Welcome to a new feature on the AWBW Blog called the Player Spotlight. There's a lot of interesting people on this site, and it's hard to learn much about them from just playing games against them. So from time to time we'll be taking a closer look at a player on AWBW in order to get to know them a bit better. Today I'm quite pleased to shine a little light on this week's spotlight player: Desklamp!
Introduction
Desklamp is a 19 year-old college student who lives in the U.S. Besides AW, he plays Starcraft and enjoys playing board games such as Agricola or Puerto Rico with his friends. He also played tournament chess when he was in high school, and still plays chess now, though not as much as he used to.
On AWBW, Desklamp is fairly new but shows promise for someone with such a low game count. Desklamp has only played 65 games on the site, but has nevertheless done quite well in the Global League so far, posting a record of 16-8-0 and currently is in 21st place out of 131 players. He is also participating in the Colosseum in Division 3, and has gone 1-2-0 in three games against some tough competition. I would rank Desklamp somewhere in the upper mid-level of AWBW players, but he's still improving and I would not be surprised at all to see him break into the top ranks within the next six months.
Games and Recent Results
Desklamp has been doing well lately in his games, and is on a 3-game win streak in the Global League since his last loss, against ymouba on 12/06. He has won against headphone on 12/10, against marxistplot on 12/21, and against TotalFire on 12/21. His other recent loss was a High Funds Colosseum game against TGAL05 on 12/15.
He's currently playing interesting games against:
Lalann in the Colosseum
mxdcyw2000 in the Global League
akiyoshi in the Global League
Interview
I also asked Desklamp some questions about himself and his experiences on AWBW. Here were his replies:
Walker: How did you choose the name "Desklamp"? Is there any significance or meaning behind it?
Desklamp: "Desklamp" is a screen name I chose for myself a long time ago, when I was about 10 years old. There's no significance behind the word itself--at the time, I found it a funny name.
Walker: How did you get interested in AW / AWBW?
Desklamp: I started played AW2 when I was about 12. I remember liking the game a lot, but eventually becoming frustrated with the AI, which was constantly throwing away its units (putting units in the range of indirects, move B copters to where A-Airs could shoot them, etc). Later, I also realized that infantry were extremely strong, and that it was generally possible to win by choosing Grit and building nothing but infantry and artillery. I wanted to play against other people, but the startup cost of teaching someone to play was way too much.
One of my friends who I live with later told me about AWBW after we discovered that we both played AW. (He's Haxxson on the site). I realized right away that this was precisely what I'd wanted--now I could play against opponents who didn't constantly make trivial mistakes, the maps were intelligently made so that spamming infantry wasn't possible, and I didn't even have to wait for my opponent to move each time, since I could just check in once a day and make my move!
Walker: Which AW cartridge game did you enjoy the most?
Desklamp: I most enjoyed AW2, although it's probably just because it's the first one I played on. I liked the fact that unlike in AW:DS, where you could use "boosts" on each level in the campaign, each level you played was completely independent from each other level.
Walker: Do you have a favorite map? A favorite CO to use?
Desklamp: Unorthodox Team Diplomacy is an extremely clever idea. I'm in the middle of a game on it right now--it takes a long time to move because of all the bases, but other than that, it seems like a very well-designed and thought-provoking map.
As for favorite COs, I think I like Sami more than most people because I tend to take her whenever she is not banned and Sturm/Von Bolt aren't legal--I'm perhaps a little bit too enamored with her, but I'm impressed by her SCOP, which is the only SCOP capable of winning the game in a single turn often gets you quite a few properties even when it doesn't do that. But, honestly, I think my real "favorite CO" is usually the highest-tier non-banned CO.
Walker: If you could meet any CO in real life, who would it be?
Desklamp: Sonja. She plays AW like a good game of chess. She tries to play a tight game, but she also likes to win in clever ways, and she tries to predict her opponent's strategy.
Walker: What was something you thought/did when you first joined that you look back on and laugh at now?
