Battlefield 1 New Operation Campaign Released, Campaign Issue Sorted
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01.23.2020 01:00:10
Those still playing Battlefield 1, DICE has released a Battlefield 1 new Operation Campaign! Titled Blood and Sand, this will run until April 23, 2020, and wil have players fighting across five maps.
This campaign consists of the Oil of Empires Operation from the base game and the Gallipoli Operation introduced in Battlefield 1 Turning Tides. In other words, you’ll be fighting on Cape Helles, Achi Baba, Fao Fortress, Suez, and Sinai Desert – and the links we just dropped lead to in-depth articles on each map.
Those not familiar with Operation Campaign, it’s essentially several Operations combined into one. Completing Operation Campaigns will earn players Battlepacks, and include weapon cosmetic items, puzzle piecs for those rare melee weapons and lots more.
Also of note, Battlefield Producer Jaqub Ajmal announced that a campaign progression issue has finally been sorted too!
BATTLEFIELD 1 – Operation Campaign – Blood and Sand is now live, and the issue with the campaign progression has been sorted. pic.twitter.com/Be1S3LqbQ8
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01.22.2020 14:00:10 According to its developers, Valve's much-anticipated VR spin-off, Half-Life: Alyx is being polished and bug fixed, and is playable in its entirety – and they really don't think it'll be delayed, no matter what you've heard about the dreaded 'Valve Time'.
Speaking in a Reddit AMA, an official account wrote:
"With the exception of some tweaks to the absolute final scene, the game is done. Lots of us at Valve, as well as playtesters, have played through the entire game multiple times.
"Right now we're primarily polishing and fixing bugs, which is where we'd hope to be at this point in the development cycle. We're confident we'll hit our intended release. (We let the Valve Time happen before we announced the game.)"
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One user went on to ask if gameplay videos would be released before HL:A's March 2020 launch, to which the team replied:
"Yes, it's our plan to release gameplay videos in the leadup to launch. Our intention is to use these to showcase not just gameplay elements, but also VR-specific elements like different movement options."
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We don't know a great deal about the game beyiond what was shown in the reveal trailer (above). However, we do know that it will be single-player only, that it takes place between Half-Life 1 and 2, and that it's about the length of Half-Life 2.
That's been enough to sell a lot of people on the game anyway - Valve's Index VR headset is sold out in every region it's sold in, bar one. You can get up to speed with the story pretty easily right now, as the entire Half-Life Collection is currently free.
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Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK Deputy Editor, and the original Valve logo still haunts him a bit. Follow him on Twitter.
Valve Responds to Half-Life: Alyx Voice Actor Change
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01.22.2020 14:00:10 Valve has responded to fan questions about why the voice actor for Alyx Vance was recast for upcoming VR game Half-Life: Alyx, stating that the studio was looking for a “different direction”.
Discussing the game on Reddit as part of a Half-Life: Alyx AMA, Valve said “We worked with Merle [Dandridge] at the beginning of HL:A development, but in the end, felt we wanted to go in a different direction. We love Merle, her work in Half-Life 2 was instrumental in bringing Alyx to life, and we hope to work with her again in the future.”
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Mere Dandridge voiced Alyx Vance, Gordon Freeman’s key companion, in Half-Life 2 and its two episodic expansions. As the only person to voice the character, Dandridge’s vocals have become iconic for one of the most recognizable women in games. As such, many players were disappointed to learn that she won’t be reprising the role for Half-Life: Alyx, in which Vance is the protagonist.
Valve has offered no further explanation beyond this, which has left many people in the Reddit thread frustrated. It is currently unclear why Valve wished to go in a different direction, or even what that direction is. Theories tend to land around the idea of Valve wanting a younger voice as Half-Life: Alyx is a prequel and thus features a younger Alyx, but without further comment from Valve it is unclear as to the studio’s intentions.
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Alyx will this time be played by Ozioma Akagha. Her father, Eli Vance, has also been recast, with James Moses Black stepping into Robert Guillaume’s role. This change, however, is due to Guillaume having passed away.
During the AMA the developers also confirmed that Half-Life: Alyx is "done", and that the team are confident that it will release this March. Hopefully that's not another game on the delay pile, then.
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Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter.
Half-Life might be going free-to-play until the launch of Half-Life: Alyx
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01.22.2020 13:00:09 Some Steam users received a notification yesterday that advertised a Half-Life: Alyx event before vanishing. The notification claimed that the Half-Life Collection would be free until the launch of the VR spin-off, except there is no such thing as the Half-Life Collection, and right now all the Half-Life games have prices.
