Iocaine Powder
Contents
Introduction
Iocaine Powder, currently headed by Poncho the Sane, is known for its active playerbase, high power, and community involvement. Iocaine Powder is the most influential and arguably best PvP clan in the Kingdom of Loathing, and boasts its powerlevellers, trade mavens, and speed-ascenders alike. Iocaine Powder's reputation within the Kingdom of Loathing has fluctuated wildly since its inception, known simultaneously as a high-profile, high-stakes clan, as a clan characterized by an innovative group-effort approach to PvP known as the "Wolf Pack" method, and as a group of incredibly fun-loving, tight-knit friends.
Foundation
Iocaine Powder was founded by Blackadder in July of 2004, and following his departure from the game, Vesuvius took control of the clan. When Vesuvius retired from the game, he handed leadership to Legend Dan, well-known rares trader and scammer hunter. Dan's time in power was marked by an enduring involvement in the trade chat channel and the mall. Dan's legacy, though, lies chiefly in his efforts to take Iocaine Powder from being "just another clan" to being a true force with which to be reckoned.
Clan Growth
During the summer of 2004, Iocaine Powder made its way into the public eye through a dedicated and innovative approach to Player vs Player combat: group shore hunting. This culminated in weeks of stalking--and eventually successfully hitting--Sealh8r and later his multi, Sharpie2Pen, acknowledged PvP masters at the time, to catch them without buffs on their visits to the shore. The clan also started to dominate several campgrounds under the "closed camp" system of PvP where one could only attack opponents in one's own level.
Eponymous took up the reins in October 2004 as real-life issues called Dan away. Under his leadership, Iocaine Powder developed into the uncontested #1 PvP clan in the Kingdom. When the "closed camp" system was changed into a ranking system in late November 2004, the clan was quick to find and point out flaws in the new system, both through exploration of the system's limits and through demonstration (at two later times, boosting the low-level multi "Iocaine Powder" and later Jick himself to the tops of the PvP boards through whole-clan coordinated thrown-game strikes). This attitude earned the clan a reputation for hot-headedness and arrogance in the forums, but also attracted a wide variety of mature traders, respected community voices, and active PvPers. Joodo's leaderboards helped spark a new interest in PvP for many players disillusioned by the new ranking system, and for newer players in general.
Adaptation to the new system came quickly. The old tactic of shore-stalking was reinvented and used in a massive degree to climb the leaderboards, while detailed records were kept of the stats and mini-game statuses of non-Iocaine Powder high-level PvPers via the clan forums. Clan chat was used intensively during this time to coordinate strikes against unsuspecting shore visitors who often were twice the level of the attackers. The "Wolf Pack" tactics and amount of cooperation involved led to allegations of "shore-botting," as Iocaine Powder perfected the system of shore hits. Though the allegations regarding shore-bots within Iocaine Powder were untrue, other players *had* written shore bots (and other players had written "closet bots," designed to deposit 500 meat at a time into their closet, to simulate shoring), and the server lag generated bothered Jick enough to change the character profile page: where profile counts of meat-on-hand and turns-played used to update live (and thus could be used to watch for shoring activity), Jick changed it to only update at rollover. The ensuing discussion sparked an in-depth debate on redoing the PvP system, as Jick remarked on the radio that he couldn't come up with a way to make it really work.
The clan adapted once more to a new style of PvP and through dedication to detail and the backing of several hard-hitters, managed to become an enduring presence on the PvP leaderboards. When Boozerbear, by far the strongest player in the Kingdom at that time, decided to break his stone and throw the leaderboards into turmoil, the clan managed to put a level 1 player (the aforementioned multi "Iocaine Powder") in second place behind him to show up the misleading and manipulable nature of rankings.
Changing of the Guard
When Eponymous left KoL temporarily in February 2005 to participate in a reality TV show, he handed leadership to his trusted second in command Raynor. Raynor's tenure saw a tightening of clan membership and a renewed focus on active and involved membership, coupled to a complete overhaul of the power structure. Following the restructuring of Warehouse23, Jick announced on the radio that he would like to visit the power clans to get a feel for them: he chose Iocaine Powder as his first stopover.
Following Eponymous's return from Reality Television World and return to the seat of power within Iocaine Powder, several tensions arose that lead to his and Kaaewen's departure from the clan. Chrono Mage was chosen to lead the clan, and this popular decision lead the clan into ascension. With the implementation of ascension, Iocaine Powder boasts both non-ascending power-PvPers-cum-powerlevellers and speed ascenders of both the hardcore and softcore variety.
