2nd Gen. Aquatica November Newsletters

Discussion of other water gun websites.
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Belisaurius
Posts: 97
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2004 1:00 pm

Post by Belisaurius » Fri Jul 30, 2004 4:34 pm

Posted: November 11 2002, 20:35    #540
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| | NEWSLETTER
|_| V.3 I.1 (11/02)

Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Tactic of the Letter
III. The Articles
A. Expectations for the New Super Soaker 2003 Line
B. The Morale of an Army
C. Soakers Hurt ?!!!
D. Lazy Editors…
E. Farewell to iSoaker
IV. Ask the Editors
V. Site of the Letter
VI. Closing Comments
VII. Submitting/Other

I. The New, Changed, Aquatica Newsletter

"Everyone thinks of changing the world,
but no one thinks of changing himself."
-Leo Tolstoy

Welcome to the new Aquatica Newsletter. This is Black Six, along with the other new co-editors Marauder 4 and Mafo0. I'd personally like to thank iSoaker for the chance to do this and I'm sure the others feel the same. This is the first newsletter since June 2001 and I'm glad to see that it is finally back and kicking. However, it won't stay that way unless you, the reader, submit articles to be featured in the letter. So, without further interruption, I present you with the meat and bones of the newsletter.
-Black Six
II. Tactic of the Letter
Death Trap
•For a 10 person team.
•Objective: Two even groups protect both sides of field.
A group larger than the side group is put in the middle and rushes up the center. About halfway up the field, the center group should engage the opposition, then slowly work their way back to the bottom half of the field, to complete a line of defense with the side teams.
•Advantages
The opposing team cannot sneak behind. Once a majority of the opposition is lured back, either side can encircle them.
•Disadvantages
On larger battlefields, there is too much space to cover, and players will be too spread out. Your team will be stuck if the other team advances in a straight line (unlikely). If you start too far back, then movement will be impaired
III. The Articles
A. Expectations for the New Super Soaker 2003 Line
by General RAK
I personally think that the 2003 line will be great. The 2002 line was somewhat disappointing, so I expect Super Soaker to produce something to make up for that. There has been talk of a new CPS that has already been released, but not confirmed by anyone, called the CPS 4500 (You may recall that the 4500 is another name for the Monster/Monster X). Although there is a chance that the 4500 is NOT the newest soaker to the Super Soaker arsenal, I do expect a new CPS to make an appearance. It's hard to predict a new name, and function for a weapon because Super Soaker can do almost anything. But I can foresee a large CPS weapon to be released in 2003, with 3 or more nozzle selections, and I also expect there to be remakes of the Max-D line, correcting some bad trigger designs. But what I cannot see in the 2003 line is a new series of soakers. With the Larami Ltd. Name gone because of corporate merging, Super Soaker’s new “boss”, Hasbro, may want to do things differently with the new soaker line, so predicting what we will see in the new 2003 line is almost impossible. Although, if they are looking to interest the consumer, which is us, than they should do some remakes in our favor, along with creating a new soaker or two.

B. The Morale of an Army
by Belisaurius (Nick)
"A general should not have to say 'I did not expect it' "
-The Strategikon

In all circumstances in which an army must go to war, it is important that they either have the initiative or higher morale, as both decide the outcome of many major battles not fought 1 hit your out. If your troops lack a sense of objective or feeling that they must try their ultimate best they will fall before the enemy if the enemy has a more definite cause or is fighting for their home security. Each battle fought is as much mentally fought as physically. You cannot win without using mental warfare to some extent. If you never attack your enemy in some way other than combat you will find that even after days of intense combat they will still be up to the combat. In cases where one hit kills do not apply, they will charge and charge and charge again, as they will not care to be wet after a certain point. Most people already engage in mental warfare whether or not they know it. Insults and such help to wear down the enemy as much as combat helps wear down the enemy. Propaganda told near prisoners and such things as are used to impress and subdue the enemy mentally, so they give in physically, and make what could become a long war short.

C. Soakers Hurt ?!!!
by Freakymist

I was reading an article at NerfOnline.com and I laughed, they think Nerf hurts; http://nerfonline.com/editorials/nerfhurts.shtml.
Get a load of this:
I was messing around with my WBL and I decided to set out a Coke can and use it as target practice. I set the can on a stool and backed up about 40 yards. I then pumped my WBL to 80 PSI. After preparing my WBL I took aim; I stared at that can for a second then pulled the trigger. I was amazed at what I saw. The can was nearly shredded! I was like, "HOLY xp85tripleshot!"
Next time you read an article about Nerf hurting remember the power of a WBL!