Techland has released a new Dying Light patch today, and it’s now live (dead?). Players will see this as Dying Light update 1.23 or 1.21 depending on the region you’rein, and it includes a bunch of fixes, and no new content. Clocking in at a hefty 7GB, check out the Dying Light update today patch notes below.
Dying Light update today patch notes:
Fixed crashing issues.
Fixed framerate drop issues
Added performance and stability improvements.
Various under the hood fixes.
And that’s basically it. If you’re wondering why these fixes total 7GB to download, we’re wondering the same thing. Could this include content for an upcoming event? Perhaps. Or maybe there’s a hidden demo for Dying Light 2 in it for Dying Light owners? I highly doubt that.
If we get more news regarding this update and whether it has gameplay changes, we’ll update the post.
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01.22.2020 07:00:10 BY JOHN SANTINA: Many console gamers cite the cost of building a gaming PC as a prime reason for sticking with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendos hardware. Yes, building a PC, or buying one pre-built, is an expensive initial outlay, but the cost of games is factored into the mix, grey starts to emerge from the clear-cut black and white argument.
The full version of The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters is coming to Steam and GOG on January 28th, 2020
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01.21.2020 22:00:10 Headup and Devespresso Games are pleased to announce the full release of "The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters", an atmospheric, story-driven Korean survival horror game on Steam and GOG for PC, Mac and Linux on January 28th.
Get These Gaming Monitors for the Best PC Gaming Experience
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01.21.2020 17:00:10 Shopping for a gaming monitor used to be a simple affair. At one point every monitor was just rectangular-shaped and ran at 60Hz, so it was just a question of how big of a monitor could you afford and whether you wanted a 1440p display to be extra fancy. Those days are long gone now though.
Today there are almost too many options when looking for a gaming monitor. Now you've got displays that offer high refresh rate, Nvidia G-Sync or AMD FreeSync, 4K resolution, and high-dynamic-range (HDR) as basic features. It's a lot to figure out, and that's without mentioning curved gaming monitors or ultrawide displays, but I’m here to help.
IGN has reviewed a smorgasbord of gaming monitors, and with that data, I’ve created this list containing only the top-scoring monitors from each category for your easy consumption. Whether you’re looking for a 4K HDR screen to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in all its glory or a 240Hz display to help you win in Apex Legends, you’ll find the right gaming monitor for you here.
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While consoles have caught up with 4K HDR gaming one thing PC gaming simply does better is support for ultrawide gaming monitors. We think a 21:9 aspect ratio—or wider—is the best type of screen for PC gaming and the MSI Optix MPG341CQR (read our review) is the clear winner here. This 34-inch display offers up an enrapturing 3,440 x 1,440 resolution that wraps around you. Better yet you also get a 144Hz experience and the response time of this panel is 4ms, making it a tiny bit faster than your average IPS display.
It also supports HDR, albeit with only a 400-nit peak brightness and 8-bit color, so it's not the absolute best high-dynamic range experience you'll find out there. But for $800 this ultrawide gaming monitor offers a lot with one of the best-looking displays around plus plenty of ports to connect a variety of devices including a USB Type-C for your gaming laptop and gaming phones.
The Acer Predator XB273K (read our review) is essentially the semi-HDR version of its older sibling, the Acer Predator X27. While it doesn’t hit a 1,000-nit peak brightness or feature Quantum Dot technology, it also doesn’t cost $2,000. Nope, instead, the Acer Predator XB273K is a refined 27-inch, 4K gaming monitor designed to give you the sharpest 144Hz gaming experience for a little more than a grand.
This monitor still meets the HDR400 specification (up to a 400-nit peak brightness), so it's still a bit brighter than your typical gaming monitor. Colors are also on-point. The Acer Predator XB273K can tap into 100% of the sRGB and 90% of the DCI-P3 color spectrum. Just know that to get the best colors out of this display, you’ll have to select 98Hz as your maximum refresh rate due to the bandwidth limitations of the DisplayPort 1.4 standard.
3. LG 27GL850 UltraGear
Best 1440p Gaming Monitor
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The LG 27GL850 UltraGear is one of the best all-around gaming monitors available right now. It's gorgeous Nano IPS panel resolves a 2,560 x 1,440 picture that's perfectly sharp for its 27-inch screen size. What's more the image is bright at 350-nits and richly colored thanks to its support for 10-bit color, which when put together makes this screen HDR10 ready.
