Torn City Newsletter - Winter 2017

[Torn Logo] Competitions, level 100 club and a well dressed 2018Volume 24 | Winter 2017 Edition In this edition --------------------------------------------------------------- [Competitions Spotlight](#section1) [Christmas Competitions](#section2) [Christmas Town](#section3) [New Companies](#section4) [Facebook Page](#section5) [Visible Clothing & Armour](#section6) [100 Level 100's](#section7) [This Year's Plans](#section8) [Winter Freebie](#section9) [Philistine](#section10) In other news --------------------------------------------------------------- Duke enters Elimination [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- L4suicide itching to use his Dirty Bomb [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Hildegarde's shock at the illicit fund removal [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Evil-Duck and his rambling nonsense [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Nova's discussion of the new sidebar [Read more]( Connect with us on --------------------------------------------------------------- [Facebook]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Twitter]( Winter 2017 --------------------------------------------------------------- Hey {NAME} Merry Christmas everyone! And a Happy New Year too! Oh yeah, sorry we're late. We ate too much Christmas ham and forgot our own names. We're going to kick off our quarterly newsletter with something a little different this time. Don't worry, we've still got some news regarding updates and what's coming up this year, but first, we'd like to put a few dedicated Torn players in the spotlight. More specifically those who have given up their time, sanity, hygiene and in some cases their parental responsibilities to run competitions for the benefit of the Torn community. [Summer time in Torn] --------------------------------------------------------------- []Competitions Spotlight Nothing brings the Torn community together quite like a bit of good old fashioned competition. Whether you're bearing flesh, baking cookies or beating each other senseless, you lot don't half love to compete among yourselves. Torn runs many official competitions throughout the year, including Mr and Ms Torn, Dog Tags and Elimination, but there are many notable player-run contests and events which often prove just as popular. [Competitions Spotlight] The Professional Racing Championships were set up by BackAlleyBob several years ago, with hundreds of players competing in his racing tournament in an effort to win hundreds of millions in prize money as well as a customised signature for their profile. Last year, Bob's dedication and organisation convinced us to back this event with the grand prize of a Bugatti Veyron item, which was subsequently won by Stormcast. The most recent Winter Edition of the PRC was run by GeorgeCostanza - during the final month of his wife's pregnancy, no less - and this time it was Broly who took home the grand prize. Good luck persuading him to sell it! Competitions like this are highly valued by both the Torn community and its staff, and where possible we will always seek to help promote and sponsor your event should it prove to be well organised and popular. And for those looking to compete rather than coordinate, there are plenty of other player-run events out there besides the PRC for you to get your teeth into: Guy_Smiley's [Night Racers]( is hopefully going to be underway soon, with the organiser seeking guidance from the public as to how the next contest should be organised. Hopslam's [Game of Silly Tasks]( began in October and has just recently hit its 20th task, with this competition doing much to encourage activity in some rarely explored parts of Torn City. The [Battle of the Brains Aptitude Competition]( is approaching its final round as we speak, but with this marking the fifth edition run since September, you can be sure that the sixth edition will be following sometime soon. And for some events, such as Rainbowsaurus' [Twas the Night Before Xmas]( role-playing game, there are no gifts on offer, but the prize of participation in this creative and entertaining contest is more than worth your time and energy. Torn wishes to extend its sincerest gratitude to these players and all of those who take their time to add something to our fair city. Whether you're running these events for promotion, profit or just for the hell of it, we are forever in your debt*. *Metaphorically speaking, of course. --------------------------------------------------------------- []Christmas Competitions Congratulations to everyone who won something in one of our many Christmas competitions and contests. If you failed to secure a prize, you might want to take one last look in the dump, as Duke dropped quite a few high-value in there over the festive period. We'll have plenty more seasonal events coming up in the next few months, but for now, let's take a look at some of the outstanding talents who triumphed in our most recent competitions. [Xmas Comp winners] Congratulations must also go out to Mechaa, Kawaii-potato and Smurfslayer who made the most accurate guesses in the candy cane competition, and to Kinkny for winning the poetry competition with an entry we couldn't possibly publish here. Oh, and well done to Kapten_Klitoris for rigging the Naughty or Nice Competition by paying people to vote for him as the nicest person in Torn, only to later discover that the prize for being good was to be attacked by Duke for every vote received. A fitting reward for Torn's notorious king of the scammers. [Click here]( for a full round-up of all Christmas events this year. --------------------------------------------------------------- []Christmas Town On December 18th we opened the gates of Christmas Town, inviting players both naughty and nice to explore a brand new winter wonderland. Over the