We are happy to announce that Ziff Davis has seen the light of the older gamer and decided to use our community as the new spring board for financial success in these trouble times.

After long talks with both Ziff Davis and Media Crumb Inc., 2old2play will now become one of the already many successful online properties of the mega giant media conglomerate that is Ziff Davis Media. The company will take over 2old2play's already impressive revenue stream and advertising numbers in hopes to single-handedly doubled the companies quarterly profits.

Word of the announcement has sent shock waves through the gaming community as most believed 2old2play 's high profit margin was enough to keep it a small profitable and free site for years to come. Many point to founder "dudies la rock" wild spending as the reason for the sale and estimate final numbers for the site to come in the near the 3 figure range.

Inside sources believe the take over of 2old2play will usher in new and even more over successful community of controlling power hungry moderators, censorship, and "retarded" rules set to single out only certain members who know that mods "only pick on them."

In the end the move to a pay only site should also bring in even more revenue and an even larger sum of money for the still 10% share holder, Due Dee Roc. This 19 year old wonder kid has truly built a community to inspire all young entrepreneurs. More news to follow.

Pack up your gaming gear, find a sitter and mark your calendars for the 5th annual LAN event at the Wyndham O'hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, August 7th-9th, 2009.

Join us as we all explore innovative ways to pwn your fellow 2old2play gamers. This year’s conference will include over 70+ screens; Xbox 360, PC, Wii, and station play in over 5000square feet of gaming and playing space. The more you play the greater your chance is to win some amazing raffle gifts and the opportunity to help some kids in need at Child’s Play! Updated information and meeting agendas will all be posted online as we get closer to the date, so check back here often and register while space is still available.

Dates: August 7th-9th, 2009 (Feel free to show up early as many members do)

Location: Chicago Wyndham O'hare, Rosemont, Illinois

What to Expect

• Um Fun
• Networking Opportunities with other 2old2play gamers
• Exciting charity events to help Child’s Play
• Partner and sponsor showcase booths
• Social events
• Full Bar near the LAN Room
• Gaming (Duh)
• Raffles
• Big Screen TV Wii matches
• Rock Band Concerts
• Tournaments
• Multi Platform Gaming

Registration & Conference Fees

Conference fees for LAN Event include event materials, Lan Room, and Screens for up to 70+ consoles.

Registration Costs:

March - the end of May = $90

June August 5th = $100

Annual LAN Event Location

Wyndham O'hare Rosemont, Illinois
6810 N.Mannheim Rd.
Chicago, Illinois 60018 USA
United States
Phone: 1-847-297-1234

Adjacent to Allstate Arena, Wyndham O'Hare is a contemporary-style Chicago area hotel, five minutes from O'Hare International Airport and close to Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. Among Chicago, Illinois hotels near Chicago O'Hare Airport (ORD), they offer the ultimate in services and amenities. Enjoy free 24-hour airport shuttle service, a business center, fitness center and high-speed Internet access in all guest rooms (free for Wyndham ByRequest members).

Tentative Schedule

Friday, August 7: 5:00pm - Meet and Greet in Hotel Bar

Friday, August 7: 1:00pm - wee hours registration and play

Saturday, August 8: 7:00am – wee hours Gaming | 6:00-8:00 Raffle and Dueling for Charity

Sunday, August 9: 7:00am – 1:00pm wrap up and goodbyes.

Hotel Registration Details

A block of rooms has been negotiated by 2old2play at a discounted rate of $99/night at the Chicago Wyndham O'Hare. To check out the accommodations, visit www.wyndham.com. The discounted rate of $99/night is available until July 27th. After 12pm on the cut-off date, the hotel will release these rooms and the rate will increase! Make your hotel reservations now! Your credit card will be used as a guarantee to confirm your room reservation and will not be charged until checkout; however, should you cancel your reservation less than 72 hours prior to arrival, you will be charged one night room and tax. Please understand that 2old2play needs to secure 130 rooms with the hotel so all members MUST make sure they tell the hotel they are with 2old2play! The number for hotel reservation is 1-847-297-1234

Please wait until March 23rd to book your hotel rooms. We need to insure that our group has made it into their system. Check with sale and verify your rooms will be under 2old2play before booking. Thanks

Now that we have everything covered, what are you waiting for! BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE!!!