Better yet the LG 27GL850 UltraGear delivers a 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time, so it overcomes the usual pitfalls of an IPS display. Lastly, this gaming monitor supports both FreeSync and G-Sync, so you'll get a smooth tear-free experience with any gaming PC or gaming laptop.
It might seem strange that people are still buying 1080p gaming monitors when 4K gaming is all the rage, but this old-school resolution still has something to offer. The best Full HD gaming monitors these days offer are still useful for attaining ridiculously high frame rates and they're just starting to support HDR picture modes.
The Alienware 27 Gaming Monitor is a perfect example of what you can get from a modern day 1080p gaming monitor. It features a "Fast IPS" panel that achieves a quick 1ms response time while delivering the wide viewing angles and rich color accuracy you'd expect from this type of display technology. To sweeten this deal even more, the Alienware 27 Gaming Monitor supports both FreeSync and G-Sync.
AOC has been building solid budget-range monitors for years and the AOC C27G1 Curved Gaming Monitor (read our review) is one of its best offerings yet. This monitor’s 27-inch curved panel serves up a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution with a 144Hz refresh rate, and AMD FreeSync to eliminate screen tearing. As it uses an excellent Vertical Alignment (VA) panel you can expect a balanced experience with great colors and quick response time.
The only thing I find a little lacking is it’s a bit dimmer than other monitors—brightness maxes out at only 250-nits. But its shortcomings are easy to overlook thanks to this monitor's sub $300 sticker price and pretty great specs. The AOC C27G1 isn’t going to blow your mind, but it’s an affordable gaming monitor that all PC gamers should consider.
6. Viotek GFT27D
Best Budget 1440p Gaming Monitor
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The Viotek GFT27DB (read our review) is the perfect cheap monitor to go with if you want a 1440p that'll stick to your budget. Priced at just $300, this QHD monitor also delivers a 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time (with Overdrive) thanks to its TN panel. Colors and contrast on this display are surprisingly not half bad despite its TN panel.
It also supports FreeSync for the Xbox One S and Xbox One X. as well as AMD-powered gaming PCs and gaming laptops. What's more, I can confirm that the Viotek GFT27DB is G-Sync Compatible even if it technically isn't on the list of supported gaming monitors.
7. Acer Nitro XV273K
Best Budget 4K Gaming Monitor
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The Acer Nitro XV273K (read our review) is one of the few 4K gaming monitors you can find for less than a grand and what a gaming monitor it is. It's tack sharp with a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution and it meets the HDR 400 specification to produce colors that pop and inky blacks.
Just be sure to game with HDR enabled on this gaming monitor as colors and grays can look dull in standard dynamic range mode. Overall, this is a great 4K gaming monitor that costs only $900.
If you want a monitor larger than 27-inches, you should start looking at curved gaming monitors. Curved gaming monitors like the 32-inch AOC AG322QC4 (read our review) are a bit easier on the eyes. Rather than having to keep looking away to the edges of a large screen, they come to you as a curved screen is designed to wrap itself around your peripheral vision.
Beyond the novelty of its curved panel, the AOC AG322QC4 is one of the best displays I’ve seen. It offers up a QHD (2,560 x 1,400) resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, and FreeSync2 HDR support. There’s also a decent selection of ports here including two DisplayPort 1.2, two HDMI 2.0, and one VGA—just know that only the HDMI ports support HDR. Not too shabby overall for a monitor that costs less than $600.
9. Samsung CRG90 Curved Gaming Monitor
Best Super Ultrawide Gaming Monitor
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Samsung was the first to market with a super ultrawide curved gaming monitor and while there've been plenty of copycats, it still leads the market. The Samsung CRG90 is a step up over all the other 49-inch ultrawide monitor thanks to its 5,120 x 1,440 resolution, which essentially gives you two QHD ultrawide monitors packed into a single display. What's more, this 32:9 screen offers up a 120Hz refresh rate and 600-nit peak brightness, making it uniquely qualified for HDR gaming thanks to its use of Quantum Dot technology.
It caters to productivity as much as gaming as the screen can act as two completely separate Full HD displays for two different systems. Alternatively, you could have the majority of the screen act as a 21:9 display for games and movies, while reserving the rest of the monitor for work or email.
