Today will mark the 1 year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. As an American, this day holds more importance than my introduction to you all. So my welcome message will follow in a few days.

Whether you are an American or not, this day should signify to you just how vulnerable we all are to unfortunate elements of the world we live in. Terrorist attacks happen in many countries around the globe and it has changed the way we think and sometimes feel about others just based on their looks or the color of their skin. In little ways, it effects all of us whether we like it or not. On occasion, we get lost in our day to day activities, like mixing it up on DOD, and forget that sometimes the world can be an awful place if the wrong people get their hands on things they should not.

It is sad that over 3000 people died in those terrible attacks including over 300 firefighters. Being a firefighter myself, it is with pride and honor that I remember those who unselfishly gave their lives in order to bring others to safety. This also applies to those that have fought for our countries and offered themselves in supreme sacrifice to keep our us free from opression and evil.

So on this day, remember those that have fallen in the past to preserve our way of freedom, democracy, and life.

Major

It struck me, whilst perusing the members list the other day, that we as a group are going from strength to strength. tla-chris nd his mates are making huge in-roads into the Counter-Strike community. Players are wearing their [OwP] tags in strategy games like Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and Age of Empires II, and in other HL mods that tag at the end of the name which insures you'll have a good game on a server is cropping up time and again.

When FNG and I assumed responsibility for [OwP] we had 200 registered members, with 10 clans. we now have ath the time of writing, 4689 members, hundreds of servers and more clans than you can shake a carbine at! As such, my responsibilities are evolving, meaning I must take a step back from the game I love and adopt a more strategic stance.

It is with great pride that I formally hand over responsibility for the DoD elements of the Online Warfare Pact to two very fine members, Major Malfunction and comrade Nachaev.

Major Malfunction is the operator of [OwP] Mike's Marauders, one of the longest standing [OwP] affiliated servers and a well known contributor to the DoDmod forums. Mike is currently leading our Server Management and Liaison team.

Comrade Nachaev is a long-standing member who has previously been working on some high profile projects, including handling publicity for DoD and WWII based games in general on behalf of the wider gaming community, in response to the articles in the London Times and New York Times newspapers. Nachaev specialises in Public Relations.

Make these gents feel welcome! FNG and I have every faith in their ability to carry forward the mantle of [OwP] in the DoD world with professionalism and skill.

In the mean time, I shall be adopting a wider sphere of influence starting with Battlefield 1942, and I am looking to expand our organisation into many more games. If you play ANY other games in a clan or online in a competitive basis, LET ME KNOW! we are constantly striving to help as many people in as many games as we can to have fun in a co-operative and positive environment!

You of course already know Major Malfunction and Comrade Nachaev, from our forums. You'll be pleased to know that these two fine folks have committed their time to helping out here at [OwP] HQ on a more professional basis. look this way soon for a formal announcement, but for now I'd really appreciate it if you could give these guys a warm welcome and some congratulations on their appointment!

Lee_Mako held a virtual gun to my head to post this, seeing as i am so er ... busy .. elsewhere (slacker!) - BTW, this is verbatim.

MAKO scripts 1.5 released -

They add advanced teamplay and communication elements to Day of Defeat. There are no cheating elements such as quick grenade prime and they are fully OwP approved.

Download here

K. Job done. By the way, I've checked out this script and have to say it's the mutt's nuts in terms of teamplay oriented communications. You will be at a serious advantage if you use Lee_Mako scripts to encourage players to enter into the team spirit. Go forth and enjoy!

Put it this way, it's the first and ONLY [OwP] endorsed script.

Warcraft III Hackers Banned

In keeping with its aggressive stance against hacks and cheats, Blizzard Entertainment recently banned the CD keys of certain players found using the Warcraft III map hack.

The game maker said in a press release that it would continue to randomly monitor matches connected through Battle.net to ensure fair play. The accounts of players found using map hack programs will be deleted and their CD-Keys may be permanently disabled.

"We regret having to employ these extreme measures; however, certain unscrupulous players impair the gameplay of the Warcraft III community as a whole - and severe action is both warranted and required. We would like to sincerely appeal to anyone considering using a map hack program. While it might seem fun to have an unfair advantage on Battle.net, these programs disrupt the gameplay experience for everyone playing," Blizzard said.

Great to see game publishers taking a hard-line stance against cheating, in an effort to maintain gaming communities. Hopefully VAC will lead to similar measures for DoD.