Greetings, Warlords fans -

14 days have passed since official messengers began visiting every
Warlord on the planet, bearing the news that the Warlords II World 
Tournament is about to begin!  Over 140 Warlords from over 20 countries 
have already registered and are now sharpening their swords for the 
Practice Round.  The mother of all mighty battles is brewing...  
But we don't want to leave anyone behind!

If you have already registered, please forward this message to
every Warlord who might be interested in the Tournament.  Almost
every conceivable concern is answered below.  Don't let your
friends miss out on this adventure!

If you have not yet registered, but you love playing Warlords, then
you should point your Web browser over to the Registration site:

   http://www.heeter.net/w2wt/index.html
   www.heeter.net/w2wt/index.html
We are confident that all Warlords players with access to email will 
enjoy the Tournament.  There is not much time to procrastinate, 
however, so don't miss your chance:  

	*** Registration ends on June 13!! ***

Below are many of the reasons why we think you'll enjoy the tournament.
If you have any doubts about signing up, have no fear!  We've probably
solved the problem for you already - and if not, we'll certainly try.

Some common concerns that are answered below:
  * Unsure about the rules?  We'll teach you!  Read on...  
  * Afraid you won't like it?  But our playtesters love it!  Read on...
  * Unsure about playing by email?  We'll help you!  Read on...
  * Don't have Deluxe?  No problem!  Read on...
  * Afraid you won't win?  You can still win prizes!  Read on...
  * Afraid some cheater will win?  Have no fear!  Read on...
  * Afraid you don't have time?  You only need 2-3 hours/week!  Read on...
  * Can't check email every day?  Probably okay!  Read on...

================================================================
Why all Warlords with email should enter the World Tournament:
================================================================

*** The Tournament is the greatest Warlords adventure ever!

You will be missing out on a great experience if you don't try it!


*** It's cheat-resistant:

You don't need to worry about cheaters winning unfairly, like in normal 
play-by-email games.  We've created a set of rules which allow most of
the fun aspects of Warlords, but which regulate the revert option so
that it's very difficult for anyone to cheat, because all cheats can
be easily noticed.  This is essential for a fair tournament, and
our playtesting results show that the rules work!


*** It's fun!

If you aren't sure you'll like the rules we've chosen for the
tournament, you'll be happy to know that the very first player
to register (he snuck in even before me!) was someone who originally
thought he wouldn't enjoy the rules.  Like many others who are now 
playtesters and volunteers, once he tried a game, he changed his mind!
If you try the tournament rules, we're sure you'll enjoy them too.


*** We'll teach you how to play by email:

If you aren't comfortable playing Warlords by email, you
will be happy to know that we have learned from our experiences in
playtesting and set up a network of "Play-by-Email Buddies" who
will teach you everything you need to know about sending and
receiving files and installing scenarios, so that even before
the tournament starts you will be 100% capable of playing
without frustration.  You will not face the start of a tournament
game in fear - except maybe the fear of battle!


*** It's easier than you think!

If you think the rules look complicated, have no fear!  They are as 
easy to play with as Warlords itself; they just structure the game
a bit to make a fair tournament possible.  The first round 
was designed to get everyone trained in tournament play.  
In this unofficial "Practice Round" (10 turns, lasting about 2 months)
we'll teach you all the rules, explain why we made them and how they 
work in practice, and give you a chance to learn them as well
as our playtesters have.  The entire focus is to answer your questions
and provide you with advice.  We want you in top form for the actual
competition!  (In the worst case, until the end of the Practice Round, 
anyone who isn't having fun may drop out without shame, and the rest 
will continue in the first officially-scored round of the tournament.)


* It's free, and won't take all of your time:

If you're not sure you'll have time, just think about how much time you 
already spend playing Warlords and other games.  If you spend 2 or 3 
hours a week gaming, then you can certainly handle the tournament!  
(If some of that time is spent in other play-by-email games, just get 
those players to register too, slow down your current games a little, 
and you can do both!)


* You won't be glued to your computer:

You won't need to check your email absolutely every single day, because 
we have created rules for "timeouts" (4 days per 20-turn game) and 
advance-notice "absences" that allow players some leeway in getting
their gamefiles out.  In addition, Saturday is a grace period
so that you always have extra time on weekends.  Also, since we
use the Warlords Remailer to track the gamefiles, you always know
whose turn it is and when to expect the gamefile to arrive.  You are
also able to receive other player's gamefiles to plan your move before
it gets to you.  So, for example:  I myself never have 
access to email on Sundays, and every couple months I have
3-4 day periods (and the occasional week-long vacation) where I cannot 
check email.  Nonetheless, I'm not only involved in 3 playtesting games, 
I'm the tournament coordinator!  As long as you *normally* check
email at least once a day, and you don't have many sudden long absences,
you should be able to keep up with the pace of the tournament.
We want the tournament to move as swiftly as possible, and we expect
players to play responsibly and get their moves in on time, but we
don't want it to completely take over your life.  We can always add
more timeouts or increase the turnaround time if it becomes necessary.


