Márta (March) 2013 Edition


Cead Mile Failte!

Hail and well met everyone! It's time for the March Ceannard Notes. When I first sat down to write this I didn't have a whole lot to write home about. But as I sat, virtual pen in hand, more and more came to mind. Now this newsletter is a bit long. We've got a lot to cover so I'm going to go with the old Table of Contents approach to make things easier for all of you.

The Gaiscioch Family

March 22nd @ 7PM EST
Boston Area Gaiscioch Family Meet-and-Greet Invades M.J. O'Connar's Irish Pub

Looking to meet some local Gaiscioch Members in the Boston area while at PAX East? Join the Gaiscioch family friday night at M.J. O'Connar's Irish Pub between 7 and 9PM for some socialization and networking.

Come hang out make some friends and enjoy an Irish Pint with some family! Saralandrielle will be coordinating on site for us. Feel free to shoot them a message on the Gaiscioch site to coordinate.

For more information visit:
http://www.gaiscioch.com/tavern/real_world_events/post_50413.html

New to the Family?
Join the Gaiscioch 101 Livestream on March 2nd @ 12:00PM PST

I will be trying to run these on a Quarterly basis for new members to get to know our family and learn the systems that drive us forward. I will be livestreaming this class so that folks can watch it after the event. This event should last about an hour and thirty minutes to two hours. I have a lot of ground to cover so I will do my best to cover everything.

The Agenda Includes:

  • About the Family - History, Focus, Future
  • The Website
  • Registration
  • The Event System
  • Claiming Participation
  • Using the Marketplace
  • Claiming Leadership

Tune into the livestream at:
http://www.twitch.tv/thegaisciochfamily

Monthly Meetings
Join us for the Gaiscioch Family Summit on March 2nd @ 5PM PST

I highly encourage everyone to take a moment out of your Saturday evening to join us at the Gaiscioch Family Summit an hour earlier than usual at 5PM PST. During this event we will cover the topics in this newsletter in detail and provide our members with a chance for some question and answers. Please feel free to join us - all Gaiscioch, Tuatha and Faeblight & Sanctum of Rall community members are welcome to join. Please feel free to bring your questions and have them answered by the Eldership Council.

Guild Wars 2

February 2013 Patch:
Flame & Frost Brings Improved sPvP & Guild Missions

With the WvW Patch getting pushed back until February, this patch is brings some nice gems to the PvE and structured PvP arena. The major features that came in this month's patch are:

Brand New PvP Map - Spirit Watch

This peaceful green vale, nestled between cliffside shrines to the norn Spirits of the Wild is about to echo with the sounds of combat. In Spirit Watch, players will score bonus points by capturing the Orb of Ascension and running it to any of the three shrines on this newest PvP map.

Team Up for Guild Missions

Join your fellow guild members to take on an entirely new category of content! These missions, designed for coordinated group play, include everything from bounties, to group puzzles, to cross-country challenges. You'll need to work together to complete the missions and earn new Guild Merits, which can unlock cool upgrades and rewards. It pays to be in a guild!

Two Team Rated Play in PvP

It's time to prove your skill! In this new type of competitive PvP, two teams of equal average rating are pitted against each other in a quick, intense match. The ratings for every member of each team is then adjusted after the match.

Choose Your Own Daily Achievements

With our new selectable achievement system, you'll have a chance to set new daily challenges for yourself and to choose what kind of content you want to be rewarded for playing.

Preview Items in the Trading Post

Try before you buy! You'll have the ability to preview items in the Trading Post before you buy them. Simply right-click an item icon and select "Preview" to see the item equipped on your character. Check out how a weapon looks by itself, how it looks when sheathed, and how it looks when wielded by your character.

For a full list of updates please see the patch notes at:
http://www.sanctumofrall.com/discussion/sor_announcements/post_42730.html

Gaiscioch Guild Missions
5 Guilds, Lots of Missions

With our 5 guilds in place we have a lot of opportunities to do guild missions together. Being that these missions cost influence, and are time sensitive, we will however be limiting them to our scheduled events lead by Warlord and Elder Council members only. I will be discussing these events in this week's Elder meeting, and in the Gaiscioch Family Summit on this Saturday at 6PM PST.