Desklamp: When I played AW2 against the AI, I had decided that my two favorite COs were Grit and Colin--Grit because artilleries comboed so well with infantry, and Colin because his guys were cheaper and weaker, but I realized that being weaker didn't make your units worse at some things, like capturing, transport, or meat-shielding. (I also liked Colin's COP.) Because I concluded that that made Colin good, and Kanbei felt symmetrical to Colin, I concluded that Kanbei must be as bad as Colin is good. This made me pretty confused when I first started playing on the site ("Why is Kanbei always banned?").
Walker: If you had one piece of advice for new players, you would tell them...?
Desklamp: Huge tanks aren't as great as they seem to be--in general, cheaper units are better per 1000 funds spent (with infantry being an extreme example).
Walker: Do you have a rivalry with any player(s)? Someone that you particularly hate losing against or have a good history with?
Desklamp: Well, Haxxson and I know and live with each other, and we regularly check League standings to see who's doing better, so... yeah. Right now he's ahead of me, but obviously that's only because he cheats. (I haven't yet figured out how.)
We've played quite a few games against each other on the site by now, and some of them were very complex and interesting. Specifically, the ones I won.
(Author's Note: Desklamp is actually ahead of Haxxson in the Global League right now - apparently he figured out how Haxxson was cheating.)
Walker: If you were playing a 2 vs. 2 team game with $1 million on the line, who would you most want on your team?
Desklamp: dorian5. At the time of writing, dorian5 has the highest rating on the site.
Walker: If there was one thing you'd add to or change about AWBW, what would it be?
Desklamp: I've heard talk about deterministic mode. I can't really claim to be good enough that the luck has ever caused me to lose a game I would have won or won a game I would have lost, but I like the idea sort of on principle, and because this game has a fair amount of positive feedback I can see how being unlucky on an early tank vs. tank fight could cause a good player to lose. I would definitely be happy with League games becoming deterministic.
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Thanks to Desklamp for participating! If someone else would like to volunteer to be featured in the next Player Spotlight, please send me a PM.
Until next time,
Walker
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
AWBW Cup Wrap Up
So far, there have been four tournaments in the AWBW Cup series. Although none of them have finished yet, three are now in the final stages and on the verge of being completed. That's right, it's time for the championships of the Sept., Oct., and Nov. Cups, after which three players will be crowned as tournament champions and inducted into the Hall of Fame. In honor of that, I'd like to take a few moments to briefly highlight each of these three championship matches.
September Cup Final - Hellraider vs. walkerboh01
The championship match of the inaugural AWBW Cup tourney amusingly features the two organizers of the tournament, Hellraider and Walker. Hellraider was the clear-cut favorite to win it all coming into the tournament, and has done nothing to suggest otherwise thus far after powering through his first two opponents. Walker was not expected to make it to the championship, but surprisingly defeated the favored Kamuscha in the semifinals to advance after a hotly contested opening game with marxistplot. Hellraider is the obvious one to bet on to win the match.
The match itself is a no CO powers game, and it is currently Hellraider's turn on day 11. Hellraider earned an advantage during the capture phase of the game, compounded by being able to build his first three vehicles before Walker and then contesting one of Walker's city captures. Although relatively large masses of units (especially infantry) developed on the fronts, Hellraider launched an attack on day 10 on Walker's weaker front. Walker counterattacked, but it is incredibly likely that Hellraider will be able to push through and break Walker's lines in the next couple turns. An upset does not look likely, and all signals point towards a Hellraider win.
October Cup Final - fdkanns vs. the Weakest Xiaoniao
The October Cup championship is a showdown between two of the heavyweights on AWBW who have proven their skill in the Global League. Fdkanns was the most highly rated player coming into the tournament and advanced quite comfortably past supersnipe64 and Mr--Clean (despite long delays). The Weakest Xiaoniao also did not have much trouble in his first two games, beating headphone and Walker consecutively. However, despite being seeded higher than the Weakest Xiaoniao coming into the tournament, fdkanns may not be favored to win this particular matchup. In fact, the Weakest Xiaoniao was one of the few players to hand fdkanns a loss in the Global League, which was the last match between the two. Fdkanns will surely be looking for revenge now with the October Cup title on the line, but it will be no easy feat to vanquish Xiaoniao.
