First off, Sunday will be my "off" day, due to the demands of the wife. In fact, the next couple of Sundays at least, so maybe a update late tomorrow.But that Doesn't mean that there won't be something here. Remember 2 weeks ago? I missed it last week, because of the ESC thing (Believe it or not, I decided to be nice) but since all bets are off, it's time to return the shivaSite Week in Review. Oh, and it's not a kinder and gentler version either.

Talking about Kinder and Gentler, I have to add something about that for tomorrow... :D

Also, I have just received word that my hospital appointment has been pushed up a month to the 27th. This means that this site will be down at LEAST 3 days, and maybe a lot more. I have decided that even if I get home earlier, I will be so pumped with drugs that my entire posts will sound like some 60's flashback thing, so I will properly wait till the 2nd of July before I continue. Also, a whole bunch of things, including a URL change over and also my UNLIMITED ISP time kick in (now everyone is gonna be in trouble) So be prepared, the real fun is gonna start soon...

But first, I think I will warm up to writing the article by playing... time to squish some bugs. :D

The Second Update
Just got back, and will put out up tons of Arcade stuff in the next few weeks, but all I can say is I did have 4 Rolls of Quarters before I started :)

I guess I should do a update, even though I'm suffering from Pinball wrist... My Hosts, Blizzard Oblivion, have this real Nifty Search Feature up, for them and ALL their hosted sites. Works real well, and if you don't believe me, type "pinball" in it. Wow, I have that many pages?

In the Strategy News, GX Soso has just posted up a new Protoss Build order, this time for Turbo Observers. You can also find at at StarCraft Gamers.

Hmm, it's Saturday, so that means it's Top Ten Time at Extreme StarCraft. I don't know about you, but I can't wait... Oh, for some strange reason, I decided to put this here as well, StarCraft Org has found their OLD Design laying around somewhere, so Mutant put it up for old time's sake. I remember when they shut down to put the latest one up. Everyone really liked it a lot better, but now, a lot of people are saying that they wish the old one was back. Anyway, in case you missed the link, here it is again. You know what struck me the most about the old site? How "community" it was, even mentioning all the sites that have been added to their links page daily. Damn, now I wish for the good old days....

Obviously, they are back to a Kinder, more Gentler mode, but Simple.Craft has posted about a site called NetAlive that is dedicated to "fair Gaming". Anyway, I checked it out, and I have to say I like the direction this site is going. That and yesterday, I got another Back Stabber in a game.

The News Today...
Just a quick one before I prepare to go out for the Arcade show.

First off Emerald StarEdit has been released. This version allows you to view and edit maps with mods built in. It comes from StarCraft Infoceptor, and you can get it from their site. As well, Kali has released Version 1.68 with added support for several new games and several bug fixes. There is no report on SC changes though.

KalGrim has released 2 More Mailbag Articles over at Brood War Dynasty. The 2 deal with "killing gimmicky Terrans on Lost Temple" and Defeating the 2vs1 Zergling Rush". Both are sound reads, so it's worth your while to go over and check it out. Oh RTS Nation has Reopened as well.

06/18/99

shiva's Views
Actually, I don't have any...
Oh, Saturday, I may go into Vancouver for a distributor preview of the latest Arcade Games to be released, so this site MAY not be updated tomorrow. I will try to get in something though. Hmm, Sunday is Father's Day... Hey, I'm one of those!

Sigh...
Once again Simple.Craft has done a little attack on Blizzard Oblivion, and in response, one of the boys there put up a site devoted to Tandur. Truefully, I don't agree with either one on how they went around to doing it...

The Later Update
It's Friday Fan Fiction day at Extreme StarCraft, and they have released Chapter 1 of their new story, "War of the Nations". They have also released Part 3 of "Project Ghost". On top of all that, there's a New Article by Weezer called "Is StarCraft copying off Aliens and Starship Troopers?" Also as well, SpaceDominator has released Three Mental Strategies over at StarCraft Millennium. You can view them at their Mental Strategies Section

The Slightly Late Update
Believe it or not, there's a StarCraft Review up at Blizzard Central for all the people who don't have the game and would like to find out more. You can read it right here.

