2003/02/01:  Due to Real Life, I have suspended updating the H'Pak News and GOTW (see the following News Article). We most certainly haven't stopped playing however! My Myth Energies are now focused on playing (#1) and creating Myth Apps and Tools for the community (and other stuff hopefully!). Film Paks™, Downloads and Links are kept up-to-date as well as our latest gaming stats that are always available in the Hall of Records. And of course the 100 (!) Game of the Week entries are always fun to browse! :)

Enjoy!! :D
~Baak




2003/02/01:  Our 100th Match! :D

Well everyone, it's been 2 years, 5 months and 19 days since our 1st Match! :)

That's 21,648 hours and only 204 hours, 10 minutes and 41 28/30th seconds have been spent actually playing Myth! (Of course, that's not counting PT or the 100+ hours spent with "logistics"!)

That means we've only spent 0.943% of the last 902 days playing Myth!

... Seems longer than that somehow! ;)

Random Teams gave Q/LD/TS/NKI a 5 of 6 Win over HS/VR/Baak for the Sword & Axe, while Q and Baak tied for the Shield with 3 of 10 each.

Our 100th - and final (at least for the forseeable future) - Game of the Week has been posted! :)

It's also quite likely that I will no longer keep the "stats" going (Team and FFA Awards) though *anyone* is welcome to pick up the Ball and run with it. :)

I'm going to continue making the Film Paks, but I will no longer be adding the Summary commentary or even including the winners in the Summary file - just the file itself for possible future updates and to make it easier to keep track of the Film Paks.

I will *of course* continue to keep *ALL* Films (and I ask that you continue your film saving vigilance), as preserving the H'Pak History in this way is imperative! ;)

And I will *of course* continue to update (and change, NKI!) the Battle Plan! ;)

I'm going to focus my Myth-related efforts on the Myth "Apps" (what little time I can spare), and will provide you with H'Pak News via e-mail rather than here - again, for the forseeable future.

I have no plans to stop playing however and will definitely see you NEXT WEEK! :D

Cheers!!
~Baak




2003/01/25:  Closing in on our 100th Match! :D

Wow!! Hard to believe we're gonna hit it *next time!* Be there!! ;)

Well, we broke ANOTHER H'Pak Record!! We played 23 Games tonight! And they were ALL fun!

The "Old" H'Pak took the Sword & Axe with a 10 of 13 Win (Ouch!), and Q and NKI *tied* for the Shield with 5 of 10 and 2 of 4 respectively! (NKI took the last game with the "Lone Journeyman Maneuver"!)

The Film Paks are now located on their own page, which automatically updates the links when I upload the files! Sweet! :)

End of an era:  I've decided to "retire" the Game of the Week snapshot updates after Match #100 until further notice, along with the "graphics" portion of the Awards pages. I'm also planning on just doing the "H'Pak News" via e-mail as well. Just taking a bit too much time these days. I will, however, continue to upload the Film Paks and most likely will continue to do the Summaries. In addition, I plan to continue the Sword & Axe and Shield "stats", but will no longer calculate the Team Award unless the teams are "set" for the night (i.e. not for "random teams"). So be there if you want a chance to be in GOTW #100!! :) NOTE: This doesn't mean I plan on *playing* any less! Just not so much time on the site. ;)

~Baak




2003/01/18:  Kaor returns in a night of Old H'Pak vs. New! ;)

Kaor is back! Oh yeah! :)

It was yet another night of logistics problems (ugh), but at last we played on LD's sweet DSL connection and had a blast! Team games were Old H'Pak vs. New (hopefully we will try this again!) - needless to say, Old got their butt kicked (more)! ;)

NKI takes the Shield and we all had one heck of a good time!

Oh, and I added a new section to the site after whipping out a quick little guide for Daro. I decided to take it to it's logical conclusion - hope you enjoy it! It's Baak's Unit Guide!

This Saturday we'll be on PlayMyth! Be there!