The match has yet to start and the CO selections are still unknown, but it will be a High Tier game on "el rio acelguate loco!". If the Weakest Xiaoniao can avoid the inconsistent play that has plagued him against top players over the last 6 months, this match promises to a classic, and certainly worth keeping track of.
November Cup Final - Roswell vs. ymouba
The November Cup championship features a well-established elite player in Roswell the Black Rose against an up-and-coming player trying to break into the upper echelon of AWBW in ymouba. Roswell was the favorite to claim the championship from the beginning of the tournament, and neatly handled his first two opponents, Kragorix and julberndt. Meanwhile, ymouba was not even favored to win his first game, a battle against the relatively strong shompiador_kalabaza. Despite the odds, ymouba emerged the victor, and then proceeded to advance to the championship after another tight game against marxistplot in the semifinals. Roswell is favored to win the match, but ymouba has a legitimate chance at making the upset if he plays to the best of his capabilities.
Currently the game is on Roswell's turn on day 4, and has been stalled by Roswell's recent vacation. Although it is too early in the match to determine who may have an advantage, it is noteworthy that ymouba has decided to skip the capture of his airport. Will he attempt a bold, aggressive opening as Max? On paper it appears that Roswell's Hawke should have the advantage, but considering the tower, positioning of the airport, and relative openness of the center, it is conceivable that Max could be a match for Hawke. The game is still in the early stages and anything can happen, but it will undoubtedly be a match worth keeping an eye on as it develops.
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In other news, the signups for the January Cup are open and won't close until the end of the year, so if you want to participate there are still plenty of spots available!
Until next time,
Walker
September Cup Final - Hellraider vs. walkerboh01
The championship match of the inaugural AWBW Cup tourney amusingly features the two organizers of the tournament, Hellraider and Walker. Hellraider was the clear-cut favorite to win it all coming into the tournament, and has done nothing to suggest otherwise thus far after powering through his first two opponents. Walker was not expected to make it to the championship, but surprisingly defeated the favored Kamuscha in the semifinals to advance after a hotly contested opening game with marxistplot. Hellraider is the obvious one to bet on to win the match.
The match itself is a no CO powers game, and it is currently Hellraider's turn on day 11. Hellraider earned an advantage during the capture phase of the game, compounded by being able to build his first three vehicles before Walker and then contesting one of Walker's city captures. Although relatively large masses of units (especially infantry) developed on the fronts, Hellraider launched an attack on day 10 on Walker's weaker front. Walker counterattacked, but it is incredibly likely that Hellraider will be able to push through and break Walker's lines in the next couple turns. An upset does not look likely, and all signals point towards a Hellraider win.
October Cup Final - fdkanns vs. the Weakest Xiaoniao
The October Cup championship is a showdown between two of the heavyweights on AWBW who have proven their skill in the Global League. Fdkanns was the most highly rated player coming into the tournament and advanced quite comfortably past supersnipe64 and Mr--Clean (despite long delays). The Weakest Xiaoniao also did not have much trouble in his first two games, beating headphone and Walker consecutively. However, despite being seeded higher than the Weakest Xiaoniao coming into the tournament, fdkanns may not be favored to win this particular matchup. In fact, the Weakest Xiaoniao was one of the few players to hand fdkanns a loss in the Global League, which was the last match between the two. Fdkanns will surely be looking for revenge now with the October Cup title on the line, but it will be no easy feat to vanquish Xiaoniao.
The match has yet to start and the CO selections are still unknown, but it will be a High Tier game on "el rio acelguate loco!". If the Weakest Xiaoniao can avoid the inconsistent play that has plagued him against top players over the last 6 months, this match promises to a classic, and certainly worth keeping track of.