Blizzard Oblivion has done several Site Updates, mainly their new poll, they have put up the sign-up sheets for their Webmaster Tournaments, and they have added 5 new Terran strategies as well:
Marine Rush
Marine/Medic Rush
Siege Tank Push
Siege Tank Push Rush
Wraith Rush

Blizzard has released a New Map of the Week, entitled "Broken Mesa". Here's the plug stolen straight from their page:

Broken Mesa was the site of a Dominion bio-weapons testing facility on the desert world of Korhal. Shortly before the UED assault on Korhal, Terran scientists created a new and potentially devastating plasma-pulse weapon. As reports of an approaching enemy fleet reached the high command on Korhal, testing was ordered in hopes that the power of this weapon might destroy the UED armada. While in the final testing phase, Senior Scientist Ozmel Dodds turned traitor as he attempted to curry favor with the attacking UED forces. On the day of the final test, Dodds changed the pulse-modulation frequency on the weapon causing the awesome cannon to overload, destroying itself and the research facility that housed it. What happened to the scientist remains a mystery to this day, but the Broken Mesa site still sees occasional conflict as various factions attempt to discover the remains of the weapons lab and the fabled plasma-pulse weapon.

Download it now! (74k)
Requires Brood War to play
128x128 Desert
Designed for 2-5 Players

187 has plugged his new site, Infinite Dreams, over at StarCraft Infoceptor. Seems he will be covering a lot of games, and he want's help. So if you want to go work for him, you can email him. Funny, it seems to be based on a lot of my ideas for this site.

Here's Disappointing News, after only a few days StarCraft Org has "canceled" their site of the week "Community Spirit" project, despite the fact they had 5 sites registered. Shame, it was a real good idea, and properly would have been better supported once they actually did it, because I'm sure that's what a lot of sites were waiting for. I didn't, so maybe that's partly my fault, so I guess I miss out on getting my name posted on the Org :) In a nice gesture, they released the names of the sites that signed up and posted them right up on their site. So go and check them out.

Finally, we Find Out What Happened to Tarsonis! This was taken off of Tech-Base, well sort of what happened anyway...

"It's been nearly a month since Tarsonis was last updated and, quite frankly, I'm as baffled as anyone else. I last heard from David on the 27th of May and haven't been able to reach him by e-mail since then; since I have ftp control over only the zerg strategy section, I've been unable to update the main page and keep the readers up to date. To be honest, I'm not sure what this entails for the future of Tarsonis. I'm going to go into a forced semi-retirement until this issue is straightened out (which it hopefully will be). If anyone hears anything about David, please let the community know -- I'll check this e-mail account and monitor pages regularly. best, hellion

If anyone knows the where about's of Dave to date or is aware of his current status, I implore you to email hellion at hellion@sclegacy.com."

Damn, this is strange. David Shipley is one of the most well respected people in the SC Community, and his sudden disappearance is baffling and troubling. I hope everything is okay, and I do admit to being a little worried about it.

06/17/99
Jeez, exactly what I said would happen on Monday did, who would have thought that?

The Late Update...
Oh, I love this. I really don't have to say anything to prove how big of a jerk Lockeye can be, he does it for me. Oh, notice something? I said his name, because unlike CERTAIN people, I believe that is is fair to my readers to report the news, even if I have to mention their name. Why? Basically because though I may not like CERTAIN people, I have too much respect for the people who come here to read the news to deny them of any just because I may or may not have a vendetta against someone.

In case you were wondering Who He Was Talking About, it was Blizzard Oblivion, my hosts by the way, who put up a build order for the SCV rush. Oddly enough, I still see it all the time, in fact more so than any other strategy. Go figure huh? Anyway, They have also posted a bit on The Latest N64 StarCraft Review, this time from The Nintendo Underground. You can read the review here. And as well, they have a Java Based Chat as well, so if you want to talk to the guys, (and maybe me as well if you are real lucky :P ) you can go here.

