New Season & Questions Answered

So we officially ended the Spring Gamebattles season with a 39-0 record and achieved a final rank of 40th place out of over 12,000 teams. Not a bad finish to what was overall an up and down few months for the clan as a whole. We managed to stay focused, with all the drama going on as well as multiple lineup changes, mostly due to people being busy with life, work, social settings ect...

As the leader of the clan I cant afford to let my inactivity effect the whole clan, so we promote people into leadership roles who will be around and can pick up the slack. When players are on vacations or busy, we recruit ones who aren't. It's that simple really. To do anything else would be a disservice to the clan and the people who put all the time in to make it so successful. If you get lazy and apathetic your clan will fail before you know what even happened. Luckily I'm smarter then most people and I pay close attention to what's going on, even back in the day when I was in Merc. I paid attention to what worked and what didn't. Now I apply those principles to MoH and we've made it 4 long years.

I'm sure not everyone is happy to see us be so successful, or they would try to make up excuses as to why were successful, but bottom line is, there isn't a time when we weren't. Everyone in the clan plays their part. A good record, no matter how you got it will produce solid recruits and the clan skill level improves. People get used to playing together and we don't make excuses. It's when you start making excuses like "We'll pick up when Modern Warfare 3 comes out" or "I'm too busy to game" that clans implode. Sure it's a lot of work, but NOTHING ever worth having was had easily. I'm probably the busiest person around and though I cant be as active as I'd like, I at least make a showing and play whenever I have some free time, the team understands and seems to thrive. The clan itself seems like it's own entity, capable of living on it's own, without me, and that is the sign of quality leadership and players that believe in what your doing and believe in each other.

I don't mind being pretty honest in these blogs, I am really an open book if people want to ask questions and some of the questions I've gotten from clan members lately are pretty good, so i'll answer them.

Q: Why don't you remove the players you kicked from the clan from the MoH Hall Of Fame?

A: I have gotten this question a lot lately, but I refuse to remove people from the HOF or the profiles because they were a part of the history of the clan and I refuse to delete that. Despite what some people think I've kept an accurate account of everything MoH has done, from teams we've played against to the players that were in the clan for only a day or two. So while not everyone contributed greatly in matches or anything, everyone that has been in this clan has made it successful, if only by being an active member, poster. Even if you hate me or MoH now, if you were in the clan, you helped it to be successful.

Q:Are you still recruiting for Black Ops on GB now that your roster is already full?

A: We are always recruiting! You might not make it on the Reg team ladder right away, but were always adding active players and removing inactive ones. It's a constant ebb and flow.

Well those are the two that I can think of off the top of my head, I want to say thanks to everyone who contributed in our best GB season since 2009.

Were already off to an amazing start in the Summer GB Black Ops season. 15-0 and in the top 50. It's in no small part due to Saint and his recruiting/match abilities. Although I have to admit we've had a ton of active people lately. Even when some got tired of the game, we had other ready to step up and we didn't miss a beat.

Clan Update

Back when we pushed for playoffs in 2009 for Call Of Duty 4, everyone was pretty worn out and tired of the game. Pretty much the same thing has happened with Black Ops right now. After the late season push people are pretty tired of the game. I was tired of the game before the season started. The only thing that pushed me to continue with it was the fact that we wanted to get more wins then team US. So in the end we accomplished that much of it, but at what cost?

In all honesty I am so used to the whole drama thing it doesn't even thrill me like it once did. Maybe I'm just getting old? I don't really know. I do know that Shotty and I were browsing our original forums the other day and we both commented on how young we all seemed and how immature we all were. Seems like a lifetime ago, not just four years....

So pretty much a clan wide vote decided were all taking a break from Black Ops. That is strictly on the 360 side anyway. Kind of like how a band would take a break after completing an album. You don't want to be around music for a bit, well we don't want to be around Black Ops for a bit. I plan on still helping with the PS3 side, if we can ever really get that going. It seems PS3 players tend to be really fickle with loyalty and activity.