November Cup Final - Roswell vs. ymouba
The November Cup championship features a well-established elite player in Roswell the Black Rose against an up-and-coming player trying to break into the upper echelon of AWBW in ymouba. Roswell was the favorite to claim the championship from the beginning of the tournament, and neatly handled his first two opponents, Kragorix and julberndt. Meanwhile, ymouba was not even favored to win his first game, a battle against the relatively strong shompiador_kalabaza. Despite the odds, ymouba emerged the victor, and then proceeded to advance to the championship after another tight game against marxistplot in the semifinals. Roswell is favored to win the match, but ymouba has a legitimate chance at making the upset if he plays to the best of his capabilities.
Currently the game is on Roswell's turn on day 4, and has been stalled by Roswell's recent vacation. Although it is too early in the match to determine who may have an advantage, it is noteworthy that ymouba has decided to skip the capture of his airport. Will he attempt a bold, aggressive opening as Max? On paper it appears that Roswell's Hawke should have the advantage, but considering the tower, positioning of the airport, and relative openness of the center, it is conceivable that Max could be a match for Hawke. The game is still in the early stages and anything can happen, but it will undoubtedly be a match worth keeping an eye on as it develops.
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In other news, the signups for the January Cup are open and won't close until the end of the year, so if you want to participate there are still plenty of spots available!
Until next time,
Walker
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
AWBW Recent Happenings
In addition to the Global League (which we discussed recently), there have been a lot of other interesting things going on around the site. Since we've been a bit lax in staying updated, let's take a minute to talk about some of the new developments on AWBW over the last 2 months.
1. Colosseum Season 6 - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14038
The Colosseum is the second-longest-running competition currently on AWBW (the old leagues are the oldest), and Season 6 is now in full swing after starting on November 1st. There are 49 players making up 7 divisions competing in high funds, fog of war, broken CO, gimmick map, and normal games. The second of three months of competition is currently underway, and Month 3 is slated to begin on January 1st, 2012.
2. AWBW Cup - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13839
The inaugural AWBW Cup was in September, and new tournaments have since started for October, November, and most recently December. None of the tournaments have finished yet, although the September Cup and November Cup are currently in the championship rounds.
For the September Cup, the championship game features Hellraider vs. Walker on Aphotic Arena and it is currently on day 9. To get to the final Hellraider triumphed over lolabunny and frostylight, while Walker narrowly beat out marxistplot and Kamuscha.
For the November Cup, the championship game features Roswell the Black Rose vs. ymouba on Spur of the Moment and it is currently on day 4. Roswell took care of Kragorix and julberndt, while ymouba had to overcome sarastro and marxistplot.
Meanwhile, the October Cup has the semifinals in progress. The Weakest Xiaoniao has already advanced to the final with a win over Walker, and awaits the winner of the fdkanns vs. Mr--Clean semifinal showdown. The December Cup has just entered Round 2, narrowing the number of remaining competitors down to 8.
Signups for the January Cup will open on December 22nd, so if you missed out on the tournaments up until now and want to join, there's your chance.
3. PurgeCorp Map Contest - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=14102
SmackCakes started a map competition in early November with a new twist on map design. PurgeCorp was looking to urbanize a large plot of land they had bought, and was looking for a design that would only add urban elements to the land (roads, rivers, pipes, properties). It forced map makers to take the same basic starting point of a map and develop it in unique ways to achieve a creative, playable, and visually appealing final product.
The contest ran for three weeks, with users able to submit one map a week up to a maximum of 3. About a dozen people competed, creating 20 maps. Some designers made minimal changes to the basic terrain layout and created nice, albeit similar-looking maps. Other designers stretched the boundaries of the rules a little more, especially when it came to broken pipe seams (to Smacky's dismay). One particular designer even incorporated an AWBW meme into his map, with pretty funny results. For me, the coolest part of the competition was seeing just how many completely different maps were produced from the same starting point.
