It's been a busy day for me today but I'd quickly like to welcome two new members, HTML and someone who's name was L.Phoe or something like that (feel free to correct me). The squad grows and grows! Along with the increased numbers, Blackers' words ring true as the stats are starting to show a definite Australian flavour! Last night you could hardly move in Alpha for friggin' convicts! We needed three frequencies to hold 'em all!
The British seem somewhat interested in the Ashes concept so we'll work with them to arrange some form of fracas in the near future!
Not much else to offer you at this stage, back to the salt mines!
April 10, 2006 - This Just In! :
Editorial from our absolut correspondent :
Well done AUS$IES - good to see the squad growing so well. I was around a fair bit this weekend having a sprained ankle. It was a choice between sitting watching TV with my leg up, or playing subspace. Nuff said.
The Aussie flag was flying pretty much all weekend in Alpha - I find it very reasuring because I notice the banner before the name for those just-coming-into-view kills! So while not mandatory by any means, keep those flags flying boys...(And girls if we ever get any!)
Congrats to Nude, who had a record bounty of 538 (or whatever) - I can't even count that high... Onya Nude !! (Get the pic up man!) [once I got to 300ish I just sat in safe grabbing passing greens so it doesn't really deserve a mention, but here you go!]
Welcome to dikamerica (everyone knows dik) and STEVEIRWIN (who you may know as CYBER AXE) - both quality players who will bring some depth to the squad. Speaking of depth, don't be shy on passing on tips to our less experienced squaddies if you get the chance. As Nude noted, we're waiting on one more member to finlise his name choice (again) before joining up. Lets be on the lookout for potential new members as well to keep things movin...
A note on Etiquette - Nude wrote an interesting piece on the alpha message boards a while back, regarding bolstering numbers in Alpha. [are you talking about this one?] Esentially, it was about not turning new players off the game, and keeping them interested in learning what is a tough game to start with. Essentially, constantly negging newbs probably does nothing to further the popularity of the game (we love). I'm certainly the first to waste a happless newbie in his 50 bnty terrier when he shoots at me (on multi fire of course)... But lets offer some encouragement and maybe a hint or two afterwards so they don't go back to WoW straight away. Nude has some good thoughts on this too. Also, if you have a good fight with someone (who isn't an A-hole), give them a gg even if you are on the south end of that train....
Currently, depending on how you order the search - AUS$IES are the 3rd or 5th ranked team on points.. Not bad for a fledgling squad... Well done dudes!
Blackers
April 10, 2006 - Bodylinebombing! :
Surely with a nationalistic squad such as AUS$IES we ought to follow suit with other great aussie sports teams and take other nations to task? So with this in mind, I have started sussing out the lads from old Blighty for a possible Ashes series. I have asked the question here. Watch that space ... and this space ... and subspace ... for further details.
Speaking of the messageboard, I am currently taking opinions on an AUS$IE squad messageboard forum at Alpha West forums. This, for other squads, comes in the forum of one public forum, for information to be exchanged with non-Aussies and to attract new members, and one private, where we can rhubarbrhubarbrhubarb together about what we're gonna do to any unsuspecting tourists. ("and that's for wrecking my f**king truck"!)
Until such a time as we decide whether to put the pressure on the forums host, I thought to invite you all to use this thread here for our squad talk message thread. Feel free to use it. Or not.
April 10, 2006 - Crikey! :
After initally believing that dikamerica had bolted when learning of our dodgy reputation as Alpha West bunnies, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief when he suddenly lobbed with the AUS$IES squadname attached, standing prouder than a honeymooner's proverbial! Everybody runs in fear of dik, and my word, does dik have a mouth on him!
Then, more inflow, as STEVEIRWIN broke into the side with a stirling display on Saturday! Steve has been around much longer than I, and adds some depth and quality to a squad in need of the former and unable even to spell the latter. Strewth!
This lifts our squad numbers to 7, though only 6 are currently reported on the scores database. Dunno how that works. Still waiting on taw to get in touch, and of course all the old AUS$IE squad members, who all seemed go walkabout at around the same time. With these sorts of numbers, and with so many flamin' pommy bastards floatin' about Alpha West, surely an Ashes series cannot be too far away? Mad Cobra ate all the pies! Go in starkers, what'll Lake Eyre?
Blackers put paid to our first huntee and followed him all the way back to the boundary line. Positions vacant, one huntee : hey BUTTBYTR 6, do you fit the legend?
My next step in the unending growth of the AUS$IES community is to petition Bargeld for a squad forum on his message board. I will keep you posted.
C'arn the Roys!
April 7, 2006 - Songs From The New South :
Here they come, the New South Welshmen swamp the system yesterday with the signing of slurry and the almost-signing of dikamerica.
Slurry, along with some bad lung cancer rediscovered subspace recently after first playing the game in around 2000. I remember his words when he lobbed in Alpha a couple of weeks ago : 'are those aussie flags, chaps?'. It goes to show what difference it can make to get the branding out into the zone! So slurry picked up an aussie flag banner a few minutes later, and again I remember the discourse went vaguely like this :
[Slurry] : I'll get some noob to help me.
