In order to provide a little more transparency between the community (you dudes) and the development team (the guys upstairs) - I've decided to start blogging about stuff we're all working on (unless its super top-secret). Hopefully this will open up the lines of communication around what new features you guys want and what new features (or bug fixes) we're working on.

Andy rocks. Without him, GiantBomb and ComicVine would not have happened. 

Andy is the lead architect and the dude who masterminded the Vines framework (this is the underpinning framework that powers all of the WhiskeyMedia sites). Andy builds site-specific features here and there (such as the awesome stats module on the frontdoor), but typically works at a higher level on the core framework. I secretly think Andy is a robot (don't tell him i said that).

Ethan: 

Ethan is our front-end javascript ninja.... who is quickly becoming our back-end scientist. Ethan wrote pretty much all of the javascript on the site and built the fun stuff on the site -- like the image uploader, the video player, and a lot of the wiki tools you see on the site.... Ethan and I both dig building fun new features for the users.

If you don't know Dave yet, then you haven't been watching the Warhammer Vids. In a word, Dave is everything. He is our product leader, project manager, css guru, designer and WoW Nerd. Dave does all of the front-end work so we don't have to. He freaking rocks and he loves ice cream w/ sprinkles on it.

We had a slight bug w/ the Email Notifier this morning. For those of you who received two or more email notifications this morning - I want to send you an apology. The bug has been found (i had to re-run the script to track it down and squash it - hence the multiple emails) and should be fixed now.

Thanks all for your patience. Your feedback during this beta period is so helpful in letting us stabilize the system before we roll it out site-wide :)

Thanks,
-coonce

PM Search would obviously be a nice, helpful feature -- but how often would you use it?

Just trying to get a little input before deciding if this would be worth building out....

Hey guys - I've been dark for a little bit, mostly because I've head my head down for the past week and a half working on our new notification system. The one thing I really don't like that much about our sites right now is the lack of email notifications when stuff happens on the site. For instance, somebody comments on an image I uploaded - I have no idea unless I randomly happen to drill down to that image again, or I see it in that user's activity feed.

Something we're working on - is how to bring these actions to your attention in a nice, concise, rolled-up email that isn't spammy, but lets you know what's been going on around the site since during the past (day/week/etc). We're getting close and we're looking to launch within the week (as soon as we can configure our smtp server) - but we'd like as much feedback as possible during the rollout process so we can tune it properly.

Feedback is always appreciated.

Hey guys - to address the growing issue of whether or not we should allow Off-Topic topics in the main forum view, we added a toggle for you guys (see rainbow). If you wish to see Off-Topic topics in your main forum view, simply click the rainbow in the forum toolbar, if not, click to toggle it off. They are off by default. Thanks - enjoy.

hey - as you guys have probably seen - guides are now live -- so get over there and check out the system.... feedback as always is appreciated and this is very much a beta product that we will be improving with time and with your guidance and suggestions.

there are a few things we need to fix tomorrow.... most notably section comments and ratings.... other than that - check them out - play around w/ them and let us know what you think.. thanks :)

http://www.sirmikeofmitchell.com/

Dude rocks....

example pic of solid snake:

Do you want one?

I just received this email today:

Hi everyone,

As you may know, Toys for Bob, who created Star Control and Star Control II
(but not Star Control 3), would like to create a new Star Control game.
We would like that too. But they are dependent on their publisher,
Activision, to fund the development.

So a petition was created to show Activision that there was a market for
a new Toys-for-Bob-created Star Control game. It has generated quite a bit
of response, but more can be done.

I would like to direct your attention to a cunning plan that Toys for Bob
producer Alex Ness has come up with. In his own words (from the Toys for
Bob website):

       First We Hit Them With Letters, Next Arts and Crafts.

       After that, they won't know what hit 'em. Activision, I mean. As
       part of my multi-pronged strategy to convince Activision to insist
       that our next project be a Star Control one, I have come up with idea
       to harness the powers of arts and crafts as well as fans everywhere.

       What I want to do is this: Make a giant map of the Earth. Maybe I
       should just buy one. I'm not map maker. If I were, I'd probably be
       instantly fired for my alternative spelling of the nation known as
       Uruguay as well as the fabrication of non-existent countries like
       Nutsack Kingdom and Nutsack Kingdom II. As a matter of fact, I have
       already been fired from previous jobs for these exact same reasons,
       even though none of those jobs involved making a map. So anyway, I'm
       going to buy a map. A real big one. Then I'm going to prominently
       display it somewhere in our office. Phase one of my plan will then
       be complete.

       Phase two is where I once again, ask you wonderful community of fans
       for support. What I want is to put pictures of you guys up on this
       map. Not everybody but at least one from every country. This may be
       a problem for the magical isle of Greenland but who knows? There
       couldn't be all that much to do in Greenland, especially if you're
       unemployed like Andre the Giant's character in the Princess Bride
       used to be, so maybe someone who lives there has played a little
       Star Control. Anyway, what I'll do then is post your picture up over
       the respective country you live in. The idea being to show the fan
       base all over the globe. Will this help convince Activision to let
       us do another Star Control? I can't predict the future but I can
       tell you that if it's big and displayed prominently, it will help
       remind them every time they come to visit and be a real conversation
       piece. Plus it will just generally brighten our spirits. In Paul's
       case, this could lead to a level of congeniality rarely exhibited
       by man or machine. He's quite a bubbly figure, in case you don't know.

       So if you've got the notion and a camera, can you send me a picture
       of yourself either playing SCII or at least standing near something
       SCII-related? Just send it right to old alexness@toysforbob.com. Or,
       if you really want the picture to get there extra fast, use my new
       other email address: nutsack@toysforbob.com. Somehow just the word
       "nutsack" does make things faster and better.

       Thanks,

       Alex

So the idea is basically to send pictures to show that there's a world-wide
support for a new Star Control, and to make sure that Star Control gets
talked about whenever someone from Activision comes by the office.

And in case you're wondering, it's not too late to show your support through
signing the petition on http://sc2.sourceforge.net/ .

Thanks,

Serge van den Boom
(The Ur-Quan Masters core team member)

This is my first blog post from cooncesean -- go get some foo!