Ever since 4K gaming came onto the scene people have been waiting for the "next level" of performance, and the Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ (read our review) is it. It was the first monitors to combine a 4K resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, G-Sync, and HDR up to an insane peak brightness of 1,000nits. Under the hood, it uses a 27-inch vertical alignment panel enhanced with quantum dots and 384 individual backlight zones. It is the Holy Grail of gaming monitors (for Nvidia GPU owners, at least).
There are some drawbacks though, namely with its $2,000 price. Secondly, it can’t do everything it promises at 144Hz because DisplayPort can’t handle the combined load of 4K resolution and 10-bit HDR color streaming at 144Hz. Expect to drop down your refresh rate to 98Hz for the true HDR experience. If you find the Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ’s starship aesthetic a little overbearing, you may want to consider the more practical-looking Acer Predator X27, which offers all the same specs, plus slightly better colors and an included display hood.
Variable refresh rate technology makes modern PC gaming smoother, and if you have an Nvidia graphics card you really should take advantage of it with a G-Sync display. And while you’re doing that why not get one of the biggest, baddest G-Sync Gaming Monitors around, the Acer Predator XB321HK (read our review)? This 32-inch display produces a 3,840 x 2,160 picture with a silky-smooth 60Hz refresh rate, assuming you have a GPU beefy enough to do so.
The Acer Predator XB321HK doesn’t offer many other special features and it maxes out at only 300-nits, so it’s as basic as standard-dynamic range monitors go. The good news is though, you can get this big 32-inch, 4K monitor for about $800, which is not too bad considering the size and resolution of the screen.
The Gigabyte Aorus AD27QD Tactical Gaming Display (read our review) is one of the latest monitors that support FreeSync. This 27-inch, 2,560 x 1,440 display isn’t quite as sharp as our pick for the best Nvidia G-Sync gaming monitor, but it supports HDR with a maximum brightness of 400-nits. It also refreshes up to 144Hz, though, you'll have to drop your frame rate down to 120 fps if you want the best 10-bit HDR colors. It also happens to be a little cheaper than the Acer Predator XB321HK at $570.
The Gigabyte Aorus AD27QD also offers a few gaming-specific features such as being able to enable an on-screen crosshair. Alternatively, the monitor can add an overlay to display your frame rate, CPU or GPU frequency, and the processor temperature (you'll need a Gigabyte motherboard to enable the last one). This gaming monitor also features a built-in microphone to power its active noise-cancellation technology, which can remove the sound of your PC fans or you clacking away on your gaming keyboard while you speak over team chat.
13. Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ
Best G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitor
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The days of having to choose between G-Sync or FreeSync are coming to a close thanks to G-Sync compatible gaming monitors and the best of them is the Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ. Whether you're plugging in an Nvidia- or AMD-powered gaming PC or even an Xbox One console, you'll be able to enjoy the silky smooth gameplay you can only get through variable frame rate display such as this.
Of course, it also helps the Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ delivers an amazing QHD gaming experience all on its own. You get perfectly accurate colors from this gaming monitor thanks to its IPS panel, which is a cut above most with a 155Hz refresh rate 4ms response time. This display also offers HDR10 support, but don't expect the effect to be that strong given peak brightness is rated at 350-nits and color support is only 8-bit.
Those playing twitchy shooters like Overwatch, click-heavy arena battle games, and other Esports games are best played on high-refresh rate monitors and there’s almost nothing faster than the Gigabyte Aorus KD25F (read our review). Offering a blisteringly fast 240Hz refresh rate, this 24.5-inch monitor focuses on being as responsive as possible with a 0.5ms response time.
Sure its 1,920 x 1,080 resolution panel seems a bit pedestrian compared to the other 1440p and 2160p models I’ve picked out, but Full HD looks plenty sharp on a monitor this small. It’s also pretty affordable considering this display renders a bright picture with exceptional contrast, and it even certified as a G-Sync Compatible gaming monitor, so it'll give you a tear-free experience no matter which graphics card you have.
Although the HP Omen X Emperium 65 (read our review) is technically a gaming monitor, it’s actually a 65-inch gaming TV that costs $5,000. It’s terribly expensive, but for your money, you get a fully loaded 4K gaming display with full support for HDR, G-Sync, up to a 144Hz frame rate, along with an integrated Nvidia Shield – so it can act as a standalone SmartTV. It even comes with a massive soundbar, which can simulate the wide dynamic range of a multi-speaker sound system.
This oversized, full-featured display is pretty much the end-all, be-all of gaming monitors. If you have the scratch to afford the HP Omen X Emperium 65, there isn’t another gaming monitor as awesome as this.
