Archive for the ‘Clan Events’ Category

Monday Knight Halo is here to ring in the new year.

SSG had 2 separate parties of 8 rolling around match making this evening.  MKH has had it’s highs and lows this last year with the plethora’s of new games that game out, but it sure looks to have stabilized in a big way.  So mark your calendar and show up next week.

Can you spot SSG IrishGirl in her Ghillie Suit?

How about now that she’s sniping a Banshee?!

SSG takes to the air to reek havoc.

But things don’t always go to plan…

High-Five!

SSG iAmGrant standing on one foot, like a boss.

Taking out a Warthog from the air.

Failing to your death can still look cool, right?

BOOM!

I want to thank all the Knights that came out for MKH this week, and we hope to see you all next week as well.

So last week some of you noticed I didn’t post a blog… Actually none of you did. Hmmm. This week you might notice that I don’t have any screenshots… actually you probably won’t notice that either. Never mind, here is what happend…

Monday Knight Halo: Many of us jump into games together so that we can team up against the onslaught of prepubescent mongrels. This is pretty typical. However, sometimes we don’t even want to face the riff-raff and would rather play with just our fellow knights. That’s just what we did in the TU Beta hopper this week. Let me just say, having Kistov AND nzapters on the same team is cheating. The Kiwi Connection, as I have some to call them, are lethal enough on their own. Putting them on the same side is a kind of demoralizing slaughter that Grunts must feel hopping off a Phantom on easy mode.

Eventually the gang went back to proper matchmaking against some internet randoms. However, the blood lust did not cease. I’m not sure if there were some hidden grudges, or if wrath transcends all sense of color and team descriptors, but  some knights went on some betrayal sprees. This was all in good fun mind you, which was picked up on by the other team… who proceeded to assist in that fratricide. While this isn’t typical behavior for knights, everyone involved was having a good time. No harm no foul.

Wednesday Knight Warfare: Final Session: So what better why to celebrate the passing of a game than to mortar, napalm, and grenade your teammates? Wait what? That’s right, the team killing didn’t stop at Halo. You know the thing with a fast paced game like Black Ops is you have to keep your head on a swivel. Not every single person darting around a corner is your enemy. As I discovered multiple times as BIGG NATE responded to my calls for help… only to be shot in the face by my M4. Indirect fire weapons are a dangerous tool as SSG Jettstream learned as I, once again, failed to see where my teammate was and burned him alive with super hot napalm. Napalm sticks to kids… and Canadians. Finally, after having given up on killstreaks I decided to use my ‘nades… much to MadMike’s displeasure. You see, when you throw a grenade you should be sure that your partner isn’t about to run into the same corridor that you just chucked frag down…

Thursday Knight Horde: They say dying is a part of life. I say dying is a part of dying. SteelValor, SSG Gideon and Apoc came with me into some new maps for Horde mode. I had gotten used to SSG CodeMonkey’s awesome mutators and  figured I could just run up and slaughter what ever I wanted as Big Rig Dizzy. Well I was wrong, but I took everyone with me. Anytime Steel, Apoc, or Gideon attempted to save my sorry butt they ended up dying a terrible death. So you don’t always have to be the one to pull the trigger to get a team kill…

Other Big News: We have more knights included in our family. SSG Gideon was made official this week and we all are super excited that he has joined our ranks. I didn’t get a chance to mention SteelValor in a blog so I’ll do so now and congratulate him as well. I hope you like your new armor. Remember it chaffs

Welcome to yet another edition of This Week in SSG. This week I’m not going to enthrall you with a striking moral character piece. However, I am going to mention another factor that brings us all together. Fun. That’s right, it’s as simple as that. What is the use of all this game time and camaraderie if we aren’t having any fun? It makes about as much sense as stapling your toes together.

Monday Knight Halo: This week I decided to try some customs. I went to Achievement Hunter’s website and pulled a few “horse” maps. Next I went to Halo Waypoint and secured a neat little Duck Hunt map and game type. Was there a score? Maybe. Was there a victor? Who knows. What I do know is that I can now recognize the sounds of Knights giggling like children and just having fun messing around. That is until we played this game…

Rev Ball comes from our good friend Wheels36. It’s fast paced explodey fun. Unless you are SSG Wookiee. Once Wookiee understood the premise of the game for a moment he put down his sword and lifted a Hockey stick. Trouble is there were no refs to put him in the penalty box for high sticking. It was like watching a monster being born of ice and fire. He sent me and my vehicle flying out of the way several times! Later he said he was having flashbacks of his Hockey days and that it was so much fun he may get back to it someday. To me my friends this is what it’s all about.