Extreme StarCraft has a New Strategy out, called "The Zealot to Reaver Rush" Pretty cool strat, and I will admit to using something similar when I play. It's a pretty deadly combination used properly, so check it out here. Also GA Strategy is also Down for a While, and a guess would be a new site design is on the way. The only thing you get when you go there is "We'll be back. Once we bust our staff members outta jail...... :)

SC Legacy has their Community Board up, but for some reason, the rules have changed. Anyway, being the public service minded person I am, here they are...

"No abusive or foul language will be used in the posts. No spamming is allowed. If you spam, you will be removed. It's that simple. Only StarCraft or Gaming related information will be posted. You will not give your username/password to anyone. SCL can revoke your privileges at any time without notice. That you will post ONLY information about your site. This is NOT your platform to be a SCL reporter and report about other sites. Each site will have one username/password.

Once your application is approved you will be emailed the information that you need to access your news submission page. Please fill out the following form completely. Incomplete forms, or forms with bogus information will be deleted without review. Make absolutely sure that your URL is correct. Please do NOT send in more than one application per site. This posting page is only open to large to medium sized Starcraft sites. Here is the criteria that we use to decide if a site is granted posting privileges:

The site must have a 1st level domain name (i.e. http://www.sclegacy.com) or a 2nd level canonical name (i.e. http://tarsonis.sclegacy.com). No Geocities, or other free hosting services will be granted posting privileges. The site must have substantial content. Substantial is judged by SCL alone. No sites that are being built will be granted posting privileges. No clan sites will be allowed."

Wow, good thing my site URL has been upgraded to www.shivasite.blizzard oblivion.com huh? So if your a medium or large site, join their "Community" board. Oh, they are talking about holding a Tournament of their own.

I guess I should mention that the 2 teammates of the ISL team Imports have been Interviewed. If your interested, you can go here, if not, nah, I won't say it. Sorry there's no news on StarCraft Millenium, or their hostee's, They seem to be down at the moment.

Remember how I said I was getting to like Forbiddendonut of OutPost13? Heh, I'm really starting to enjoy this now. Funny, I say something, and everyone is suppose to be so mad at me... (though if they were that mad, how come I never heard from any of them, these guys are not shy)

The Previous Update

Desler has gotten interviewed again, this time at Extreme StarCraft. Basically, they discuss E.D.A.S.T. and what will be upcoming with the campaign. You can find the interview here. Area 9 has several New Strategies up as well, written by one of the top StarCraft players, Maynard. Here's a list...-Protoss Vs. Protoss Dragoon/Forge Opening --http://www.area9.com/Starcraft/strats/Protoss/goonforge.html -Protoss Unit Theory --http://www.area9.com/Starcraft/strats/Protoss/tossunits.html Protoss Lost Temple Beatdown --http://www.area9.com/Starcraft/strats/Protoss/templebeatdown.html

I mentioned this last week, but Camelot Systems has released the Square Terrain Editor for StarEdit. This is called ISOM. There's a really good descriptive post at their site, so if your into this stuff, it's worth the look. Also as well. KalGrim's Mailbag at Brood War Dynasty seems to have a few more additions to it. Lots of great questions, and answers as well. Also in article news, FuzzyThe Bear of GameGurus has written a couple of articles, one on Online Communication, and the other on Ladder Problems

Winters Bot v1.1.6 has been released by StarCraft Legacy. As usual, there are some new features and the usual bug fixes as well. You can get the program at the SC:L site. StarCraft Infoceptor is quickly getting to be THE place for customs, and to continue on with that tradition, they have another one for us. They mention this is the first of a series for all Terran units, but to start, they convert the Battlecruiser. You can get the Download (32k) at their site.

Damn, I'm really getting to like Forbiddendonut... :) Anyone notice that Mr. Sunshine didn't mention Blizzard Oblivion by name? Wonder why, since that never seemed to stop him before... Oh yeah, I was right on Monday, wasn't I?

