Deireadh Fómhair 2015
(October)


Gaiscioch Family News

Cead Mile Failte

Welcome to the October 2015 edition of the Gaiscioch Family Ceannard notes. This past month has been a crazy one. With a lot of new stuff on the horizon for all of you to enjoy. As many of you know from past years November marks the end of our Gaiscioch year and as we celebrate the end of year 14 and say hello to our 15th year we will be sending out our traditional "State of the Family" special edition of our newsletter come November. In addition we'll hold our Gaiscioch State of the Family Livestream as we did last year. We've got a lot of cool things to announce this year so be sure to mark your calendars for November 14th at 5PM PT. All that said let's jump into some news.

 

Extra Life 2015

The Extra-Life Event is just around the corner. Be sure to sign up to participate in this 24-Hour game-a-thon for kids. Simply join our team at: http://gsch.info/extralife-register and ask your friends to chip in. If you would rather just donate please donate here: http://gsch.info/extralife-donate so that our contributions result in an award for our families keepsake collection.

If you're interested in joining me on the Great Epic Adventure Hunt as we play 12 games in 24 hours spread out over 2 days as a special edition of Streams of Epic Adventure be sure to download the games we'll be playing and get setup for the event before hand. Please note, you are more than welcome to pick and choose which you'd like to attend. I don't expect everyone to be able to download nearly 500gb of games lol. Pick the ones you're interested in :).

The Lineup:

Day 1: Saturday

  • 9-11AM: Vindictus - US West
  • 11-12PM: Lunch
  • 12-2PM: Devilian - Must Claim Extra Life Event Key In Gaiscioch Loot Vault before the event.
  • 2-4PM: ArcheAge - Tayhang Server, Niua Faction - Level 10-20 Preferred.
  • 4-6PM: RIFT - Faeblight Server, Guardian Faction, New Characters welcome!
  • 6-7PM: Dinner
  • 7-9PM: Guild Wars 2 - New Borderlands WvW
  • 9-11PM: Warface

Day 2: Sunday

* All times Pacific

Go Pink for October!

No, you didn't just somehow join another guild. It's that time again for Gaiscioch to go PINK for October! Each year during October the Gaiscioch family shows it's support to the survivors of Breast Cancer by sporting pink all month long. In addition be sure to join us for Pink Day in LA on October 17th, an annual Guild Wars tradition with almost a decade of history. Show your support by joining me this month in coloring your armor pink.

Learn more about Pink Day in LA 2015 at:
http://pinkday.gamergivingback.com/

East Coast Gaiscioch Celebration

Come Celebrate 14 years with us at Fado Irish Pub in Buckhead Atlanta Georgia on October 16th at 7PM with Foghladha, Yulishka, Selrina, Seacoral and more! Join us for fun times, laughs, and drinks.

Fadó Irish Pub Atlanta

273 Buckhead Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30305

Learn more at: http://gsch.info/p/118169

Special Thanks to Shards Testers

I just want to say thanks to the 22 of you who came out and helped test Shards Online this past weekend. Be sure to fill in the surveys that will arrive in your mailbox. Be sure to be honest. If you had trouble or got discouraged let them know. The only way they can fix it is if you tell them. I'll keep you all posted as to future opportunities.

New Website Feature
The Loot Vault

This month we launched an all new feature to the Marketplace section of the site. The Loot Vault. In this vault you'll be able to use those extra Family Vault Credits to score games, physical goods, and testing opportunities. Be sure to visit it today and grab a new game or accessory. If you'd like to donate an unused key be sure to send it to foghladha@gaiscioch.com and I can add it to the system.

Learn More At:
http://gsch.info/p/140217

Visit the vault at:
http://www.gaiscioch.com/vault/

Save The Date
Gaiscioch State of the Family Livestream

Be sure to mark your calendars for the annual state of the family livestream event. This annual livestream is where we lay out our future plans for 2016 and discuss some changes coming on the horizon. This is an open forum so questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome and this will be open to the public and press. Please be sure to join us on November 7th at 4PM on Twitch.tv or YouTube Gaming. For voice communication join us on GameVox at: http://gsch.info/voice. We have some major reveals lined up so be sure to attend!