Iocaine Powder in the Post-Ascension Era
After ascension rolled out on June 5, 2005, interest in PvP dropped dramatically, as power-ascenders on the whole no longer had any interest in spending valuable turns in an effort to garner minimum rewards. Still, IP found itself quickly supplementing its PvP reputation with that of an ascension powerhouse. Seldon, AlBassoon, Thunkles and BadMonkey32 were immortalized in The Cannon Museum as being among the first 100 ascenders, and Seldon was also awarded an Ascension Souvenir T-Shirt for being the first player to defeat the Naughty Sorceress and jump through the gash.
The clan's spading mentality also persisted. Strangerer quickly found two loopholes that were reported and quickly fixed. First, that a character could free King Ralph, pvp and have both their hardcore and softcore rank count for their hardcore ancestral ranking, and second that the familiar accessory for the Whirling Maple Leaf, the tiny mountie hat, could be used on any familiar. Several other clan members, including Chrono Mage, CowNBee, Cayanne, Kalira and Cankergirl quickly found themselves near the top of the hardcore ascendingest list, while Hellskidoo found his niche near the top of the softcore boards. Other accomplishments were also recorded by the clan, such as the second successful creation of a Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot, less than 30 minutes after the first, the first 5 day hardcore ascension, the first 4 day hardcore ascension and the spading of the actual Hovering Sombrero formula.
Whereas once the clan supplemented its membership with players found on the PvP board, new members, often having little or no PvP background, came from the ascension leaderboards. Additions such as Bernini, Stoop and Whomhead cemented the clan's hardcore presence, while Laidak and Abjr added considerable muscle in the softcore arena.
Everything Old is New Again: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
On November 8, 2005, an update was posted that would significantly affect the future of the clan, and efforts began to not only re-establish Iocaine Powder as the dominant PvP clan, but also to re-establish PvP as an important part of the Kingdom. The announcement read as follows:
PvP attacks no longer use Adventures. This is the first in a series of minor tweaks/improvements/enhancements to PvP that will happen over the next couple of weeks.
The clan's PvP reputation, reduced to a mere backstory by this point, quickly reemerged and a plot hatched. On January 3, 2006, Valentine's Day in the Kingdom, members of Iocaine Powder, with great speed and ruthless efficiency, brushed aside all who stood in their way to claim all thirty spots on the Hardcore PvP leaderboard, and held the board for the entire day. A challenge was issued: On the next "real" Valentine's Day, February 14th, the feat would be repeated. Prizes, including several Talisman of Baio's, tiny plastic swords and Mr. Accessories would be granted to those who were able to successfully stand in their way. Although one baio was won courtesy of a magnificently coordinated effort by members of Noblesse Oblige, Tainted Meat Alliance, Jerry's Kids, and Aflubadubdub!; Iocaine Powder finished the day holding 28 of the 30 leaderboard spots.
Today's Iocaine Powder
As Iocaine Powder prepares to celebrate its third year as a part of the Kingdom of Loathing, the future continues to look bright. Once seen as a band of merry troublemakers, the clan was honored to have two of its members, Thunkles and Aprocalypse, modded in February 2006. For the first time, as a result of interest generated by both the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and Chrono Mage's Hardcore Ascension guide, IP opened up part of its forums, as well as its namesake radio station, Radio Iocaine Powder, to the general community. Members of Iocaine Powder can be found near or at the top of every gameplay leaderboard in the game, from ascension to PvP to basementing.
In accordance with the rules laid out by clan founder Vesuvius, it is governed by a board of five players and looks more toward quality than quantity of membership. Former clan leaders hold an honorary board position. Clan recruiting is invitation-based, and each possible new member is reviewed and discussed by the entire clan.
"What you do not smell is Iocaine Powder."
Blackadder catches up with Tainted Meat Alliance, Jerry's Kids, and Aflubadubdub!, who holds the PVP spots hostage and proposes a battle of wits. Blackadder produces a vial of "iocaine powder" (an undetectable poison) and takes two goblets of wine behind his back to poison one of them, then instructs Tainted Meat Alliance, Jerry's Kids, and Aflubadubdub! to choose a goblet. Tainted Meat Alliance, Jerry's Kids, and Aflubadubdub! uses their logic to deduce which cup is poisoned, drinks from one and dies. Blackadder then reveals to the entire kingdom that he had poisoned both, but he was not affected because he had "spent the last few years building an immunity to iocane powder." Thereby proving his superiority as a clan leader.
Over subsequent years, Iocaine Powder maintained a strong presence in the game, particularly PVP, running several other PVP-focused events including a regularly recurring "PVP Premiership". Many of their members were also significant ascenders in both softcore and hardcore, either for speed, persistence or both. Also, when the Clan Basement were introduced to the game in 2008, the "wolfpack" mentality that had served them so well in PVP was to stand them in good stead again, as IP's members cooperated to set several early speed records in the Hobopolis clan dungeon, including that of being the first clan to use multiple moshing bands: indeed, for a long time, their 1028-turn run was a near-unassailable mark at the top of the Hobopolis speed board, and is at the time of writing still in the top four.
