Just some quick changes made, you can now find game categories under Other Games for the gaming sub-forum (over here). It would be much appreciated if when you post a particular topic you can try and stick to an abbreviation within square brackets. It helps ensure that searching forums for particular game subjects is kept as easy as possible. Though talk about new or upcoming games can still be kept in Games General - but when talking specifics of games then take it to those categories

As always, really popular games may get their own forums - though this is going to be a rare happening. The Guild Wars forums are still existent and left untouched (for the main part, it'd take too long to tag all the topics ).

Oh my, it is safe to say that the score were very close - oh so very close.

We marked it via 6 different factors, in essence each person could get 30 points from each judge (a maximum of 90). Furthermore we went to some lengths so there was no real discussion between judges of preferences.

So the scores are as follows:

• Fourth Place: Dries, 52 points
• Third Place: Sworden Sorcyry, 55 points
• Second Place: Nick, 63 points
• First Place: Arwen, 64 points

Some judges may have comments they wish to share, we will contact Arwen and will discuss the finer points with him.

Congratulations Arwen! Commiserations to our runner-ups.

Oh yes indeedy! The feature we talked about is now live! It is a chance for members to put their creative skills into practice, and don't worry if you aren't terribly handy with the pixel-tools, we're not just accepting fancy images - some funky sayings are appreciated too!

This isn't a competition, its an ongoing process with badges for people who participate - even if only on the concept side. For more information you can head on over to this thread in the Members' Club. Yep, sorry allies and visitors, its a members only thing for now.

But do not fret, the Community Logo competition is still open - allies and the like aren't forbidden from entering, so feel free to go see. Don't forget closing date is getting closer! 31^st of this very month.

I have recently made some modifications to the website.

Firstly the forum has been updated, the full changelog can be read here: docs/CHANGELOG.html
However amongst the bug fixes, minor changes and a few new features the thing that stands out is the new feeds feature.
To subscribe to the forum feed we have set up, please use this address: feed.php

The most visible change is the introduction of the badge achievement system.

These badges will be awarded for certain actions in the community. They are most visible at the moment underneath the user card for each post a person makes or on the profile page for each user.




Currently we must award these badges manually however over the next coming weeks I will be implementing an automated process.

Also GWBBCode is currently in a state where it does not fully work, I will be rectifying this as well in short order.

As usual, if you notice anything out of place, please inform Stew, Matt or myself.

Happy New Year!
Its 2010 folks! Hope you aren't suffering too much from overdoing the drink Lets make 2010 a good year for gaming, its the start of a new decade - we've got some forum developments still underway, and some new ones planned.

I covered some of the Autumn game releases of last year, but the sad truth is the so-called competition from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has left some game developers a little suspicious of Christmas, hence most releases now are coming in a once very vacant time of year... January -> August. Arguably making the post Christmas/Spring lineups now rather crowded! So what are people keeping an eye out for?

My personal favourites are:

• Aliens vs. Predator - it was handed back to Rebellion (makers of AvP1), who have scrapped any naming/sequel to just go back to Aliens versus Predator. It looks like they are doing a sterling job of it [video].
• Mafia 2 - I played the original, and loved it. Mafia 2 seems to be improved in most ways and still pretty true to its prequel [video].
• Mass Effect 2 - Of course this has to be on here, a mixed RPG/Shooter and made by BioWare... the first game got my attention for its fantastic storyline and visuals [Cinematic Trailer].

There are plenty more, but I will likely make a dedicated topic closer to the new year for that.


Competition Announcement:
The logo competition has been extended to the end of January. Currently we have too few entries to really want to judge them just yet, and its close proximity to Christmas/New Years could make it difficult for both entrants and judges. So the deadline is the 31^st of January 2010, we hope to see more entries - just remember the guidelines.

Please do not post entries in this topic, please keep them in the competition thread - we will not be judging it otherwise. We would also like to remind people that allies are allowed to enter if they wish to do so.