A few members heard it was going to cost about $3000 to update our beloved 2old2play. Word got out. And the whole community responded.

What began as an appeal in a blog by our own LBsutke, eventually grew into a community-driven art auction. Artists donated time and talent, the members donated their cash. We are happy to report that due to the generosity of the 2old2play membership, the Art Auction was able to raise $825.60 for 2old2play v3.0. This money should cover about a third of the site redesign cost.

The vision is to create a leaner, meaner version of 2old2play, and to have it up and running during the Chicago LAN. It's an ambitious goal. 2old2play has always been about you, so If you have any ideas about how to make 2old2play even better, tell us.

Here are some initial thoughts from Doodi on what to expect...

Several features will get canned because they're broken or don't get used. Expect a slim-down from the elimination of the Sig Creator, Event Calendar, Downloads, Member Maps, Xbox Live Stats, Wiki, Tournament, and Friends List. Some of these features may be built from the ground-up later or reintegrated into the site more effectively if and when it makes sense.

The photo gallery will be further integrated into the site at some point. However, we will be asking users to download and save their pictures so we can do a complete wipe of the gallery to make the transition easier. We'll notify you in advance when that will take place.

A streamlined system will translate into more access for the user. Our vision is to have "groups" (i.e. clans) that are able to be created, updated, edited by you. For instance, if you wanted to start a group based on Halo then it should go something like this: You apply by adding in all your info. Things like group name, descriptions, mods, and user access all get created by you. Then all you do is hit "submit" and the group is created. We then get a message on whether it should be approved or not. We hit approve and you are good to go. No more PMs or waiting for Doodi to stop playing WoW for 10 minutes. From there you can add or remove your own mods and set up the group how YOU want it.

The Press and Writers Corps would like to express our gratitude to all the contributors and those whose bidding drove the prices up. We would also like to give a resounding "huzzah!" to the artists whose imagination, skill and commitment to a better 2o2p made this idea come to life. Finally to everyone in 2o2p who came together to support the Art Auction and the site in so many ways, Thank You! We can't wait to see what v3 unleashes to make our favorite Internet hang-out even better -- brought to you by you and for you.

From Doodi, "Its hard to even know how to put that into words, but it means a great deal."

Get your BR's loaded and prepare yourself for Season 2 of the MML Halo Tournament. This season we have some new changes and twists. Hope you're ready.

Last year I started the Halo 3 Mini Me League and it was a huge success. We had ten teams and ten General Managers for a total of 60 people in the league. This was the first 2o2p league where players from all skill ranges were welcome to join and play together. We accomplished this by having everyone sign up and then utilizing a "snake draft." This eliminated stacked teams and ensured everyone had a chance to play and had fun. The GM’s of each team had to make trades which changed the whole dynamic of the league and added an element of strategy to the tactical battles fought on game nights.

This season we are hoping even more members check us out and join in the festivities, we are hoping to double our teams from 10 to 20 this season! We are bringing back full sortable stats for every player, player points that you gain after every win or loss, weekly MVP’s, and season ending awards!

This time around we are introducing some things we didn’t fully have time to delve into last season:

1. Weekly top ten plays
2. Divisional play
3. MML Hall of Fame

At the end of the season the first division v. division game where the top GM’s from each division will coach their MML Average Joe team.

We are making some minor tweaks to some of the rules to ensure everything runs smooth again. We have also split the games almost evenly this year between Major League Gaming type games and non-MLG games. Player favs like like lowball, swat, and many more will be included in the non-MLG gametypes.