The judging stage is now in progress, as PurgeCorp will select its top designs and put them up for a public vote to decide the winner. The grand prize for the winner is the chance to redesign a map of their choosing with a customized tile set similar to what was used in Sky City, which is a pretty attractive reward. As of right now, there is no timeline for the judging. Play-testing and commenting on all maps is encouraged!
4. Hetchel's Replay Saver - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=14235
This one is particularly bittersweet for me. A replay viewer has been requested on a few separate occasions in the last couple years, and finally hetchel stepped up to the plate and delivered it: a shiny new tool to download and save the replays from completed AWBW matches. The main site's replay function unfortunately deletes the log and replay information after 3 weeks in order to save space, making it difficult and time-consuming to save games (it involved taking a lot of screenshots). Hetchel's new tool allows you to download, save, and export image files from games, making it easier to review, replay, and share old games. It's currently in version 3 (or maybe 4?), and includes fog, CO powers, tag COs, and game logs. All in all, it's a pretty impressive and handy tool for players looking to learn from their games. Major props and thanks to hetchel!
Unfortunately for Mac users (i.e., me), the replay saver isn't compatible with Macs, so I haven't been able to play around with it at all. I'm assuming it's quite nice from what I've heard from other people though! Hetchel, you're already partially my hero for making this, but you'll [i]really[/i] be my hero if you manage to make it Mac-compatible.
5. New AWBW Wiki - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=13891
When the site's server was changed a few months back, it was generally regarded as a great improvement to the site. The site's speed drastically increased, there were many fewer bugs and problems, and in general the appeal of the site went way up. There were a few casualties though, and the old AWBW guide and AWBW wiki were unfortunately lost.
Because the wiki was a valuable resource for new players to learn how to use the site and for all players to learn about COs and strategy, an effort was recently made to make a new wiki. Started by headphone with lots of help from forbs, marxistplot, and especially Kit, the new wiki was recently put up to the main site. It still needs a lot of information regarding COs, the metagame, maps and design, etc., but it's a start at least. Please feel free to make your own contribution, any work done for the wiki will be greatly appreciated.
6. Global League Map and Settings Changes - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=13803
The league rankings and players are always fluctuating, but some changes were recently made to the maps and settings being used in the league, as well. Some of the significant changes included moving Sasha up to the top tier, and on some maps moving Max up to high tier, Kindle down to mid tier, and Sami down to high tier. Sami and Kindle had seen almost no use in top and high tier respectively, while everyone was getting just a little sick of Sasha mirrors in every high tier game and Max steamrolling everyone else in a lot of mid tier games. Still no luck for those who want to see the Lucky Trio or the Broken Five in league matches though.
As for maps, a lot of the smaller league maps were removed due to a general dislike of the crowded, stalematish situations that arose on them. Maps like Renewal, Break Out!!, Hypnotize, and Aerial Aced were removed in favor of new, larger maps, namely Aphotic Arena, Iconic, and Elstar. There are still more map changes that could be made in the near future, but for now the league is holding steady at 19 maps.
7. Map Committee Additions
Finally, a less public change was made recently to the Map Committee, as 3 new members have been added. Ultra Storm was brought onto the committee a couple months ago, and headphone and Roswell the Black Rose were added just last week. The full Map Committee now consists of:
airob
headphone
Heartless
Hellraider
Roswell the Black Rose
SmackCakes
Ultra Storm
Walker
wareagle
xushu
Congrats to those three new recruits, and thanks for your contributions to the site!
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Those are the 7 most major developments on the site over the last couple months. I'd also like to call a little attention to a few other things going on around the site:
Official CO Tier List - Hellraider has made some edits to the tier list in accordance with recent information from Global League games. There are still several CO placements that are unclear, so if you have any thoughts on CO placement, please feel free to discuss (hopefully with a completed game as evidence!).
Z-Games - The new Z-Games have been running since July, but headphone has just added FFA games to the list this month. Please let Headphone or Walker know if you have any maps you'd like to add or any ideas for improving Z-Games maps/settings.
