The SuperCheats Newsletter: October 2009

Hellooooo everyone, this is your usual Host, Vasco, reporting in from the depths of a dark basement, somewhere in your street. Welcome to a very Special Edition of your favourite Newsletter. ;)

We decided to post it a bit sooner this time, to celebrate Halloween (decided and managed to do it; as you probably know by now, we?re not exactly experts when it comes to respecting deadlines). Filip, I told you I?d be using that picture soon, so here you have.

October was quite an interesting month. For starters, the Members Brawl finally came to a conclusion, leaving?someone {read my article to find out; ~ Ed.} as the 2009 Winner. Once again, to make it official, a big ?Well done? from all of us, my friend. As stated last month, the Forums Most Valuable Player (MVP) Competition has started, which lead to what many of us consider to be the most active month we?ve seen over the last couple of years. Some members (who, me? Naaah) would probably argue that quality > quantity, but it?s always good to see how a simple status can provide such entertainment. A friendly advise, though: keep re-creating old topics and I shall hunt you down. It?s Halloween, so imagine I just said that with blood all over my hands, while sitting in a dark room playing Call of Duty and screaming at the computer, WHICH IS MAKING ME LAG, GO- wait, no. Never mind that last part.

On to the Newsletter itself, I?m quite pleased to say we managed to complete every Article on time. Qwert is back with his (lame) Interviews, so stick around and enjoy. Oh, and be scared. Very scared. Talk to you again below, if you?re alive. ;)



~Contents~

- Qwertyuio?s Interview

-Posting Achievements

-Anniversaries

-Game Of The Month

-Special Article: The SuperCheats Member Brawl!

-Member of the Month

-Pixel?euphoria?

-Disclaimer








This month is a special month. A very special month indeed. Why? Because I finished the interview an entire week before the due date. I?d like to take the next 10 seconds to do the ?In Your Face? dance to those who believed I not only wouldn?t be on time, but wouldn?t do it.???. K done. Hopefully nobody will ever have to see that again. That aside, this month I?m interviewing my fav musiq buddeh ever. (This is the part where Brad and Vas go cry in a corner). Who is this awesome person you ask? None other than Austinanymous!

Click here to read the Interview.


HOST?S NOTE: Austin is quite entertaining, but make sure you put some loud music playing so you don?t start sleeping.


Article by Qwertyuio











Lots of Junior Elites this month, eh? Also, there were a lot of Team and Clans achievements, but as I?ve said, I don?t count those because I?m lazy and deep down I plan to tear T&C apart from the inside?I mean, I love you all.

BTW, u her dat Volke ben on da sit 4 sevn yrz? No li! {I knew ages ago; ~ Ed.}



1,000 ? 4,999

Next Generation

*City of Wonder

*Shiny Grovyle/Pokemonhacker68


5,000 ? 9,999

Junior Elites

**yossy666

**dx_hbk

**coachcline

**Austinanymous

**Traffic Monger

**Volke

**geezerguy


10,000 ? 14,999

Elite Members

***mr.619


15,000 ? 19,999

Veterans

****v-gamer


20,000+

Supercheats Legends



*****Vasco (SINCE LOONY DID NOT ADD ME, I HAD TO EDIT IT IN MYSELF ;_;)


imaloony8.0 and the newsletter staff apologize if you had a Posting achievement but were not featured in this article due to you not making a topic or loony being an idiot by not noticing it. Achievements will only be counted for the newsletter if they have a thread made for them in the month of that newsletter. Your achievements won?t be counted if you don?t make a topic, so make sure to keep up to date with your post count!



Article by imaloony8.0









Welcome, friends, to this article. I?d tell you what it was about, but if I did, I?d have to kill you all. Anyways, onwards with the article, this month was a stupidly slow month, which makes Lukie a very sad article writer. Now, on with the article?but, seriously, I will have to kill you.