Believe it not, There's Another New Layout at Inforeactor. They will also open up on the 20th. This is looking like a pretty spiffy site, and definitely bookmarkable. Anyone notice that Avalanch is down at the moment? They are redoing their site by the looks of things, but just though I would mention it anyway...

Alliance News
Just a Couple of Quick Notes on some of the guys. Jdog of SCR has put this up on the Alliance Message Board:

"I need somebody to convert a bunch of info on old .Html files onto new ones. There's about 230 of them.. all containing info on different clans. Since I never could get a custom scripter I posting all the old clan info in a better looking format. If you can help me out, send me an email."

Remember me mentioning the Education Section at HongX? Well, I forgot the link, so here it is. Also, Zero has finished his front page section for his Education Corner, hosted by HongX. Hell, check them both out. Want to do something similar? Then just get in touch with one of us.

06/16/99

More Alliance News
Wow, 2 in 2 days... First The Video Game Zone Network, who joined the Small Site Alliance yesterday. And now I am very pleased to announce that Voice of the Shadows, a Shadowrun Site, has also joined us today. In fact, I was so impressed with Stormcaller, I begged him to come over, and he has accepted. In fact, VotS will be moving over to shivaSite in the next few days. I have had a nice long talk with Stormcaller, and not only will there be a new site design, but VotS will be greatly expanded, including a community news department, and a whole bunch of other stuff. So in the meanwhile, check him out.

Onto other Alliance news, if anyone hasn't checked out http://www.blizzard-oblivion.com/shivasite/zerohour.html , then you will miss a couple of interesting things, most important, Zero and RoyKim of HongX have decided to band together and create a Education page. Already a periodical table has been finished, plus the poetry section, but these 2 have BIG plans, so go check it out at HongX. Oh, if you want to help out, I'm sure they will be pretty happy.

The Alliance Resource Center continues to be worked on by myself. Already, I have over 5 megs of Graphics in my Hard Drive, and presently, I am working on a DHTML archive, with hopefully over 100 scripts very shortly. Because this is getting rather large in size, I may move the entire thing over to My Tripod account, as well as the Alliance Pages. I would like to open the resource up for everyone to use, but I don't have the time to create all the pages needed just for the graphics. So I am asking if anyone out there would like to take it over and run the resource center. It's a LOT of work, but you can't get a better feeling than knowing that you will be providing a valuable service to the entire community. You can email me if interested, or use the message board.

Also as well, we are always looking for new members to join The Small Site Alliance, and become a part of our Family. Small Sites helping each other out.

Sorry, due to appointments, I will update the SC section tonight.

The News, and other stuff...
Well, lets get started shall we? The StarCraft Compendium has released Their Zerg Strategy Guide, with all the units, the matchups and some assorted strategies. Its pretty big, so be prepared for a lot of reading. You can find the Guide here. Also, Blizzard has updated their look to be more Diabloish, (did that make sense?) so you are interested, you can go to their page and have a peek. Oh, scary. As well, The StarWars E1 TC is looking for some help, especially for those with StarDraft experience. You can email Archer7

I got this over ICQ from FrozenBlade at GameSurges: " 43 strategies added to GameSurge, from other sites mainly www.shakuras.com and www.sclegacy.com found at http://ancient.igg.net/Starcraft/strats

What everyone is talking about though is the ISL announcement. Here's the post put up by Lockeye:

"It all started with Tan and I wanting to create a larger fan base for the ISL, our pride and joy. In order to create a larger fan base, you obviously have to reach more people. Thus, with the two powerful brains Tan and I posess (heh, well he does:), we decided to approach our friends and fellow webmasters @ BroodWar Dynasty, StarCraft.Org and StarCraft Legacy to work with the great group that currently works at Simple.Craft. After discussing what our options were with CannonBalls and Indo Flaven, then at a later time, EnforcerMan, we made a few preliminary decisions; We will get a domain, each page will have some sort of ISL dedicated section, and a new layout will be created. This combination of resources and dedication is unmatched between any other StarCraft site related project ever before. If successful, and we are going to work beyond our best capacities to ensure it, the ISL will have instant access to over several million possible fans over the course of a season. We will keep everyone updated on the events of the ISL partnership, as well as the start date of season two, which has been tentavely set at July 10th / 1999, a week after Memorial weekend in the US. Thank you to all the original ISL supporters, we hope you enjoy what we are about to bring to you."