There are 5 types of guild missions available with multiple levels of difficulty. The trick, however, is how much each level costs to unlock. Each one requires certain upgrades before you can unlock them. On top of that Guild Puzzles need you to previously unlock Guild Challenges, Guild Challenges need you to unlock Guild Rushes, Guild Rushes need you to unlock Guild Treks, and Guild Treks require you unlock Guild Bounties. In all we must earn 370,000 influence, and 510 Guild Merits, and wait more than 78 days to complete the build process for each guild.

The mission types available are:

  • Guild Bounty - Your guild is tasked with tracking down and capturing various targets for the Orders. These people are wanted for a variety of reasons and have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves to resist arrest!
  • Guild Trek - Think you know Tyria? Well the Tyrian Explorer's Society has a challenge for you! Find the list of locations before time runs out.
  • Guild Challenge - These challenges leverage our existing event system but are specifically geared to require multi-group, coordinated play to succeed. So gather your guild and see if you're up to the challenge!
  • Guild Rush - Test your skills with a mad dash over harrowing terrain, traps, and other hidden dangers. Just remember, there's safety in numbers!
  • Guild Puzzle - It's a puzzle and a jumping challenge all in one! This mission type requires multi-group coordination as well as individual jumping skills to get to the treasure at the end.

We will be unlocking Guild Bounties in each of our rooms first. Once it is unlocked we will be upgrading the 3 main rooms of the house progressing towards Puzzle as fast as we can. For Rall and Anu we will be going back to our buff rotation along with queueing Guild Bounties to be completed. Each week we will try to have 1 or 2 events where we will complete several Guild Bounty missions in Rall and Anu. Once the other 3 rooms have been fully upgraded we will switch and the 3 main rooms will start queueing guild quests and buffs.

Public Community Event Series
Join the Great Tyrian Adventure Thursday Nights

Since its launch more than 250 have participated in the Great Tyrian Adventure. With prizes like Ingame costume items, 20 slot bags, 2000 gem cards, exotic weapons, and extra character slots players have come from far and wide.

This event focuses on community building, completing meta events, slaying champions, and running the local dungeons. These are wonderful events for new members to see what the family is all about while earning some significant family honor points. Its also a great time to get to know some of the commanders of our family.

Learn more at:
http://www.sanctumofrall.com/

The Gaiscioch Way
Joining Casuals & Elite Players Under One Banner

Lately I've witnessed quite a bit of animosity between the casual players and the elite warriors. I want to remind everyone of our family slogan. Play how you want, when you want, as long as you want. This applies to everyone in our family. There are those who enjoy playing at the competitive level and those who enjoy playing at the carefree casual level.

Now this is where things get cool. The Gaiscioch has been built on the idea of building harmony between the casuals and the elite. In Warhammer Online we used the Elites to make up our "Dagger Squads". These we're not just random people playing in groups doing whatever they please while we're running a family event. These were our skilled pvpers who trained, played, and assisted each other in builds, gearing each other up. Korzak, Threynos, and Vampiresbane pioneered the first few dagger squads and were highly effective. Today Spartan is stepping up to build a new dagger squad and will be hand picking 10 players who want to play at a competitive level that will assist our family on the battlefield.

Now one thing I want to share with you is the vision of the battlefield. When at war, a large gathering of people draws attention. We use the general public, the casuals, and the random zergling to fill our main warforce. This becomes the giant threat on the battlefield that our enemies focus on. Now with our elite warriors forming up together, and taking things a lot more seriously than the casuals care to, they can flank, ambush, prep and secure objectives that the main force can not do unnoticed. In addition, the elite warriors protect the casuals. Without them our force will get rolled over time and time again.

I ask that we as Gaiscioch respect the playstyles of our kin. Casuals, you need the Elite to succeed on that battlefield. Elite you need the Casuals to pull the zerg off of your back. It's only by working together and uniting the casuals and elite that we can all get the most out of WvW. Lets all celebrate our diversity and encourage each other to play the way we want to play.

Gaiscioch Recruits for Tournament Team & WvW Dagger Squads
Structured PVP & Gaiscioch Elite Warriors

For those of you looking to get more out of Guild Wars 2 PvP and wanting to take your game to the next level, Spartan will be building a group of elite gaiscioch warriors that will be required to spec certain ways, use certain armor, and play together often. I have tasked him at finding 10 players to work under his command to help our family command the battlefield on Thursday nights, as well as build the foundation for our Structured PvP Tournament team, for when custom tournaments become part of the game.

