September 2012

GoldToken's Monthly News

2012 GoldToken Olympics - Next to Last Call!

From humble beginnings, GoldToken's Olympic games have truly blossomed and become GoldToken's most popular yearly feature. If you haven't joined the teams before, you will find tough competition and comradery in these fast paced tournaments. to Jacob1987, rabbitoid and a host of club presidents that work overtime putting these games together for your enjoyment, GoldToken Olympics are better than ever!

Join The Olympiads Club or write Jacob1987 to sign up today!



Mahjong! & Dragons Breath!

I am happy to announce the availability of our newest creation - Mahjong! Mahjong is an old Chinese game for 2-4 players focusing on forming combinations of tiles, reminiscent of the Rummy and Rummikub games.

GoldToken's implementation differs from the original in that the interruption rules are not implemented, as these would slow down the game too much in our turn-based environment.

Please note: this is a different game than the solitaire pair-matching game which is also known by the same name.

Additionally a 2-player variant of Mahjong, called Dragon's Breath, is also available. This is an entirely different game than Mahjong -- one player attempts to remove tiles from the board, while the other one tries to fill up the playing board entirely. This variant is much more similar to the solitaire Mahjong.

Special to FixitDave for his wonderful Mahjong graphics, Jools for a fabulous dragon, and our ever beloved Mecir for his game creation, a most tolerant patience with our game requests and devotion to GoldToken's petulant code. These three men are AWESOME!!

We hope that you will enjoy these new additions!



New Club Discussion Board Features!

to Mecir, clubs can now add a sticky post at the top of their discussion boards, limit a discussion board strictly to club Presidents or anonymize a discussion board so nobody knows who is posting. You can also change the sticky post at any time, or un-anonymize/privatize a board if you wish.

To make these changes, click your clubs Administer Discussion Boards link, and select Modify a board. Choose the board you wish to privatize and select your changes from there.



Tokens: They're not just for game wins, anymore!

Have you checked out all the fancy new Tokens available? They're part of a game that's being tested on the beta site right now, but they also make great collectibles and gifts.

See the entire set here: Recognition Tokens - GoldToken's Treasure Trove, and be sure to send a PM to GoldToken Support if you see any you've already earned that were not added to your Profile automatically!

P.S. If you're admiring the Tokens, be sure to send a to Jools...he and an "anonymous contributor" are responsible for creating them!



Over 50,000 Games!

How many games have you played on GoldToken 1? 1,000? 10,000? Well, we have a very special player who has played a whopping 59,135 games. Please helps us to congratulate SarahMills on her awesome accomplishment by joining us in a tournament in her honor: The SarahMills 50,000 Game Token Party Tournament - naturally, it's Backgammon, Sarah's most played game!

GoldToken's first player to be awarded the { Image: www.goldtoken.com/pics/ptoken39813120901161235.gif } SarahMills, we lo*V*e you!!



New Discussion Boards!

Join David on , to discuss, debate, discourse and generally dissertate, the English Language in the spirit of everything that makes GoldToken the game site we all love. You will have a blast!

Ever think "I said that wrong?" Well now here's your chance to say it wrong all the time. We have a great new Discussion Board called .

Spoonerisms are words or phrases in which letters or syllables get swapped. This often happens accidentally in slips of the tongue (or tips of the slung as Spoonerisms are often affectionately called!). No tongue tripping before you get there!

The Best Caption Is.....

(unknown photo) - " ok, trust me on this one.... when I peck your ear tell her, " you're right, I'm sorry, and I'll never do it again"....and what ever you do don't listen to him...he's a bird "

rusty scupper, who won a GoldToken Signature Goldie for his caption.



Gold Members "Win A GoldToken Signature Goldie!" Contest

to Red Panda for winning his own GoldToken Signature Goldie with the best Token game ideas! All three are under consideration.



Have a wonderful month and play like you mean it!

--Badger

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In this month's newsletter, we have:

• Birthdays & Special Announcements
• Ask the Grammarian Introduction
• 1st Stop Information
• Photozone Competition
• Game Of The Month
• Best Recipe Contest
• Up Front & Personal
• Testimonial Of The Month
• Contest of the Month
• Caption Contest
• Treasure Hunt
• Interesting Club Of The Month
• Breaking Club News
• Olympic News

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Birthdays & Special Announcements

Birthday Wishes:

-- Happy Birthday to kiwiyeti on September 2nd!
-- Happy Birthday to nanners on September 3rd!
-- Happy Birthday to Sushi Warrior on September 3rd!
-- Happy Birthday to Megababe on September 3rd!
-- Happy Birthday to ken on September 7th! - From your wife nadia maria
-- Happy Birthday to Hamsarnie on September 8th!
-- Happy Birthday to Rosesncards on September 8th!
-- Happy Birthday to chris3 on 10th! - From The Word O'Rama Club
-- Happy Birthday to cdc11 on September 11th! - From { Club }, The Backgammon Tournament Club and { Club }
-- Happy Birthday to dustmuffin on September 12th!
-- Happy Birthday to Meeshamouse on 12th! - From The Word O'Rama Club
-- Happy Birthday to Brendans Grandmom on September 13th!
-- Happy Birthday to China_Blue on September 13th! From The MasterClass Club
-- Happy Birthday to VBeginner on September 13th!
-- Happy Birthday to BearRuff on September 13th!
-- Happy Birthday to ditzyblue on September 13th!
-- Happy Birthday to Bluejay on September 14th! - From { Club }, The Pork Chop Club & laura lee
-- Happy Birthday to Philliesfan 915 on September 15th!
-- Happy Birthday to NEUROTIKA on September 16th!
-- Happy Birthday to Redhairchick on September 16th! - From The Monkeytyper's Gaming Paradise Club & The Word O'Rama Club
-- Happy Birthday to babken on September 18th! From The Backgammon Tournament Club and The MasterClass Club
-- Happy Birthday to BILLYBILL on September 18th!
-- Happy Birthday to Carol91859 on September 18th! - From The Pork Chop Club
-- Happy Birthday to JUST CALL ME PATCH WILLIAM on September 18th!
-- Happy Birthday to Marge44 on 18th! - From The Word O'Rama Club
-- Happy Birthday to Grover on September 20th! - From The Word O'Rama Club, The Monkeytyper's Gaming Paradise Club, The Friendship Club & laura lee
-- Happy Birthday to Blue Warrior on September 21st!
-- Happy Birthday to jgbrunelle on September 22nd!
-- Happy Birthday to doc2309 on September 23rd!
-- Happy Birthday to Moms Danny Boy on September 24th!
-- Happy Birthday to Nicodemus on September 25th! - From The MasterClass Club
-- Happy Birthday to bomoan on September 26th! - From { Club }
-- Happy Birthday to Ana on September 26th!
-- Happy Birthday to jaro70 on September 26th!
-- Happy Birthday to Oh No Mr Bill on September 27th! - From { Club } and The Backgammon Tournament Club
-- Happy Birthday to Redbee on September 27th!- From laura lee
-- Happy Birthday to Freddie on September 28th! - From { Club }
-- Happy Birthday to nadia maria on September 29th! - From The Friendship Club, { Club }, The Renegades Gaming Club and Lorraine of the Renegades
-- Happy Birthday to Silkwood on September 29th! - From { Club } & The Pork Chop Club
-- Happy Birthday to JTOhio on September 30th!
-- Happy Birthday to sweetblue on September 30th!
-- Happy Birthday to hoot on September 30th! From The Pork Chop Club & { Club } and laura lee

Anniversary & Other Wishes:

-- Happy Wedding Anniversary goes out to sallyp and her husband on September 1st!

-- Happy Wedding Anniversary goes out to Gail_M and her husband on September 2nd!

-- Happy 38th Wedding Anniversary goes out to nightingale and her husband on September 6th!

-- Happy 7th Wedding Anniversary goes out to BrnIdGirl and her husband on September 17!

-- Happy 48th Wedding Anniversary goes out to GeorgiasGrandad and his wife, Margaret on September 29th!

-- Happy 22nd Wedding Anniversary goes out to ken and his wife nadia maria on September 29th!

Other Wishes:

* If you would like to announce any birthdays, anniversaries or other special events coming up for next month, please send GoldToken's Newshound a message before the 25th of this month, so we can give them a shout out in next month's newsletter! (Please keep all announcements upcoming and not belated. Announcements submitted after the newsletter is published, cannot be put in after the fact, we're sorry!)

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** Introduction

Brought to you by *David*

Greetings, fellow Gold-Tokeners, and welcome to this discussion board. The idea came to me a while ago, when I observed, for the umpteenth time, an apostrophe error in a post that I read from a player. (More about the apostrophe later•.) My message to GT Support read:

“I regularly notice grammatical errors, and mistakes in punctuation, in posts that appear on the site. Without wanting to point out the errors directly (which could be seen as confrontational) I thought it might be useful to have a place where these things could be discussed or debated; it would also serve as an educational tool.

Members could post questions, or raise issues regarding grammar, and elicit responses from other members. The topic header could be "Ask the Grammarian".