Lately I've been wishing a bit for a new competitive game. Gears 3 isn't too far off which is good news, but Gamebattles really seems to have lost the path when it comes to their rules. So I'm not really sure that's an option for us anymore. They only allow 1 leader, no co-leaders, only 1 Captain and only the leader can report matches. Also to prevent roster riding, whenever you do a challenge or match finder you have to list the players beforehand who are going to be in the match. Now for a team that does map gen like us, we sometimes wont know who were going to play until we see the maps and game types. So it makes it very difficult to get matches, it seems GB caters to the top 25, which are only four or five people per team to begin with. It's a death sentence to teams maxed out like mine.

If GB wanted to stop roster riding, why not have the leader report who was in the match after the match is over, then give the XP to the people who played? It makes much more sense to do things that way. I actually would prefer to give XP to the guys who actually played in the match anyway, but I'll be dammed if I will lose a match for playing a guy that is actually on my roster. It just makes no sense. I mean sometimes things come up and people cant always make a match. It's that simple. Why shouldn't people be able to play that are on the roster? I really wish someone with some real funding would make a alternative to GB. They've become real stingy with their rules and things like that simply because they know there is no alternative. It's pretty much like Madden football, there is no competition, so they aren't forced to improve or be user friendly.

Anyway enough of that rant, I want to once again thank everyone for the amazing Spring season on GB. 39-0 is a solid record and nobody can ever take that from us. We reached out goal of top 75 and I'm content with that. Even though I feel Treyarch made COD games are better supported and much more balanced and fair for the players, I tend to play their games less then the IW made ones. So I am definitely hoping for MW3 to peak my interest. It's looking good so far. I think a good mix between Gears 3 and MW3 will do the clan good. We've always done better when we have an alternate game to play that breaks up the monotony.

Well that's about it for this update, thanks for reading and we'll see you back here next time!

Congrats On A Huge GB Season!

Now that the Spring 2011 Black Ops GameBattles season is closed I want to thank everyone who made it such a smashing success! Everyone deserves some credit and I think it was truly a team effort. I am pretty sure almost everyone on our roster was in a match this season. When someone went away or went on vacation we always had someone else step up and contribute.

Our new leaders like Striker, Hateinaboxx and Saint all stepped up admirably and did a fantastic job. The MOH promotions seemed to have inspire people to be more active and were going to have our first winner here in the next day or two. We are actually getting so many requests from new potential recruits that were having to turn down a good number of them. We have both the promotions and a solid record to thank for the influx of people coming our way.

So at the end of the day 36-0 is something we can obviously build off of, were going to try to get a quick, fresh start to the Summer 2011 season tonight. We were forced to change our goals throughout the season, originally we wanted to make top 200, then top 100 and finally top 75. Which I believe when all is said and done we will achieve, or at least be pretty damn close.

We are also vastly approaching our four year anniversary, which we have a few things planned. Hopefully those come out okay. I am currently working on the Asap/Grave Sniper montage, I put up the rough cut the other day but I still have quite a bit of work to do on it. Look for that to be completed soon. I am also working on a personal montage, which will be my first since my COD4 finale.

The PS3 team is officially back up and running, I went and got Black Ops and will be helping out with that side of things, it's important for me that we get some matches to prove were moving in a positive direction on that console. We were stagnant for so long I think people don't expect much, we aim to change all of that. After getting the chance to play with some of the new guys and even some of the old ones who decided to stick around, I must say we have some talent on that side of things. My worst fear was turning into Rx2 or SC on the PS3. I want MOH to be competitive and to win, not just exist.

So we wrap another season, begin a new chapter for MOH on the PS3 and as usual things look to be bright for the future of the clan...I'm sure to the dismay of the people who have been hoping, waiting, praying for the fall of the clan.

"MOH lives on" is not just a slogan, just like "We Die Hard" is not just a slogan, they are a mantra and the way we see ourselves and the way we play. We realize we are just a gaming clan, but we can find a medium where fun and winning intersect.

Thanks once again to everyone, I cant convey how proud I am of all of you guys, let's shoot for at least an equally successful Summer season and beyond!

{MOH} We Die Hard-

{MOH} Lives on after you team disbands....or turns into a "casual" team-

General Updates

I figured it had been over a week since I last updated this so I'd better get to it!

Overall things are going great in the clan, pretty much as always. Quite a few members are actually on vacation at the moment but with such a large roster we always have people ready to step in and step up.