Third Year (***)

1. Procrastinator


Fifth Year (*****)

1. TestVirus101


Seventh Year (*******)

1. Volke {All hail the king!; ~ Ed.}



Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, lalalalaaa~

1. October 3rd ? Volke (20) {Good thing I?m editing, or this wouldn?t be here; ~ Ed.}

2. October 7th - Prod1gy X (19)

3. October 19th - balthiersbit (Not stating her age just in case she batters me) {It?s 31, but she still looks young-ish, even if the beard is off-putting; ~ Ed.}

4. October 22nd - Superbird5005 (16)

5. October 23rd - Procrastinator (16)

6. October 30th - therapper (21)


So, as usual, sorry if I forgot you, blah blah blah{yeah, thank you so much for remembering me; ~ Ed.} . Congrats and happy birthday to you guys, mhmm. This document will self destruct in five, four, three, two, one, ZERO? Okay, I lied, now go away.

HOST?S NOTE: Thought I?d pop in here just because. Hello.


Article by geezerguy.









Back to Nintendo. Why? I suppose I?m just rubbing it in qwert, Vas, and gio?s face that I like other systems other than the 360. Although, to be fair, this game was on more game systems than the version I played on the Gamecube. It was also on the PS2, Xbox, and Gameboy Advance, but I thought it was pretty good on the Gamecube. I suppose it?s just that I?m a sucker for RPG titles, especially those with Co-Op. Without further ado, here?s the game of the month:


Baldur?s Gate: Dark Alliance


Now, I?m not familiar with the Baldur?s Gate series. In fact, this is the only one of the series I?ve ever played, but if they?re anything close to how good this game is, they?ve gotta be insanely good. I?m also aware there was a Dark Alliance 2 for the same systems, but I never played it. The friend I played the first with played a demo and didn?t like it, but it was for reasons purely demo-relate (IE, one type of armor). I?m planning to pick it up and see if my 360 wants to play it in the future, but for now, let?s discuss the first.

The plot I never really understood, mainly because I ignored it (I played this years ago) and skipped the opening animation, but from what I understand, you?re a hero (or heroes, depending on if you?re playing Co-Op) who ended up in the Elfsong Tavern in Baldur?s Gate after being robbed and left for dead, and you?re trying to eliminate the evil from the area, and the rest of the land. However, the plot is very irrelevant. This matters little though, since this is not a plot game.

The graphics are very slick for a Gamecube game, and at the time looked very realistic. I?m sure after played Assassin?s Creed and Fallout 3, it?d look like crap, but for the system and the time, it looked great. The environments were detailed, the enemies looked fearsome and realistic, and all your characters had that ?realistic? feel to them, like they could reach out of the screen and slap you for giving the archer a sword (:D).

The sound also works. It plays off the environments rather than music itself, but from what I remember, the music itself was nice too. If you were out in the wilderness, the ambiance would be peaceful, with little chirps to get your spirits up, but if you were in the deep pits of a crypt with zombies and skeletons jumping out of the ground to kill you, it?ll be dark and creepy.

Now, let?s cut the bull crap and hit the gameplay. You play as one of three (or four, if you?ve unlocked him) heroes. The Human Archer, who uses arrow based spells to fight the enemy from a range, the Dwarven Fighter, who relies on heavy two handed weapon attacks to defeat the enemy. He?d be classified as the tank of the group. The Elvan Sorcerer, who uses spells like Burning Hands and Acid Arrows. Lastly, there?s Drizzt Do?Urden, the Drow Ranger/Fighter, who can only be unlocked by beating the game and then beating the unlocked ?Extreme? difficulty setting. He?s the only one who can duel wield weapons, and he?s a general badass.

Each character can try to act like the others, but that generally doesn?t work (Archer can use two handed weapons, but has few skills for them, Fighter can use bows but has no skills for them, Sorcerer cannot use two handed weapons, and has few skills for bow or melee weapons) so each character feels rather unique in both appearance and feel.

And what makes an overhead dungeon crawler adventure even cooler? Co-Op! You and one other friend can share a screen to blow the enemies to kingdom come. This mode is incredibly fun. You need to use teamwork to take down some of the bosses and large groups of enemies and it becomes an incredibly addictive experience. The camera is very tame in this mode, and it really makes the game a joy to play with a buddy.

The combat is simply awesome. If Star Fox 64 taught you that pressing the A button makes things blow up, Dark Alliance teaches you that pressing A bashes heads in. It?s a very simple layout for the combat controls, A attacks with weapons, B uses magic, X picks things up, Y jumps, and the triggers are hotkeys for the potions (Trust me, these triggers are your best friends). It makes the combat simply satisfying to no end, but at the same time, when faced with a horde of enemies, you can?t simply tank in, you need to combine guerrilla tactics with your magic attacks and use your friend to help pick them off, but in normal situations, mashing A is an incredibly satisfying way to kill enemies.