If all of this hasn’t got you excited about MML Season 2 then watch the MML Ad video made by our very own Bioslayer!

So now your probably asking yourself, where do I sign up?

Your first stop is to read the rules here

The sign up thread for the league is here

We look forward to new-members and welcome returning MML'ers. Remember, the idea is to meet other 2o2p Halo players and to have fun, so bring those winning attitudes and get ready for some fun!

On Sunday, February 8th from 8:00 - 11:00 pm (EST) 2old2play will be hosting a Gears of War 2 Community Playdate on Xbox Live!

Keep hearing about this guy "Doodi" but never met the bloke? Do you think he is just an urban legend created to keep the big kids here at 2old2play in line? Well this is your chance to meet the (in)famous founder of our little community and many other cool gamers over 25 like yourself. Join us for the First Official 2old2play Xbox Live Community Playdate and find out for yourself if Doodi is a man, a myth or just a really bad Gears of War player.

We have already chosen the main ambassadors from the site, including Doodi (who wouldn't let us do it unless he was playing), Drost (who hates Gears but who loves attention), frontpage celebrity Tdrag and a bunch of GOW 2 ringers from the AOW clan and others on the site. These folks will act as the primary contacts for any gamers interested in joining us for this event and learning more about our community and the cool gamers that call this place home.

Even if you are not on the "official" contact list, there is still an opportunity to join us during the evening and help represent our community!

We are working to include as many members of 2old2play as possible. Though we can't add any more names to the "official" roster over at Xbox.com, we can include more 2old2play members in as many as 10 hosted rooms.

With this in mind, we are pulling together a list of 2old2play members who would like to join us on February 8th. All participating players must be active members in good standing of 2old2play and have been registered on 2o2p on or before December 1st, 2008.

So if you are interested in participating as an active member of 2old2play, please send a pm to AOW Waterborn. We will compile this list and then select additional members to join us during the 2old2play XBL Community Playdate. The 2old2play Management Team will make the final determination on who will represent 2old2play.

This is the first of many such events we hope to bring you in the coming year. So keep an eye on the Community Announcements Forum, on Waterborn’s Blog and via Twitter by following "AOWWaterborn."

This is going to be fun!

If you believed the hype, 2008 boasted the most exciting line-up of game titles in history. That's if you believed the hype. GTA IV, Resistance 2, Gears of War 2, Call of Duty: World at War, Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, Little Big Planet, some stupid Wii games probably, and much more.

Most of those games didn't live up to the hype, but they're what we had to work with.

As 2o2p is the preeminent website for older gamers, we thought it's about time we give out our own awards instead of having our opinions validated by other sites that don't share our particular world view.

If you want to skip straight to the actual awards, they're at the bottom. And if your game didn’t win, it’s because the gaming Gods don’t like you. But if you'd like to see behind the scenes of the Press & Writers group, we've provided the evolution, as it were, of the first ever 2o2p GOTY Awards for your reading pleasure.

We’ve admitted it. We’re not professional writers (most of us). However, we like to think that these types of conversations were taking place all over as websites began counting down to their deadlines for their GOTY stories. Here is your look into the highly creative and motivated team that 2o2p calls “Press and Writers."

2 weeks until deadline…

Drost wrote: What're we working on for this week? GOTY?

1 ½ weeks until deadline…

Caesar wrote: I’m on vacation. I’m working on sleep and gaming lol!

Codemonkey wrote: I’m also on vacation this week. Relaxing with the family.

ATC wrote: I am not really working on anything since three interviews are out for community spotlight.

3 days until deadline…

TDrag wrote: GOTY... Couple options....

1. Survey for all categories via surveymonkey.
Here was my last list for possible survey questions if we want to go that route...I just need a little more feedback on putting together the multiple choice answers and better questions. Once we get answers, we can write a little blurb on each one.

