As you might already be aware, Valentine's Day is just around the corner and that means that Joe has started stocking his usual romance-themed items again! Head over to Joe's Merchandise in Sector 3 to get your hands on them. You might notice some Valentine's-themed cosmetic changes around the game too.

In other news, we're in need of at least one more Guide. If you're interested in the position, head over to the application thread in the main forum for more information on the role and how to apply.

Finally, we're over half way through the Warfare rotation so decisions on the next map to be used will need to be made shortly. I'll be picking maps out of the Map Submission Thread in the Wasteland & Raids Forum and putting them to a vote. If you would like a say in which map is played next, please go and participate in the thread by either submitting a map or voting on the existing ones in there. We won't be using a map with any new functionality for the next round, so please keep that in mind when creating a map or voting in the thread.

We'd like to address an issue that took place on Friday.

For those who are unaware, the Radiation Cannon was used wholly on the Cannon-controlling gang's land on one of the three islands in the Wasteland. The Phase Disruptor was also used at the same time, thus avoiding any potential enemy gang member taking advantage of the self-inflicted Cannon damage. The player who used the Cannon then sat and regained the territorial control on these squares. This allowed the uninterrupted gain of Warfare Points while the control of the territory was regained.

The use of the objectives in this way falls into a potential grey area of the rules. The entire volunteer team has discussed this issue, and have concluded that this usage falls under Warfare Point farming i.e. cheating. We'd like to remind everyone that using game mechanics to engineer a situation in which you can gain an unfair advantage amounts to cheating, which is forbidden by the "Game Bugs and Cheats" section of the HCS Terms of Use. If a way to gain Warfare Points (or any other in-game currency or resource) seems too good to be true, it's probably cheating.

We want to take this opportunity to remind you all of the rules, and to ask you to think twice before engaging in any questionable behavior that could put you in breach of the Terms of Use. While we can't list each and every situation that would count as cheating, we hope this post clears up any potential confusion that may exist as to the sort of actions which would fall under that umbrella.

Any further questions you might have can be directed to the Voluntary Helpers.

Hi everyone,

The latest warfare results are as follows:

Warfare: September - October 2021

1: Dark Flame: 2,155,215 points
2: Outcasts: 815,015 points
3: Blade of Dawn: 683,495 points
4: Chapter: 354,425 points

Congratulations to DF on their victory!

The next map is now underway, so good luck to you all.

Just a quick blog to mention that we're opening Staff applications for general positions, rather than what was posted in Zorg's blog a while back. My thread in the Main Forum contains the details of how to apply, so go check it out if you wish to join the team.

Applications will be open until 23:59 on the 31st January, so you have until the end of this month to think of something that will amaze us, if you so wish to wait that long.

Remember to add your account name to the subject of the email, as I'm not psychic and can't tell who you are if you don't tell me. Needless to say, your application will be ignored if you forget to do this.

Anyway, that's everything. Hope you have a nice week.