We are closing in on our goal of top 50 for Black ops on the Xbox 360, hopefully we can get there before the end of the season which is looming a week away. I've been glad to see the veteran guys step up, lead, get matches and attend practices. It really shows their dedication. I know everyone is busy and has a life, but it's good to know that they can still manage at least some time for the clan.

The first month of MOH promotions is coming to a close and it's been a real success. We've gained some new members and some of the older members has a bit more inspiration to make practices and matches and to overall be active and do good.

Even though it was late, I finally released the preview trailer of Nomadic Mercenary Games first Xbox Live Indie game: Rudiger. Of course NMG is Hellhammer and my development team. People with barracks access have all seen it and when it goes live later this year I'll be giving it away to a lot of MOH members, though it'll only be $1.50 anyway.

The positive feedback I've received for the game is well taken, I really appreciate it. The company site will be up soon and I have some paperwork to file to make sure everything is legit and legal, then I'll reveal the site and things like that. Currently while we finish up Rudiger, Hellhammer is working on his own RPG engine and game. While I am working on coding Rudiger for not only XBL but also Windows Phone 7.

As sort of a joke Hellhammer came up with a neat little game called Konor: The Cock Goblin! It's a take on the Pac Man games and is pretty fun. You play Konor and you gotta gobble the cocks!

You can feel free to download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?i4z29by3cz2sdb9 -

What a crazy couple of weeks

The title to this blog pretty much says it all, E3 was pretty cool. I got to cover it for a couple of different sites, which was something new to me. I had to pay a lot more attention then I normally would. We got to see some very interesting apps and hardware this year, I was quite impressed overall.

The Wii U looks to capture the core market that they missed with the Wii, I admit the Wii U is intriguing. It's always fun when the next generation of consoles releases. If the Wii U is under $400 I will buy it on day one, I always like to get the new consoles to test them out. I don't think the Wii U will be the most powerful machine, but I like Nintendo games a lot and it's fun to play Mario, Animal Crossing, Zelda and Metroid.

I've been so busy though that I haven't had time to get everything I wanted out, the indie game Hellhammer and I have been working on is still not ready, but I have the trailer almost finished up and ready to show. I wanted to unveil it during E3 week but covering E3 and doing all that writing and also doing reviews for my new site has kept me very, very busy.

Speaking of my new site, its officially up! www.crappyreviews.com I thank Hellhammer for the idea to call them Crappy Reviews, kind of a play on words much like the name crapgamer was originally intended to be. I set that site up and the Youtube page pretty much as a test, I hope to get better as I go along and find a nice niche. Some of the people I was trying to impress with it were indeed impressed, so hopefully I will be able to do some reviews for sites in the future. Fingers crossed people!

Now that school is out for everyone we can finally start to be really active on GB again. Getting 4 Black Ops matches last night was a great start to our summer of gaming. Your only going to see more and more from us on GB. So get ready!

I was a little bit saddened with the majority of the PS3 team calling it quits, honestly we had contemplated taking a vote to close it down altogether in the past, but I didn't want to come across as a jerk. So I contacted some old members and Onslaught has agreed to come back and help lead it. Also I will be taking an active role with the PS3 side starting when MW3 releases. I will see to it that the PS3 side see's glory once again. Rumor has it, Grave might get a PS3 to help a bit with this as well. It'll be tough stretching so thin, but in the end nothing is ever accomplished without a little hard work and dedication. The PS3 team has had a top 20 COD4 team and a top 50 WAW team, so there is a lot of expectations there.

As we come up on the actual 4 year MOH anniversary things look pretty good. I know my clan is usually the talk of the town, which suits me just fine. I actually like a little controversy. I always find it funny and a bit flattering when people are talking about it, there is no bad publicity in my opinion. Honestly the ones doing the talking are ones that have been bested in matches by yours truly. Sour grapes tend to be hard to let go sometimes.

My advice to people paying a little too close attention to my clan... find something better to do with your time. If you dedicated as much time with your own business as you do my clan you might make something of yourselves, instead you all just come across as bitter and angry and even pathetic.

I figured it wouldn't take long for a "old member" to contact me recently about coming back, the main problem I have with this scenario is that I get tired of people leaving for greener pastures and then when things don't work out because running a clan is a lot of work they try crawling back to me.