Slurry : Hey H0me B0y, how do I set the banner?
H0me B0y : Esc B.
[Nude For Satan] : Hehe.
So, slurry appears yesterday and I pvte msg him to sort out besquadedness. No answer. I pvte msg him again. No answer. A couple more times, no answer. In public I ask slurry to pay attention to the green writing and turn your bloody sound on. Moments later, slurry is a member!
dikamerica ... with his pleasant style of approach (eMail : F...kers. Put me on your squad. or something similar) was sorted out to join last night, called me a champion and headed off to do something about it ... and promptly vanished! Get in touch again, dik, and we'll 'ave another go. You're destined to be the loose cannon that will be in and out of management's favour and bring that niggling aggro edge to the team!* * adherence to requirements of squad ethos will apply What? I didn't say nuffin'!
Fantastic turnout last night with Blackers, Slurry, Xenix, Some bad, dikamerica and myself, all running around alpha, lagging the hell outta the place. And you will throwwwwwwwwwwwwww your thors aroundddddd meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Added an avatar for Blackers, a bio for slurry, and a new page for 'stuff' that will comprise interesting and fun subspace stuff from time to time. Thanks q0! Performance, Huntee du Jour and Australia pages also added.
Late breaking news, dikamerica is on-board, after all! Just noticed his stats starting to show on the squad scores. It must not resolve until there's activity to comment on. Whoomp, there he is!
April 6, 2006 - Step Right Up! :
Two new members, Xenix and some bad lung cancer, were inducted yesterday evening, thanks Blackers for keeping on top of the steady flow of applications!
Xenix has been around for ages, and I made the mistake of getting his hopes up for an AUS$IE squad guernsey just before the squad owner shot though. It was a bit of a Clayton's invitation and Xenix has exhibited extraordinary patience as the red tape unwound. Finally he's on board. Xenix is known for floating around the screen during hours entirely unconducive to his Western Australian timezone, though he confided in me that he keeps odd hours simply because he doesn't have to keep even ones. Welcome, finally, Xenix, though I'm not sure I like how your record immediately improved past mine, the moment you joined. I'm gonna be the dead weight everyone else lumbers around with, soon, seeing as Blackers just got a 1+:1 fortnight, and Xenix has started off at 2:1 ... with me at 1:2. Damn upstarts! :)
Welcome also to some bad lung cancer, not that the namesake is ever welcome (I'm glad I gave up the fags 3 years ago!) some bad arrived recently along with his mate (or brother? can't remember) slurry, New South Welshmen who rediscovered Subspace after bashing about Dueling Arizona a few years back. Yep, more people 'coming back' to the best game in the whole, wide, world, after an hiatus. Luckily for me, some bad has started off his new squad registration with some bad life-preservation techniques, and has lifted me off the bottom of the squad table :). I wonder how long that anomaly will last.
So there you have it, we've doubled the AUS$IES squad numbers overnight, and expect more to hop on board. C'mon flamin' Aussie, c'mon!
Members page has been revamped, and the rotating graphic over on the left has been edited so that you don't have to chase the menu around the screen like swatting a fly .. its hard enough doing it in the game, no need to imitate it on the website!
April 5, 2006 - Do's And Don'ts :
A brand spanking new banner takes pride of place at the top of the screen, thanks to Blackers! A new whinge added, thanks Bid!
Squad description ('About') page revamped into two parts, one to explain how the squad came about, and then a section on a Squad ethos, which was suggested by Blackers and penned by myself. Feel free to offer edits!
April 4, 2006 - Bullet Bitten, AUS$IES Created :
Well, it was probably inevitable, but the switchover to a new squad name has commenced. Yesterday, Blackers and Nude For Satan moved from AUS$IE to AUS$IES, as a result of the continuing absence of one Mittens da Bunny. It is unfortunate, and not irreversible, but the damage this was doing to the concept of an aussie Alpha team was simply becoming too severe.
Of course neither of us realised that creating the new squad (originally intended as a just-in-case) would immediately put the squad creator into that new squad, and with no-one but Mittens knowing the password for AUS$IE, well, Blackers was stuck out there like whatsisname with the wolves and gills and stuff.
So, cosily, I also switched over, and we are now AUS$IES, rather than AUS$IE. The bad news is that a couple of absent squad members are not going to know of the change, and also that I am now gonna have to change all this website and eMail stuff.
That, however, is overshadowed by the good news. We (read: Blackers) can now process AUS$IES squad members! Finally! So if you've been hanging around patiently, waiting for the shambles to be sorted out, now's the time to seek out Blackers in-game, and get your guernsey. AUS$IDARITY, brothers!
Ok, now I'm off to fix all the website branding!
April 3, 2006 - Canary Yellow Indeed :
As the race to finalise the squad format crescends (is that a word?), I thought it time to appropriate some very tacky green and gold haze to the website. Give up for Australia! (I don't think the current colour scheme will last long).
Its now pretty much official that the number of pilots on the periphery of the AUS$IE squad now pretty much exceed that of those actually registered with it. Stay tuned for further developments.
Thanks to Magneta (also known as pretty much every other possible nickname available), an alternative aussie flag banner has been added to the banners page.