Wednesday Knight Warfare: What can I say about you Black Ops? You and I are like lovers dancing around each other waiting for your party system to to allow us one fiery embrace. Alas, you are a fickle mistress and sometimes you make me choose between my friends and you. No but seriously, it took us 45 minutes of messing around in the lobby before we finally got games in. Then the hosts tended to favor every team but ours resulting in probably one of the worst personal experiences with this game. However, I still had fun. Running around with SSG iAmGrant, SSG IrishGril,  SSG Marvel, and apprentice MadMike mad the wait and frustration bearable. We lamented together, figured out how to make the best of a bad situation. Together we found the fun, despite outside forces attempting to thwart us.

Thursday Knight Horde: Sometimes it isn’t always about the challenge. Sometimes it’s about feeling like a hard ass. So we turned on some mutators and made boss battles seem easier than farting on a jello mold (man Gran-Gran was mad). But hey, don’t take my word for it. Watch us take down some reavers…

Yup, nothing says bad ass like rolling over fools with your lancer. Or if you are SSG TomaZero, nothing says bad ass like getting murdered…several times….

So ends another edition of This Week in SSG. Tune in next week when we talk about the nature of smell.

Let’s admit it, virtually blasting strangers online rarely, if ever, gets old.  However, there are times when one wants to try something a little different.  That’s where Halo Reach’s wonderful tweaking tools come to play, allowing players to customize their games and even create fun new gametypes to spice up their experiences in the Halo world. This week’s Monday Knight Halo gave us the opportunity to do just that.

 

Starting the (k)night off, Dalcaeus introduced us to an experimental game type meant to replicate “Hardcore Team Deathmatch,” where shields are disabled and headshot weapons like the DMR and Pistol are removed, making for an interesting old-school experience before the days of regenerating health and one-shot kills.

 

 

 

Next up was the Ski-Jump game.

 

After that was The Shredder!

 

We were also introduced to a fun game called Revball.  Think of it as Hockey, with Revenants.

 

We ended with a tie after a well-fought match.

 

We also played a bit of Duck Hunt, courtesy of Achievement Hunter’s community gametypes.

 

With a bigger crew by now, Dal brought us to Reflection for a return of Hardcore Team Deathmatch.

 

Fun times were had by all, and it goes to show that with a little creativity, a game may never get old.  See you next Monday!

So this week I’m afraid I didn’t have time to get swell screen shots for this post. I’ll try to do better next time. Last week’s theme was leadership. While leadership is a trait that all knights share, it’s nature is unique to all of us. This week’s theme is quite different. Unity. This idea is what bonds all of us individuals together.

Monday Knight Halo: For some people the word “Assist” is synonymous with “kill steal.” This action would result in any number of slurs and insults. Additionally, feelings of having the stage kicked out from under you can foster feelings of resentment. While partaking in the Firefight Challenge this week I noticed how different we really are from that of the standard fair of gamer. The festivities started with SSG Jettstream, SSG Cazril, and myself. With the two of them they each had a fair fifty-fifty chance of winning 1600 MS Points. That was until SSG Apocalypse showed up. While Jett, and Caz put up a valiant effort it is safe to say that Apoc secured a resounding victory. There were no harsh words, no ill will. All I heard was heartfelt congratulations from bested teammates. Later, the four of us decided to try our hand at the Title Update playlist. My kill count in the first skirmish was… abysmal.  My shots were missing their mark, but luckily I had a teammate that was right on the money. SSG Jettstream is the new John Wayne. This man pulled out his .45 and ended more lives than any spaghetti western ever did. Every assist I earned in that match was his kill.  I was proud to have him at my side. You see, unity means teamwork, but more than that. Unity means we desire victory for our comrades more than ourselves. We feel this way because deep down inside our friend’s victories are our victories. It doesn’t matter whose name is on it.