1. Best Weapon of 2008 (GoW Mortar, Dead Space something, GTA Rocket Launcher, etc.)
2. Most welcome innovation to gameplay (Fable dog, VATS, Mirror's edge
3. Most disappointing sequel (GTA, GoW2, CoD5, Tomb Raider, etc.)
4. Best game to play with the family (Scene It 2, Viva Pinata TIP, Rock Band, etc)
5. Best Console Game
6. Best Handheld Game
7. Best PC Game
8. Best developer support and interaction (Bungie, IW, Epic, etc)
9. MP with most longevity
10. 2o2p Game of the Year

2. Each of us take a category of our choice, offer an award and write about it. I'll write about how disappointing GoW2 is and then I'll get kicked out of my clan.

3. Bubba decides all and does all the work.

After thoughtful deliberation, smarter heads prevailed and decided that “number 3 sounds as good as a bag of Lemon heads.” So the martyr Drost took over and ordered TDrag to do the survey.

Drost wrote: I'll help write whatever needs be written once we have some results. Also, I think it'll be cool if we put in some "critic commentary" when we do the write ups, that way you can still get kicked out of your clan for talking about how disappointing gow2 was, even when it wins.

1 day until deadline, suggestions start coming in…

ATC wrote: Maybe we could group XBL with Download content

Love for Dowloaded games all platforms:
Penny Arcade Episode 2
World of Goo
Bejeweled Twist
Boingz
Braid
Castle Crashers
Portal

Perennial Whiny Fuck LB wrote: You left out Halo 3 for number mp with most longevity. Considering it is still #1 on the mp leader boards from Major Nelson's info, I think it is appropriate. Maybe we could add one more category? This is a joke in case anyone thinks it's a good idea – “Game with the best boobs.” But I have no suggestions, I did not see a DOA beach volleyball, and the new DC vs Mortal combat is not out yet...
[Thread goes temporarily off topic with posts of boobs]

Day of deadline and Bubba finally decided to make some real suggestions.

Bubba wrote: Leave Halo 3 off of Q6. It's a 2007 game and the outcry from fanboys will make for better reading than if we put it on there.

GOTY list is waaayy too long. Leaving things off is what makes these lists entertaining. For instance...
Quote:
I'm not sure what happened to Tdrag in Liberty City but how GTA IV got put on the list for disappointing sequels and left off for GOTY is utterly beyond me. GTA IV FTW.


TDrag becomes irritated and writes: Jeebus H. I wrote the list in like 5 minutes off the top of my head. If forgetting that piece of shit GTA game is the worst mistake, then I reward myself with a mighty pat on the back.

The list is longer than shit, I'll shorten it up. I was trying to be inclusive of the PS3/PC people, but really I don't care about them considering my PS3 is really just a nice blu-ray player.

I like the best gamer gift idea. Fuck Halo.

TDrag ignores all feedback and posts the survey.

TDrag wrote: To save time, I just did things my way. I’ll post the survey in a blog and in off-topic.

Three days after the deadline and Bubba discovers a new way to be lazy.

Bubba wrote: Just throwing this out there- but what about GOTY article featuring the process of choosing the game?

We just use the dialogue through these threads as a piece about what it takes to make a list for game of the year? Quite frankly I find reading this thread a lot more entertaining than anything I've ever read anywhere about GOTY.

So we pull back the curtain a little on our own process, provide some insight into how the P&W collaborates (and cockblocks) one another, and at the end we reveal the results of Tdrag's excellent poll. It will be different from other "award" stories but our membership doesn't seem to be too overly impressed with what the traditional gaming media has to say anyway.

Lb wrote: extra points for using CockBlock in the last post...

I like it...kind of like a "what goes into making our half retard/half douchey/half well thought out articles...

uh..yes..I did put half in there 3 times..it was my attempt at being clever...and it hurt my brain a little.

Tdrag breathes sigh of relief as it starts to look like someone else may actually work on this article.