The bosses can only be described as epic. Some seem disappointing at first, like some sort of foot soldier, or the final boss simply being a chick in armor. But when that foot soldier starts doing ninja teleports and when that chick in armor starts to grow to be about four stories tall and shoots lightning at you, you know it?s epic, not to mention the big monstrosity that is the first world final boss that I can?t even describe being that it?s so epic (look here for the epicness of him), or, my favorite boss in any game, the Orb of the Undead, or even a flipping dragon!

Each of the worlds seem unique in the enemies or setting, from the Crypt below the sewers to the Sunset Mountains, all the way to an Ice Dragon?s cave, and all have unique enemies, weapons, and feels to them and make fighting each battle simply a lot of fun.

The final section of the game, the Onyx Tower, is simply absurd. Up until now, you could always ?Recall? to a shop to upgrade weapons, buy potions, or whatever, but once you hit this tower, no more. The enemies are strong, the traps are powerful, and the final boss is simply very difficult! Beat this on Extreme difficulty, and you deserve a medal.

So that?s Dark Alliance, a classic game that emphasizes why RPGs are so epic. Considering it came out on everything with a screen back then, there?s no reason for any of you to not have played this game, so go find it, get a friend, forcibly if necessary, and play the hell out of this game. You won?t regret it, I swear. At least, until the police arrest you for kidnapping your friend to play a game with you ya freak.



Article by imaloony8.0










Overview:

The SuperCheats forums in the autumn - after the hustle and bustle of the summer activity, we are left in a rather quiet period. Many members see fit to visit less frequently in order to concentrate more on their schoolwork. One event kept the site more active than usual during this 'dry period' - the SuperCheats Member Brawl.

Continuing from mid-August to early October, this intriguing tournament is your typical last-man-standing winner-moves-forward extravaganza, hosted by none other than veteran Super Moderator and official Newsletter Editor (although he's absent this month, again) - Testvirus101! The rules are simple - 128 members are voted into the brawl. They are then randomly placed into eight divisions, and then into four separate groups within each division, so every match (bar the final four) consists of four members. Each of the four members within these small groups will then proceed to face off against each other. Every day, members from around the site will vote for their favourite member in the current match. Members can only vote once per match, although self-voting was permitted. The two members with the highest counts of votes each will then progress into the next round, where they will face two new opponents (who won their respective match) as well as continue to cross swords with each other.

As only half of the overall contestants move into the next round, the system runs like this:

128 > 64 > 32 > 16 > 8 > 4 > 2 > 1

Additionally, a match to determine third and fourth place is set up, so that the Top Four each achieve a ranking.

A few surprises featured during the competition:

The competition didn't entirely progress as anticipated, with many unknown members progressing surprisingly far, whilst other, more recognisable members didn't get very far at all, the most prominent example of which is qwertyuio's loss in Round 2, despite popular belief that the battle for first place would be between Vasco and himself. Vasco progressed much further, but still didn't make the Top Four. Many other well-known members, such as Currymonster, didn't make it past Round 3, either.


The Top Four:

Eventually, member after member was beaten down and only four remained. They were the following:

Catharsis - Despite tough competition from all ends, Catharsis made his way into the top four. Was it his chance for victory?

Volke - Most of his matches were taken by storm, much to his surprise, but would he make the final?

yossy666 - Last year's champion certainly looked capable of winning the Brawl a second time around.

Superbird5005 - The most surprising entrant into the Top Four, but the guys at Teams needed a representative, and he made it this far.


The determining matches:

The matches for movement on into the final were Catharsis versus Volke, and yossy666 versus Superbird5005. Catharsis was the first to advance, beating Volke by 13 votes to 9. yossy666 was looking to be the winner again, beating Superbird5005 by 15 votes to 5. As Volke stated after this match - "Catharsis was certainly someone worth losing to, but he'd still better win the final for knocking me out."


The battle for third place:

Neither Volke nor Superbird5005 were ready to leave with nothing, and before the grand finale, the winner of the bronze medal had to be determined. So the match for third place was up. The majority of the votes were in Volke's favour, and in the end he won the match by 16 votes to 6.