If you join this group you will be expected to work with the unit to build your characters to better benefit the unit. You will be expected to practice, follow orders, and assist in developing documentation for other members to follow. In the coming months we will be arranging tournaments and we want to make sure we have a few highly successful tournament teams in play. If you're interested in this unit please contact me or Spartan, and we will get you started.

Going Back To Basics
Mixing It Up With Trinity Night

Over the past few months, we've seen a high turnover in those who choose to WvW. Some of the comments I've received are that we were playing too competitively, and it wasn't fun anymore for some of our casual folks. We have decided to break out our team into 2 playstyles. The first will be under my helm is the casual unit, or main force. The second unit is Spartan's elite warrior dagger squad. Spartan and I will be in separate rooms, but will work with each other over tells and map chat to set up ambushes, siege and conquer lands and devour our foes. Best of all, those who enjoy the laid back casual approach to WvW can once again find it with us.

To add to the relaxed approach and fun, I will also be bringing the very popular ClubGaiscioch playlist & playstyle to the Primetime timeslot. This new event is ClubNight with the Tuatha. Come enjoy trance, techno, and wvw every thursday night at 6PM PST.

For more information visit:
http://www.gaiscioch.com/

March Community Event Lineup
Join One of Our Family's Public Community Events

Looking for something to do this month? Join one of our many family events hosted by the Eldership team.

Fridays:

  • 5PM PST: Great Tyrian Preview Run - with Prissy in RaidCall: 5012

Saturdays:

  • 12AM PST: ClubGaiscioch - with Foghladha in RaidCall: 1101
  • 9AM PST: Guild Bounty Hunt - with Prissy in RaidCall 5012
  • 6PM PST: [Competitive] Breaking the Ice in WvW - with Spartan on RaidCall: 5012

Sundays:

  • 12AM PST: ClubGaiscioch - with Foghladha in RaidCall: 1101
  • 10AM PST: Sunday Morning WvW - with Jexia in RaidCall: 5012
  • 6PM PST: Temples of Orr - with Prissy in RaidCall 5012

Mondays:

  • 6PM PST: [Casual] Breaking the Ice in WvW - with Prissy on RaidCall: 5012

Tuesdays:

  • 6PM PST: The Great Tyrian Adventure - with Foghladha in RaidCall: 5012

Wednesdays:

  • 9AM PST: Harvesting Event - with Jexia in RaidCall: 5012
  • 5PM PST: Quest for Map Completion - with Prissy in RaidCall: 5012

Thursdays:

  • 6PM PST: ClubNight with the Tuatha - with Foghladha, Prissy & Spartan in RaidCall: 5012

For more events please view our full monthly calendar at:
http://www.gaiscioch.com/events/

De-mystifying the Saighdear Section:
The Saighdear Section Launches

There have been a lot of questions floating around about the Saighdear program. With RIFT becoming a Saighdear on the 1st, and players wondering if they would still be able to claim participation, I thought it would be nice to have a section devoted to active Saighdear programs. Over the next year we will see the birth of several Saighdear programs including ArcheAge, Defiance, Neverwinter, and more.

The key with the Saighdear program is that we won't be taking functionality that's already existing away, unless the remaining Elders decide to bow out. As long as we have a guided presence in the game, you will be able to continue claiming participation, ordering from the marketplace and joining others in weekly events just as you always have. The only change is that there will not be new developments specifically for a certain Saighdear program. So if a game used to be an official chapter, such as RIFT, it will continue to have website support and Elders in the game. But for a new Saighdear program, like Neverwinter, there will not be objectives that are claimable and all participation will be "for fun" only.

To look at the nifty chart I built that covers the difference between a Saighdear, Former Branch, and the Official Branch see:
http://www.gaiscioch.com/about/saighdear.html

In Closing

I know this month will be full of transition and test all of our patience but in the end I am confident that the family will grow and continue to thrive in the games we play. Please be extra patient over the next few months as we figure out the changes and adapt to the new environment. As time progresses things will simmer and we will grow conformable in the new changes. We've got a lot coming up in the next few months including PAX East, Our 2013 Double-Up Charity Event, and the continued observation of the progress of Archeage and Elder Scrolls Online. All we can do now is plan for the future and prepare for the days to come. Have a great month everyone and make sure to enjoy a pint during my favorite holiday that has nothing to do with snakes ;P. Slainte!

Slan Go Foill!
(Goodbye For Now)

Benjamin "Foghladha" Foley
Ceannard De Gaiscioch Treubh