My interest in the correct use of English grammar stems from an abiding love for the language since my days in high school, more years ago than I care to remember! I'd love to be able to pass on some of the knowledge I have gained.”

I plan to set up word games, and initiate discussion by way of either a question, or in a post with deliberate errors, for you to solve. You’ll be able to pose questions about grammar usage, and we’ll go on a learning journey together.

So here it is. “Ask the Grammarian” is a reality. I hope we’ll discuss, debate, discourse and generally dissertate, in the spirit of everything that makes GoldToken the game site we all love.

Look out for the first game in a few days.

* One of my favourite books on the subject is “Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation” by Lynne Truss. It’s probably available at your local library.

David

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1st Stop Information

Site tips and helpful tools

Looking for Quick Games?

Games are faster if you are in the same timezone, or have similar online times.
Games are also faster if you play someone much better than you
Games are also faster if you play shorter games
Games are also faster if you pick games with small number of finite moves.. e.g. whist only has 26 moves

Suggestion 1:

Check out the longer games (dominoes (including double12, double9), hearts, eureka, three hand whist, rummikib) go to the best players list have a look at people's profile on completed games. see if you find people who match your sort of games that you like and that their past games are quick players.

People who play longer games generally are quicker players because the games go too long if take a long time per move. e.g. one of my opponents in double 12 dominoes (It is too much effort for me, but I thought I would give it a go) did 236 moves in less than 7 days. If two people who take a 3 day time to the limit had taken 4 days per move (3 days + 1 day off) this would have been 236*4*2 = 1488 days = 4 1/2 years ..

Suggestion 2:

Put an invite in for a game you want to play, specifiy a total timelimit that you want to achieve. You will then find like minded people.
I see some invites for backgammon variants total time per player is 15 days. That to, is moving fast

Suggestion 3:

Join The Gold Triathlon Marathon Club. Those games are always fast



and to Red Panda for his submission of this August's winning Nugget.

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Photozone Competition

Brought to you by: Redhairchick

Jools is August's Photozone competition winner who entered (unknown photo) and won the challenge with 44 votes
oldog came in 2nd place with 17 votes for image#03
PattyMac came in 3nd place with 14 votes for image#04

to all the winners and to all of the members who participated either by submitting photos or voting and commenting.
Without you all, this competition wouldn't be active

You can view all the images submitted for the Photozone Competition by using the following link Photozone Zepher's Album titled 2012-08 Birthdays.



We don't have any winner for album contest this month since we didn't have any entries!!



The theme for both Photo Album and Single Photo contests in September is Blue. Please post your entries on the Photozone DB with either "Photo Album Contest" or "Photozone Contest" in the subject line to enter.

The deadline for this month's photo album and photozone contest is: 12:00 Midnight, Pacific Time, Saturday, September 29th, 2012.

If you have any question about the rules or details you can either visit Photozone Zepher's profile or post your questions on Photozone DB.

Regards,
Redhairchick

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Game Of The Month

September's game of the month is Mahjong! Join us in a fun Double Elimination Tournament by signing up today for The September 2012 - Game of the Month - Mahjong! Tournament!

I found out the hard way that it's impossible to end a round with exactly one Kong. In order to complete a round, it's necessary that one meld a total of 14 tiles. The distribution of these tiles into melds must always be one of the following: 3-3-3-3-2, 4-4-3-3 or 4-4-4-2. A Kong is a matched set of 4 tiles. The first of the distributions here does not have any Kong. The second has two. The third has three.

We hope you enjoy it!

Special to *Dragon Jr* for writing this month's Game of the Month Nugget. You too, can write a knock-out Nugget and reap the rewards! If your Nugget is chosen as the winner for GoldToken's Game of the Month in GoldToken's Monthly Newsletter, you will win:

• Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members: a one month extension to your current membership
• Wood Members: a free membership upgrade
• Guests: a free two-month Silver Membership

So, what are you waiting for? Start writing! .

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Best Recipe Contest

August's winner is: Penuche Fudge (brown sugar)

• Submitted by Scrapbooking Maven

Penuche Fudge is a New England Tradition. To me it is beyond good.
Ingredients

Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
5 ounces (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 ounces toasted walnuts, chopped (1 cup)


1. Coat a 5-by-10-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line with plastic wrap leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides.
2. Bring evaporated milk, brown sugar, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring frequently, until mixture registers 236 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 25 minutes.
3. Transfer to a mixer bowl, and beat in confectioners' sugar on low speed. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Increase speed to medium, and beat until mixture is thickened and smooth, 2 to 4 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add vanilla and walnuts.
4. Spread mixture in pan, smoothing top. Refrigerate, uncovered, until firm, about 25 minutes. Unmold fudge using plastic overhang, and discard plastic. Cut into 18 pieces.