Monthly Meeting Agenda

This month we are meeting on October 3rd at 5PM. We've got a lot to discuss so please be sure to attend this one and bring your questions and comments. Please join us on GameVox at: http://gsch.info/voice and tune in to the video portion on either Twitch or YouTube Gaming.

Ceannard Notes Update

Starting in November 2015 we are going to change the way we send out newsletters. We will be sending them out after the monthly Summit livestream with a link to the summit and a summary of topics discussed at the summit. We will also include the next summit date so people can plan accordingly. With this new format i'll be able to include the monthly progress report metrics as well as links to the full summit recap. As technology has evolved I think it's safe to evolve our newsletter. I'm also looking at changing the layout to be more mobile device friendly for those who check their mail on their phones. Be sure to watch your mailboxes for the new version of the Gaiscioch Ceannard Notes.

Gaiscioch Family Promotions:

I wanted to take a moment to say congratulations to a few members this month for accepting their next credo and stepping into a new role in our family.

Officers (Seaimpín)

The Gaiscioch Family officers act as a front line for questions and answers. These members have accepted the Mark of the Protector credo and have vowed to assist new members with familiarization and report any suspicious or unbecoming behavior to the eldership team.

  » Bord   » Darack   » Winterlight

Veteran Members (Saighdear)

Veteran Members have proven their devotion to the family by participating in events and contributing to the family's success. They have been active more than 90 days and have continued to be contributing members to the family.

  » Darcy   » Frysta   » Jelaraiel   » Mazzy   » WilliamBrandis

Official Members (Lorgair)

Official Members have earned the rank of Lorgair and have accepted the Mark of the Kindred credo. They have officially decided to become members of the family and start their journey to ascend the roles of the Gaiscioch Family.

  » Dad2112   » Dallamir   » DestregaKnight   » Elfchess   » Kitt

Guild Wars 2 News

Heart of Thorns Launch Plans

Change is on the horizon, and a new frontier will soon open. As many of you know our year end is November 11th and before that date I have a metric ton of things to complete. So this launch couldn't have come at a worse time for me personally. However, fear not. I have a plan. See that cliff? We're all going off it!

Haha. Just kidding. I have a plan but instead of a wall of text I want to encourage you all to come to the Gaiscioch Family Summit on October 3rd and participate in the plan discussion. All Guild System stuff will be revealed by then and I will be free to speak about it. Until then just know I have a plan, and it may or not include cliffs. ;) What I can tell you is sPvP, Get ready I've got a plan for you guys! It's time for Gaiscioch to get a flagship sPvP team.

Please Welcome Our Newest Family Commander

For the past year Leslie of the Stars has been hard at work becoming the best leader possible. She has gone through great lengths to ensure she understood how things work and how she can best help the family. With the gap in Sanctum of Rall coverage being so great, Leslie without a second thought offered to step up and fill that gap, even though WvW was fairly new to her. She has displayed courage on the battlefield and continues to be one of our family's greatest knowledge sources accumulating more than 25,000 achievement points in her time in game. It is because of her unwavering commitment toward our family and dedication to understanding the roles of a family commander that I present Leslie with the Family Commander title.

Population on the Rise

The summer is over and we're starting to see a lot of familiar faces returning. We've begun a slight increase over last month of about 20 people. As we near the launch of Heart of Thorns we will likely see even more entering the field. That said I know it will be easy to lose yourself in the new content but realize that for the Free-2-Play players and new players they will still be in the traditional zones. Be sure to visit often and make some new friends. We don't want to focus entirely on the HOT content and forget about those that can't get there. Overall I suspect we'll be in the +20-40 range for October.

Please Welcome Our Newest Members

Please welcome our newest members to our Guild Wars 2 family.