Well, that's real great news for the ISL and Simple.Craft, the ISL is a great league, probably the best one outside Blizzard's, but what about the other tournaments? It would be real nice for the Community if the Big Boys promoted all the tournaments, because there's some real fine ones out there, basically having one place to go to get all the Tournament news would be a benefit to everyone, don't you think? Talking about Tournament news, there's a new one just starting up, with either 64 or 128 teams. It looks real interesting, and you can find out all the infomation right here.

In case you didn't know, RTS Nation is Closed, but only for a little while. They did mention that a new site design is being worked on, so I guess we will all find out sooner or later. Also as well, StarCraft Dominion has just done a update, they have uploaded the storyline for The Liberation of Scrios. In other Campaign News, The Antioch Chronicles has their server up and running, so all they need is the program. But expect a delay, as they are "sweating the small stuff". Also, They have put up a Short Story called "The Hunt Begins". You can find out more on both, by going to their website.

Anyway, that's all folks. This may be the last update of the day, depending on if I can pry the wife away from the computer. And on top of it, I have to do some site maintenance as well. Sigh, I wanted to play tonight...

06/15/99

shiva's Views
I'm B-a-c-k. Miss me?

Update 4:30
Just a quick note to say I'm gonna be a little quit for this evening (which I'm sure pleases some people) The wife needs the computer for her course.

Also, I am happy to announce that The Video Game Zone Network will be joining the Alliance. You can find them right here. You will find a lot of reviews for both the P.C. and home games, so go check them out.

Well, it was certainly interesting yesterday, Huh? Since everyone looks to be sick of this entire elite thing, I guess it's time to move on. But I will be watching closely thought :)

The Late Night Update
I swear, I had to pry the wife off the computer so I could do this tonight. Damn...

The complete schedule is up for the ISL, and a interview with Aquanda of last seasons finalists, Ancient Ruins. Also, another team has dropped out, so Imports clan has been put in their slot instead. Hmm, ToyMarine has moved over to RTS 2000 now. Got to ask him if he's still at SC:M

Oh, Zero of The Alliance, and one of my guys, has Downloaded E.D.A.S.T, and he says it's REAL good, so I guess I better bite the bullet and get it myself. Over at StarCraft Legacy, They have released Chapter One of The Aeon of Strife. If you are thinking that it has already been released, your right, but Deathviper has rewritten the entire first chapter, which itself was a rewrite of the story. (Hope you got that). Also as well, as if one wasn't enough, Enforcerman has released Chapter Two of My Life for Aiur. This chapter is called Ethan's Dream. The first chapter can be found here.

There's been some More Ladder Resets by Blizzard, but this time they got smart and "shorten" it to 10 pages. Anyway, the latest list of scumbags can be found here. Also, Area 9 has released a Chat about Balance issues, which can be found right here. Interesting read to say the least. The people chatting? [9]eVERLAST and Maynard, so I guess they know what they are talking about... :D

There you go, short and painless...

Let the News Begin!
Damn, I do like this way, and since no one has written me begging to stop, I will continue to do it this way. I like the "flow" I get from it, so there :P

First off, I guess I will start with Blizzard Fan Moving to the GX server very shortly, well because (A.) Their my affiliate (lucky boys) and (B.) They sent me a email. The target date is Saturday, so expect a Temp page to go up soon.