A/S-Rank Maps - Although nominations were a complete failure, the Map Committee would still like to know if you have suggestions for A-Rank maps. Map Committee will be working on new selections sometime in the (distant?) future.
Red11's casual tournament - Despite delays and dropouts, Red11's tournament is continuing on. The final round for the championship is slated to begin in late December, so we'll be keeping an eye on the finale of that tournament then.
Hall of Fame - Currently the HoF is empty, but with the September and November Cups drawing to a close, there will be entrants in the Hall soon. In addition, the top 3 of the Global League will be honored in the Hall of Fame at some point in the near future. More information on that will be coming soon.
Fog of War glitches - Ichbinsehselber is collecting all known issues with fog of war in the hope of fixing them more easily. If you know of any fow glitches, please make sure to post them in that thread!
Until next time,
Walker
1. Colosseum Season 6 - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14038
The Colosseum is the second-longest-running competition currently on AWBW (the old leagues are the oldest), and Season 6 is now in full swing after starting on November 1st. There are 49 players making up 7 divisions competing in high funds, fog of war, broken CO, gimmick map, and normal games. The second of three months of competition is currently underway, and Month 3 is slated to begin on January 1st, 2012.
2. AWBW Cup - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13839
The inaugural AWBW Cup was in September, and new tournaments have since started for October, November, and most recently December. None of the tournaments have finished yet, although the September Cup and November Cup are currently in the championship rounds.
For the September Cup, the championship game features Hellraider vs. Walker on Aphotic Arena and it is currently on day 9. To get to the final Hellraider triumphed over lolabunny and frostylight, while Walker narrowly beat out marxistplot and Kamuscha.
For the November Cup, the championship game features Roswell the Black Rose vs. ymouba on Spur of the Moment and it is currently on day 4. Roswell took care of Kragorix and julberndt, while ymouba had to overcome sarastro and marxistplot.
Meanwhile, the October Cup has the semifinals in progress. The Weakest Xiaoniao has already advanced to the final with a win over Walker, and awaits the winner of the fdkanns vs. Mr--Clean semifinal showdown. The December Cup has just entered Round 2, narrowing the number of remaining competitors down to 8.
Signups for the January Cup will open on December 22nd, so if you missed out on the tournaments up until now and want to join, there's your chance.
3. PurgeCorp Map Contest - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=14102
SmackCakes started a map competition in early November with a new twist on map design. PurgeCorp was looking to urbanize a large plot of land they had bought, and was looking for a design that would only add urban elements to the land (roads, rivers, pipes, properties). It forced map makers to take the same basic starting point of a map and develop it in unique ways to achieve a creative, playable, and visually appealing final product.
The contest ran for three weeks, with users able to submit one map a week up to a maximum of 3. About a dozen people competed, creating 20 maps. Some designers made minimal changes to the basic terrain layout and created nice, albeit similar-looking maps. Other designers stretched the boundaries of the rules a little more, especially when it came to broken pipe seams (to Smacky's dismay). One particular designer even incorporated an AWBW meme into his map, with pretty funny results. For me, the coolest part of the competition was seeing just how many completely different maps were produced from the same starting point.
The judging stage is now in progress, as PurgeCorp will select its top designs and put them up for a public vote to decide the winner. The grand prize for the winner is the chance to redesign a map of their choosing with a customized tile set similar to what was used in Sky City, which is a pretty attractive reward. As of right now, there is no timeline for the judging. Play-testing and commenting on all maps is encouraged!
4. Hetchel's Replay Saver - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=14235
This one is particularly bittersweet for me. A replay viewer has been requested on a few separate occasions in the last couple years, and finally hetchel stepped up to the plate and delivered it: a shiny new tool to download and save the replays from completed AWBW matches. The main site's replay function unfortunately deletes the log and replay information after 3 weeks in order to save space, making it difficult and time-consuming to save games (it involved taking a lot of screenshots). Hetchel's new tool allows you to download, save, and export image files from games, making it easier to review, replay, and share old games. It's currently in version 3 (or maybe 4?), and includes fog, CO powers, tag COs, and game logs. All in all, it's a pretty impressive and handy tool for players looking to learn from their games. Major props and thanks to hetchel!