  » Aerin [Aerin.1326]   » Arickett [arickett.6132]   » BCampbell [Omer.4917]   » Bharat [Bharat.2057]   » Cappy [Solah.3574]   » Ceing [jooshy.7512]   » Danny1000000000 [Danny.8071]   » DestregaKnight [DestregaKnight.8452]   » DrawnHeart [Michael.1369]   » Duckman [Duckman.5281]   » Edulis [edulis.1560]   » ForNoRaisin [omgholycrap.8759]   » Frelll [Frel.3086]   » Garb [Garb.2860]   » GhostOfDc [ghostofdc.6490]   » Harvak [Harvak.2789]   » Heart [Heart.5178]   » KARNA [disruptor.5106]   » Kyosai [Kyosai.7483]   » MissSamou [MissSamou.6178]   » NerdyMike [NerdyMike.2695]   » RageofEternity [Evolved Terror.8930]   » Segaki [Segaki.1960]   » ShadowStorm []   » Shimano []   » Silver [That Guy.5704]   » SirGlock [Hokeypokey.2135]   » Skull [EternalPandaYT.7245]   » SunBaoShi [Sun Bao Shi.4897]   » TenorMadness [Tenor Madness.6784]   » Tiffany [Tiffany.6841]   » V [Deluxe.9536]   » Voidgere [voidgere.3490]   » Xandorius [Xandorius.4286]   » Xenaqui [Xenaqui.5613]   » ZombieSlayerDom [ZSDO.1604]

Guild Wars 2 Events at a Glance

Mon

9:00AM:
Jae's World Boss Hunt

2:00PM:
Gma Fog's Leveling The Playing Field

4:00PM:
Star's Explorables

Tue

4:30PM:
Open Community Guild Missions & Tequatl

6:00PM:
The Siege War of Sanctum of Rall

8:15PM:
Star's Havoc WvW

11:00PM:
Tequatl 2 for 1 BBQ

Wed

11:00AM:
Raging Rovers (WvW)(Pick up for Findan)

2:15PM:
Leveling Further With Gma Fog

5:00PM:
Smitty's Sabres WvW - Back in the Saddle!

11:00PM:
Tequatl 2 for 1 BBQ

Thu

11:00AM:
Raging Rovers (Pick up for Findan)

4:00PM:
Let's begin specializing

Fri

11:30AM:
Star's Raiders WvW

5:00PM:
Teamspeak Community Meeting

Sat

8:00AM:
Gma Fog's Leveling The Playing Field

3:00PM:
Saturday Afternoon Adventures with Terafer

11:00PM:
Open Community Guild Missions & Tequatl

Sun

12:00AM:
The Siege War Livestream

2:00PM:
Sunday Story Mode

4:00PM:
Star's Raiders WvW

Top Guild Wars 2 News For October, 2015

  1. I am not going to be able to lead an event this week
  2. 37 Golem Rush for my Birthday WvW Event tonight!
  3. Guild Wars 2 Update: Game Update Notes - September 15, 2015
  4. Check Out the Scrapper on Points of Interest!
  5. Meet the Scrapper: Engineer’s Elite Specialization
  6. Encore Sale!
  7. Announcing the Winners of the Guild Wars 2 Guild Emblem Contest
  8. Meet the Druid: Ranger’s Elite Specialization
  9. Announcing the Third World vs. World Borderlands Stress Test
  10. The Mordrem Guard on Points of Interest: A Summary

Elder Scrolls Online News

Sailing the Sea of Stormy Waters

I wish I had better news for you guys. Summer is over and our traditional rise has yet to be seen in ESO. With the Imperial City DLC we expected to see a surge in population and instead we dropped 14%. This was our largest drop of 2015 and brought us to our all time lowest population.

We still have a very tight nit group of players that thoroughly enjoy ESO, a system that is still set up to support it, and an elder team still devoted to keeping it up and running. The elder team is hard at work at finding a solution that will avoid the inevitable fate that we saw in RIFT and WAR. The biggest thing fighting us right now is our own system.

Gaiscioch was built from the ground up to support large scale communities. As population thins we begin to crack and fracture as we are not build to withstand the needs of a small guild. In smaller numbers we can not possibly recruit by action as we go un-noticed. In ESO it's even easier to go un-noticed as there is no guild recognition other than a tabard that doesn't say who we are. What we need to do if we are going to survive is find a way to adapt and create a way for our community to exist in a small guild setting as well as a large guild setting. But to do that we will have to shed a lot of who we are and what we do and we want to be certain that this move is the best for the community and our legacy.