Actually, talking about changes, my host Blizzard Oblivion has made huge changes to their site. There is a lot, so I will try to be brief. First off, there's a new site design, which is similar to StarCraft Legacy's, and it rocks.But you can also add some pretty big announcements and posts as well to the list...
- The start of a new tournament... For Webmasters! Basically a 1 vs 1 and 2 vs 2 tournament will be started for all the staff of the various sites out there, to see who really knows what they are talking about. Actually, considering that Agent911 and BW Tournament champ GX Soso are site guys, I have a feeling it could have already been decided. Anyway, for more Infomation, go here.
- Also, two new stories have been added to their growing collection. Chapter one and chapter two of "The Terror of War
- Their Strategy section has also grown at their StarCraft Strategy Archive. These are "Quick Expansion" strats. and are for the Protoss, The Terran, and the really, really cheap SCV rush
- A new League coverage page has been put together, which tracks the events and happenings of the various leagues out there.
- As well, Blizzard Oblivion is looking for new affiliates and also are reaccepting hosting applications. Hey, you could be my "neighbor". :D And of course, they are looking for staff...

Damn, that was a lot of news for one site, I need a break...

Though it should be stuck in the Campaign section... E.D.A.S.T. is out! Here's all the gory details:

7 fast-paced missions with unique objectives.
6 new unit voices, clean, with ambient background noise.
New Terran Briefing Room Background.
Full briefing voices.
Custom music fitting to the mission on ALL missions.
StarDraft enhancements for new hero weapons, and new sites to be seen in the city of New Dresdia.

Enjoy Episode I, and please send all reviews and first impressions to desler@earthlink.net!

You can get E.D.A.S.T. at Campaign Creations right here

There has been a Update to the N64 StarCraft story at IGN64 There has been a lot of talk about how crappy this could turn out, and IGN wasn't that impressed with it. You can see what they have to say right here, and you also can view several screenshots, but you have to scroll down to the bottom for those. A big thanks to the guys at RTS Nation for the story.

I guess this is a case of putting their money where their mouth is, SC Legacy had this post up by Enforcerman, and all I can say is Whoa! Wait a minute, EM was gone for the Weekend? Hmm....

"Onto my next thought, I read SC.ORG's post's about sharing the wealth and I am about to open up SCL's Community Posting Area again. However, this time the plan is to give major and medium sized sites access to SCL to post when they do something worth posting. These posts will be on EVERY page that SCL has. I want to give these sites access to SCL's hits."

Well, this is truly a terrific idea, and I wish them good luck on it. Funny thing, a lot of attitudes changed yesterday, didn't they? Goodness, thank god Infoceptor is next on my list, I would have gotten in A LOT of trouble if it had been the Org. Anyway, more new customs can be found at StarCraft Infoceptor, this one changes the Statis Cell to a downed Carrier. It looks kind of cool, so go check it out.

Ah, Todays the day for The SC:M Birthday Bashin' of the staff, which starts at 7 EST today in channel SC Millennium. Also at StarCraft Millennium, err nothing... well maybe the Agent 911 interview at iMAGINE SCMs but that's all. Actually, it's been real quite there lately, and I do know that they would like some more help, so go on and help the only large site that would even talk to me.

Ah, damit, I'm at SC:Org now. There's actually ton's of news there, and a Big birthday post, plus updates to their Who's who and, this...

"As part of a birthday gift to the SC community, especially in light of recent events, The Org has decided to implement our own way of giving back to the community. We're going to call it the Starcraft.org Site of the Week. Every week, we're going to be featuring a completely random Starcraft-oriented site. No commentary. No ranking. Just a mathematically selected site where a we'll feature a graphical link (yea one of those cheesy little button things) to the week's featured site. The purpose of this is to try share the 4,128,166 hits we've received over this last year. Geared more toward the smaller community sites, this should help gap some barriers created between sites in recent events. Webmasters of these sites who are interested in this new program should drop me a line stating your interests."

As I said before, I think quite a few people got a large dose of reality yesterday. Oh, and as to this post just above, it's nice, but I doubt I would be interested in it myself. I'm not one to promote myself too much, but I can see a lot of other sites that should take advantage of this.

I will continue the update a little later, got to clean off the kid. (What a mess)

06/14/99

shiva's Views
I'm back, Miss anything important? :D

Thanks to all the people who wished Michael a happy birthday on their site and through ICQ. The kid had a ball at his party, and the parents had a huge mess to clean up afterward.