Not that I am against old members coming back entirely but there is a point when you say enough is enough. Honestly what did people expect? even if you hate me you'd have to see there is a reason my clan has lasted as long as it has and why it's been successful as well. Nothing seems to get us down. I bet that fact is frustrating for the haters.

Anyway, until next time I want to say thanks to everyone for helping out as much as they have. I am proud of everyone in the clan for their contributions and support in my own personal quests as well. Everyone has been great!

Thanks!

-CG

Duh, Winning!

I just want to say how proud I am of everyone in the clan and how they have all stepped up. We could not have picked better leaders or recruited better members then we currently have. Also I want to say how happy I am with the new way's we are incorporating old members into matches, practices and public rooms. This new attitude seems to have paid off in a big way, we were surrounded by the most talented players you could imagine and yet it was going to waste.

I truly feel that right now the people that are in the clan probably feel more a part of the clan then at any other time. More now then ever this clan is for everyone, it's not mine or any other leaders clan, it's your clan.

It was so funny to me last night because we are playing so very well right now and communicating and actually backing each other up like a team is supposed to and it shows. The chemistry is there and all the pieces to the puzzle as well. Nobody is complaining or rage quitting, people are making practices and helping each other out. It's a welcomed change in attitude for certain.

I've never before seen so many people excited in the clan, not even back on COD4 when we were mentioned in the GB newsletter for having the highest win streak.

They say you learn the most about your team and yourself in a loss, and I tend to agree. A close, close, CLOSE loss to TVA on our practice team actually built us up and gave us confidence. I think attitude is where it all starts, if you have that mental edge then there isn't anything you cant accomplish.

Most people probably wouldn't even recognize the lineup's we've been using. To top that all off we actually have people giving up spots in GB's so that other people can have a chance at being in them.

Well enough about all that, I want to also talk a bit about the new MOH promotions that are off to a rocking start, it's a bit of extra work on my part with all the stat tracking and everything but I think in the end it will pay off for the clan as a whole. Everyone seems more then excited about the new promotions and I am hoping it keeps people active with gaming as well as on the site and participating there.

Even though this has been one of the busiest weeks of my life with work, personal life, finishing my game review site, writing for gaming sites and actually working on my own game, people didn't complain or whine or cry about me not being around.

Leaders and members not needing their diapers changed....what a concept.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who played and practiced and won! We go for 15-0 tonight and it feels so damn sweet.

Mostly news about myself

I usually write these things with some updates regarding the clan, but honestly I am being a bit selfish with it today. I have some interesting and fun news to share about some things I have coming up.

First thing I would like to share is actually pretty cool, around the time that E3 starts this year I will be posting the first teaser trailer to Hellhammer and my upcoming Xbox Live indie game. I hope people didn't forget because it's looking pretty boss right now.

We are hoping to launch this game by the end of the year and so far that is right on schedule. As I said it's not exactly clan news but it's fun and important news nonetheless. Hopefully some people are excited at least a little bit, I know I am.

The other thing I am excited about is the new direction I am taking with video game reviews. I always kind of did those off the cuff and hardly ever used actual gameplay because it was a pain in the ass to record in standard definition. Also my computer lacked the power to render videos quickly enough. Now that I have a high def capture device and my computer is upgraded I can do a much, much better job. Everything I want to cover will be generally scripted and I am hoping to get some sort of sponsorship out of it.

Keep your fingers crossed for me at any rate. Unlike most other Youtube based reviews I wont go out of my way to get subscribers, I want them to sub on my merit alone. Though I am thankful for the support I have gotten from the clan members who subscribed ahead of time.

I hope to have a constant stream of content, at least a couple done a week, I will be taking requests as well. www.youtube.com/user/CrapgamerReviews

The last little bit of news is clan related, June 1st, 2011 starts our clan promotions, so we will be keeping tabs of everything everyone does. At the end of the month the person with the most points wins MS points card and some other goodies. So make sure to spread the word.

It's definitely an interesting time if your in the clan right now, hopefully some of these things pan out and can bring more members and goods to all of us, were coming up on the 4 year anniversary of the clan and we've got some nice surprises lined up.

Thanks for your time everyone!