D. Lazy Editors…
And some tips in-between.
by Benjamin “Sapper” H.
October 10, 2002

First off, I’d like to say that I am very pleased that the Aquatica Newsletter is being remade. It should be very beneficial to all who sign up… last time an issue was released I believe it had somewhere between eighty and ninety subscribers. This is what we must live up to; this is what this generation of Super Soaker warriors must surpass! But in order to this, it is necessary for one of us – which I guess gets to be me – to explain how to properly write a well-organized article. Remember, the editors are lazy so your article shouldn’t need editing or don’t expect them to publish your articles anymore.
Now I understand that not everyone has a gift for writing, some people can just write better than other people. But if you don’t have that special gift, don’t be discouraged! You can sort of cover that up by adding in some spicy adjectives, a good structure, and perfect spelling & grammar. For the last part, I command you to type your articles in a word processor (such as MS Word… don’t like Bill Gates? Get over it, peon&#33 ;) There’s nothing worse than coming across an article with ghetto slang in it or with a “0” instead of an “o” or with a “z” instead of an “s.” If you want to look like an incompetent person, then go degrade some other newsletter. After this, print out your article (or read it on screen if you want) and check over it for any mistakes (sometimes MS Word won’t catch things like if you type “if” instead of “is”).
Many people have asked me how to choose a title. Well, for my outline, I simply choose a basic title. Like if I was writing about which Super Soaker’s are better than others, I might title my outline “Super Soaker Buyers Guide”. After I had written my article and proofread it, I would pick an odd sentence out of the article. Would you have read this article if the title was “How to write a good article”? The point is titles should lure people in better than introductions do. Humor themes are good to have in titles as well as throughout the introduction & conclusion (for this article is about lazy editors). I like reading funny articles over boring ones.
Besides spelling & grammar, the structure of your essay is the second most important thing. The basic blueprint is an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. You can use this
article as an example because that’s how I wrote it; right now you’re in the body, the first paragraph was the introduction.
The introduction is arguably the most important part of your essay. It has sometimes been said, “If you have an hour to work on an essay, spend thirty minutes on the introduction.” The introduction will typically be one or two paragraphs, and should focus more to grab the reader’s attention and state the basic argument(s) rather than state “boring” facts. No one wants to read it is it sounds lame. For instance, if you where writing an article about the history of the Super Soaker, a weak introduction would be:
This essay will be about the history of the Super Soaker.
A better, revised version would be:
In 1989, Lonnie Johnson invented what we now call every water gun: a Super Soaker. Since then, over 200 million Super Soakers have been sold nationwide. Why are people so attracted to a “toy” which shoots water? How did Larami, the company that Johnson sold his idea to, sell so many Soakers? And how is water warfare advancing today?
The body is where you should begin to restate your points, steps, etc. and provide some facts to back up your argument (if you are writing that kind of essay). Each paragraph in your body should represent one of these points. For instance, if you’re talking about the benefits of the Storm 750 over the XP 240 and you had four facts (and thus four arguments) that help back this up, then you should probably have four paragraphs… unless two or more of your arguments could smoothly fit into just one. If you have a list of information longer than about four items, then you should probably bullet/number it.
The body is the easy part; the introduction & the conclusion are the hard parts. Many people think that an essay is like a circle – whether they think it consciously or not. They think that the introduction and conclusion should restate the same information, and the body should provide the arguments. They get 1/3 of a cookie (after all… they only got the body part right). If your argument has no weakness and you feel it is impregnable against opposing arguments, you should probably want to leave the reader feeling that he should research this topic more thoroughly. This way, you will gain more supporters. You can do this by leaving questions unanswered at the end. If you feel your arguments are a bit shaky, you probably do want your conclusion to reiterate what you said in your
introduction so you still may retain some supporters that are too ignorant to advance more deeply into the subject.
All right, one last tip before I go onto my conclusion paragraph: WRITE AN OUTLINE, FIRST THING! In fact, I was just writing an outline for this article the other day. An outline is a fairly simple, textbook tool that can work wonders on any essay. It will improve your consistency, efficiency, writing style, and make it less redundant. Also, you may want to include your goal in your outline at the top too. This will help you write it. If you can’t think of a goal, don’t write an essay. I typically use an outline set up like the one below:
Lazy editors

I. Goal
a. Explain how to write a very effective, well-organized article for the Aquatica Newsletter
II. Introduction
a. Blah
b. Blah
III. Body
a. Blah
I. Yada
ii. Yada
iii. Yada
b. Blah
I. Blah
ii. Blah
IV. Conclusion
a. Blah
b. Blah

Anyone who claims to be a good writer after reading this essay and doesn’t make an outline FIRST THING should be punished.
Now that I have explained how to write a good article, no one should write a XPBackfire-esquepy one… even if you’re only nine years old. Ok children! Go out into the world and write articles! But remember to keep this one minimized in the next window . Uphold the glory of the Aquatica Newsletter! And most importantly, DO NOT EVER make the editor’s do more work than they have to because they are LAZY!
Special thanks to “The Nuts & Bolts of College Writing”
[http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/]
*Editor’s Note* - Thanks a lot Sapper, I sure hope all future submissions follow this format.