What's next for gaming monitors
Just when we though gaming monitors couldn't get any faster than 240Hz, two 300Hz gaming laptops announced at IFA 2019 including the Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701 and Acer Predator Triton 500. We can't imagine desktop PC gamers will take this lying down for very long, so it's probably safe to assume we can expect a 300Hz gaming monitor will be announced in due time.
300Hz gaming monitors might seem even more ridiculous than 240Hz display, but they have their uses. The even faster refresh rare will make every frame of action look completely crisp without any bit of motion blur whatsoever.
What to look for in a gaming monitor
Below I go over the three essential things you should consider before buying a gaming monitor including screen size, resolution, and aspect ratio. I’ve also briefly explained a few of the more technical aspects of computer display such as panel types, refresh rate, and the variable refresh rate technologies available today.
Screen size: “How big?” Will probably be the first thing you’ll ask yourself when you go about buying a gaming monitor, and the answer really comes down to your unique situation. Are you in a tiny dorm with barely any room or are you looking to get a 43-inch gaming monitor to replace your TV?
How you answer that question will ultimately determine the display size you need. But if you’re looking for some basic guidelines on screen sizes, 24- to 27-inch gaming monitors will satisfy most gamers. Those looking for a more immersive experience might be interested in a 32-inch or larger screen. As with most things, gaming monitors will usually become more expensive as you go up in size, so think with your budget as much as your ambition.
Aspect ratio: The aspect ratio of your monitor is closely related to its size because it determines which form factor your display will have. The majority of monitors fall into the widescreen category with their 16:9 aspect ratio. Ultrawide displays have been rising in popularity recently and these screens often feature the 21:9 aspect ratio you would typically see at the movie theater. If you can believe it modern gaming monitors have only been getting even wider and there’s a growing crop of 32:9 displays as well.
Screen resolution: This determines how sharp your gaming monitor will be and, for the most part, there are three choices: Full HD (1,920 x 1,080), Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440), and Ultra HD or 4K (3,840 x 2,160). Like screen size, as the numbers go up so does the price, plus they'll require a higher-end graphics card if you hope to maintain a high frame rate.
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Panel type: Although most monitors might look the same on the surface, there are a few different panel types that offer specific benefits and shortcomings. Twisted Nematic (TN) panels are the most basic and common panel you’ll come across as they deliver the fastest response times of 1ms often at the cost of duller colors, grayer black levels, and poor viewing angles.
In-Plane Switching (IPS) is the next most prevalent type of display and it’s basically the opposite of a TN panel. Rather than focusing on speed, IPS panels are known for rendering excellent colors and contrast while offering wider viewing angles in exchange for slightly slower response time, usually hovering around 3-5ms.
Lastly, Vertical Alignment (VA) panels are becoming increasingly common and they essentially split the difference between TN and IPS panels. They offer great image quality with decently quick response times. VA panels aren’t perfect, though, as sometimes fast-moving objects will give off ghosting effects due to the slower response time.
If you want a responsive gaming monitor, it’s best to pick one with a fast response time, which is a measure of how quickly a pixel can change from the brightest to the darkest (white to black) color.
Response time: Competitive shooters and MoBAs demand the quickest response times, so it’s best to play these types of games on monitors that offer a 1ms response time. Playing Indie games and most single-player experiences shouldn’t be a problem on a display with a response time between 3-5ms – and it's pretty much impossible to find a gaming monitor that is slower than this.
Refresh rate: This is another important measure of how responsive a gaming monitor is, and it defines how often your screen can display a completely new image — so it essentially dictates your frame rate. 60Hz is the standard refresh rate for silky smooth PC gaming, but there’s a long list of gaming monitors that feature even higher refresh rates of 120Hz, 144Hz, and, so far, up to 240Hz.
Basically, the higher the refresh rates the more times the image on your screen will update every second, resulting in a smoother gameplay experience. Beyond the visual appeal of high refresh rate displays, they can be useful for gamers who need to keep up with the rapid movements competitive games demand. Generally, you’ll be at an advantage if you see your opponents and react before they do.
G-Sync vs FreeSync: Variable refresh rate (VRR) technology is a fairly recent invention and it ensures you have a consistently smooth and responsive gaming experience. Currently, there are two flavors of VRR, Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync, and they’ll require a prerequisite that you own a compatible graphics card from the corresponding brand. Nvidia GeForce cards do allow you to enable VRR on any FreeSync monitor, but your results will vary.
