CoE Newsletter

thorondor
Ex Council Chairman
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Location: salzburg, austria
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i strongly suggest to send out the newsletter on a monthly basis. 2 months is quite a period, and for announcing tournaments this period will mostly likely be to large.
of course that makes it unrealistic to have every section of joe?s list covered in each newsletter. but this isn?t a must, is it?

of course there shouold always be the latest rules digests (given that chad is part of it!)
also the information on future events and tourneys.
but for all other sections it will be difficult to provide some stuff in every newsletter. even on a 2monthly basis. actually i am not sure, if this was really joe?s intention!
also don?t let?s overwhelm the readers with too much stuff! they will simply stop reading, when it gets to long.
The Newsletter would be a beautifully designed, full-color (since electronic), packed with information, card image-based and metaphorical gazette of great information.
that probably means, that we won?t be able to send out the newsletter via an egroup. but maybe i am wrong.
Jambo
Posts: 888
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 3:01 pm

I think the idea for a MECCG newsletter is superb, as are Joe's ideas for content.

If you want some fleshing out of content for months where things are light - well, why not include things like these below:

1. Card of the Day (or rather in the case of the newsletter it could be Card(s) of the Month). One or more CoE members could write an article on one or more of the many MECCG cards, as was happening on meccg.net once upon a time before it dried up. Each review could come with a score. I remember when I was getting started in MECCG, the card of the day archives (Trevor Stone's page?) were a wonderful source of information.

2. Play of the month. Someone's story of a great comeback or conversely pulling defeat from the jaws of victory (as I did very recently vs Valarauko (Alfons) ;) ). With GCCG, there should be no shortage in obtaining these.

2. Popular scenarios and / or optional rules (official and unofficial).

3. Competition(s) to encourage regular MECCG gamers to participate? Don't know if this would be worthwhile, and it may depend on whether they're able to funded with (minor) prizes, but they could take the form of producing an MECCG related article or for providing the most inventive deck, etc...

Anyway, just some ideas.
zarathustra
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 671
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:26 pm

Let's get this newsletter jumpstarted!

I volunteer to write three articles:

(1) Virtual cards at NA Champs
(2) Gollum's Grotto (cool tip)
(3) Chairman's musings ("Shall we have a new constitution?")


I'd like to see at least 5 other articles... any volunteers (choose from above, or make up your own idea)?
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Frodo
Ex Council Member
Posts: 506
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:09 am
Location: NYC, NY

Hello everyone! I think Mark’s articles are excellent, excellent; but since we don’t want a newsletter that’s just written by mark, that means we need you guys to send me some stuff, too!

What do we need? Short articles should be about 500 words (mark’s gollum’s grotto) and long articles shouldn’t push 1000 words (roughty 4 double-spaced pages in a word processor), although I’m still getting the hang of formatting the newsletter so I’m not sure what our length requirements might be. I listed the complete list of columns below, but your piece doesn’t need to fit a column. Here are some specific “shout-outs” to some of you on the list:

A) Wolfgang, can you write a short article about some aspect of Tolkien’s life?
B) Chad, do you want us to publish the COE Rules Digests in the newsletter? It would be nice to have them in “print.”
C) Jambo, how about doing something for either a play of the month or a card of the month?
D) Since we have two tourneys this month (America and… what was the other country? Sweden?) and one in September, could somebody please, please do a “Shire Calendar” for these tourneys? This isn’t a real article, but basically, you would need to find an image of a calendar for August and September (or at least the week) and fill in the spot where the tournent is starting, the full dates, location, and website for more info. I’m sure such calendar images are online somewhere. I’ll add an image of the Shire-region for flavor next to it. Please? Anybody…

Finally, I would need all articles by Tuesday August 15th, posted here and emailed directly to me at joebisz@verizon.net. This way we can get the issue out two weeks before North American Nationals. I encourage you to use hyperlinks in your articles; remember, we are partly an email format; but make sure your hyperlinks show up when you send me the document.