2003/01/11:  A Night of Logistics Hell - but we made it! ;)

We played Game # 1,111 on 1/11! Ha!

With another night of SERIOUS logistics problems (that hopefully will mostly go away when we move back to PlayMyth) we *just missed* having 8 Players several times! (Although we have already played with 8 Players 3 times!).

Like Kirk in The Tholian Web, we just couldn't keep Lone Dorf around long enough! ;)

Despite the problems, NKI/HS/Baak/LD took the Sword & Axe with 6 of 7 (ouch!) Team Win, while TS was smokin' with a 3 of 6 FFA Win to take the Shield of Honor. Nicely done all!

I'll keep you posted as to whether or not we get to migrate back to PlayMyth for the 01/18 Match (if not, we'll do IP with Marius as a fallback) - looks like Kaor may be joining us as well! Hooray!

Also I added the recently popular "Number of Games Played by each Player" to the bottom of the "Official Game Summary" in the Hall of Records. A little bonus. :)

And that *really long* Sudden Death in the second Green Paradise FFA set a new H'Pak Sudden Death Record of 08:50 21/30ths!! Holy cow! The game was only 07:00!! lol! Perhaps we should make a new rule that a 10 minute Sudden Death = Stalemate (i.e. a "Tie") for the remaining Players? :)

Cheers!
~Baak




2003/01/04:  **HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!**  The Best of 7 goes to *TWO* Tie Breakers Tonight!!

Yowza! The January Teams are VR/Q/TS/Daro vs. HS/NKI/Baak/LD and we're off to an intense start! It came down to a Double Tie Breaker this week with TS/VR/Q taking it 4 to 3 against Baak/HS/NKI!

... This oughta be a good series! ;)

NKI and Q share the Shield of Honor this week and at one point all five remaining Players had a single win in FFA before two final LMOTH games on Leagues from Nowhere decided it! (After one we just had to play one more!) This is a really fun map for LMOTH!!

Will keep you posted on PlayMyth and ServerSwapper updates - and I would like to mix up the Battle Plan a bit soon - possibly removing a map or two and substituting one. I'd like a vote on map in/out picks, but I know this is tough to pull off... I'll post something this week... :)

In case you didn't notice, we just broke 1,100 Games and are closing in fast on Match #100! :D

Get the latest Film Pak and Stats stuff in the Hall of Records!

Cheers!
~Baak




2002/12/28:  Wow!! *Two New H'Pak Members* and *12* Team Games using the same teams!

The Order of H'Pak proudly welcomes Quesø and Lone Dorf as Members! (The H'Pak Cover Page has been updated as well) Congratulations! :D

It was a night of LOGISTICS HELL, but somehow we managed to survive and play some great games! ;)

Baak/TS/HS took on Q/VR and although they managed to take the Best of 7 after breaking serve in Game #5, both teams TIED after playing deep into the night! At one point the 4-2 Baak/TS/HS lead shifted to a 4-6 deficit! But then a two-game comeback on Hedgerow Wacky brought it back to 6-6! Wow!! A *bunch* of really great games!

We managed to get in just one FFA game on Kildaer's Arboretum, which was incredibly bizarre - but hey, the Pool Toy was cool! ;)

Well, we lost one more film this Match... :(   Please do your H'Pak duty and save those films!!! Run the Film AutoSaver (if you're on a PC) *and* do the manual "Save Replay" *first thing* after the game is done, even before you type "gg"!! :)

Slowly but surely everyone is verifying their Marius Net accounts! Cool! (See the list above). After once again battling the crowds and messing with not having the latest PM plugins and trying to start an IP on Baak's machine, we can see the value in having an account on both PlayMyth and Marius Net! :)

I can hear NKI screaming already... but be prepared for a small Battle Plan update happening early in the week - I'll send an e-mail notice to everyone! :)

As per usual, the latest Summary files and Film Pak are available in the Hall of Records, and the latest Game of the Week has been posted. The Sacred Sword & Axe is shared this week, while the The Shield of Honor stays with Quesø - for now - Muhahahahahaaaaa... ;)

Great Games Guys!! And have a Happy and Safe New Year's! See you in 2003! :D




2002/12/21:  **MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!**  A three game comeback in a "Best of 5"! Dang!