At the most basic level, VRR syncs your monitor’s refresh rate with the number of frames your GPU outputs. This prevents screen tearing caused by the graphics card feeding your display multiple frames while it's is in the middle of refreshing its picture. If your graphics card is running your game at 60 fps, you’ll see your monitor refresh at exactly 60Hz with wonderfully smooth gameplay.
My only other piece of advice when buying a gaming monitor is to make sure your video card can handle the resolution and refresh rate of the display you’re considering. It would be a waste of money to buy a 4K gaming monitor when your GPU can only handle 1080p gaming.
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Kevin Lee is IGN's Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam
Every Half-Life Game Is Free to Play Until April 1st
Posted:
01.21.2020 16:00:10 Every Half-Life game is going free-to-play for a limited time in anticipation of the release of Half-Life: Alyx. Users can go to Steam right now and install Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and Half-Life 2: Episode One and Two to catch up on the series so far.
Steam users received a notification earlier announcing the Half-Life promotion, but the notification appeared to have gone out too early because it soon disappeared. But Valve made the announcement official today in a new blog post.
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“Half-Life: Alyx is coming in March, and we are celebrating early by making all games in the Half-Life Collection FREE to play for Steam users, from now until the day it launches.”
Valve’s blog post indicates that the Half-Life Collection will only be free-to-play for a limited time — until Half-Life: Alyx is released. But that’s still nearly three months to catch up on one of the most critically-acclaimed FPS series in gaming.
Half-Life: Alyx is set before the events of Half-Life 2 and stars Alyx Vance, a main character in Half-Life 2 and its episodes. Unlike the other Half-Life games, Valve’s upcoming title is played entirely in VR.
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Valve says Half-Life: Alyx is comparable in length to Half-Life 2 and that it’s a full-length, single-player adventure. It’s also the first Half-Life game in over a decade. Although Alyx will be playable on several VR headsets, the game’s announcement appears to have driven sales for Valve’s Index VR kit.
Valve's decision to revisit the Half-Life franchise fueled speculation that the company might revisit other dormant properties like Left 4 Dead, but Valve shot down Left 4 Dead 3 rumors last week.
If you're also thinking of revisiting the Half-Life franchise before the release of the upcoming VR game, be sure to check out our complete Half-Life 2 Wiki Guide, including both an Episode 1 Walkthrough and Episode 2 Walkthrough.
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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.
(TKC) BF3 - Fly Maps, fast vehicle spawn.. Noob Friendly!:25200
(TKC) RS2V - NFO Fast Server - Noobs Welcome!:7777
You can easily find any of our servers by using the "Server Status" tab. You can also find our servers at the bottom of our forums at: http://www.clan-tkc.com/phpBB or at GameTracker: http://www.gametracker.com/clan/thekillingcommitteeclan/. If you need any help finding our servers in-game, just come to our forums, post a topic and we'll try to help you out.
TKC servers are well run and every attempt is made to ensure a fun gaming environment. No racist or rude behavior is tolerated on any of our servers. TKC tries to have round the clock administration for it's servers but obviously sometimes a server will have no admin playing so if you witness any abuse for any game please attempt to report the offending players nickname, and if possible GUID here: "Server Vistors Complaint". Just give as many details as you can remember such as what the player was doing/saying. In addition cheating is not tolerated on our servers. We are protected by any of a number of different cheat tools at any given time including; VAC, steambans.com, pbbans.com, ggc-stream.com, metabans, pbscreens.com and punkbuster, depending on the game. If caught cheating your information will be submitted to the appropriate cheat tracker and you will be added to their database which will ban your Steam ID, PB GUID or EA GUID depending on the game and website.
When available we also offer ways for players, in-game, to contact admins to report bad behavior. These come in the form of game server plugins. Players will, if the server has the option available, have the option to report a player using, @report [player] [reason] or @admin [reason] to call an admin to the server. If an admin doesn't respond in a timely manner, please use the @report option so we can follow up on it later or use "Server Vistors Complaint" as mentioned above. If an admin is not available, we also try to give the players the opportunity to use @votekick [player] or @voteban [player] [reason]. This allows the guests to our server the ability to kick or temporarily ban a player who is breaking rules.
