Nollaig (December) 2012 Edition


Cead Mile Failte!

Greetings and Welcome to December! This month is a wonderful month to look back over the past year, find the memories that you hold dear and build a plan for the next year. It's the month we all examine ourselves and prepare to try to make a change for the next year. It's also a wonderful month to spend with family and friends. It is also the time when the Gaiscioch will be getting together in select cities across the US for our annual holiday party.

The Gaiscioch Family

Meet The Locals At The
2012 Gaiscioch Holiday Party

Looking to share the holidays with some friends and family? On December 15th at 6PM local time the Gaiscioch will be hosting holiday parties across the United States. Members have volunteered to host these events in their local towns. Currently we have 3 parties set in stone with another couple in the works. If you're interested in hosting an event in your area and have a open seat yourself style location please contact me and we can get you setup.

At the holiday party we will be holding a White Elephant Gift Exchange. Please keep presents under $20 and keep them family friendly. I look forward to some good times and memories being made this holiday season. Laethanta Saoire Sona Daoibh!

Join us in:
Portland, OR - Dallas, TX - Nashville, TN - Bloomington, MN
More Coming Soon!

See where the parties are happening on Facebook or on our forums.

Show Your Support
2012 CookieZerg Targets Developers

On December 17th we launch our second annual CookieZerg to show our gratitude to the developers and companies that have made an impression on the Gaiscioch Family. This year we target Trion, the maker of RIFT, ArenaNet, the maker of Guild Wars 2, and ZeniMax Online, the maker of Elder Scrolls Online who so kindly invited Gaiscioch to represent at their headquarters in September to help them make a community friendly & supporting MMO.

If you'd like to participate in this years CookieZerg please write a short heartfelt letter to the developer(s) of your choice and mail it with some baked or store bought sweets. If you don't bake and have a Safeway nearby they have a 50 fresh baked cookies for $5 sale through December 28th.

Learn More At:
http://www.gaiscioch.com/tavern/family_news/post_46810.html

Expanding Our Eldership
New Maithean Join The Elder Council

As we continue to grow and holes in our coverage appear we have elected several new Maithean to try to give us a bit more support with our ever growing family. This month we proudly welcome the following members to the Elder Council and look forward to seeing them grow as elders in our family.

Guild Wars 2:

  • Morigana
  • Sairesh
  • Elth
  • Craythur
  • Solarity
  • Samion

RIFT:

  • Belonia
  • Seacoral
  • Eeers
  • Naay

Special Congratulations
Two... No, THREE Babies and an Engagement!

I just want to take a moment to send a very special congratulations to Aarika and Tony on their new little baby girl Kylee Mai who was born on November 27th at 5:07PM and was 20 inches and weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces. In addition the two announced their engagement last month and we look forward to seeing them grow as a couple.

As if one baby wasn't enough, this month we're blessed with another Gaiscioch Jr. from our very own elder and friend Clanorton. Clanorton had a baby girl on December 2nd. She measured in at 20 3/4 inches and weighed 8 pounds 9 ounces.

But there's more! Dargron joined the baby bunch at the last minute with news of his new addition to the family. Kimberly Fae arrived on Friday Nov 30th at 4:56pm at 6lb, 5oz and 48.5 cm

In other wonderful news Pyrefly's operation went well and he's recovering back in the comfort of his own home. We send him our best wishes and hope for a speedy recovery. In addition Red is back at home after a rush trip to the emergency room and is doing well as well. He's back with us and going strong as ever. We have definitely been blessed this month and hope for the continued health and prosperity for all in our family.

If you have some news you'd like to share with the family please feel free to post it in our Special Announcements forum.

Join Us On RaidCall For The
December Gaiscioch Family Summit

This month we will be holding our first set of Round Table discussions (Which we had to postpone last month because of schedule conflicts). We're going to try to rotate the topics each month to better give coverage to all areas of the family. Here's our agenda for this month.

Round Table Discussion (Gaiscioch Family Website, Policy & Membership)

From 12 to 1PM PST sit down with Foghladha to discuss new features, changes, and instruction on how to use the Gaiscioch family site. Come ask your questions and get some insight as to why things work the way they do.

Warlord Meeting (Event Planning & Coverage)

From 1-2PM PST. In our meeting this month we will be touching base with what holes are left in the family site from the expansion in RIFT and the new zone in Guild Wars 2. We will also be going over the new event manager system and seeing if anything else needs to be added to make lives easier. The Warlord meeting is open to those who have earned the Warlord Rank 5 (Fhiaigh). Check the Warlord Forums for channel password information.

Elder Meeting

From 2-3PM PST. The elders will be meeting to discuss the health and future of the family, address problems, and get educated on some of the tools that have been updated this past month.

The December Gaiscioch Family Summit

Let's see if Fog can push the right button this time :D. We'll be holding the Gaiscioch Family Summit from 6-8PM PST. This event will be half information about our family and changes we see on the horizon and half question and answer session. This is a great chance to get some of those unanswered questions answered and is a really great time to get to know each other and our leadership. This month we'll be discussing the new Event Manager system that was put in place, changes to the family structure in Guild Wars 2, and answer any questions about the family policies we've put in place. If you've received this newsletter your welcome to attend. If all goes well and Fog isn't a total spaz I will be posting this

Bring Out Your Creativity
The Official 2013 Gaiscioch T-Shirt Design Contest

The Gaiscioch is looking for 4 talented artists to design 1 3x3" square on the new Gaiscioch "Live Epic" T-Shirt for 2013. We will select the top 4 images from those that were submitted to be placed on one of the 4 boxes on the back of the T-Shirt. Each participant will receive 1,000 Contribution Points. The 4 winners of the contest will receive 3,000 Contribution Points which they can spend in the family marketplace. We will be accepting submissions until January 1st 2013 and will announce the winners at the January Family Summit.