Holy cow, the Baak/TS/HS Dynasty STILL continues, with a come-from-behind three-game-streak tonight! But the Match was MUCH CLOSER and VERY TENSE!! Next time - watch out!

Lone Dorf was missed, and Quesø joined us for most of the Match (between fighting fires! OMG!!), but where the heck was Daro? :)

Congratulations to Quesø for squeezing a well-fought Win for the Shield of Honor tonight! Nicely done!

But an even bigger CONGRATULATIONS!!! goes out to HS who couldn't be with us tonight because he just became a Daddy - again!! :D


** In case you missed it! **, VR posted a nice Blogger site for "Myth Themed Holiday Puns" here (instructions for posting your own contribution here) - and for you true die-hard trivia buffs, I've posted the original "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" next to Baak's "Ode to Myth" along with NKI's hilarious reply here. Enjoy! :)


** Battle Plan Updated!! **  Since Talus is giving VR (and LD) some serious grief, it has been replaced for our next Match with Kildaer's Arboretum. You can use "Plug-In-Sync" from the Film AutoSaver to get in sync, since this map is hiding in a subfolder of the latest H'Pak Greatest Hits CD. You can also download it from The Mill (if you don't have the CD - or just read about it) via the "Desc" link on it's entry in the Battle Plan.


** IMPORTANT!! **  Since we ran into what appeared to be a Tournament on PlayMyth tonight - and it was seriously crowded - let's get it together and get our Marius Net accounts up to speed!!

That means get or re-get your Marius Net login/password information (use the Myth Servers link if needed) and successfully log into Marius Net (Use the ServerSwapper to swap in the Marius Net Server Files before starting Myth).

Let me know if you need any help as early in the week as possible! (That way you can get help before Saturday from me and/or the Marius Net folks - in other words, don't do this at 7:25p PT on Match Night! ;) )

With this in mind I'm going to post and update who has verified their Marius Net Account this week: (now listed above)

Everything else is in the usual spots! :)

Enjoy!! :D




2002/12/14:  OMG! We played with EIGHT PLAYERS TONIGHT!! :D

Yes, as amazing as it sounds, we played with EIGHT PLAYERS tonight! And really only had one logistics glitch (when Baak's ISP dropped like a raak) - Dang!

The Baak/TS/HS Dynasty continues, with ANOTHER four-game sweep - Ouch! - but several of these games were very close!

Daro joined us (hooray!) - mostly as an "observer in training", and appeared to be awestruck (or was it just tired?) at the spectacle of such massive battles! lol!

Lone Dorf returned (killer!) to wreak havoc on the battlefield, and then we invited Quesø (!!) back to join us as well (thanks NKI, for spotting him and asking him in!) - Wow!

We even manged a FFA 7 (!!!) on Hedgerow (Wacky)!! LOL!!

All the usual goodies are posted!

Enjoy!! :D




2002/12/07:  WOW! Some *great* Team Games amidst a sea of logistics chaos!

Having at least three Players per Team is so dang fun!! :D

Lone Dorf joined us tonight for a "Best of 7" Team Match playing "Grab & Defend" Bacon - it was really, *REALLY* FUN!!

Team Baak/HS/TS pulled off a four-game sweep to take the Sword & Axe - which of course means next week is rematch time! ;)  (I also corrected the Sword & Axe Winners List to correct previously listed qualifying Teams that didn't actually qualify)

NKI stopped TS's current Shield of Honor roll, playing particularly well tonight.

We also had our longest Sudden Death yet (7:18 27/30ths!!) in a spectacular Gyre in the Wabe Bacon game! (Because of the ending "stalemate", we deemed this game a Draw between NKI and LD, which means both were credited with a Win for Shield stats)

Some really outstanding play tonight, both in Teams and FFA! Great Games Guys! :D

I've added a Myth Servers page outlining Registration and Lost Password links, etc., which is always available under "Myth Servers" on the Myth & Other Gaming Links page.