GoldToken's Scrapbooking Maven will receive a "one time" access to the entire list of site icons, and can select any one that is not currently being used by another player, regardless of membership level (Silver and Wood members can keep the icon for 1 year!). Please send a big to Scrapbooking Maven!

September's recipe contest is: "Pork Dishes". The winner will be given a "one time" access to the entire list of site icons, and can select any one that is not currently being used by another player, regardless of membership level (Guests, Wood and Silver members can keep the icon for 1 year!). Rules:

• Entries must be posted by the recipe guardian/creator on the Cutting Board DB.
• Recipe must be original and have never been posted on the Cutting Board DB before.

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Up front & personal

Interview by: laura lee

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**
porkpie1

1. What brought you to GoldToken?
I was playing a friend on another gaming site and they recommended I tried GT from then on I was hooked
How'd you choose your name for GT?
my name I chose from a character in a comedy TV programme that was on the TV at the time I joined his character name was Porkpie. he always made me laugh. Here is a picture of him http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Pork-Pie-desmonds-553785_400_304.jpg

2. What interests you most on GT?
The Family feel to GoldToken and the great friends I have in The Pork Chop Club which is run by 3 partners Pepper eliphont551 and myself.

3. Do you belong to any of the clubs? How about the chat only clubs (birds, kitties, garden)?
yes I belong to a few The hoot's hide-a-way Club, { Club }, The High Rollers Club, { Club }, The Gold Triathlon Marathon Club and the GoldToken Olympics.

4. What State or Country do you reside in?
I live in Southern England in the UK. England
Do you live in the City or Country?
I live in a town but close to the City of Portsmouth
What in your State or Country do you think tourists should definitely see?
If you are a tourist in our area then definitely got to see HMS Victory and HMS Warrior in the historic dock yard in Portsmouth

5. What hobbies to you have?
Astronomy and Photography. I belong to the largest observatory in the south of England (This could be a must see too
What other interests do you have?
Painting with acrylic paints. I mainly paint space pictures or Astro Art as I call it. You can see them here --->> http://www.krccdimaging.co.uk/astroart.htm

6. Children?
We have 3 sons who are now 28, 30, 32 years old.
Grandchildren?
At the moment we have 2 Granddaughters aged 3 and 2. they are great fun.
My middle son used to play here chromer but busy at work meant he had to stop playing here for a while. chromer is thinking of coming back soon

7. Do you work?
No I don't work. I have been on long term sick since 1996 and have battled with chronic fatigue since I lost my job. To cut a long story short I worked on a farm for 22 years and got Chemical Poisoning from insecticides we used. I did enjoy my job it was the best and I miss it so much.

8. Any pets?

Yes a Dog she is a Yorkshire Terrier named Tamzin. There is a picture of her in my Photo Album in my profile

9. Are you under 30?___ 30 to 50? ___ or over 50?
I am 55

10. What's the farthest you been from home?
Was it a vacation or for business?
I lived in Cyprus for 3 years. I was 10 at the time lol My dad was in the Royal Air Force so we were posted there for the 3 years. That is the farthest I have been from the UK

11. If you could be anywhere right now where would that be?
mmmmmm that's not an easy one to answer. I could say the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida or up in the International Space Station that would be cool



We would like to say to porkpie1 for letting us step into their personal life for a bit.

If there are any questions you would like to see asked in future interviews, please let us know.
Laura
laura lee

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Testimonial Of The Month

Brought to you by: *GoldToken* Players

My brother first introduced me to GoldToken back in 2002 and I'm so glad he did. At first I played as a guest but soon got hooked on all the games and upgraded my membership so that I could enjoy more games and their variants. I feel that as the site has grown with the variety of games it offers, so has my ability to play these games. GoldToken is so easy to use too; starting new games or accepting open invitations is very easy. I've met lots of nice people on here and it is a great place to come to to play just for fun and to relax. I like most of the card games and numbers games (like Shake Rattle and Roll) and currently my favorite games would have to be Rummikub and American Rummikub. I think I'm addicted to GoldToken!

Caroline a/k/a kess&ellie

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Contest of the Month

Club Owner of the Year

September's contest is the Club Owner of the Year, with nominations accepted throughout the month. All entries will be posted in a poll and announced for voting in next month's newsletter. Winner will receive two extra months on their current membership, or, if Guest, a two month Silver membership.