TDrag wrote: I'm on board with any creative means to tell a better GOTY story. Bubba, I think you should get to work immediately.

I'm also getting a few interesting comments that will make for some good material. Here are the results and comments thus far.

Comments from the actual survey proving the ineptness of the process:

“Game of the year Halo 3, Best boobies Ivy soul caliber”

“Halo 3”

“HALO 3!”

“No sports games, no JRPGs, no racing games...nice cross section (I know there were a lot of quality games this year).”

“Lara Croft from Tomb Raider: Underworld”

“Harmonix for best dev support. earforce x4's Wireless FTW for best gamer gift. It's no fair to have Rock Band 2 mixed in with other games. I want to say Left 4 Dead is the game of the year and the game with the most longevity, but Rock Band 2 will get more play time for longer around my place.”

“Halo. It's the answer to all the questions and still has the best party system, custom games, matchmaking and everything else. The Boomer from Left 4 Dead is definitely the rackiest.”

“Multiplayer with most longevity should have Halo, since their games work and do not require patches to use matchmaking... And thanks to Bubba's post...Any of the bouncing beauties from Soul Caliber 4. You rock for putting my bonus question in here!!! So I will not hate on you to much for liking an inferior game...he..he...”

“Next year, could there be a most disappointing game category?” (great idea)

“the locust queen had the best boobs”

“Best Content by 2o2p writer, Tdrag! Thanks for the awesome stuff.”

“Fallout 3's Railway Rifle is a fun weapon, certainly not the most powerful but the combination of being a custom in game built weapon, its distinct loading sound and train whistle effect make it my fave weapon and one IMHO deserves a spot for polling!”

“Game of the Year - Halo 3. Doesn't matter that it wasn't released in 08, it's still the most played for many of us 2o2p'ers”

“Most Disappointing Sequel: Rainbow 6 Vegas 2”

“Mirror's Edge should have been an option!”

“Bonus question answer (best boobs): Elika from Prince of Persia.”

“Left 4 Dead. Game of the year.”

“Any of the females from DoA for best boobs(yes, still)”

“2O2P GOTY should be Left 4 Dead.”

“Zoey’s Boobs rock”

“Ivy from Soul Calibur IV”

“Game of the year should really be COD 4 again. World at War sucks.”

“Best Video Game Weapon of 2008: Fallout 3 Lincoln Repeater”

“2o2p game of the year Call of Duty: World at War”

In response to the comments...

lbsutke wrote: not to say I told you Halo should be in there...but....

Tdrag wrote: Your Halo cronies that scoff at cheating on Master Chief hardly make a "told ya so."

And if we're going to use the logic of what is popular on 2o2p, then I think the movie "The Dark Knight" should win GOTY since it sold more copies than Halo 3.

lbsutke wrote: well I was not saying make it game of the year... just to add it multiplayer with the longest longevity...We are talking 2008, so that does not include H3.

But since Bungie is running away with the largest amount of votes for best developer support, I can understand not wanting to give another category away to the premier game developer on the planet...

How is that patch coming for GOW2 MP?

Tdrag wrote: What patch?

Bubba wrote:  lb and his legion of fucking crybaby Halo fanboys.

We did miss the boat on the railway rifle though. That thing is the shit because it pins body parts to walls.

Tdrag27 wrote: Way to offer that shit up the two times I asked for feedback knowing my list was a horseshit compilation of my limited scope of games.

Make it an honorable-Tdrag-sucks-mention.

lbsutke wrote:  just so no one thinks otherwise. I am just busting balls, not complaining about what was or was not done..

Since I read and write at a 4-year-old level, it is the best I can do.

Bubba wrote: When I write the article I'm using this as an example of lb backpedaling like a pussy.

lbsutke wrote:  And yet you say that with the confidence of a man that is thousands of miles away from my grasp...

