Deireadh Fómhair 2014
(October)


Cead Mile Failte!

Hail and Well met! As we approach our 13th year birthday on November 11th we look to the past and see nothing but accomplishments of uniting people in friendships and memory. Players from far and wide have come to join us and even though they may not play the same games we do, hundreds still game together every day in worlds like Final Fantasy, Wildstar, ArcheAge, Neverwinter, Rift, and now even Destiny. Regardless of the game they play they are naturally drawn to each other as brothers in arms. This was the overall goal of Gaiscioch when it was formed nearly 13 years ago. It wasn't to get everyone wearing the Gaiscioch name, it was built to get people talking to one another, through pulling like minded people together. What they do from there is up to them but the community was designed to match people with others like themselves and I must say we've done a remarkable job at this.

Before I jump into this month’s notes, I'd like to give you all the opportunity to share a story about a friend you met through Gaiscioch. On our forums you will find a new post called "Friends through Gaiscioch". I would like if you can share a story about how you met someone that you game with all the time. For some of you this will be easy as you've only made a couple friends, for others it's hard as you've made so many that you can't even count them all. This is your chance to share with others the social unity that we find in our home of Gaiscioch.

Go Pink For October
Gaiscioch Sports New Colors For The Month

Last year we started a new annual tradition in honor of a few special ladies in Gaiscioch who are battling breast cancer. For the Breast Cancer Awareness month we stand as a family honoring those loved ones by dying our armor Pink in support of their war on cancer. You will notice the colors of our Guild Wars 2 emblem change to Pink for the duration of October so every keep we claim, every objective we take speaks of our dedication to the cause. I ask all players in ESO and Guild Wars 2 to join us in dying your armor pink for the month of October and support those ladies in our family who are fighting to beat this foe.

Win Epic Loot
Give an Extra Life to A Child In Need

On October 25th, 2014 Gaiscioch will be holding it's 24-Hour Game-A-Thon party from 12AM Pacific through 12AM Pacific on the 26th. We've got a full day of activities planned in between Guild Wars 2 and Elder Scrolls Online to enjoy so be sure to hook up with friends and have a wonderful adventure together. This event supports the Children's Miracle Network by raising funds for children in need. To help contribute or fundraise be sure to join our team and use your ArenaNet.id or ESO @name as your middle name so that we know who to send the prizes to. The top ESO Players will receive a code for a limited edition mini-pet and players in Guild Wars 2 have a chance to win some pretty epic prizes including a legendary and precursors. Be sure to share your fundraiser page with your friends, family, and coworkers and lets see what kind of difference we can make in the lives of these children.

Learn more about this years event at:
http://gaiscioch.com/q/p85252

East Coast Meet-and-Greet Social
1st Ever East Coast Gaiscioch Meetup at Fado's Irish Pub, Atlanta, Georgia

Are you within an hour drive of the Buckhead area of Atlanta, Georgia or in a mood to go on a road trip? Join us October 14th for our first ever Meet-and-Greet social event at Fado's Irish Pub at 8PM Eastern.

Get the details at:
http://gaiscioch.com/q/p86323

October 4th, 2014
Monthly Gaiscioch Family Summit

Join us on Saturday, October 4th for the Gaiscioch Family Summit to discuss the latest topics within the family. I will be sharing with the community the things I saw at ZeniMax and also our plans for the coming month.

Here's the meeting schedule:

  • Magazine Team Meeting @ 2PM Pacific
  • Event Leaders Meeting @ 3PM Pacific
  • Eldership Meeting @ 4PM Pacific
  • Gaiscioch Family Summit @ 5PM Pacific

Chapter 4:
Guild Wars 2 News

New Event Schedule:
With Fall Comes New East Coast Friendly Times For Events

I know it's not possible to make our events cater to everyone, however there has been a quite obvious falloff of players on the field after 8PM Pacific in both games that we play. East coasters simply can't stay up that late and my schedule is opening up for a bit of an earlier start. So we will be moving our Thursday event in Guild Wars 2 up one hour to 5PM Pacific so that players from the east can enjoy the full event. I understand this might make it harder on our west coast players to make the missions events, however you have the Saturday 11PM Event that is impossible for the east coasters to attend (Except Izzy cause she’s hard core). It's my hope that by making these events earlier we can boost our numbers to new heights.