Our primary focus right now is avoiding permanent member loss and finding a solution that keeps people playing ESO together and giving them the support to continue their endeavors. Over the next month I'm going to put my thinking cap on with the rest of the team and hopefully find a solution to help support those who stay in ESO. I don't know what can be done to help the population. I'm just not ready to give up because I know there are REALLY good people in the ESO side that pour their hearts into that little community. There's got to be a solution, a way to make it work even under 200. Even if it's not a front runner chapter for us I want to find a way to keep our community together and playing in ESO. I'm certain we will figure something out that works to sustain us in a smaller community format. We already have several ideas and a couple action plans to see if we can reverse this trend. Anything is better than the result we've had in the past 3 chapter closures. It's time to try something new.

In the meantime I really need everyone to be proactive about grouping. If someone says LFG in public chat, grab them asap. If someone asks for a group in guild get them in your group asap. We need to be proactive in getting people involved with us if we have any chance of survival. So far in the history of our chapter we have only increased in population 4 times. If we are to change this we're going to need to get more proactive in getting people into our groups and getting them involved with our community. We have to stop the bleed of our existing members feeling isolated and secluded from the rest of the group and encourage random strangers to come and join our activities.

Additionally we need to get more people in GameVox. The best way for us to stay connected is by talking to one another. But don't make it an exclusive club. Keep your eyes on chat channels. We've got to do whatever we can to slow this decline. I will use this month to figure out a solution and present it at the State of the Family in November. If you're with us in ESO please know I am going to do everything in my power to keep this group alive. I do not want to close the door on ESO and am going to try something crazy to keep it alive. You guys are too important to me and I know the result of our past attempts and I do not want to follow in the same footsteps. Today we walk a different path.

Please Welcome Our Newest Members

Please welcome our newest members to our Elder Scrolls Online family.

  » Aithene [@Aithene]   » Galaithriel []   » Phigment [@Phigment4life]   » Shimano [@Nilborne]   » Viktorkin [Viktorkin]

Elder Scrolls Online Events at a Glance

Mon

12:00PM:
High Noon Silver and Gold (no Leader required)

4:00PM:
The Wild World Bosses Killing Spree

6:30PM:
By Blood and Steel AvA

Tue

5:00PM:
Vet Map Clearance

Wed

12:00PM:
High Noon Silver and Gold (no Leader required)

5:00PM:
Crazy Prissy's Hel Ra Trial - Wednesday group

Thu

12:00PM:
High Noon Silver and Gold (no Leader required)

4:00PM:
The Great Skyshards Hunting Club

6:00PM:
The Siege War of Blackwater Blade

Fri

12:00PM:
High Noon Silver and Gold (no Leader required)

6:00PM:
FRIDAY CRAGLORN QUESTING

9:00PM:
Friday Night Lights w/ the Emperor

Sat

12:00PM:
High Noon Silver and Gold (no Leader required)

6:00PM:
Craglorn Anom Romp

Sun

12:00PM:
High Noon Silver and Gold (no Leader required)

5:00PM:
Crazy Prissy's AA Trial - Sunday Edition

Top Elder Scrolls News For October, 2015

  1. New items for the marketplace:
  2. The Imperial City is Now Available on PC & Mac!
  3. Men'Do's Travel Stories & Advice Column, Vol. #2
  4. Battlemaster’s Corner – The Dragon Legionary
  5. Guild Spotlight – Clan Stormblade
  6. Loremaster’s Archive: Modern and Historical Riding Mounts
  7. The Imperial City is Now Available on Consoles!
  8. Celebrate Alliance Pride with New ESOTU T-Shirts
  9. ESO Live’s Next Episode: 9/11
  10. Guild Spotlight – Les Fils de Yaztromo

Gaiscioch Magazine News

Looking for Writers & Beat Reporters

Our team of writers is getting pretty thin for the magazine and we could use a few more enthusiastic people who can kick out an article every 3 months on their lunch break. This is a very, very, very small commitment that only requires the time it takes to eat a sandwich. You don't have to be good at writing as we have a team of editors that can make you sound like a pro. Spelling, wlel hcek my rlea splleling is jaceked. These guys do that too :P.