Thanks!
--joe

MECCG Newsletter Ideas

The Newsletter would be a beautifully designed, full-color (since electronic), packed with information, card image-based and metaphorical gazette of great information. The title for the newsletter shall be “THE RED BOOK: THE COUNCIL OF ELROND OFFICIAL MECCG NEWSLETTER.” Here's my starting ideas:

1) PIPPIN'S NEWBIE CORNER: (image: Pippin playing with palantir) This section would address newbie concerns and perhaps "teach" some basic element of the game in a paragraph or two.
2) GOLLUM'S GROTTO: TIPS&TRICKS (image: Gollum playing riddle game) This section would briefly talk about two to three advanced Meccg game “tricks” that not everyone necessarily knows about, like being able to play Marvels in the untap phase.
3) WIZARD’S VOICE: COUNCIL OF ELROND RULES DIGEST (image: wiz’s voice) Unless Chad doesn’t like this idea, we could published the COE Digest in the Newsletter, even if it’s long. Think about it: the newsletter is from the Council of Elrond, right? Well, the COE Digest is basically our only official piece of literature! It should probably be in here.
4) ????? :SAMPLE DECK LISTS TO TRY (??) Here we’ll publish one sample deck list, either “super fun” or “tournament-level”.
5) THE SHIRE SEASON: UPCOMING TOURNAMENT CALENDAR
6) MIRKWOOD PROJECTS-IN-THE-WORKS
7) HORN OF ANOR: CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR PROJECTS (image: Horns, Horns, Horns) Here we, the COE, will list a bunch of practical projects and dream projects that will serve the MECCG game and openly ask any interested players to contact us to execute said projects. We have hundreds of players playing this game, right? Well surely we can get a few dozen to do stuff like work on GCCG improvements, website stuff, Unified Rulebook, Color Underdeeps Map with Sites, etc. etc.
8) DENETHOR’S PALANTIR: THOUGHTS ON THE PLAYING FIELD (image: Use Palantir) Here some decent player will make his or her observations on decks to fear, up-and-coming-ideas, good haz play, etc.
9) ?? SIMPLIFIED RULES CORNER (image: ?) Maybe this can be combined with Newbie Corner. Basically, take a tough concept like what can be played on-guard, and break it down nice and simply. Who knows, maybe we’ll all actually learn something!
10) THE FELLOWSHIP: COMMENTS FROM COE
11) ?? TOLKIEN FACTS: Here we’ll actually present some cool info on Tolkien himself, or on the books!
12) WORMTONGUE SPEAKS: WHERE TO BUY ALL THINGS TOLKIEN (image: wormtongue) After we publish a few issues, we can apply to places and host their ads and actually make some advertising money to be applied for Worlds prizes, site maintaince, etc. I know some people feel weird about ads, but we’re not talking about website banners here. We’re talking about ONLY things relating to this card game, or anything middle-earth or tolkein-related at all, including figurines, collectibles, other strategy Tolkien games, etc. Remember that many of our readers will definitely be interested in where they can buy cool Tolkien stuff, ESPECIALLY packs of meccg boosters.

13) CARD OF THE DAY (or rather in the case of the newsletter it could be Card(s) of the Month). One or more CoE members could write an article on one or more of the many MECCG cards, as was happening on meccg.net once upon a time before it dried up. Each review could come with a score. I remember when I was getting started in MECCG, the card of the day archives (Trevor Stone's page?) were a wonderful source of information.

14) PLAY OF THE MONTH. Someone's story of a great comeback or conversely pulling defeat from the jaws of victory (as I did very recently vs Valarauko (Alfons) Wink ). With GCCG, there should be no shortage in obtaining these.

15) Popular scenarios and / or optional rules (official and unofficial).

16) Competition(s) to encourage regular MECCG gamers to participate? Don't know if this would be worthwhile, and it may depend on whether they're able to funded with (minor) prizes, but they could take the form of producing an MECCG related article or for providing the most inventive deck, etc...
zarathustra
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 671
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:26 pm

I added one section (kinda) while writing up The Fellowship: "e-letters to the editor". Dunno if anyone will write, but it's nice to let people know we're here to respond, not just dictate.
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thorondor
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 727
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:53 pm
Location: salzburg, austria
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well, it shouldn´t be that dificult for me to write "something" about tolkien. but do you think people are interested in it? of course i can try to find something in his life, that shows something about his attitude towards gaming. actually i´d like to do this, but it would need some serious research (=time). well, i will try!

@mark: great articles!!!
"e-letters to the editor"
good idea!

what about something about the world championship in barcelona?

i am not sure, if i got this right: all the articles will be part of the newsletter. thre won´t be any links to a homepage, where the article is visible. correct?
or is it similar to the newsletter, which is sent out by the guild companion? (in case you dont know this, please tell me and i will send you the most recent newsletter).

fianlly: i think, what we are talking about right now, is more than just a newsletter. in my understanding a newsletter tells people just some infos about the most recent activities and hints at some infos in the net, that are worth being mentioned.
what we are talking about is rather a journal. there will be articles in it, that will still be of interest a few years later.
so it would be cool, if all the issues of the newsletter/journal will be available at the COE homepage.
zarathustra
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 671
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:26 pm

We could publish the first journal without citing the writers, if it looks bad that I've written most of the articles... :?