New Guild Wars 2 Family Event Schedule:

  • Thursday 5-8PM - [SORC] Missions & WvW - US Primetime
  • Saturdays 11-2AM  - [SORC] Missions & WvW - OCX Primetime

Note: No Thursday Event on Oct: 16th

Also be sure to check the calendar. We have many WvW leaders on the field at various times of the day. Be sure to join them in the good fight at any time you're available.

http://guildwars.gaiscioch.com/events/

WvW Season 3 Off To The Races

I must say, this season we've had some awesome Gaiscioch Commanders step up and take the field. I need to give a special shoutout to Smitty for taking the helm for homeland defense at rollover. He has been a rock that the server has leaned on and his humourous singing have kept the mood light and fun. I can not express how proud I am of everyone, leaders and participants in your commitment to making this season a success. We have seen people come flooding in requesting to join the family and whatever you are doing is working. Keep it up everyone! Be just to join your favorite commanders and show your support to our community.

Top 10 Guild Wars 2 News For September, 2014

  1. Guild Wars 2 Guru: Introducing the New Trading Post
  2. Massively.com: Adopt a Guild Wars 2 developer for WvW this fall
  3. Guild Wars 2 Update: Game Update Notes - September 9, 2014
  4. Guild Wars 2 Guru: Gaile Gray returns to the community team
  5. Massively.com: ArenaNet responds to Guild Wars 2 feature pack complaints
  6. Massively.com: Gaile Gray returns to the community team for Guild Wars 2
  7. Guild Wars 2: A Look Back at gamescom 2014
  8. Massively.com: Guild Wars 2's September Feature Pack goes live today
  9. Guild Wars 2: Introducing the New Trading Post
  10. Massively.com: Guild Wars 2 adds in collections achievements

Chapter 5:
Elder Scrolls Online News

Leaving on a Jet Plane
Off to ZeniMax Online Studios I Go

This week I will be traveling to Baltimore, Maryland to meet up with the ZeniMax team to discuss the social aspects of Elder Scrolls Online and what we can do to get them back on track. Along with me comes a very large document outlining the critical issues along with some suggestions to improve the quality of life.

Now I want to give a shout out to all of you. The only reason this trip is possible and we have the opportunity to sit down with the developers is because of how you all treat our family and the communities we exist within. Gaming companies often times have employees join Gaiscioch and experience our way of life from within. This in turn comes back to us in the form of focus group invites and face to face meetings. It's the level of integrity and respect that we cast into the world that opens doors like these. Thank you for protecting our reputation and way of life. You all are amazing and I could not be more proud to call you family.

Now as you can expect I'll be gone from Tue - Fri and will not be able to hold either of my Prime Time events this week. If you're an ambitious leader feel free to fill those 2 timeslots the week of Sept 30-Oct 4. I will be back behind the wheel the following week. Additionally all things discussed at ZeniMax this time will not be covered by NDA so I will have a wealth of information to share about the trip and what was talked about.

Event Schedule Update:
New Weekly Event Rotation Coming in October

With the fall on our doorsteps and kids resuming school we should see some returning faces over the next month. Additionally it becomes increasingly more difficult for our east coast players to stay up till midnight. Like with our Guild Wars 2 chapter we will be moving our regularly scheduled Tuesday Event to Wednesday and moving it up an hour to begin at 5PM Pacific.

Additionally for the month of October we're going to try a new format similar to the event schedule we used in Warhammer Online. We will be rotating our new Wednesday night and Saturday night event between Blackwater Blade and Thornblade. These events will alternate weeks.

  • Wednesdays 5-8PM - Community Siege on Blackwater Blade (Non-VR) / Thornblade (Open)
  • Saturday 12-2AM - Shadow Ops with Conchobair on Thornblade (Open) / Blackwater Blade (Non-VR)

Note: No Wednesday Event October 15th

Now, one thing we need to keep in mind is attendance and recruitment. Our numbers are starting to dwindle and we are losing players from the game every week. The reason we began the Non-VR campaign Tuesday push was to get new blood into the family. We have had no luck in the open to everyone campaigns getting players interested in our community largely because we do not have the numbers on the field to be noticed. For this to work I will need all hands on deck Wednesday nights. We must bring in new players to our family and we only do that by showing them what we're capable of.