Profanity - Many of the games we play have very bad language, some don't, that should make a difference in how we enforce our rules. For that reason we are going to implement a new rule, which will seem strange at first, but there is reason behind it. Bad language will only be tolerated on Teamspeak channels for games where there is bad language in the game. In other words, since there is bad language in Bad Company 2, bad language will be acceptable in the Bad Company 2 Teamspeak channel and on the Bad Company 2 servers. On our Half-Life 2 DM Teamspeak channel and game server, bad language will not be allowed. Future games will also be handled in this manner. The reason, we do not want to exclude members with different beliefs. If I buy a game and one of the selling points for me was the fact that it did not have bad language, that should be respected. I do not want a father or grandfather having to explain bad language to their children or grandchildren because they heard profanity on a TKC Teamspeak channel they thought was free of such things.
How to deal with with Mic/Text spammers - No one wants to listen to a lot of unrelated chatter either on the game server, or Teamspeak. No one wants to see a lot of text spamming either. It's distracting to some, and in the case of Bad Company 2, causes lag problems when the text log gets too long. If someone is talking or typing too much, respectfully ask them to stop. If they continue, you may have to mute or kick them, and if they continue after that, a ban might be in order. When on Teamspeak, a certain amount of "visiting" is fine, but the gamers who want to communicate tactical information to others playing shouldn't have to constantly interrupt talk about the latest CPU, or talk of what's going on at school. If someone is talking too much and you don't feel like you want to address it, PM a clan leader and we can handle the situation.
Team Switching - In some games this is a big no-no and if you are admin for one of those games, ask the player to go back, if they don't and you have the ability, move them back manually. If you continue to have problems, kick/ban them. In other games, like Bad Company 2, team switching usually isn't as big a deal. Sometimes friends or clan members might want to play together, in that case, try to facilitate them and swap some people around. This will show you to be respectful of community and they will probably be very appreciative of your efforts. If there is a mass exodus of people from a bad team to a good team, you can mention in-game that people need to stop. If someone is ignoring you and continues to unbalance the teams, just kick them off the server. For a game like Half-Life 2, teams change after each round, so trying to put clan members together is just a waste of time, that is why team switching is considered bad.
Hacking/Cheating - This is the most overused excuse for kicking someone off of a server. Players are unjustly booted off servers all the time simply because they were too good. That is not fair. Do not base a decision on cheating on a single round, if it isn't really ridiculous score-wise, sometimes people just have great rounds. But if they continue to have an unbelievable K/D ratio, then you might need to ban them. Sometimes it might be necessary to ban someone just because they are killing the server. For me, this is the thing I hate to do the most. That person might be doing nothing wrong, other than being really good at a game. Try to put yourself in their shoes and only ban guys who are really obvious. I don't want to see anyone being banned for an aimbot because they went 29-0. I and many others have had a better score than that, it DOES happen. You have to consider how the person is playing the game. Are they playing as recon? Are they in the heli with a really good pilot? Sometimes, if you are unsure, it might be best to ask the opinion of a clan leader. Remember, visitors to our servers have the ability and a forum to complain about unjust behavior from our server admins. If someone complains about you, you want to know that you did everything by the book.
Soldier Names/Nicknames - We will not allow names that are offensive to anyone. I think we can all use our best judgement here, but if you are unsure, ask another admin what they think of the name and come to a consensus before taking action. Players using racist names should be perm banned immediately. It does no good talking to someone like that because they're only goal is to cause trouble.
Banter and Trash Talking - Now its okay to joke around, but if several players are going at it constantly on the mic or in chat just nicely ask them to stop. If it continues warn them again that if they don't stop they will be kicked, if for no other reason that mic/text spamming. If they ignore this warning then go ahead and kick them. A certain amount of this is fine as long as it's good natured, however sometimes this can lead to hard feelings so you have to use your best judgement of when something is going too far or things are starting to get out of hand.
Racist/intolerant behavior - This is a subject that we will show no mercy on. If someone is being a racist, and that means they are hating on blacks, whites, browns, yellows, whatever the case may be, they get perm banned. No warnings, no kicks, just ban them. We don't need that kind of intolerant behavior on our servers. I don't care if the person is joking, I don't care what his real intent was, if he's spewing hate speech, he's gone. This also applies to someone who is spewing hate speech against a group of people, like Muslims, Christians, agnostics, atheists whoever. We are a gaming clan. This is our hobby and it's supposed to be fun. Everyone who comes to a TKC server should be respected and able to play the game hassle free. Not everyone believes the same, and if someone can't get over it and comes to our server with an agenda that includes racist or intolerant speech, I expect you guys to bring the hammer down swiftly.
