Amidst a gaming landscape that sees more and more gamers acquiring new gaming platforms [as well as the next-generation game titles that fuel them] the Tied the Leader Gunslingers find themselves populating a community that is healthier than ever. A band of multiplayer enthusiasts that claims its roots in Xbox Live continues to thrive.
The State of Our Union is strong. Our membership sprawls across 4 time zones and an International border. Our community is embracing new games and new means of interacting. To date, 80 Gunslingers are enrolled as part of our fighting force within the matchmaking wastelands of Halo. The MidWorld Forums are home to 76 interactive gamers who play an active roll in contributing to the role-play of sharing a team that primarily assembles through our respective Internet connections. As a follow-up to the wildly popular Halolympics, our second Intra-Clan Tournament, le Tour de Halo, has ensnared up to 30 Warthog pilots in a quest for the checkered flag on familiar Halo 2 maps that have always been war zones – but rarely racetracks. Members from the Gunslinger rank and file have even ventured beyond the realms of Cyberspace to share community and camaraderie at LAN Parties arranged in Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, and Utah.
The Gunslingers are, happily, not alone in their quest to organize a cell of respectable gamers. To date, seven other clans have answered the call of the Gunslingers to take matchmaking into our own hands. One of them even did it twice. After all, no army is complete without a few feared and respected enemies to motivate the sharpening of the spear. The gamers in our KaTet are at the ready to meet any challenge issued on the maps of Halo2; be they fighters in our Strike Team, Honor Guard, Sharpshooters Club, or beloved and revered Roadkill Squadron. On the subject of Gunlinger squads, we would like to issue three cheers for the new captain of our Sniper Team, a longtime Staffer we know as Monster!
Of course, no organized body of gamers is to avoid being met with attrition. Following the due-process of a majority vote on the part of our Overlord High Council [our democratic governing body of 8 founders], it was announced that seven Gunslingers would be sent West in response to their inactivity as fighting members of the clan. Out of respect for the fallen, their names will be spared from mention in this public address. Not only a warning to our remaining membership, this initiative also served as a means of keeping fresh seats open to those gamers who seek aid and succor from our community.
Recruitment momentum continues to sustain itself at Tied the Leader. Each week, fresh faces arrive in our forums to petition us for membership. Sadly, some are turned away at the door when they fall short of the standards outlined in our Bylaws. On other occasions, our ranks are graced with replacement soldiers of the highest caliber. In the most recent history, new recruits have come from unexpected sources, as Gunslingers venture out into other Internet gaming communities to spread the word about our playful band of fighters.
For those who remain and for those who keep us strong, there must be accolades commendations. In recognition of meritorious service and conduct becoming a Gunslinger, our clan saw the promotion of 6 Peons to the rank of Member. Jacklos de Los and Homicide were promoted for assembling 5-Man Squads to rank-up in Clanmatches. Mudshovel was promoted for sticking with the clan through thick and through thin. Sandman was promoted for being oh so Sandman, as well as trouncing all of us in le Tour de Halo. And, lastly, and announced for the first time, Fezzer is being promoted for his recruitment efforts on the interactive forums at Bungie.net.
A community is the sum of its people. Our community of gamers is certainly not the product of any one gamer. This community is preoccupied first and foremost with enjoying the battles fought through Halo2. However, this community will remain beyond the dominance of that title. Already, a few Gunslingers are parking Lamborghinis next to their Warthogs. For some, Geometry is just as fierce a War as Team Slayer. In keeping with tradition, when the world moves on, the Gunslingers remain.