Please post the name of the player along with what club they are nominated for on the

We have a winner for August's Best Nugget!

;;congrats;; to Red Panda .... which is posted in our First Stop Information above.

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Caption Contest

The Caption contest winner for the August, 2012 newsletter is LittleTree with:



I made him an offer he couldn't refuse, see?

LittleTree!

To enter September's Caption Contest, click on the link and post your best caption. photo titled September 2012 Caption Contest
The winner will be chosen by our news team, given 5 Golderos and announced in next month's newsletter.

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Breaking Club News:

Brought to you by GoldToken's roving reporter, PattyMac

The Sallyp and Friends Club wants to think everyone that voted for them last year to become "Club Of The Year" and they would like to welcome some new members. There's always something going on at SallyP and Friends, so drop by and check them out.


The Stonehead Stone Games Club is still looking for some clubs to play some stone games against them for some hearty competition. If you are interested contact the club owner, a friendly competitive game is always welcome.

They are also announcing April 2012 Winners from their finished in house competition:
Backgammon Congratulations to:grade1teacher
Nackgammon Congratulations to: Sir Legend50 of the GoldTable and Wrighty
Four In a Row Congratulations to: grade1teacher
Zero G Four In a Row Congratulations to: fearglic and NetKissa aka Knit This
Go Moku Congratulations to: Skywalker
Golden Pente Congratulations to: Stmhawk
Large Go Moku Congratulations to: Road Runner and Stmhawk
Pente Congratulations to: twotees and Stmhawk
Small Go Moku Congratulations to: Hamsarnie and Whistler Gandalf


{ Club }
Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe reports about his Aerial Combat Simulation Game.

Sir Willy was the only British pilot to volunteer for this dangerous mission. He has been dispatched to recon German positions and troop movements just beyond the mountains near the German base of operations.
His orders are to gather vital information that's needed by high command, to avoid enemy contact if possible. However it has been rumored that the ruthless German fighter pilot, Red Baron Panda is scouting the area for Sir Willy's aircraft. These two have been bitter enemies since the start of the war, each swearing to add the other to their long list of combat victories. He was last reported flying with another German aircraft near the base of the mountain.
Red Baron Panda (flying a Roland D VIb# and asxlen# flying a Albatros D Va# are the German pilots in this dogfight, they are based out of aerodrome hex #28. I'm the lone British pilot#flying a Bristol F2b two-seater), I'm based out of aerodrome hex #1. Although the F2b was used as a recon aircraft, they were also capable of squaring off with enemy aircraft as a fighter. My mission is to gather information about German positions and troop movements in the area just beyond the mountains, however I'm ready, willing and able to engage any enemy aircraft that I may come across.
At least I hope that I am!
Perhaps a layout of the game board might be helpful. We've decided to add a small mountain range and two cloud clusters to this dogfight. The mountain hexes are as follows:

VL: #248, #260, #261 and #267
L: #259 and #269
M: #268

If any aircraft flies into a mountain hex at the listed altitude level or lower it has crashed and the pilot lays dead in the aircraft's twisted wreckage!
Or perhaps he was rescued by locals and nursed back to health to fly again!

first cloud cluster:
H: #222
M: #244
L: #223
second cloud cluster:
H: #264
M: #263
L: #250
Clouds do not move in this dogfight, they cannot be fired into, fired out of or fired through.

If you are interested in becoming a participate in this exciting aerial game, contact the club owner he will be happy to give out all information.


The Crossdowns Club has merged with The Word O'Rama Club. If word games is your choice of games be sure to drop by and say Hi to the owner they would be glad to give you all the club information

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Olympic News

Brought to you by: *GoldTokens* Olympic *Presidents*

August's 2012 Olympic Winners! A big congratulations to these players & their clubs!

The Shogi Competition in The 2011 Olympic Tournament Group 2A Tournament
Shogi	GOLD	{ Club }	M3
Shogi	SILVER	{ Club }	JimC
Shogi	BRONZE	{ Club }	barefootony

The Switch Competition in The 2011 Olympic Tournament Group 4A Tournament
Switch	GOLD	{ Club }	smelly feet
Switch	SILVER	{ Club }	Totty
Switch	BRONZE	{ Club }	DaMantis

Competitions are published when gold, silver & bronze winners have been determined

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Wanted

• Do you have a special story, poem or testimonial you would like to share? How about some club news, announcements or any other special events? Then don't delay, send GoldToken's Newshound your submissions today! We look forward to hearing from you!

** (Please note: All submissions are added on a first come first serve basis.) **

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