Metabans - We will use Metabans only for cheaters and will verify each ban using Cheat-O-Meter. This will ensure that we are not forcing our Metabans followers into banning players we have banned for breaking rules other than cheating. If we deem you are cheating and Cheat-O-Meter doesn't really indicate cheating and we can not find information about you or your clan tag, meaning there is no website or previous information on you as a player or clan that we can cross reference, we will ban you on our servers, but not Metabans. Clans must have a website that we can find and access to be considered legit, otherwise we will view your tags as hogwash and your suspect behavior will be deemed as cheating. Again, we will not add a ban that is not supported by Cheat-O-Meter to Metabans.
We want everyone to have the best time possible so do your best to maintain a good gaming atmosphere, then everyone can have a good time.
To join TKC you only have to read our "Code of Conduct" and then apply for membership by filling out an online application. After submitting your application you will become a "member candidate". You will be allowed to wear our tags but only as (tkc), all letters in lowercase. As you progress, as seen by our members, you will be advanced to (Tkc), then (TKc) and then finally (TKC). You will receive emails at each step with detailed instructions on what you need to do. To obtain your full membership and the right to wear the (TKC) tags, you will have to pass a vote by the TKC members. Only those members who have gotten to know you will vote. An 80% yes vote will be required for full admission. Please keep in mind that full membership takes 8 weeks.
For you to be accepted you will need to display good manners, sportsmanship, and the ability to follow our rules. This applies to all game server activitiy and forum participation. If you do not feel you can meet our requirements we respectfully ask that you not apply as we have many who want to join and we can not waste time on gamers who are not serious about membership.
So now you're a member of TKC congrats! It is important for you to note that membership in TKC is not a lifetime privilege. Only the clan founders Big Flem and Squidward have lifetime membership and can not be removed. Clan leaders expect it's members to participate in clan activites when they can, and to be an ACTIVE member in the clan. We consider active members to be members who regularly post on the forums, participate in clan activities when possible, and communicates and develops friendships inside the clan. We do NOT consider a member to be active if they only ever play on our servers and nothing more. The leaders of this clan work hard to organize events and if you can't support these activities, can't check and post on the forums at least once or twice a week, then you are not TKC material and eventually you will be kicked from the clan. If you do not think you can meet these requirements as a member of TKC, then please don't attempt to gain entry into the clan as you will only waste your time, and ours.
Beyond administration positions such as "Clan Leader", "Division Leader", etc, the answer is no. However we do have achievable military style ribbons and medals that can be won for various acts. You may see each members ribbon and medal "Display Case" by going to the "Members" tab and under each members profile clicking the "Awards" icon. Below is each award and how you obtain that award. Note that medals also have an associative ribbon:
Ribbons(Hover over information icon for description)
In the past TKC had too many admins on our servers and things got a little out of hand. We are not looking for any new admins, however if we feel you will make a good addition to that team we will ask you. Being a server admin is not fun and games. It requires you to WORK, and follow server administrator rules which are well defined once you become an admin. Our admins are forced to stop playing whatever game they might be playing, and work to secure and maintain server tranquility reguarly. If you are an admin that does not mean you will get to run willy nilly and ban, kick, and torture at will. Admins who do not follow our rules will be stripped of admin duties and power. In addition there are more requirements of admins such as, reguarly checking our server admins forum. Once you become an admin you will be given access to this forum and you must check and read it quite often. It is a way for admins to help one another by posting their thoughts on what is going on, who to watch closely, etc. Do not ask us constantly to be an admin, that is the surest way I know to never become an admin. Our leaders will identify the best candidates for admin duties if we think it necessary.
No. In order to have an official TKC server it must meet certain standards. In addition, we might not want a server for a particular game, and if you aren't an admin, then you shouldn't have admin authority on any server. Official TKC servers have to be setup as close to identical as possible. This means that the clan leaders must have all access to any of it's servers including the ability to restart that server, gain access via FTP and game panel. It means that the clan leaders can setup the server with it's normal settings and add the usual addons. In short, if you want to have your own server then that is fine, but don't try to name it "Boom Boom Room" or tie it in any way to TKC.
Clan TKC maintains several servers that are open to it's clan members and the public. In addition TKC has other expenses that require money. To pay the bills TKC relies on it's members and visitors to donate. Without these donations, TKC will cease to exist. Please consider donating money when you can. We do our best to use the money wisely, to invest in TKC, to invest in PC gaming.
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Medal of Honor