Unfortunately for Mac users (i.e., me), the replay saver isn't compatible with Macs, so I haven't been able to play around with it at all. I'm assuming it's quite nice from what I've heard from other people though! Hetchel, you're already partially my hero for making this, but you'll [i]really[/i] be my hero if you manage to make it Mac-compatible.
5. New AWBW Wiki - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=13891
When the site's server was changed a few months back, it was generally regarded as a great improvement to the site. The site's speed drastically increased, there were many fewer bugs and problems, and in general the appeal of the site went way up. There were a few casualties though, and the old AWBW guide and AWBW wiki were unfortunately lost.
Because the wiki was a valuable resource for new players to learn how to use the site and for all players to learn about COs and strategy, an effort was recently made to make a new wiki. Started by headphone with lots of help from forbs, marxistplot, and especially Kit, the new wiki was recently put up to the main site. It still needs a lot of information regarding COs, the metagame, maps and design, etc., but it's a start at least. Please feel free to make your own contribution, any work done for the wiki will be greatly appreciated.
6. Global League Map and Settings Changes - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=13803
The league rankings and players are always fluctuating, but some changes were recently made to the maps and settings being used in the league, as well. Some of the significant changes included moving Sasha up to the top tier, and on some maps moving Max up to high tier, Kindle down to mid tier, and Sami down to high tier. Sami and Kindle had seen almost no use in top and high tier respectively, while everyone was getting just a little sick of Sasha mirrors in every high tier game and Max steamrolling everyone else in a lot of mid tier games. Still no luck for those who want to see the Lucky Trio or the Broken Five in league matches though.
As for maps, a lot of the smaller league maps were removed due to a general dislike of the crowded, stalematish situations that arose on them. Maps like Renewal, Break Out!!, Hypnotize, and Aerial Aced were removed in favor of new, larger maps, namely Aphotic Arena, Iconic, and Elstar. There are still more map changes that could be made in the near future, but for now the league is holding steady at 19 maps.
7. Map Committee Additions
Finally, a less public change was made recently to the Map Committee, as 3 new members have been added. Ultra Storm was brought onto the committee a couple months ago, and headphone and Roswell the Black Rose were added just last week. The full Map Committee now consists of:
airob
headphone
Heartless
Hellraider
Roswell the Black Rose
SmackCakes
Ultra Storm
Walker
wareagle
xushu
Congrats to those three new recruits, and thanks for your contributions to the site!
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Those are the 7 most major developments on the site over the last couple months. I'd also like to call a little attention to a few other things going on around the site:
Official CO Tier List - Hellraider has made some edits to the tier list in accordance with recent information from Global League games. There are still several CO placements that are unclear, so if you have any thoughts on CO placement, please feel free to discuss (hopefully with a completed game as evidence!).
Z-Games - The new Z-Games have been running since July, but headphone has just added FFA games to the list this month. Please let Headphone or Walker know if you have any maps you'd like to add or any ideas for improving Z-Games maps/settings.
A/S-Rank Maps - Although nominations were a complete failure, the Map Committee would still like to know if you have suggestions for A-Rank maps. Map Committee will be working on new selections sometime in the (distant?) future.
Red11's casual tournament - Despite delays and dropouts, Red11's tournament is continuing on. The final round for the championship is slated to begin in late December, so we'll be keeping an eye on the finale of that tournament then.
Hall of Fame - Currently the HoF is empty, but with the September and November Cups drawing to a close, there will be entrants in the Hall soon. In addition, the top 3 of the Global League will be honored in the Hall of Fame at some point in the near future. More information on that will be coming soon.
Fog of War glitches - Ichbinsehselber is collecting all known issues with fog of war in the hope of fixing them more easily. If you know of any fow glitches, please make sure to post them in that thread!
Until next time,
Walker
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