up
By Zeli

Mythic has stated that they will have guild beta invites, but have not yet announced how that will happen. I know that some folks are very interested in WAR but perhaps they are not able to check the board every day. My fear is that there could be a short window of time to get people signed up for a guild beta. I would hate for interested folks to miss out simply because they had a busy day at work or their internet was down that day or something like that and they missed it.

So here’s the deal: You have to be a current member of CoT or The Kindred to participate (special exception to Nef and Pik). Sign up on the forums if you’re interested in being a participant with CoT for the WAR guild beta and inform me of your email address. Either post an email address or, if you’re uncomfortable with that, email me your email address. For the Vanguard guild beta, organizers had to submit a list of handles and email addresses for the company to contact the folks with their invite information. This way everyone will have ample time to state that they have interest and would like to test the game.

Please keep in mind, this is not a sneak-peak invite, it’s a beta invite. The game will have flaws, bugs and crash and it’s up to testers to report everything they can so that the game is ready for release. We are asking only for serious testers to sign up.

CURRENTLY SIGNED UP FOR GUILD BETA
Zeli, Aberrant, Lanir, Aruth, Tridock, Wrasse, Danti, Horrton, Molley, Nefertiti, Winin, Kierin, Shenro, Athene, Gnagn, Pikcolo, Alissia, Kessa, Malsirian, Aduras, Wolfborn, Kaarenyth, and Ssark



Half Assed Review (tm)
WiiSports
by Aberrant

A nice collection of games to show off to family and friends and get them interested in the Wii. Bowling is by far my favorite, I mess up in the game exactly the same way I mess up in real bowling. Tennis is fun if you have 2-4 players. Baseball is ok, but a little too limiting. Golf is a bit buggy, but shows future potential for golf games. Boxing is a workout, and fun if you have 2 players. All in all, I probably would have bought this if it was not included as a pack-in, but for no more than 20-30 dollars.



Taking Care of Your System
By Wrasse

OK, many of you all will probably be well aware of these things and some of you may not care but I feel like I should share some fun little tid-bits of knowledge to ensure the safety and longevity of your computer system. Ali (my wife) just recently had a power supply fail on her which resulted in damage to two of her hard drives...sounds fun, eh? You'd think a guy who has servers running 24/7 (some for many years with the same equipment) and lives in an area with frequent brown-outs due to growth would know better and have certain measures in place in order to ensure that his significant other's system kept running...but no, I'm lazy and stupid I guess. But you don't have to be! (unless you enjoy it).

Things I recommend (if you don't already have 'em):

1.) A UPS (not the guys who deliver stuff to you) or uninterruptible power supply. This is key to maintaining the life of your PSU (or power supply) of your computer. It provides a clean and uninterrupted power source for your system. Fluctuations/interruptions in power to your PSU can cause damage. It's the heart of your system and, in turn, can really do a number on things (especially hard drives! bah!) inside your precious little gaming machine. I recommend APC or OptiUPS but only because those are the systems I've had in place for years and I really have come to rely on them. Recently had a little conversation with APC's technical support and they were helpful and very nice. I recommend something like this:

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16842107113

or:

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16842107140

There are a lot of people out there who know a heck of a lot more than I do about UPS solutions (maybe some here) so feel free to chime in...I don't know enough to talk about sinewaves and the different types...I just know those two solutions above should be good for a standard ATX case.

2.) A back-up solution: Ok, there are way too many to list but this is one I recently purchased and I think it's cool (and it looks sweet too).

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136049

It's an external hard drive made by Western Digital. Again, many solutions here but I like this one and it was fast and easy to set up. I've been around computers for a while and I'm stunned that prices for external hard drives (well all hard drives) have gone down so much (we have an old Apple II+ external hard drive here at the office that I think holds a megabyte of information and is about as large as a micro ATX case heh...but that's a long time ago). I like the little system power-down and the ease of storage (it's like a little book, ain't that swell?).

3.) RAID: What's RAID? ...well, without getting way too geeky, it's just 2+ hard drives linked together in a way that CAN help protect data. Again, with hard drives going down in price so much over the years and systems now having built-in RAID solutions, it's a great idea, IMHO, to consider this for your next system. I'd buy 2 medium-size, fast drives and use them for your main OS drive. Setting up a RAID array has become even easier as of late as well...but if anyone actually wants to do this, I'll do my best to help.

OK, there's more...and maybe some others have things to add. I just wanted to post this...maybe I can help just one person out there prevent a system crap-out...I'd feel better.



LET'S HEAR IT.

CoTers are not known for being wallflowers. If you would like to make your opinion heard, in the form of a column in our newsletter, please e-mail [e-mail].


Circle of Trust
an mmorpg guild
www.circleoftrust.org