Gearheads of War

During the week, we swap stories, keep each other posted on the latest Gears news, and even throw in a movie review or two. The main event here, however, is the Friday Night FragFest (FFF). It is an informal event when all those who can gather, do. I make the announcement each week on Thursday around noon PST. There we can let each other know if and when we will be attending. You need to be signed up on Gearheads in order to participate in FFF. The site has grown quite a bit and we now typically have three or four rooms of Gearheads fragging away at one time. I usually join around 8:30 p.m. PST, but we often have rooms for East Coast Gearheads going long before that. A Gearhead from the East Coast often comments in the sign up post when they will be hosting, so make sure you send them a friend invite and identify yourself as Gearhead if you want to play earlier.

The play is competitive in that, there is actually quite a bit of talent around here. The FFF however, is all about fun. We play our best, but we do so to have FUN.

The site membership has grown tremendously in the last short while and it was suggested that we draw up a brief Code of Conduct or Protocol so that newcomers (and veterans) know what to expect and what is expected of the them. There are some general rules and some FFF specific rules.

On Getting Connected with the Gearheads
Send any of us a Friend request at anytime and at least some of us will still have room to accept. When doing so, however, please accompany the request with a message telling us your Gearhead Forum name. It's important that if you're participating here that we have Gearheads as the top priority in these matches as that's what FFF is all about. We want Gearheads in these matches. I'm the one who often has every single Gearhead on my friends list, so if you haven't already shot me a friend invite, do so now. Just be sure and include a voice message identifying yourself as a Gearhead.

On Joining Games
Join an open game, or wait until the game you wish to join has a spot available (recently, the wait times have been under 5 minutes because we usually have so many rooms going). Do not send out messages soliciting invitations to games on Friday Nights. XBL lets everyone know when a friend has logged on. We know when you have logged on. If there is room, Hosts will be sending you an invite as soon as a spot becomes available. This a) gives all of us the opportunity to play with many of our fellow Gearheads, b) it keeps our Matches full, and most importantly, c) it causes the least amount of disturbance allowing us to spend more time gaming and less time waiting. If you receive an invite and are already in a match, there is no need to respond (unless you solicited that invite, in which case you need to respond immediately). However, as a courtesy, we try to thank each other for the invites, accepted or declined, when the opportunity arises, even if that means sending out a few thank you messages at the end of the night. If you waited very long and did not receive an invite, it should be okay to send one of your Gearhead friends a message that you like to play. If they missed you earlier, they know now. Don't be upset if you don't get a response right away. If you have played 2 or more matches with a personality (papi, cliffy etc), volunteer to leave to make room for another gearhead. Don't leave silently, ask the host that you can volunteer. If you get disconnected or even booted, don't take it personally. See if you can join someother session. If it was a host failure or mistake, host will reinvite you. If you were asked to leave, be a sport and leave. Remember there are lots of Gearheads lined up to play on Friday nights.

On Leaving Games
Finish the Game (not Match) you are playing and thank your fellow gamers before you quit. Do not quit in the middle of a Game. *When there are special events like the appearance of papi's brother, this rule is suspended because the event, the game with Cliffy, takes priority. This doesn't happen often, but when it does, it is celebrated with singing, dancing, headshots, and much trash-talking.

On Hosting
Identify yourself. Every time a fresh gamer joins, let everyone know the parameters of the game (e.g., friendly-fire is off, revive is 10 seconds etc). Set the host to Private on Friday Nights, but feel free to invite your Friends who are not Gearheads only if there are no other Gearheads waiting to get into a game. If you know that you have a bad connection, or that you will have to suddenly leave/quit, please refrain from hosting. Do not boot other Gearheads unless they are breaking the golden rule of Respect. If you plan to disconnect, or boot a player, ask them to leave first with a reason. If they are not in your team and you can't talk to them, send them a message before or immediately after the kick.

On Being Hosted
Thank the Host for inviting you or letting you join. Don't bitch about lag. If you have a problem, mention it, but don't bitch about the Host's server. Let the Host do the inviting unless he or she asks for help. Although I usually handle most of the invites when I'm involved in a game because I have 99 percent of the Gearheads on my friends list. If you want to invite a friend who is not a Gearhead, ask the Host if that would be O.K.

The Golden Rule of Respect
Treat each other with respect and communicate. Communication smooths over many problems and prevents many others.

Additional Suggestions
Probably the biggest barrier to progress is confidence. Keep it positive. Fake or undeserved praise doesn't work, but providing props for a good kill, a clutch play, or anything else that could merit a positive remark, goes a long way to making your team, and all the Gearheads, better. More importantly, it keeps the game fun.

This site was created to get a community of people together who love playing games and having fun as well as our mutual admiration of the beauty of Gears of War. Let's keep having fun together and talking games and best of all, chainsawing each other into itty bitty pieces.