[exit] 
A history of torment…
7/7/97 (Clan Cthulhu) "Distant shores." As you may know, John Guthrie (aka, Choryoth, a "Charter Member" of Clan Cthulhu - one of the "Initial Five") is now doing some excellently cool work at VALVE software, designing levels for their new Quake-engine title Half-Life -- which is due this fall. John served CC well (and still serves, when he has the time), administering some fine ass-kickings with his T1 access way back when. When I asked him about anything Lovecraft-related in Half-Life he had this to say: "Nothing Cthulhu related in Half-Life. It's generic sci-fi, lots of monsters trying to kick your ass, etc, etc. It's gonna be a hoot!" Perhaps Cthulhu can send a few vague dreams the way of the programmers to change all that… ;-) 6/9/97 (Clan Cthulhu) "Never mind." CC is still chugging along. Haven't heard much from anyone (Juha aside) -- even the charter members. This is understandable. The massive Quake-wave has subsided, but still going strong, crashing on the shores of strange lands these days. Remember how it was a mere 12 months ago? The activity was overwhelming, and I'm thankful I had no life at the time to interfere with my passion for this monumental game. Nowadays, life sucks. Career searches are horribly difficult if you can't shake your desire to play computer games for hours on end. Oh, well. Quake on! And hope that Cthulhu overlooks your meddlings… CC memo:
That is all… 4/23/97 (Clan Cthulhu) "Land for sale…" Clan Cthulhu is up for sale/lease/grabs. Control is lost. Responsibility replicates at a seemingly exponential rate. World fading… the power of goodness closing in. Shub-Niggurath again stirs… Yog-Sothoth swirls in madness at the center of the galaxy… and through it all, Cthulhu sleeps… To the clan member who can, Cthulhu calls you, to assume any and all duties heretofore placed upon me by the Great God Cthulhu. You shall have complete control, creative and otherwise. You will rule… you will take the Clan where it must go… into the future. If you feel the need, take this clan from my grasp, and run with it… e-mail me… you have my complete blessing.* To summarize… CC needs:
That is all… *Of course, I wish to remain a member, as well as retain my status as the "First Founder." 3/9/97 (Clan Cthulhu) An apology… …to all those potential minions lost in the chaos. I have managed to narrow down the "field" of this chaos, and it encompasses roughly the entire month of December (1996), and patches of January (1997). I will not bore you with technical details, considering I have no idea (really) what caused my techno-nightmare. Mere hours after flashing my trusty, battle-scarred Courier V.Everything (external) to the new X2 56k standard, I was at CompUSA buying a Sportster X2 56k (internal). Why you ask? Well, either my serial ports are fried, or my Courier's serial connector is on it's way out (the modem is an oldie, circa 1992, but think of it… still upgradable via FlashROM even today - went from 16.8 to 28.8 to 33.6 to 56k… what a great modem! U.S. Robotics rules!). Anyhow, I must say the internal modem rocks. I feel better now, but I miss those ever-so-informative status lights from the front of my old modem. They really make a huge difference in deathmatch when a "big lag" hits… with a simple glance, you can tell by the style of flashes and flickers whether it's your ISP or the distant server having a hiccup. But I'm digressing. If anyone who applied for membership during the period I just mentioned is still interested, just send me an e-mail. The Site Site revisions are coming along nicely. I found out today that whilst my ISP was fucking me over (see 2/17/97, below) someone assumed Clan Cthulhu was dead and formed a new clan called… Clan Cthulhu. This wasn't a malicious act, nor even a negative one. But it makes it clear to me that weekly, if not bi-daily updates are necessary here. Thorancal is helping with this, too. He's setting up a dedicated CC "battle page;" he's one of the more active kick-ass members of Clan Cthulhu, and he plans to keep track of challenges/battles, etc., with his page. You'll be able to link to it from the CC front page, or bookmark it and hit it directly. The Member Directory is revised. With 60+ members I had to streamline the thing. It is compact, and as Clan Cthulhu diversifies and starts delegating authority more effectively, it will become quite indispensable. However, I will only be performing updates to the directory the first weekend of each month. But - if I find myself with a free moment or two, and I have revisions/adds to make, I'll do them. I also revised the Clan Cthulhu Information section to reflect current trends and happenings in the world of Quake and Clan Cthulhu. The ClanRing controls should now work properly. The ClanRing changed ISPs again! To summarize… CC needs:
