Why hello there, fine community; what an excellent day today is. Why is today an excellent day? Well, I woke up and ate an exceptional breakfast filled with all four of my food groups, got rid of my oddly persistent headache, did some cleaning and now I'm here, talking to you about all the wonders of our Forge Hub. Best of all: there is actually some content for the Site Update!
Obligatory Testers Guild Mention
As many of you are most certainly aware by this point, we have this thing called the Testers Guild. It's a land of sweets and joy, and joyness. Here you can get all of your wonderful creations tested by the most excellent of testers who will tell you all of your problems, make you a cup of coffee and let you cry it out on their shoulder. They also are always accepting new members to their band of merry men, so should you ever want to apply or just experience the magic of the Testers Guild forum, fly on over on this magic cloud here.
Even More Obligatory Review Hub Mention
However, not all is happy in the land of the TRC guild. On the other side of Testers Guild mountain is a place of darkness and evil. A den of thieves who hope only to steal your hopes and dreams and when they make you cry you won't get coffee and a shoulder to cry on. They will tear your non-tested maps to pieces. However, on occasion, they can be really nice guys and give you a great review on your map complete with a sucker. So if your heart is filled with darkness or you think you are strong enough to brave their domain then feel free to enter. Also, it might be worth your while to read up on their dastardly plans to revive themselves to former glory. Oh yeah, check out these reviews before you go. Better to be prepared.
Trajectory Range : 6.9/10 - Organite
Hexagram : 8.0/10 - MickRaider
Uhm TGIF?
[HOST'S PARTY NAME]
Host's Gamertag: [HOST'S GAMERTAG]
Start Time: [0:00pm EST]
End Time: [0:00pm EST]
Rules: [PARTY RULES]
Schedule:
[PARTY SCHEDULE]
Yeah sure, we can do a TGIF section here. This is, once again, a reminder to both you and Buddha that TGIF is coming this Friday. If you would like to be a super-cool guy and host a party for all of your friends then please, badger Buddha with senseless PMs about nothing and he'll most likely figure it out. Otherwise, you could send him your party details in the form shown somewhere near this post (I haven't decided if it will be to the right or below yet). Remember: sign ups are on Wednesday and they are super important! Don't miss out.
How About Some News?
If you haven't heard, we finally announced that thing we were teasing but then kept forgetting to put up the article. Yes, that's right Forge Hub's weekly TNT Polo night has begun once again. Wait, TNT Polo..that's not right. Who plays TNT Polo anyway? No, it's actually Forge Hub's next exceptional contest-tournament extravaganza, known as the 2v2 Throwdown! How can something be both a contest and a tournament you ask? Well, that would be because of this forging contest was just announced to kick off the tournament.
http://www.forgehub.com/forum/announcements/118197-forge-hub-2v2-throwdown-part-one.html
Forging contest you say!? Yes indeed, Forge Hub has unveiled our next forge mission for all of you magnificent forgers out there and it might actually be our biggest yet. In the past, Forge Hub tournaments (which are kind of a big deal..jus' saying) have consisted of completely internally developed maps. This lead to some big surprises when the next map was launched for a round of the tournament. Don't worry, we will still have some internal maps to surprise you guys with but this time you guys are able to take part in the map creation too! Yes, this forging contest is all about the competitive; 2v2 to be exact. We want you to create us the best 2v2 map you can, using our gametype. The winner will not only be included in the tournament, but will be the opening round map! In addition to this any maps that we feel have immense potential may be asked (along with the creator of course) to join our internal development team. Pretty exciting stuff, huh guys? For full contest details, Yoyo throws it down in this thread.
http://www.astrogaming.com/
Oh and one more thing: our friends at Astro Gaming are planning to make this whole tournament experience worth your while. So forge a map, enter the tournament and win sweet gear from Astro Gaming. Why don't you go drool over their audio systems?
Staff Picks - A New Way to Showcase Your Maps
Following this Site Update you will be seeing something cool. For the next two weeks we will be running a trial of a new program known as "Staff Picks". This brainstorm of MickRaider will allow each moderator to stick one map in the Halo: Reach map forums. This map will remain stuck until the following Sunday, at which time it will be taken down and returned to its correct place in the forums. If the moderator likes, they can choose to stick a new map on that Sunday. This program will run from this Site Update until the next (two rounds of stuck maps) and will gauge the impact on the map forums, as well as community approval. If the program proves to be a success, it will become a long running staple of the site.
The aim of this is to promote good maps to the community that may get lost in the sea of maps that floods into the forums every day. What better place to do this than right in the map forums where the maps are likely to get the most action. Never fear though, moderators are limited to sticking five maps per section so you won't have 10+ stickies cramming up competitive maps. This will also add variety to the maps stuck in other sections as well. However, keep in mind that badgering moderators to stick certain maps, be it ones you like or your own, is not permitted and may result in an infraction (if it becomes too much of an issue). Also, moderators are not permitted to stick their own maps (personally), but other moderators can stick another's map if they feel it is worthy. Moderators will post in the thread they stick stating that it is their choice for that specific week. No map will be stuck more than once but if you feel like going to look at past staff picks MickRaider will be keeping a list of all maps stuck throughout the trial and possibly into the future. If you have any questions, feel free to send me or Mick a PM.
http://www.forgehub.com/forum/reach-competitive-maps/118421-kingdom.html
Kingdom, created by Sik 1/24/11
Moderators Are Members Too
Shad0w Viper would like me to inform you all that our trusty moderators who uphold the coveted rules of Forge Hub with an iron fist are also members of our site who have sworn to abide by these rules on the day they joined. Thus, it is not permitted for moderators to break these rules, most specifically behavioral ones. Moderators are not permitted to insult other members; be they members of the staff or other members of the community. They may not do so in any form, such as publicly on the forums, in the shoutbox, through PMs, through VMs, through infraction messages or generally anywhere else the sites jurisdiction would cover. Moderators also do not simply include only the blue guys. Guardians, Journalists and Admins are all subject to the same rules as you. Thus it is prudent for you to message Shad0w Viper with any instance of this abuse. If you are personally affected by, or witness to, any moderator's abuse then please do the right thing and tell Shad0w.. However, false claims with the aim of getting someone punishment is not tolerated therefore it is beneficial if you have evidence of your claim (link to posts, infraction messages, screen caps, etc).
Remember however, that as the title says: "moderators are members too" and they do not deserve abuse from you guys in any sense. If you do not agree with an infraction you received you are permitted to respond to the moderator with your thoughts in a polite manor. Do not resort to cursing and name calling and do not publicize the issue in areas such as Customer Service; this is inappropriate. If the issue cannot be resolved between yourself and the moderator then you are welcome to bring the issue to Shad0w Viper's attention. Thank you.
QOTSU
"Question of the Site Update" was something I meant to continue but kind of forgot about (lol sorry). So I figured why not bring it back this week. The deal is I'll ask a question and you guys answer it. My favorite answers will go in the next Site Update for all to read. The question this week is about something I've been reading a lot into and I'm personally curious to see the end result of:
-What do you think of the PS3 hacking blowout, Sony v Geohot and the future of the PS3?-
Hittin' the Road
Actually unfortunately I'm not going anywhere. Also, I apologize for the lack of gems but I figured I'd disband them while Staff Picks is running. Hope you guys enjoyed the read and I'll see ya in two!