And now for the awards based on your votes and brought to you by the Press and Writers team that bleeds confidence.

Best Video Game Weapon:
Pipe Bomb, Left for Dead
Yes, we left off Fallout 3's Railway Rifle. Blame it on Bubba. And TDrag. But you have to admit, chucking a pipe bomb and watching the zombie bastards run it to it like mosquitoes to a buglight is one of the more gratifying things to do in a video game. Especially in that particular video game. Second place fell to the Mortar from Gears 2, followed by the pack of dogs (fo’ real? Dogs?) in CoD: WaW.

Most Welcome Innovation:
Gears of War 2, Horde Mode
C’mon, really, it’s just bots, right? You’ve seen those before, just maybe not so many. Or that get progressively better at effing you up. Horde mode represents everything good about multiplayer over Live. You’re fighting with your friends, you can ratchet up the difficulty as needed, and it works smoothly (which is more than we can say for the other parts of Gears 2’s multiplayer). Rounding out the category, in order, was: the Left 4 Dead AI Generator, the VATS in Fallout 3, the dog in Fable II (what is it with the damn dogs?), the level editor in Little Big Planet and “scaling” in Mirror’s Edge.

Most Disappointing Sequel:
GTA IV
Sorry Niko, this is like being nominated for a Razzie. You shouldn’t be happy to see your game’s title here. But chances are the fanboyiests of fanboys put their games here. You can only be disappointed if you have high expectations to begin with right? Others vying for the prize were Gears of War 2, Call of Duty: World at War and Fable II.

Best Family Game:
Rock Band 2
Now this is where many would expect to find a Wii game. But TDrag’s Wii sits sadly on the shelf powerless and since the team didn’t step up to offer an Wii suggestions to help, ideas went by the wayside. Soooo Rock out with your…

Best Developer Support for a Game:
Bungie
Really, who else was it going to be? You know it. I know it. The voters knew it. Winner by a landslide.

Multiplayer with Most Longevity:
Rock Band 2
Or Halo 3, but, you know, it didn’t come out in 2008. I don’t see anyone on my friends list playing Rock Band 2 very often - or any other of the faux rock games. But maybe that’s because I’m looking at my friends list, and most of them just shoot people. Runners up were: Call of Duty: World at War, Left 4 Dead and Gears of War 2.

Best Arcade/Download Title:
Castle Crashers
Is this really cool? I haven’t played it, so I’ll have to take your word for it. Voting in this category wasn’t even close. Okay, actually, it was. Castle Crashers fended off Braid and Geometry Wars 2 by just two votes.

Best Gamer Gift:
Points
Wait, what? Points. You guys voted for points? Granted, it was a close thing, with the Tritton AX Pros coming in just one percentage point behind. Headphones, I get. But points? How many arcade games are people buying out there? Or are you trying to complete your set of all available themes?

2o2p Game of the Year!
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 captured 26 percent of the voting, which was spread out between 11 titles. Gears of War 2 slid into second. Rounding out the top five were Left for Dead, Call of Duty: World at War and Rock Band 2.

If you’re paying attention, and if we were giving out an award for Console of the Year, it’d be the 360 as all of the Top 5 games were playable on it with the top 3 being exclusive. Furthermore, in categories where PS3 and Wii exclusive games clashed with 360 games, voting wasn’t close, which probably says more about 2o2p being an Xbox site than it does about the quality of games. Then again, numbers don’t lie. People do.

See you next year.

Happy new year members and staff of 2old2play. 2008 was a great year for the community and we all look forward to a even better 2old2play in 2009.

A big thank you goes out to tall the members of 2old2play that have stepped up to make this site the community that it is today. With over 15,000 members and hundreds of active contributors, 2old2play has grown to become the destination for older gamers on the net.