E. Farewell to iSoaker

Founder of Aquatica says Goodbye, and for Good Reason...
-Black Six
As many of you know, Bob (aka iSoaker), has decided to leave Aquatica and step down as his position as founder. This has posed a bit of a problem for the message boards, as he is the only one that has access to the files on the board. But there is more to it than that, things more important. iSoaker has been a great leader, role model, and friend to many members of Aquatica, including myself. His absence on the boards will be greatly missed. Many members seem mad at his sudden leaving, and many were confused. I had talked to him the day before and everything seemed fine, and then he left. However, I don't blame him, being a longtime member of Aquatica, I can understand where he's coming from. I can remember joining Aquatica, the joy in being able to post about anything Soaker and not have to worry about people's reactions, because I knew they all loved Soakers too. Then, as iSoaker himself said, "...this place provided me with an alternate area wherein I could find inspiration to develop and push forward for bigger and better things for the Super Soaker community. ...then politics began... ...and continued... with each passing year only proving that inner strife was here to stay." The politics killed the club, the Aquatica Elite board became a place to conspire behind the other members' backs. This has continued on and on. Many of the newer members seem to join the board and then think that they know it all, they can tell anyone anything, and they're the authority on all things Soaker and no one can change that. This is not what iSoaker founded Aquatica for. It was a place for Super Soaker talk, nothing more. If only we could go back to the Yahoo! Club...
And people wonder why I don't post anymore...

IV. Ask the Editors
In the future this section will feature questions from you, the readers, answered by us, the editors. Feel free to submit any questions to the addresses provided in Section VII. of the newsletter.

V. Site of the Letter
iSoaker.com
“Leave NO one dry!”
http://www.isoaker.com

VI. Closing Comments
Thank you for being apart of reviving the Aquatica Newsletter, and thank you to all who submitted articles. I hope you have enjoyed what we have to offer in this issue, and will enjoy the future issues. I believe the newsletter will help keep us together during this time of insecurity, let us forget politics, and remember the real purpose of Aquatica: Super Soakers. This is the end of this issue, but with your help, many more will come to pass.
-Mafo0
Victory to Unit 1!

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Spinner
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Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2004 12:00 pm

Post by Spinner » Fri Jul 30, 2004 4:40 pm

Er...Belisaurius, was there any particular reason for posting this? I'm confused...all this is is a c/p. Also, what's it doing in Wars? :huh:
ISS: Soaker Sagas

Submit your saga and see it up with other titans of water warfare.

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Commander_Gaunt
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Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2004 5:01 pm

Post by Commander_Gaunt » Fri Jul 30, 2004 5:30 pm

EEERRR yeah...this topic may as well be closed, the opening paragraph had no question that needed answering...sooo...nothing can really be said. This may as well be closed.

p.s. I also agree with spinner about how pointless this is.
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superstormer
Posts: 328
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2003 1:00 pm

Post by superstormer » Fri Jul 30, 2004 5:45 pm

How is this pointless?

This is a good source of information.

I think I got the last Aquatica Newsletter.

Edit: That was the last newsletter Hey, that's funny..
Its still in my inbox.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Socrates)</div><div class='quotemain'>I drank what?!</div>

Belisaurius
Posts: 97
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2004 1:00 pm

Post by Belisaurius » Fri Jul 30, 2004 10:04 pm

The forum this came from id no longer up. there is some good info here. besides, it's an insite into the 2nd generation aquatica's. I posted this because if you weren't there or if you didn't save it specifically you couldn't use it or wouldn't know it was there. I don't have anything else. maybe someone else has the others?
Victory to Unit 1!

The dark ANNIHILATOR
Posts: 364
Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2003 12:00 pm

Post by The dark ANNIHILATOR » Sat Jul 31, 2004 8:26 am

I don't mind this thread. SOme interesting info. But the "B. The Morale of an Army " part seems inapropriate since it makes sound war like a game in order to make water battles seem more serious. Comparing War with Water Battles is like comparing 9/11 with an unexpected waterbaloon attack. Water battles are still nothing more than squirting with a water gun. It has nothing to do with the sick, horrific absurdity of actual warfare.
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Commander_Gaunt
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Post by Commander_Gaunt » Sat Jul 31, 2004 9:29 am

I agree it has some worthwhile information, but there is still no point in it being open for other comments. The original post had no particular question which required anyone to say anything. If it's that important then pin it, but lock it so it can only viewed, there is no point in it being open to discussion.

Unless of course someone wants to say part of it is wrong, constructive criticism..
<span style='color:gray'>There are only 3 sure things in life: Birth <span style='color:red'>Death <span style='color:gray'>and <span style='color :p urple'>Taxes

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