The final match!:

The one everyone had been waiting for - Catharsis versus yossy666! yossy666, the previous champion, had by this time admitted his enthusiasm that he lose this match, as he had previously been the champion, and voted for Catharsis, although Catharsis returned the favour and voted for yossy666. Of the three Member Brawls, this final was probably the most predictable by far, with Catharsis receiving the majority of the votes, as opposed to the previous two years when superblobby and yossy666 (in their respective years) won only be a single vote. The final result was 12 votes to 8 in Catharsis' favour, earning him the title of 2009's SuperCheats Member Brawl Champion.


Overall:

1st place, Gold medal - Catharsis

2nd place, Silver medal - yossy666

3rd place, Bronze medal - Volke

4th place - Superbird5005


A very interesting Brawl this year. Our congratulations not only to Catharsis, but to each of the Top Four. They did well. Oh, and better luck next year, qwertyuio. Maybe more people will like you then.


Article by, none other than the winner of the bronze medal, Volke








Oi, back to me (cheating-is ? ah, almost caught; I mean, Vasco) again. This Article is probably the easiest I?ve ever had to write for a SuperCheats Newsletter. Two members stood out way above all the others and I had to make my decision. So why was it easy? One of the nominees, Lukie, has already been elected Member Of The Month in the past!

So who will it be?

?I have only one photo in my hand and this photo represents the one of you that will still be in the running towards becoming America's Next Top Model.?

XZYOE, please step forward.



Congratulations, my friend. You?ll have the option to wear the signature above until the next Newsletter is ?published? {crap, I?ll have to remove mine; ~ Ed.}. If you do use it, credits are appreciated.

To be quite honest, you?ve been one of the top 3 contestants for this status over the past three months. However, up until now, someone always found a way to surpass you {such as myself; ~ Ed.}. This month was different. I bet it feels good, winning two of the biggest Competitions we currently have (don?t whine).

Once again, congratulations. Make us proud.


Article by Vasco






[center]Pixel?euphoria?


LAST MONTH?S WINNER:

-No winner announced-
________________________________________________________


In the old Newsletters, this game consisted of finding ONE hidden pixel everywhere on the site.

The pixel shall be hidden by one of the Newsletter Staff Team. We won?t mention who did it, so even the other members can look for it. The pixel will be in the middle of an avatar, signature or even text, and it will stand out by not being part of the original piece (something that should be fairly easy to notice).

Here are two examples:

Click, please.

To make it easier, Vasco will be the one hiding this month?s Pixel?IN A POST!

Good luck to all~


Article by Vasco




[center][b]Disclaimer[/center][/b]


This review was not intended to offend anyone and elaboration was used necessarily for enjoyable reading.
Any attempt to re-create/rip this review will cause TestVirus to go freaky. Seriously. I won?t even mention anyone else, he alone is enough to scare the crap out of rippers. If you still want to proceed, we also have loony. Now leave.

NOTE: *insert monthly Qwert hate here* HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


The Newsletter Team:

Vasco ? Host and Article Writer

Qwertyuio - Interviewer

Lukie ? Article Writer

Imaloony8.0 ? Article Writer

TestVirus101 ? Editor (Absent)

Volke - Honorary Editor and Honorary Article Writer


If you?d like to help, please send your application at the e-mail bellow. Also, regarding the Special Article, we accept the Special from ANYONE. You can just make an article you think it?s pretty interesting, and send it to us. If it?s good enough, it will be posted, and of course you?ll get credits for it. {Such is what I once did, and now I?m a welcome freelance Article Writer and Editor; ~Ed.}

For the above mentioned, or for further questions, e-mail me at:

vasco_gamer @ hotmail. com [remove the spaces]

« Last edited by Vasco on Nov 1st 2009 »

Quite an interesting month, we finally managed to post the Newsletter on time. We all did a terrific job this month, since no one sent in an Article late (not even Qwert!). Once again, I'd like to thank Volke for filling in as our Editor; perfect job, my friend.

A short comment on comment on the Interview, though. I'm glad you're back, Filip (less for me to do and all), but I was somewhat disappointed. This Interview is ALL about SC and that's not the point here; we interview our members to find out more about them and their personal lives, eh. Make it more interesting next time, add something random, if you want. This one would make me sleep, if it wasn't for Austin. :|

Anyway, congratulations to all the members mentioned, specially Xeta. Good luck next month to all the others.