All of this success boils down to the clan leaders, writers, bloggers, donations, and forum posters on the site. The community really does speak for itself and continues to evolve at each passing year. What started as a small group of 50 or so Halo fans, opened our doors to all gamers of yonder years in order to create a place for any older gamer to lay their hat. Our hope is that in the coming year we can create a place that is even easier and more friendly to use for the older gamer. With more contest, content, and features to help older gamers connect for the ultimate purpose of playing games with their peers.

Once again a big thank you to all help create and shape 2old2play. Have a happy and safe new year. See you in 2009!

- the 2old2play staff

The weeks have past and the bidding has finally come to a close. Thanks to all the artist and bidders who made our very first 2o2p auction a smashing success.

We had artist with all sorts of styles from pencil sketching to electronics. Bids came out in force as many members tried to out bid each other for their favorite pieces. Potential winners should head on over to the forum and check their bids to see if they won. If you were the final bid in bold, make sure you PM the artist to let them know.

Artists that currently still have work available will remain open for bidding throughout the holiday week until the new year. Feel free to keep you bids going and show your support for any artist that catches your eye. This includes:

1. JohnnyTwoToes Forum Signatures (still 2 left)
2. Hubristes Forum Signature (still 4 left)
3. Wilderz original pencil sketch of Batman and Daredevil

Finally congratulations to all the following winners for their new found art and support for the 2old2play cause. The future looks very bright for the old folks and I can't wait to enter yet another gaming year with you all. I wish everyone a very happy and healthy Holiday and a safe New Years. See you all in 2009!

1. ExplosionGraphics Forum Signatures: TexasTwister55
2. BATMANKM Cortana and the Gravemind: Coolpengwn
3. Beefynutcase Marcus Fenix: Guntag
4. BATMANKM commission of an original piece: J-Cat
5. Gatsu's hand-made Xbox 360 arcade controller: pz42
6. BATMANKM Halo, The Landing: Guntag
7. DarthCestual commission of an original piece: LaudTrevlin
8. BATMANKM Dark Knight Spartan: T3muJin

---

Artist and winners please try to contact each other. All donation can be sent via Paypal to donation@2old2play.com. Please make sure you place a note in your donation stating which piece of artwork you won. This will esure easier communication between the artists and 2o2p. Thanks again and enjoy the wonderful art!

Halo 2 helped build 2o2p, and the next iteration, Halo 3, continues to be a cohesive force for the community.

It is different things to different people. Some may be interested in competitive play and take part in organized tournaments sponsored by the site, while others just like to play for fun.

In the site forums, there's a clear division between the competitive and the noncompetitive Halo players. Often in the past, the two groups have clashed in a very real war of words with casualties on both sides.

In an effort to unify the two groups, in July of this year, the Halo 3 league -- the MML (Mini Me League) -- was created. The idea was to bring the part of the Halo 3 community together by mixing it up; that is, teams featuring players from both the casual and competitive camps, having mixed skill sets and playing mixed gametypes . In so doing, people who normally don’t play together would have a chance to meet, enjoy friendly competition and have fun.

Typically, in organized tournaments a team of four is coordinated ahead of time, so when the day arrives, they are ready to play. That’s fine, but there aren't a ton of teams on 2old2play anymore, and that wouldn't accomplish the goal of mixing the community.

The plan was to give players of all skill levels the opportunity to meet new people and have fun. Initially, this idea was presented to the community with a period to sign up. Then, all those players were randomly paired and put into a double round free-for-all (FFA). This gave players individual points, which GMs could then use to evaluate the player the purposes of first drafting, and then trading. Points helped the leagues' teams stay balanced throughout the season as trading was not only encouraged, but mandatory, keeping in line with the intent of the league -- mix 'n match.

Each team had five weeks to make four trades, and each week players gained points based on how well their team played. Trading became about a player’s points first, skill second. For example, if someone was traded, and they had fewer points but more skill, that team could take a hit in the standings.

Trading seemed to work very well, probably because people started to notice that they weren’t being traded because of performance, but because they may have the most points, making them extremely valuable.