What we need:

  • Beat Reporters - I give story you hunt and report
  • Freelancers - Write about whatever you want.
  • Game Jockeys - Write about the games you're currently playing. Guides, Reviews, Previews etc.

What you get:

  • Eligibility for Discounts or Press Passes at conventions
  • Exclusive opportunities to meet and chat with key developers
  • A Gaiscioch.com email forwarding address
  • Name in the credits - Become the next world renown gaming journalist!

If we want our magazine to continue to thrive we are going to need some help. We're at 1/4 the team we began with and have a huge following. We want to keep the content coming and make it awesome. I'm just looking for a few people willing to donate a lunch break to help our cause. :)

Join the discussion at:
http://gsch.info/p/142177

Popular Stories:

  1. Guild Wars 2 Master Class: Stretching Your Laurels
    344 Reads | By: Susan "Lakshmi" Warren
  2. Do You Have What it Takes to Become a God?
    206 Reads | By: Amanda "Soren" Carr
  3. From a Walk in the Shadows, a Dead Soul Rises
    185 Reads | By: Eiahn Matthews
  4. Thoughts From a Beginning Guild Wars 2 Crafter, Part 1
    174 Reads | By: Esther "Humble Misty" Foley
  5. Conquering my Inner Demons
    172 Reads | By: Althea "Briseadh" Damgaard
  6. The Imperial City Is Coming to Tamriel and More!
    168 Reads | By: Althea "Briseadh" Damgaard
  7. Veteran Mode Banished Cells Guide
    129 Reads | By: Robert “Jairone” J. Mann
  8. Fear, and why it's necessary to our growth
    110 Reads | By: Robert “Jairone” J. Mann
  9. Wrecking of the Veiled Queen's Plan
    96 Reads | By: Althea "Briseadh" Damgaard
  10. The Killer of Imagineeria
    93 Reads | By: Creature from the Caldron

Popular News:

  1. Supergirl: First Look at Red Tornado
  2. New Final Fantasy 15 Story Details Revealed
  3. And Then This Happened
  4. Knock Knock trailer shows perils of letting attractive women into your home
  5. Steam Is Getting An Uncensored Sex Game
  6. Sony Outlines New Features In Upcoming PS4 Update
  7. Hideo Kojima's Sad Farewell To Metal Gear
  8. Bethesda Completes Recording Of Fallout 4's 111,000 Lines Of Dialogue
  9. Agents of SHIELD: Season 3 Trailer
  10. MMO Week in Review: EverQuest Next up, Pathfinder down (September 6, 2015)

Be sure to check out our latest stories and gaming news at: gsch.info/mag

Gaiscioch Livestream News

New Deconstructed Trailer

Get Pumped! We're getting closer! Here is the intro trailer for the series that will be helmed by Smitty and I. This will be a different format from the Streams of Epic Adventure as it will be pre-recorded and aired at a certain date and time. This will be broken up into 12 Episodes per season and release once per week on Wednesday.

Our tentative starting lineup includes:

  • Guild Wars 2
  • RIFT
  • Elder Scrolls Online
  • Devilian
  • ArcheAge
  • Vindictus
  • Neverwinter
  • Royal Quest
  • Tera
  • Aion
  • Skyforge
  • Allods Online

Streams of Epic Adventure Lineup

The Streams of Epic Adventure continues with a really exciting lineup this month. Two of the games on our list we're a direct result of gaining early access to a game because of our Magazine and Livestream programs. This month we'll be streaming:

Recent Livestreams:

Episode 26:
rainbowsixsiege

Episode 25:
otherland

Episode 24:
chivalry

Episode 23:
blackgold

Closing Notes

Closing Notes

The road ahead is long and I know for the next month it's going to be chaotic. I can however breath a breath of fresh air and know as the trick-or-treaters come and October passes us by that sunnier days are on the horizon and the immense amount of work I must complete by November will be behind me. Sink or Swim the family will go on and we will have exciting social adventures in our future. We shall seek them out in the far corners of the world and share them together. Until then, keep me sane.  

Slan Go Foill!
(Goodbye For Now)

Benjamin "Foghladha" Foley
Ceannard De Gaiscioch Treubh