Welcome to the 8th Issue of Clan Soup, fellow Hyborian Hopefuls! As always, I want to start by taking a moment to remind everyone that we're always accepting new members into our cabinet of ingredients.



To sign up for Clan Soup, send an e-mail titled "Clan Soup Registration" to jobildo at ten ton hammer dot com with the following contents:

• Your Clan's Name
• Your Clan's Website (if applicable)
• An e-mail to use as a contact (for our use only)
• A few sentences about your Clan

Those few things will get you all geared up for the wondrous world of awesomeness that is Clan Soup, so don't just sit there... get that e-mail sent! You can read up on all that Clan Soup's about here.



It's a fairly lean issue this week, what with everyone off enjoying the Open Beta and lopping heads from Pictish bodies, but still we've got two brand spanking new ingredients to toss into the mix, so let's give them a nice e-welcome.

New Members of the Soup

Futilez - Clan Website







We are mature guild committed to friendliness with collection of
gamers who have come together under the same ideology.
With friendship, trust and an adult perspective on gaming we strive to
elevate our game to the highest level possible. The real strength of
our guild lies in the positive attitudes and the dedication of our
members. To be a part of our guild you do not need to be extremely
active, you are asked to do few things as to make your time with us
less difficult and time consuming.



Members are derived from all over the world so there is always someone
on. We have a lot of guild functions such as Player Vs. Player killing
and massive guild grinding/raiding. There is no mandatory things you
need to do, you can be casual player that like to have relaxed play
style or join us on military organized grouping on voice comm.



Our core members use ventrilo, are active in community forums and are
self-motivated to take initiative.



We are here to have fun and to increase our enjoyment through the guild.

The Pain Train - Clan Website



The Pain Train is a group of experienced gamers bent on dominating the competitive PvP aspect of Age of Conan. We were started in the game known as Fury, which gives us an edge as Fury was an intensely fast paced game. We showed tremendous success in Fury against popular guilds such as Lord of the Dead, Inner Circle Elite, and SQL Gaming.

Weekly Clan News

Nova Kepusko - Son our brothers and sisters can join together in a war-monger harmony where theirs no need for words like this, one day the sword will do the talking for us. To do that we need to know where to gather our forces first. Game-release is coming closer and closer, but until that day when all our prays are answered, we must decide witch type of server we will be playing at. We are happy to announs that Nova Krepusko has began a voting that will end next week where all our members will decide if are willing to play on a PvP, PvE or a PvP-RP server.

Brotherhood of the Spider - Announcement: Brotherhood of the Spider would like to create the most competitive server possible. We are inviting best PVE guilds to join us on the same server come launch day so we can battle it out in the borderlands.



If you are interested please PM "Notleh" on TTH.

Question of the Week

This week, we turn our focus to Funcom's Siege System and what our Clans think of it.



What Does Your Clan Think Of The Siege PvP System?



Really, it's hard for a lot of the future players to take a stand on this aspect of the game as no one's yet played it. But that didn't stop a few rowdy members of the soup from voicing their opinions. Here's what was said.

The Black Hand - As a guild, Siege PvP has to be one of the elements of the game that we're most looking forward to. Funcom seems to have a good system in place for Siege PvP, which should make a great addition to the end game PvP content. We're sharpening our blades in preparation for the epic sieges, guild vs guild warfare, the construction (and defense) of our own battle-keep, and the hours of mindless killing that will accompany these great things.

Sanguiphoria - Having content within Age of Conan like the Siege PVP System is essential for the games success. End game content that promotes community, organization, and competition brings endurance needed to a MMO. Sanguiphoria can't wait to get its hands bloody on the battle field to see first hand how the Siege system plays.



Robert E. Howard Quote of the Week:



SHAKING THE BLOOD and sweat outa my eyes, I glared about at the battlefield, strewn with the dead and dying--at least with the unconscious, some of which was groaning loudly, whilst others slumbered in silence. -Alleys of Darkness

Brotherhood of the Spider - These are some of our members' different opinions on the Siege System. We got a lot of responses, so bear with us:

• I don't think the new system is that bad. If the guild is organized then they will have dedicated PVP'ers to help keep the guild status up and ready for battle. After all you will have members dedicated to crafting, harvesting, raiding etc. Why not have a dedicated team of PVP'ers. We will.
• The siege system is something new and different it brings a greater purpose to PVP'ing that has not been present in alot of games of late. Killing other players just to fight and kill them always bored me, now there is something to it. Both personal and environmental rewards. I am also loving siege engines and mounts, these have been too missing elements to PVP for a while and having seen a few videos of each I am eager to see them.
• My only concerns go towards the unanswered questions such as limits. Far as I know all of the borderlands and the keeps are non instanced. Which make it seems there is no limit to attackers or defenders. Which for us would be fine, we have large numbers and high quality players alike. However the lag and system strain is more of my concern. If they can do the real heavy numbers that the first 2 Border Kingdoms per server will bring then I am all for it. Cause you know that first BK to go up is going to have everyone on the server gunning to knock it down!
• The siege system presents an excellent opportunity for a guild to flex its PvP muscle by exemplifying excellent tactics, defensive techniques, and military might. The longer a guild is able to hold their keep, the clearer their message gets: We are here to stay. On the other hand, an attacking guild can make their mark on the server by toppling a superior guild's keep, allowing them to assume the throne of king of the hill. This tug-of-war style of PvP really shines a refreshing light on MMO gameplay. It's a really nice departure from the re-hashed mini-game idea.
• While simple in concept, the much touted Border Kingdoms still has to prove itself by convincing gamers to wean themselves away from the "arena" style PvP battles and to take part in large-scale warfare.
• I like the new system better with out having experienced either system (I don't feel biased towards either), the new one just feels more fair and allows for a more controlled environment, PVP zergs are lame and suck too.
• I believe that most of the drama stems from trolling and lazy people that don't bother doing a little research to get all the facts.
• Big PVP guilds will accrue more points so they get to lead more often, so what?, in fact the new systems actually favors the small guilds otherwise they would very likely never accumulate enough tickets to win a siege, as the old adage says there’s always a bigger fish, zerg, or blob.

Cleaning Up

That's it for this week folks. Play hard in the Open Beta, and stay tuned for Brotherhood of the Spider's very own Clan Interview and Showcase at this week's end!



Remember, we're always accepting new members and all you have to do is follow the instructions found on this page. And don't forget to check out the Clan Registry to get a look at all the clans in one heaping mound of goodness! It's changing every week, so go take a look!



Until next time, eat well fellow Hyborians!