This became very important as the playoffs drew closer. Only the top eight of 10 teams would make the playoffs. Therefore, point totals were crucial, as was staying on top of the statistics.

Ghost 92 wrote a program that allowed the capture of statistics each week for every player in the league. The stats were very detailed, and they allowed league management to to do a lot of things, such as award weekly league MVP’s. The stats also enabled players to track their progress, and made it easy to select for end-of-season awards. (Click here to see the final spreadsheet.)

The league was very successful in mixing players around, because almost every team met the four minimum trades. This allowed everyone involved to get to know and play with people they don’t normally interact with. That is what 2old2play should be about -- to want to play with each other, and be able to have a good time doing it.

By all accounts, the league was a success. Thanks to everyone who participated.

The final standings and awards of the Halo 3 MML Season first are as follows:

Most likely to get traded: Tie between Random Betrayal and Ladies Luv ME.

Most likely to trade you: ATC 1982 with 12 trades.

Season MVP’s

Week 1 MVP
PnB Attack

Week 2 MVP
Dahji

Week 3 MVP
Normal Guy

Week 4 MVP
MLG Royal

Week 5 MVP
Caesar

This is an invitation for everyone to join in for Halo 3 MML Season 2 after Christmas. The rules and trades are going to be revised to a point were we hope to truly accomplish the goal of this league; it doesn’t matter what skill level you are, come in, have fun, and get to meet and play with other people from the 2old2play community.

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Quick Note from the Site Administration:

Thanks and congratulations to everyone who made the MML a roaring success.

Even more though, we wanted to take a moment and thank Caesar for his efforts in conceiving, developing and running this league in the face of a lot of skepticism that the disparate elements of our Halo community could ever play together. When the flaming and rhetoric dies down and "casual" players take up controllers vs. the "competitive" crowd, it turns out we are all simply 2 Old 2 Play. Kudos to Caesar for making it all work!

2old2play is proud to announce the kick-off of an art auction to support the redesign of 2old2play. The generous and talented artists of 2old2play have graciously donated their work and time to bring you customized, one-of-a-kind drawings, paintings and signatures to adorn the forums and living rooms of any gaming or comic enthusiast.

Please take a few moments to browse the available works and samples from artists waiting to make a customized piece just for you. And with the holidays just around the corner, think of the gift-giving opportunities for all your gaming loved ones!

To learn more about the fund-raising efforts and site redesign, please read HERE and HERE.

To kick off the auction we have created a completely separate forum just above the Off Topic forum where members can view the auction within their own threads. We ask that only people who are bidding on the works post in the auction threads. If you want to discuss the auctions with out bidding, please use the sticky thread within the forum HERE.

To start bidding on some amazing art to support 2old2play, CLICK HERE! Bid as often as you like. The auctions will remain open until Monday December 22nd so winners will have the auctions ready before Christmas. Please understand that the custom art will take longer then the three days left before Christmas and so not all winners will have there art work at that time. If you would like we can try to come up with a certificate of some sort to use as a gift.

Even if you don't bid we really want to encourage all members to head over to the new forum and check out some of the wonderful work that our 2o2p members have created. They put a lot of talent and effort into their art and we feel it's only fitting that 2o2p is able to see it. Feel free to use the discussion thread and by all means contact the artists for more work out side of 2o2p and our auction.

2old2play would like to extend a special thanks to all the artists that made this auction possible. Your work is amazing and we’re indebted to your generosity.

1. JohnnyTwoToes
2. Hubristes
3. Beefynutcase
4. Darth Cestual
5. Wilderz
6. BATMANKM

Thanks so much and happy bidding!

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All works and services are provided by the artist and not by 2old2play. 2old2play is not responsible for issue that may arise between artist and bidder. Please understand what you are bidding on BEFORE making a bid. Read all auctions thoroughly and ask questions within the forum. Thanks.