* There are prizes for fun as well as for victory:

SSG is offering 31 prizes, all of which will include copies of
some of their upcoming products, like Warlords III and Reach for the Stars.
If you are afraid that you "aren't good enough" to win a prize, you'll be 
happy to learn that 15 of the 31 prizes will be given for role-playing 
and *fun* things during the early rounds - and we assume you're 
perfectly capable of having fun even if you don't expect to win!


* You can register with any version of Warlords II:

The Tournament is open to anyone with any version of Warlords II 
(2.x or 1.x, CD or non-CD, Deluxe or "Classic").  All players will
be allowed to compete in the first three rounds.  Once we eliminate the 
bulk of the players, the later rounds will be played using the CD/Deluxe 
versions, but only then (about 8 months from now) do you need to 
worry about Deluxe.  We'll help anyone who has trouble with this.  


* You should play even if you don't expect to finish!

If you won't be able to complete the tournament due to
upcoming time problems, or because you do not have access to Deluxe
right now, it's still worth registering and playing the first few rounds.  
(We do ask that you finish any round you start.)  You see, the fun 
won't end with the tournament, because all tournament players will
be seeded (using their tournament rank) on the upcoming 
"Head-to-Head Warlords Ladder"!  The Head-to-Head Ladder is a 
play-by-email ranking system where players compete individually 
(or in teams of two in the Doubles Ladder) against others on the 
Ladder.  Whoever holds the top rung of the ladder is The Greatest!  
The default Ladder Rules are a modified version of the tournament 
rules, but the two players in any given Ladder Match can play with
any rules they agree upon.  So if you can't complete the tournament,
don't like the ranking you receive, or want to try different rules,
you can join the ladder and fight your way to individual glory there!

A more detailed official announcement about the Ladder will
be sent out after we finish organizing the Tournament and
complete the playtesting for the Ladder.  If you are interested
in the Ladder idea but not the Tournament, let me know because
we could use more playtesters for the Ladder!  An out-of-date
but still interesting draft of the Head-to-Head Ladder rules
can be found on the Web at

   http://www.heeter.net/w2home/head2head.html


* There's no big disadvantage in starting late:

Finally, if you're afraid that you're at a disadvantage because
you haven't been studying the tournament rules for the past few
months the way the playtesters have, consider what we've done to
make the tournament fair for all players:

    (1) The turn reports and game email from most of our playtesting games
       are publicly available on the Web, through the Warlords Remailer
       (http://www.pixgen.com/elam/warlords/Remailer.html).  Anyone
       can study the past games and learn from them.

    (2) Reading about a game is not a perfect substitute for playing one,
       though, so we've also digested the "standard tricks" that we've
       learned in playtesting.  These are then discussed during the practice
       round in a series of rules tutorials laden with tips.  The moderators
       running the Practice Round games will be sharing what they've learned
       as playtesters, too.  

    (3) Anyone who requests it will be allowed to play in multiple
       games in the Practice Round, to get as much experience as he/she
       can handle.  We'll answer any questions you have and even
       provide our won tips and tutorials!

    (4) The tournament involves many different scenarios played under
       many different rules variations.  Most playtesters have only seen
       one or two of our 7 scenarios, so they do not know the tricks to
       *every* map.

    Those who have been planning the tournament may have an advantage in 
    the first round or two, but we've done everything we could think 
    of to minimize it, and the tournament ratings will weight the later 
    rounds more heavily, so once the competition gets fierce after the 
    second round or so, everyone will have the same chance to win.
    We created this tournament so everyone could have fun and
    compete at the highest levels possible, not so we could accumulate
    special advantages and pillage prizes from SSG's warehouse!  :)


So....

Register now!  You have nothing to lose except some of your time.
Remember our Registration Site:

   http://www.heeter.net/w2wt/index.html
   
If you do register, we'll give you all the help you need, and we're 
confident that it will be worth it!  That's what our 22 playtesting 
games have told us, and we think it's why most of our playtesters have 
volunteered in various ways to help us start the tournament as fast 
as possible!

If you have any questions about anything related to the Tournament,
please email Tournament Headquarters 
We would hate to see any dedicated Warlords players miss the Tournament!

Hope to see you in the Tournament soon...

-- Bob Heeter, Warlords II World Tournament Coordinator, 
     ... on behalf of the Warlords II World Tournament Volunteers,

P.S. After you register, please tell your Warlords-playing friends
about the Tournament too!  The more players we have, the more
exciting the tournament, and the more glorious the battles will be!)