next two weeks we played Christmas-themed mini games, stuffed ourselves with festive candy, consumed copious amounts of alcohol and enjoyed the Schadenfreude of watching other people walk into obvious hazards. We then rang in the New Year together with a party in the forest! [Xmas Town 2018] Like a loving family enjoying a friendly game of Monopoly, the Torn community competed to find and open chests full of rewards. Some worked together and shared spawn locations, while others silently hospitalized the competition to get their hands on the most coveted Gold Chests. Together we harassed Santa for daily presents and avoided the icy fists of the ever-sneaky Grinch. With 1,433,888 items given out to 19,312 people, it's safe to say that this was the most popular edition of Christmas Town ever. [Xmas Town 2018] Christmas Town is in ongoing development, and, like many of the events we've featured this year, it wouldn't be possible without the ongoing support of our playerbase. We'd like to thank the players, moderators and Committee members who sent in bug reports, helped us test new features, made maps and guides, and shared their feedback with the team. --------------------------------------------------------------- []New Companies The release of the Detective Agency company has been delayed while we iron out a few details regarding the specials, which are unlike anything we've offered before and therefore need to be finely tuned before rollout. The developers are currently discussing these specials with the committee, and we hope to have something to show you within the next month. In addition to the Detective Agency, we also plan to release a Logistics Company shortly afterwards, with the specials from this firm intended to complement those provided by the DA. The perks from the two can be neatly categorised as "Seeing" and "Doing", but you will have to wait to find out what exactly this means. --------------------------------------------------------------- []Facebook Page Some of you may have noticed that the [Torn Facebook page]( came alive again with a New Year's message recently. We know many of you despise Zuckerberg's creation due to its neverending torrent of pointless quizzes, marathon photos and non-dank memes, but we hope we'll change your mind by increasing our presence with entertaining posts, official announcements and Facebook-only giveaways. --------------------------------------------------------------- []Visible Clothing & Armour In a surprise Christmas update, Attacking 2.1 was released with the introduction of a far smoother and faster experience, visible armour & clothing on models, new temporary weapon HUD & backgrounds, an animated life-bar, stealth bar, and much more to boot. There are a few balances we have planned in the coming weeks, but we're all excited at the potential changes this new system offers. [Visible Clothing and Armour] --------------------------------------------------------------- []100 Level 100's Judging by our calculations, Torn should welcome it's 100th Level 100 player sometime during the next quarter. There are 37 people currently sat on Level 99 with just ten more to go until we reach the magic century. Or should that be eight? Unfortunately, a former Level 100 player was notoriously placed in Federal Jail just over a year ago, meaning that both the 100th and 101st players to achieve this milestone feat will both have a legitimate claim to the title. Great. It looks like the job of identifying the hundredth top level player should prove just as controversial as when we had to figure out who was the first. (Don't worry BB, we all know it was you) --------------------------------------------------------------- []This Year's Plans The best way to streamline something is to put speed holes in it. The second best way is to prioritise projects in order of importance. We've been doing a lot of the latter lately, and as such we're able to finally bring you some of the new features we've promised for a long time. 2018 will see our well-oiled machine pump out Torn's first mobile application, the initial instalment of Crimes 2.0, Poker 2.0, Bookies 2.0, Newsticker, Chronicles, Competitive warring, Legendary weapons & armour and many more. We'll be prioritising cutting down the number of confirmed bugs over the next month or two, then it's full speed ahead, focusing mostly on the overdue large content releases. --------------------------------------------------------------- []Winter Freebie As with all our quarterly newsletters, we like to give you all a little treat for being part of the best online RPG community in the world. To redeem your one-time-use +250 energy boost simply [click this link](. Enjoy... Use it wisely! --------------------------------------------------------------- []Philistine It is with heavy hearts that we must end this newsletter with a tribute to Philistine, who sadly passed away over the Christmas period. Phil was the kind of person whom Torn has always depended on; a dedicated player turned staffer whose commitment to our world was more than we ever deserved. His constant presence made Torn a better place - he was one of the most active staff members we've ever had - and his tireless efforts will not be forgotten. As a moderator he leaves behind some big shoes to fill, but his absence will be felt even more deeply by those who knew him best. Our sincere thoughts are with his family and friends during this most trying of times. Thank you Philistine for everything you brought to Torn City during your decade here with us. You were taken too soon, we are proud to have known you, but the stories shared in your [tribute forum thread]( prove you will always be remembered fondly. [Visible Clothing and Armour] You're receiving this newsletter because you registered at [www.Torn.com](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe here](.