Wednesday Knight Warfare: Just another gaming session? Maybe. That is until Bigg Nate and I started a discussion. That discussion was on politics. Now the specifics of those politics are unimportant. The very nature of politics is contention, Nate and I are no exception. There were things that we didn’t see eye to eye on. However, there were no raised voices, no insults. He did not call me a “conservative nazi” and I never called him a “liberal hibbie,” or “communist.” We politely discussed our points of view and respected each other’s differing opinions. Unity is respecting our differences, embracing those differences and understanding how diversity can make us stronger.

Thursday Knight Horde: Violence, lots and lots of violence. One of our apprentices DarkFusion arrived and promptly showed SSG CodeMonkey and I the proper use of the Gnaser Shotgun. As bits of body parts flew gracefully in all directions Code and I could not help but marvel at the proficiency at which Fusion wielded his weapon. He was like an artist that used internal organs as means to sculpt his master piece. Rather than be insulted by the impudence of this upstart we offered him praise for his performance. Albeit with the occasional jab after I “Retro Charged” him a few times. Unity is accepting the fact that sometimes members of our team can be better, much better, then ourselves. Unity means we embrace and nurture teammate to make our team stronger… even if they are shotgun campers….

Unity in SSG is what brought us here, what keeps us here, and what makes us strong.

Last week I was appointed as Sword and Shield Gaming’s Community Templar. My orders were simple. Get us all to play games together, reunite us with estranged knights, and acquaint us with our apprentices. After contemplating my new position, and it’s responsibilities, I began to reflect on some of the many qualities that makes SSG stand out to me. Not the least of which is Leadership. As a clan we are leaders in a struggle that all within the GGN face, but what about within our clan?

Monday Knight Halo started off normally, but with one small difference. It was up to me to get the ball rolling on the festivities. I wasn’t entirely sure how to go about it. Luckily for me, SSG Jayman showed up to lend a hand. At his suggestion, we loaded up custom games while we waited for the rest of our group to show up. Juggernaut proved to be a good ice breaker for some of the newer people joining us. Jay’s experience and initiative paid dividends in making MKH a success for me as well as everyone who attended. Leaders show the initiative.

Wednesday Knight Warfare isn’t always something that I attend. However, given the example SSG Jayman set I decided to rent Black Ops for the evening. As the session got underway, things were a little rocky. Lag, and my general lack of skill, resulted in a string of loses that can only be compare to the amount of times Michigan has lost to Ohio State. Many of us were frustrated, and understandably so. SSG IAmGrant took an initiative in his own way. He decided that his mood would soon no longer be conducive to the general fun of the group. He laid down his controller and allowed SSG CodeMonkey to take his spot. This demonstrated the dedication he has toward the ethos of Sword and Shield Gaming, by setting an example of temperance. Leaders set the example.

 

Thursday Knight Horde is our shiny new weekly event for those of us that put “ed” and the end chainsaw. In order to make it official it needed a banner. So I instituted a small contest to ensure the best possible banner was selected. I could not have hoped for more out of our knights and apprentices. However, one knight’s entry stuck out the most to me. Aelius’s entry stuck out to me not only because it “pwn’s nOObs in teh face” but because of the many iterations, and time he took to come to the finished product. His time and effort to meet the needs (notice I didn’t say wants) of the group is indicative of leadership and the SSG.

In the end, it is apparent that a leader does not always have to be the guy in charge. You can be a guy within a group that takes it upon himself to get things done. You can be that individual that never fails to set the example for his peers. You can be the one that always works tirelessly to ensure that our group is the best it can be. All those things are qualities of leadership, all are qualities of Knighthood.

 

Hey Readers!

Being cool is a plague that has completely engulfed both clans SoF and SSG. For those who are noobs Spirits of Fire and Sword and Shield Gaming. Most scientist believe that once the infection begins there is nothing to do but embrace it. One of the biggest challenges involved with having two cool groups in one place there is often a ton of fighting. Regardless of this sound scientific research SoF and SSG went against all odds and challenged this belief. The result? Well it was nothing less of a MIXER. *crowd explodes with applause and tears*

 

Now some may see these next pictures and think that SoF and SSG were busy fighting each other the entire time. We assure you it was all in good fun but if you have children under the age of 90 you may want to hide their eyes from the next few pics. There is fire involved. Yes 90.

 

 

Now I think I assured you things were not that evil and deadly. Well we were playing SPEED HALO. We all know zombies can be killed and zombies can kill others. So I fully endorse the ‘Blame the Zombie’ movement and wish you all to agree with me on that. We will have t-shirts someday. Something I don’t understand is the physics of it all. WHY DO YOU SPIN WHEN YOU ARE GOING STRAIGHT FORWARD INTO THE TELEPORTER! So I had to let that one go honestly I will hold my self back from now on.