Wolfgang: do you want to write a tourney report from Barcelona instead of something about THE BIG MAN? ;)

I think we're still figuring out exactly how this thing will be published. Joe has done some brilliant work formatting the thing into columns with graphics etc. He can probably tell you best what it will look like in the end.

I think it would be great if all issues of the newsletter or journal or whatever-it-is remain available on the web indefinitely. Oh, Dain........ ;)
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thorondor
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 727
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:53 pm
Location: salzburg, austria
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zarathustra wrote: Wolfgang: do you want to write a tourney report from Barcelona instead of something about THE BIG MAN? ;)
well, that would end in a 5 pages report how i was able to beat the ruling world champ in a drinking game, and thus became the real world champ ;-))

hmm, i was thinking of writing a tourney report anyway. something different than the existing reports, that focus on the main event. but i was so busy after worlds here at works. today is the first day since then, that i found some time to be a little bit active again and raise my count of postings here ;-)

but i really like the idea of trying to find out, what tolkien would think about all this gaming stuff nowadays. i need to write something for the journal of the austrian tolkien society anyway, so i might serve two purposes with this ;-)
Jambo
Posts: 888
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 3:01 pm

Joe, maybe you can count me in for the next newsletter for a play of the month or card of the day. Life's pretty hectic over the next 3 weeks!

Cheers
Frodo
Ex Council Member
Posts: 506
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:09 am
Location: NYC, NY

Great, Jambo! Remember that a card of the day post does not need to be that long at all.

Wolfgang--Tolkien's attitude towards gaming would be great, but remember that many people are in this game because of Tolkien himself, and there are plenty of aspects of his life that we would be interested in. For instance, how did he look at the value of the imagination, or morality, particularly compared to his friend CS Lewis? Where did he even GET the ideas for the Hobbit, etc.? How did his war experiences reflect in the book--factually, and also your speculation? Etc. etc. etc.... you could really do anything, but it would be nice if most of it related to the books in some way. Makes sense? How about a teaser?? (You can write the game one later.)

Good news--Jon Yost just wrote an article on "take-backs" in meccg and the culture of cheating in other ccg games. It's pretty good. That's one more!

The newsletter should DEFINITELY be hosted somewhere, perhaps on meccg.net and also the Council of Elrond page. Mark, I'll need an URL for the main COE newsletter page that I can include in the newsletter for more information. Is it true that newsletters are usually short? I see this one as being at least 8 pages (single-spaced). Does that make it a journal, or something else?

I STILL NEED SOMEONE TO DO THE CALENDAR!

Frodo (joe)
thorondor
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 727
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:53 pm
Location: salzburg, austria
Contact:

makes sense definately, joe! maybe i underestimated the average MECCG player. i will think of something and let you know soon.

by the way: i think it´s okay to do some advertising for companies, that are closely connected with tolkiens works. people won´t mind this, on the contrary: they might find it useful.
Frodo
Ex Council Member
Posts: 506
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:09 am
Location: NYC, NY

I was just studying James Kight's last newsletter, available as a PDF online. It was FIFTY-FOUR PAGES long!! And he called it a "newsletter."

Now, about 22 pages of that was a CRITICAL ARTICLE on Tolkien and the Sinwar/Tengwar language (spelled that wrong). I actually think that was way too long for a newsletter.

Frodo
jhunholz
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 206
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:24 pm

Here's the MECCG Council Newsletter for this month. It is 18MB, but it's quite good! Newsletter
zarathustra
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 671
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:26 pm

Is this thread public?...
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thorondor
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 727
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:53 pm
Location: salzburg, austria
Contact:

some first commetns to the first isue of the COE newsletter from my side:

first an most important: it´s great!! i really happy, that this thing finally became reality.
now i few things i noticed during reading:
-) was there no other way than splitting the articles from page 1 and 3?? also it would have been good to note att he end of page 1, that the articles will continue on page 3. i was very puzzled, because i thought of some mistake first.
-) i am missing my tourney report about worlds. well, i am not that proud of it and i canlive quite good without having it in this newsletter, but i was working on it till 4.30 in the morning last wednesday just to have it finished right in time. so this sleepless night was in vain? or was there some other problem, so it couldn´t have been part of this issue?
-) the pdf really looks fine. but it takes a long time to load on not so up to date computers. also it doesn´t work to click on links. and since hyperlinks are used, even copy/past is not possible. and will pdf work in an egroup?
-) it has advantages to send out only the link to the place, where the newsletter is posted. so we could correct a few things afterwards. for example there is this picture (persuasive words) covering parts of jonathan yosts article. also i am missing a contact address for swiss nationals and a link to gencon.
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