A very great Article, I must say.

Wat? newlettes n tiem? Wat teh hell?

Way to use an American Idol reference. :p

Tis to have impressed me yet again. So who's going to cut the turkey for this month's newsletter? :3
I won't be dressing up as the turkey though. :p

Holy crap. The newsletter came on time for once. Good job.

Yay. And, Volke, sorry I forgot your birthday. ;_;

Agreed with Vas, though. Spice it up a little, Filly.

Congrats, Xeta, you deserve, ja.

Wait... I thought Filip was interviewing CurryMonster...

Oh, and thanks for MoTM.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that.

Wtf Filip? Austin is liek super cool, but you lied.

Interesting. But Vasco being the Pixel hider, two months in a row? Too hard. NEXT please. :P

On 01-Nov-2009 X__x said:

Interesting. But Vasco being the Pixel hider, two months in a row? Too hard. NEXT please. :P

I could do it again... but then Volke would find it within thirty seconds of me posting it. ;_;

I was the one who found it just after it was posted by you though. D: When I won the time I did.

Yeah, what happened to the interview with Currymonster? I was wondering that myself last night.

Testvirus101 should be returning as Editor next month, so no more {; ~ Ed.} notes, sorry folks.

Vasco - Thanks.

geezerguy - Don't worry about it.

Personally, for editor, I think Volke > TV, mainly because TV screws with how I structure the achievements, but he does have dibs to the spot.

I didn't add Vasco's in because he either didn't make a topic, or he made it after I'd sent in my article.

EDIT: Vasco was right, Austinanymous was the life of that interview qwert. Fail to you.

« Last edited by imaloony8.0 on Nov 1st 2009 »

In time this time. Very good newsletter, guys!

A wonderful article this month. Well done to everyone. I got a lot of random mentions. 0_o

Moving on:

Vasco: Thanks, both criticism and praise is always welcome. I thought it quite entertaining. Actually, my focus with the interviewers was to always provide a deeper view into things SC related, not their outside lives. I've always been shooting for 2/3 SC, 1/3 life.

XZYOE & Lukie & loony: I never straight forward said, "I will be interviewing Currymonster", did I? I purposefully did that to pull a trick. Of course, Curry is a candidate for future interviews. I'm not meant to be the "life of the interview", the spotlight is SUPPOSED to be on Austin you guys, NOT me. These reactions (specifically from looney) shows me I did a good job.

Oh, and I call total BS on not being declared the pixel winner. I found it fair and square within the time limit of one month.

Hey man, I was only kidding about interviewing Curry, I don't care who you interview as long as it isn't somebody nobody knows. D;

On 01-Nov-2009 geezerguy said:

Hey man, I was only kidding about interviewing Curry, I don't care who you interview as long as it isn't somebody nobody knows. D;

Well either way an explanation was necessary on my part. D:

On 01-Nov-2009 qwertyuio said:

A wonderful article this month. Well done to everyone. I got a lot of random mentions. 0_o

Moving on:

Vasco: Thanks, both criticism and praise is always welcome. I thought it quite entertaining. Actually, my focus with the interviewers was to always provide a deeper view into things SC related, not their outside lives. I've always been shooting for 2/3 SC, 1/3 life.

XZYOE & Lukie & loony: I never straight forward said, "I will be interviewing Currymonster", did I? I purposefully did that to pull a trick. Of course, Curry is a candidate for future interviews. I'm not meant to be the "life of the interview", the spotlight is SUPPOSED to be on Austin you guys, NOT me. These reactions (specifically from looney) shows me I did a good job.

Oh, and I call total BS on not being declared the pixel winner. I found it fair and square within the time limit of one month.

It's November first, not April first. -_-

Chris: The one time I ever hid the pixel was found by Volke. You must be thinking of someone else.

On 01-Nov-2009 XZYOE said:

It's November first, not April first. -_-

Chris: The one time I ever hid the pixel was found by Volke. You must be thinking of someone else.

Having a hard time admitting I tricked you all then? :P

« Last edited by qwertyuio on Nov 1st 2009 »

On 01-Nov-2009 qwertyuio said:

Having a hard time admitting I tricked you all then? :P

I'm having an easier time thinking that Currymonster just didn't want to add you on MSN, and you were too ashamed to let us know.