On a lighter note here is a picture of Halo SPEED. A sexy zombie picture will also come forward somewhere in there.

 

I’m sorry I should have warned you prior to seeing the zombie pic. It’s graphic. That sword looks sexy though. Like really look at it. Blue. Purple. Fluid. They definitely change the entire gaming world with the amount of detail they put into that sword. I am being serious on the fact it looks stunning. Has every shade of blue.

 

Where were we? Oh yes racing. On the top of the page I posted a opener from a race we had. t was actually the first thing we did after one BTB match. I scored 3 bombs that match but you know Raiders gonna Raid and Slayers…. gonna slay. Match results be under this paragraph followed by a Race pic.

 

http://www.bungie.net/stats/reach/gamestats.aspx?gameid=758000937&player=SSG%20Theo

 

I’d thank Gambit for the maps if I was you. He hosted races like he was totally boss. One would suggest he is boss but I wouldn’t suggest it. Ego’s tend to form from people saying nice things to Gambit. Once I told him nice helmet. He totally was baggin on me because I had the same helmet. Not planned I assure you….. I went off on a random tangent again I suppose. I guess a picture of  NartFOpc sniping is a good thing.

 

Sexy right? Well it’s SoF what would you imagine would happen.

 

Now I want to be the first blogger to say thank you to SoF for the good times and games. Below will be the names of those SoF that served with us. May the force be with you!

SOF Members

Arkynox
RowboatOOO
NartFOpc
ReverendTiki
Antithesis721

Unsure

melonmon – He got in there but couldn’t confirm his relation.
Commanderdemon – Same as above

 

SSG members:

SSG Theo
SSG Dalcaeus
SSG Dark
SSG IAMGRANT
SSG IrishGirl
SSG Gambit
SSG Apocalypse
SSG Cazaril

 

IF I FORGOT A NAME TELL ME. Seriously it’s easy to add on.

 

The lust worthy blue flames only obtained with a paycheck from Bungie.

This past Monday SSG hosted a full house of gamers wanting to get in on the craziness that is SSG’s Monday Knight Halo. Not only did we have 12+ plus SSG Knights onlyline and ready to play some Halo but we were joined by several GGNers as well. We had Gunslingers and Wheelmen show up from GGN clans, and even surprise appearances from the PMS clan and Bungie employees.

The night started off with SSG throwing themselves to the Matchmaking Gods for some multi-team action. Rocket Hog Race was the game type and it didn’t disappoint.

The big group decided to split up to a pair of smaller groups and myself oppted for some Team Objective in what could be, the last time for a while, to play with fellow Knight and friend; CaLL Me GiL. You see Gil is a military man and is being deployed soon for a top secrect locale. The virtual battlefield is not enough for him (and a few other Knights that serve) and SSG wishes him safe journeys.

Getting taken down from above and below.

Cappin’ the flag; like a boss.

Honor Guard, protecting the flag

As the night went on, my party of four grew to eight as we brought in members from, TTL, HWM, PMS, and Bungie. We even had 12 again at one point and decided to mix it up again in some multi-team.

Sadly, I was having severe issues last night with matchmaking towards the end of the night. I’m about 99% sure it has to do with my acceptance into the Xbox LIVE Preview Program, which has something to do with a beta version of the dashboard and a new disc format Microsoft is testing. So I kept dropping out of matchmaking and it even nuked my internetz for a while. But Good Games™ were had and that’s what MKH is all about!

See you next week!

A vote was passed down from the super-secret meeting room of SSG’s Membership Council and from that emerged a newly Knighted Apprentice, Dalcaeus. This screen shot (that I nabbed from Dal’s own fileshare) fits his zanny personality. If you’ve been in a party with Dal for more than five minutes there is little doubt that you haven’t heard one of his ‘Bazooka Gum’ style jokes, for the 3rd time…

Dalcaeus showed up last night for SSG’s weekly event, Monday Knight Halo, like he does every week and was greeted with the news of his Knighthood from a party of 14 Knights. Quite the induction. Dalcaeus rounds out the Knights numbers up to an even 30, and has already decided to join the Raider division. The Raiders, although starting off strong with SSG’s inception, has lost quite a few members to other Divisions so Dalcaeus will be a welcome addition.