That is all… 2/17/97 (Clan Cthulhu) Quaking with Maturity Had a bit of a scare in the last two weeks. Netwrx (my current ISP) had a major crash. It took several days to fix. Then this ludicrous debacle ensued: To: All Netwrx Personal Accounts We are re-organizing the web server that houses all of the web pages for Personal Dial-up accounts. If you have a personal home page, your new address as of this weekend will be: http://www.netwrx.net/personal-pages/username. "Okay, then," I said. "I have a hell of a chore ahead of me. Gotta go updating URLs all over the 'net now." At first, I attempted to persuade the Netwrx guys to allow me to retain my old URL. They wouldn't do it. Then I lobbied for the placement of a small -- but stylish -- redirection image/link at my old URL. No dice. So I wade off into the molasses soup the 'net has become to start changing links. About six hours later, after a hellish tour of search engines and other sites, I checked my e-mail. I received this: <snip> Nonetheless, many of our personal users were upset by this change, and it is our hope that we can achieve some kind of a compromise. Towards this end, instead of using the address http://www.netwrx.net/personal-pages/username, we will now be pointing personal web pages to http://personal.netwrx.net/username. We hope that this change will be more acceptable to our customers. I'm not sure why this "change" was considered any less of an inconvenience than the first change. Regardless, about four hours of my day were lost, never to be retrieved. So I wasted about four more trying to undo what I had just done, and in a rage, called Netwrx again. My complaints - ever so realistic in their tone - seemed to work. I got Netwrx to allow me to retain my original URL - they're still using the new URL structure, but they've implanted a redirection that will allow my old URL to continue functioning. Very irksome, indeed. Our saga continues, however. Wading through some e-mail, I found this gem: As of this writing, please remove me from the Clan Cthulhu affiliation. I was really looking forward to my association with your Clan, but as it does not appear to be a fully active Clan at this time, which is what I wanted, I will be starting my own clan with a couple of friends. Fine with me. The more clans the better. Then I got this classic piece of prose (it's a bit long, but worth the read): I will no longer be affiliating myself with what YOU call a clan. Ignoring those of us that have done nothing but offer our assistance, so you can have more time to do whatever it is you, do is not acceptable… far too many people coming into the clan channel… bitching and complaining about your lack of attentiveness concerning answering clan challenges, general questions, and even a few that asked me why their applications were never answered. It's too bad that a clan that seemed to be so "together" has ended up in a shambles due to your obvious inadequacies as a leader. I have also been corresponding with Stomped… and numerous other Quake affiliated sites and the general consensus is that no-one will even be paying any attention to the clan designation of CC_ whatsoever anymore. I would suggest not even bothering with the clan anymore due to the fact that no-one will be taking anything you say/do seriously anymore (in the Quake world anyway). The next step is getting in contact with the ClanRing guys and have you permanently removed from the ring, people like you should obviously not be involved in something they obviously can't handle. In closing, I have requested that ClanNet remove the clan channel, and essentially "garbage can" anything even remotely associated with Cthulhu clan. Hmmmm. So much to debate here. So much in fact that I won't even attempt it. Now for some important stuff: Since it seems the point of self-appointing cabinet members was lost over the past month, let me reiterate: got something you want to do for Clan Cthulhu? Then do it, but make sure you want to do it, and will have fun doing it. Otherwise, simply don't bother. Unless you are having fun maintaining a CC-related web-site or "feature" it will simply become a chore. I have already given approval for the creation of CC sub-clans catering to the truly hyperactive members of CC. I have received no updates on this of late (these sub-clans will have their own web-sites maintained by their respective founders, linked closely with the main CC site). Here's a thought: anyone who wants to, set up a "battle page" on your own web site. Send me the URL and I'll add all the links in at the main site. I think it would be cool if there were multiple battle pages/schedules, linked into a sort of mini-ring. If you think this will help boost the activity level of the clan, do it. Additionally, if you feel you can handle it, I will add a prominent e-mail link to you from the CC web page. That way, other members can contact you with concerns and questions - and Cthulhu knows, I certainly haven't been doing a good job at keeping in touch… Now, to a sticking point - the member directory. This has become a major issue with some of you - as if your life depended on being listed in it. This sort of mania reminds me of that scene in The Jerk where Steve Martin's existence is validated by having his name listed in the phone book. "I'm somebody!" Just chill out - that member page is a total hassle. Lots of people joining, lots of people leaving, lots of changes, etc. It's a hard file to maintain when you're forced to update it every day (and in fact, I'm thinking of streamlining it to contain only essential data, like handles, e-mail/web addresses, and QuakeWorld ID's - it is simply too big). So what have we learned? Well, we've learned that Clan Cthulhu now has someone openly crusading against it (see the putrid green text above). We've learned that some people have way too much time on their hands and have no understanding at all, of anything, at any given moment. We have also learned that Clan Cthulhu is only as strong and as powerful as its members make it - I am not a role model - I am not a leader - I am the First Founder of Cthulhu, and for all intents and purposes I lay "dead but dreaming" at the bottom of the ocean of life. Perhaps, in the future, I will rise again, and actually get to play a few bloody games, but until that moment, these "dreams" that I send you will have to suffice. To summarize… CC needs:
That is all… 1/2/97 (Clan Cthulhu) QuakeWorld User ID List If you're participating in QuakeWorld (whether you hate it or love it) I need your user number - I'm going to be adding this information to the member directory page. E-mail me with the numbers. To summarize… CC needs:
12/23/96 (Clan Cthulhu) First off, Clan Cthulhu is not dead, nor is it inactive. Anyone who applied for membership about a month ago… I lost my entire Win95 directory, which also happened to house my e-mail program (and all of my "saved" e-mail from the past two years). Consequently, if you have not shown up in the member directory, and you received confirmation from me that you were accepted into the clan, chances are your data has been lost. I know for a fact there were at least 8 people who got lost in this Win95 debacle. Secondly, I am in the process of recompiling my e-mail address book, the lack of which has made a clan-wide update almost impossible (or at least, too time-consuming to embark upon). This CC News page will have to do for now. So the upshot is this: if you have not appeared in the member directory, and you know you've been accepted, please send me a new list of member information (and a copy of the original CC acceptance e-mail if you still have it - I don't want any enemy agents infiltrating our ranks). I'll be straightening this all out as soon as I can. Anyone else who has applied within the last three weeks, fear not; I still have your applications and info, and I'll be adding it in as soon as it's feasible to do so. Please understand -- I can't keep making little changes as they happen - I have to wait until the revision to the member list is large enough that I don't end up wasting time. Sorry. The woes of a large clan… Clan Cthulhu difficulties… I recently got a pretty cool job as a digital artist - and all of my time has been spent on making an effort to keep it. I've gotten a few e-mails from (now ex-) CC members that seemed to subtly suggest that unless I am always online and in an IRC session arranging Clan Wars, I am not doing my job as a "Clan Leader." Sorry - but, I seem to be afflicted with a life. However, this is a problem, so I am suggesting the election of Clan Cthulhu officers - to take "pressure" off of myself, and also serve the CC member base more effectively. If anyone is interested in these posts, please e-mail me. This is a first-come, first-served sort of thing. You think up the position -- I'm not looking for qualifications - just a desire to have fun doing something CC-related. I will continue to update this site and stay on top of any CC News, while others perhaps can arrange Clan Wars, or generally take command of the CC ranks "in the field" (where I haven't been able to be for some time now). And just so you don't worry about CC dying - there's a wee bit of good news: I now have full access to my web-site from my "art dungeon" here in the basement at the office (I now consider myself the Fox Mulder of digital artistry). This means I can utilize non-busy moments to do site maintenance. Things should improve steadily from here on out… Other news… It seems the Clan Cthulhu skin contained in the QuakeWorld release has pleased quite a few people. Membership applications have flooded in. Good job, Matt! Your artistic skills are top-o-the-class, sir! Clan Cthulhu is now registered in the Prefix/Suffix database at the ClanRing site. I did this a long time ago when the guys who were originally compiling this list e-mailed all the Clans for their data. I think CC's info got lost in the e-mail shuffle that ensued - which is why we were not listed in there. Note: there are at least two other clans using "CC_" as a prefix - I have designated our "CC_" as a colored text set. So, what I need from any clan member who knows how to do it is a way to color our names within Quake. The "CC_" should be an orange hue. I should probably know how to do this by now, but… To summarize… CC needs:
That is all… 09/08/96 (Clan Cthulhu) Clan Cthulhu lost 15 to -6 (negative) today in ClanRing competition to the Brotherhood of Chaos.
It wasn't an ideal start to the season for Clan Cthulhu. They will claim that the match should have been played on Saturday, the 7th - and that it was cruelly moved to Sunday, the 8th. The team that had been assembled on Saturday (Choryoth [T1], Download [28.8], Leonidas [28.8], and Uluhtc [T1]) could not all make it on Sunday. Most notably absent was Choryoth (T1), away on international duty (known as CC's star player, Choryoth was obtained a month ago on waivers from the Rangers 2040 clan); his presence was sorely needed. The ping for the day was abysmal, especially for Clan Cthulhu, relegated to 28.8 connections. The location was The Abandoned Base. A slew of roster mishaps then led to a two-on-two match which played more like 2-on-½, the '2' being Brotherhood of Chaos, who seemed to have much better ping, and managed several quality kills. Uluhtc (28.8 for the match, normally a T1) of Clan Cthulhu, when not getting disconnected, made a valiant attempt to play but lag made him a sitting duck, leading one member of Brotherhood of Chaos to remark "Who's just standing there?" Download (28.8), the founder of Clan Cthulhu, fared better in open spaces and non-combat movement, but lag often sent him to his doom when the action started. Any kills he made were often nullified moments later when he suddenly found himself across the room, in water, frying himself with the Thunderbolt. Clan Cthulhu will not be pleased with this result, especially considering a very low-ping team of four had been present the previous day only to have their match canceled due to "technical difficulties." (Reuters) |