Dan is planning on joining us for the December 12th Match! We'll team him up with Baak/HS/TS to ease him into the Game! :)

Wish there were two Saturday's in the Week! ;)




2002/11/30:  A crazy night of FFA's and "Emergencies"...

But through all the chaos we had some great games! Lots of Rocket Dwarves tonight - and they were the "No Rebound" variety! Yikes!

TS is on a roll, taking a three-peat on the Shield of Honor (I added a little Flag & Ball to show that the current Winner had a previous consecutive win - TS has two so far).

We almost lost four more Films this Match when HS was hit with the dreaded "Duplicate Film Syndrome" that appears to affect only the Host of the game. Lucky for us NKI came through yet again with the four Films - dang, is he da man or what?!

Please download the new and improved Film AutoSaver, install it and run it during the Matches to be sure we don't lose any more films! It's as easy as running the ServerSwapper (and much smaller to download). Once installed, just double-click the icon on your Desktop before you start Myth, and then close it after the Match - it can't get much easier than that!! C'mon guys, I wrote it just for us! :D

Also by way of a pre-emptive strike, get your Marius Net Account up-to-date - either by ServerSwapping and testing your login/password to be sure it's still working, or by getting/reseting your password, or by signing up. We're going to need to play on Marius Net to challenge the V8 Clan!! Imagine all of us on a single team, battling for the honor of H'Pak against like-minded players! OMG, doesn't that sound like fun? :) Let me know if you need any help with Marius. (Dan, you still need to have a PlayMyth Account to play our regular H'Pak Games)

Looking forward to a Match with Lone Dorf - perhaps this Saturday? Also getting anxious to see signs of Dan (still don't know what his Player Name is) as we are steadily closing in on New Year's Eve... ;)

See you soon! (Isn't it Saturday yet?)




2002/11/23:  We tried a "Best of 7" Team Competition tonight and VR/TS/HS took it!!  Tense competition with this format! :)

Looking forward to a Special Guest joining us sometime in the near future: VR's Bro, "Lone Dorf" - a Myth Veteran of similar skill! And of course, "DC" will be thrown into the fire soon (hehehe) along with Kaor who will be rejoining us - Imagine EIGHT PLAYERS!!! OMG!!

On that note... All the usual goodies are in all the usual places! :)

Must... sleep... ;)




2002/11/17:  *** CONGRATULATIONS AND HAPPY 1000th EVERYONE!! ***

It was one crazy Squirrel Race on Broken Arrow for our 1000th Official Game with VR and HS taking it by way of some tight management and sneaky moves! Nicely done! :D You know this one just had to be this week's Game of the Week! ;)

Congratulations to HS for his very first Shield of Honor which he shares with TS! Nice playing guys! :)

We played more Team games than FFA this Match, including a tense threesome on Leggo II Arena that was really close for the tiebreaker! We also tried - but alas, failed (this time) - to get The Baron on a Heroic-level Co-op. Next time! ;)

And TS hung out for a couple of extra "test games" on one of our all-time favorite maps: Higher & Deeper that does indeed appear to be crash-free on Baak's WinMe installation! So it has been added to the Battle Plan as a Core Map along with a small rotation which includes one request and one completely new map.

I've tried to make the Battle Plan easier to read by putting all the plugins in sorted order and simply putting a  green background  behind "rotating" map/plugin names and a  red background  behind "novelty" map/plugin names. The GH column means the map appears on the H'Pak Greatest Hits CD, TC means it's on The Total Codex CD and Baak's Vol X means it's on one of the Baak CDs. Note that the GH now refers to the 2nd Edition H'Pak Greatest Hits CD, which you should have received recently (and are probably still trying to open!)

Thanks for 1000 Great Games guys! May the best be yet to come! :D