Dalcaeus seems to make a favorable impression on everyone he meets, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he received his own set of armor. With his light humor, team-first attitude, and his compassion for fellow Knights he was everything we were looking for in a recruit. I found Dal while he was checking out the fine clans over in the Good Game Network. I told him to go check out what SSG has to offer, and the rest is history. Now I could wax on my own feeling about Dalcaeus but don’t just take my word for it:

SSG Odin:

The first time I noticed this guy, he was a FNG in a GGN lobby. Didn’t take note of him till he said this REALLY, REALLY, BAD and I mean like ‘FML, that’s bad’ joke. It was so bad that it was awesome. I got hooked.

IMO, he’s one of the best examples of a GGN Recruit. If all the people applying to be in GGN clans were like him, we’d have to shut down recruitment in a week.

SSG Dead3ye

I have played many good games with Dalcaeus in Crysis 2. He always seems to be able to brighten the mood when our squad is horrible and we are getting pounded by the other team. I know I am in for a good laugh when he starts a sentence off with “Did you hear the one about…” Welcome to the castle Dalcaeus.

SSG Gambit

You never really know what’s going to happen in a party with Dal… He could be on Nyquil… and a betrayal spree, or he could be making offhand comments that leave your ribs hurting.

Aelius

I never expected someone to be able to crack a joke while pumping an opponent full of bullets.

SSG Frogwort

I first ran into Dal in a Friday night dustup he’d been invited to by Sunburned Goose over at TTL. While my bullets strayed into the occasional ally, Dal’s always found their intended targets (on the opposite team), even if a couple of his jokes missed by a groan.

It’s an honor and a pleasure to see a new Knight of such an excellent caliber has chosen to sheath his sword in our scabbard. Er, tuck his arrow in our quiver? It’s good to have Dal aboard, jokes and all!

SSG Omega

While I’ve not been fortunate enough to have a proper gaming night with Dalcaeus yet, his attitude around the Castle is more than enough evidence that he’s a great addition. He’s always ready with a friendly word, kind remark-and something hilarious. Dalcaeus is also passionate about Sword and Shield Gaming, and has been since Apprenticeship. Seeing that kind of enthusiasm even going through the Trials on new faces is infectious and-at least for me-helps enforce what Knighthood means. Teamwork, friends, brotherhood, and over all good times. We’re glad to have you, Dalcaeus!

SSG Theo

Dal is one of those players that you don’t have to worry about being quiet. The awkwardness of just being you and him never exists because he knows who to stir a conversation well. I think thats the best part about Dal, his energy that he brings to the table and lets all others feed off of. Never a boring time when Dal is around.

SSG IrshGirl

Only those who are completely awesome are fit to join SSG, so it only makes sense that Dalcaeus should become an SSG Knight!

I while ago I was playing Borderlands with Viktim Viktor from Cirque D’Geezers.  While we were playing, I remarked at how he was probably the only Geezer I’d ever played with on Xbox Live.  Being quite surprised by this, he and I both resolved to do something to change that.  This last Wednesday evening was the result.

In place of our weekly Wednesday Knight Warfare event where SSG Knights gather and play the latest military shooter games, be it Call of Duty, Battlefield or Homefront, we organized a friendly mixer with the Cirque D’Geezers clan.  It was a great opportunity for those old folks to show us young’uns a thing or two. The Good Game Network is a fairly large gaming frontier and not every member has traversed the whole of it.   Friendly mixers such as this aim to introduce gamers to new territory and new GGN gamers.

Instead of a competitive clan match, we opted instead for the mixer with teams comprised of gamers from both clans.  We had enough to go into matchmaking with two teams.  A big thanks to those that participated!

From Sword and Shield Gaming: SSG Ghost Rider, Crystle FTW, SSG Jettstream, SSG Hoots, SSG CodeMonkey, GrantClaunch, SSG IrishGirl

From Cirque D’Geezers: Cdg Don, A Mad Bloke, UTVolFan, LegendCalledJim, Keworth2347, Mania76, Pharaoh Bender, MadElvis

(sorry if I missed anyone)

Overall, fun times were had.  We got to play some Team Deathmatch, Demolition, and Domination.  After a few gamers called it a night, we combined parties and rolled into the Ground War playlist.  This is definitely something we should do again in the future.