If we fail to bring in new members during our Thornblade events or drop below 1 raid in attendance we will return to running Blackwater Blade until we have enough to present a formidable force in the Thornblade campaign. Right now we are at a critical point for our ESO chapter and we must do what we need to do to survive. Your support and attendance directly affect the fate of our ESO chapter. Please show your support and keep our family growing to preserve our long term success.

Top 10 Elder Scrolls News For September, 2014

  1. Tamriel Foundry: TF Community Chat and PAX Pet Giveaway!
  2. Elder Scrolls Online: Battlemaster’s Corner – Dragonknight Reaver
  3. Tamriel Foundry: Hands-On Thoughts About ESO’s 4v4v4 Arena
  4. Tamriel Foundry: Win Elder Scrolls Jewelry from Peregrine Studios!
  5. Elder Scrolls Online: The Tamriel Chronicle, Issue #69
  6. MMORPG.com: Elder Scrolls Online: ESO as an eSport?
  7. Elder Scrolls Online: Update 4 is Here!
  8. Elder Scrolls Online: Guild Spotlight – EquinoX
  9. MMORPG.com: Elder Scrolls Online: As Month Six Approaches, an Eye on ESO
  10. Tamriel Foundry: Site and Community Updates!

Recreational Divisions
Saighdear News

Well this has been fun
ArcheAge Saighdear off to a Rough Start But Still Growing

This has got to be the one game where I've loved it, hated it, been frustrated by it and awestruck by it. This game is amazing on so many fronts and treacherous on so many others. The queues are by far the greatest boss in this game. Defeating them takes a great deal of time and patience. All humor aside we do have a good news bad news situation.

The Bad News: The Tahyang server has been locked off and on to new character creation. So anyone who didn't have the stomach to battle 8+ hour queues might not be able to create a character on the same server as the rest of the family at this time.

The Good News: This is only temporary and the server will open up soon. Additionally we have created the Saighdear Refugees on the western side of Calleil. This way you can play with friends while we wait for the east to open back up and not end up playing the same storyline twice. I know it's not optimal but it's the best we got right now.

For more information about the ArcheAge Saighdear visit:
http://www.gaiscioch.com/saighdear/aa/

Looking Forward

Mark Your Calendars
Gaiscioch State of the Family

It's almost that time of the year again when we kick off the new year in Gaiscioch History. With the new year we like to hold a Gaiscioch State of the Family virtual conference for all of those burning questions you want answered. We will first discuss our families’ recent history, our current situation, and what the future holds for us. At the end of the address we will open the floor up for questions and you are welcome to ask questions, make suggestions, and make comments about the family. This event will be livestreamed across our Twitch.tv account for those that want to listen in and ask questions via Twitch.tv chat. If you can't make the event we will make it available via YouTube shortly after it is finished.

Event Details:

The 2014 Gaiscioch State of the Family
November 8th, 2014 at 5PM Pacific
Open to All Tuatha, Gaiscioch, and Curious Gamers
Join the Discussion on RaidCall: 1101 or Gaiscioch.com/twitch
Watch After The Event At: Gaiscioch.com/youtube

Gaiscioch Birthday Party
Join us at Thirsty Lion in Hillsboro, Oregon for our 13th Birthday Party

For those local to the Portland, Oregon area we will be gathering at 11AM on Saturday November, 8th 2014 at the Thirsty Lion Pub at the Streets of Tanasbourne for our 13th Birthday party. Thirsty Lion has 52 beers on tap, a wide selection of global foods, and a very Gaiscioch like atmosphere. If you would like to attend please RSVP on our facebook event page or on the 13th Birthday Party post on our forums.

In Closing

This year has taught us a lot. We as a family have overcome some pretty serious strife in both our gaming lives and real lives. We almost lost a few members to health issues and injuries this year and I am so thankful that they are still with us. We've stood side by side and honored our loved ones, spoke for those that could not, and built friendships that would have never been if it wasn't for our loving community. Not a day goes by that I am not proud of all of you and what we have managed to build here. Thank you so much for your continued support.

Slan Go Foill!
(Goodbye For Now)

Benjamin "Foghladha" Foley
Ceannard De Gaiscioch Treubh