The 4 Boxes will represent: Adventure (Best Celtic Dragon Illustration), Conquest (Best Castle Illustration), Fellowship (Best Gaiscioch Stein Illustration), and Charity (Best Teddy Bear Illustration). For an example and details take a peak at The Gaiscioch "Live Epic" T-Shirt Design Contest - Ends Jan 1st post on our forums.

RIFT

Chapter 3: RIFT
Our Assault on Storm Legion Continues

Every Wednesday at 6PM PST we explore the world introduced with Storm Legion. Our adventures include zone invasions, rift hunts, onslaughts and general beast slaying. This is a great event to get to know various personalities from our family and have some laid back social fun.

December 16th @ 6PM PST
Join Gaiscioch For The RIFT Holiday Party

The Gaiscioch Family will be holding a in game holiday party in our dimension on December 16th @ 6PM PST. Come join us decorate the dimension and enjoy the festivities. Keep posted we'll be putting some details on the forum soon.

Guild Wars 2

New Commanders
The Gaiscioch Congratulate Their Newest Commanders

Each month the Gaiscioch Family awards a commanders tome to a warlord that has not only proven their ability to lead, but also holds the Gaiscioch way close to heart. They are not demanding, they are not selfish, they lead by example, and they encourage all to join them in their adventures. These commanders have earned over 500 victory points and have been with the family more than 3 months. It is my great pleasure that I commend these fine Gaiscioch for their devotion and commitment to our family and it's way of life. This month's newest commanders are Kraas and Jexia.

Kraas joined the family in Warhammer Online where he was known under a few names Clannadd, Firro, and Aarian. He has been with us since 2009 and has lead community events for us in 2 different games. Anyone that has had the pleasure of being under his command knows him for his calm, focused, leadership style. He's very slow to anger and is very patient. I would like to congratulate Kraas on his accomplishment and welcome him to join the Gaiscioch Commanders on the battlefield.

Jexia has been with us since RIFT and has lead countless PvE activities. She is best known for the crifiting events in RIFT and has recently started leading events to help fill gaps left in the weekly lineup by members who had to step out for an uncertain period of time. Jexia has already begun using her commanders tome to help assist other leaders on both the PvE and WvW battlefield. We congratulate Jexia and Kraas and look forward to their upcoming battles and adventures.

GW2 House Repurposing
Uniting The Family By Playstyle

With Alliances nowhere to be seen it has become apparent that we may need to come up with a plan B to try to get members joining forces together for both PvE adventures and WvW battles. With population finally calming after the initial game tidal wave we are starting to settle in to our long term family size. After each game we transition into at launch we initially see a huge rise in population and over the first 6 months things balance out. The "New Game" hoppers jump in, max out toons and move on to the next newest game on the market. This is normal and should not be news for anyone who's played in the MMO genre.

Now that things have normalized we're sitting at about 900 active members over the past 30 days and can fit our entire family into the first 2 rooms of our house. The Gaiscioch and GaiscĂ­och now have all members from newest to oldest in them. We've placed as many of the Oceanic and European players as possible to put all of our off hour players in the same room. Contact Hex or Elthurian to transfer over to the Off Peak Hours room of our house. We will actively be building our off peak force and want to make sure that everyone who plays at that time is together and able to communicate.

To build a bridge between the 2 main rooms of our house we will be using the Gaiscioch na Anu as our PvE Lobby and the Gaiscioch na Rall as our WvW Lobby. Once a member becomes a Lorgair they will automatically gain an invite to whichever rooms they specified in their Guild Wars 2 Account Setup or on their Edit Profile page. Simply select PvE for Anu and PvP for Rall. Both of these specialty rooms have a 14 day AFK timer so if you want to keep your slot in these rooms you need to log into the website at least once every two weeks.

Learn More At:
http://www.gaiscioch.com/tavern/guildwars_news/post_46826.html

Calling All Event Leaders
The GW2 Gaiscioch Commander Toolkit Hit's the Forum

As we get more and more commanders on the battlefield with the Gaiscioch tag above their head I wanted to take a moment to lay out some guidance and etiquette. There are some things you should know and expect as a commander and I want to make sure that each and every one of our leaders knows what to expect the moment you place that icon above your head.

I have written this guide for all leaders both commanders and non-commanders to use:
http://www.gaiscioch.com/tavern/guildwars_discussion/post_47093.html

In Closing

I hope this holiday season you can share it with friends, family, and those you love the most. We are blessed to share such a community with each other. Together we share life, legend, and everything in between. I look forward to seeing you all on the 8th of December for this months Gaiscioch Family Summit. May you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Yuletide, Happy Holidays, and a wonderful New Year. I look forward to next year's adventures and close the book for this year's Ceannard Notes. Take care everyone and be safe.

Slan Go Foill!
(Goodbye For Now)

Benjamin "Foghladha" Foley
Ceannard De Gaiscioch Treubh