If you have noticed, the picture of the kid is gone. I decided I had my fun, and it really isn't fair to make people download some hugely obscene graphic.

Also as well, though it was up for several days, the events within the SC community has prompted me to add this link to The Small Site Alliance section. It's a little earlier than what I wanted as I am still waiting for more infomation from the other members, but enough is up to give you a good idea of what we are about. Since this is a work in progress, we would like any comments on this. As well, another member will be joining the Alliance. Once I have his infomation so it could be added, it will be announced.

I also should update people on other Alliance news. You may notice that I mention a resource section to be used by Alliance members. IF I can find the time, I will open it up to everyone, but because of the HUGE amount of work, and the fact that it's a very large upload, it may be a while. There is a good possibility that it may end up on another site, so I will keep you informed. BTW, loads of DHTML and graphics stuff there. If I can get the permissions, I will definitely release that.

And, to top off a pretty decent day, my hosts, Blizzard Oblivion, has just informed me that my URL has been changed. I get my name in front now :)
Actually, it doesn't make that much of a difference, but it's nice anyway.

Hmm forgot to do something...
Okay I admit it, I was having way to much fun reading all the other comments from the other sites, and answering email to actually do some posting. Ah, I don't want to detail all the ESC stuff, to long, but most of it was pretty entertaining (To me at least) I guess I could mention the important news at least, till when I get back from shopping, like the 2 articles from WarpGate by SquareDot, or my affiliate GameSurges has some new buttons, but more than that, was it just me, or did SC:M lose another guy? Now Overmind had a little post about his future, and add to the lack of posts or any real news, Millennium is looking pretty bare at the moment. Talking about a lack of news, what happened with the campaigns guys?

Oh, StarCraft Org is one year old today as well. They put up their "old" shockwave intro, which I guess is very nice, though I never saw it because I couldn't be bothered to DL the shockwave plug-in from Micro$oft. Extreme StarCraft did have a Sunday surprise, though it was no surprise very few sites mentioned it, but in case you were wondering, it's a ICQ database. I should have mentioned it before, but it seems I have been taken off their mailing list. :D

Lets see what else is happening. Hmm the new guy at Infoceptor. Now really, I shouldn't mention this, but what the hell, it was quite a good introduction and at least different. Hmm, might make me want to come back. I guess a good news poster is worth his weight in gold after all....

Over at SC:M, there's this cool checklist feature to help you while playing. Its a little hard to explain, so just go there and see for yourself. And of course, KalGrim of Brood War Dynasty has put up another of his excellent strategies, this time on the Arbitor. I found it interesting to say the least, and the nice thing is that there is something to learn, not just something that is common knowledge.

Damn, I knew it, I just can't resist it, just go to OutPost 13 and see what I mean. And I got banned for what I said? Geez. Oh well, this old wise man (and I do mean old) went back to Warpgate, and saw urnotE post about the return of the Katan's scorecard, which is basically a ladder analysis system. This was quite popular when it was out, and it's very nice to see it back. Oh yeah, and I agree, especially after the demise of StarLadder. Hopefully, this one will get more support.

Well, I guess that's it. I would like to mention how much I appreciated the emails and ICQ's I got, (even the negative one) sometimes it's very hard when your a one man show, and you don't get the input. I might have lost track of all of them though, I do try to answer back, but with daddy duty now full time, plus it was so damn hot here, I kind of neglected my duties.

Talking about the site and all, I just reread what I put up. You know, I kind of like it. Here's something that's a little different than the "Headline, name, post" format that everyone else uses, but I will tell you what. If you have comments, just Email me, or ICQ me at 32818277. I always like to get mail, even if their bad ones :D

No really? Was I unclear?
Hmm, so what did I learn today? Lockeye actually mentions my name on his site. ( BTW it's with a small s) He had some good points to make, but I have to add some corrections before I finish with this subject as well, just so EVERYTHING is clear.

1. I don't "basically" attack anything.
2. I asked a question about who's running the show, not a statement. But it seems it was a statement after all.
3. So all the big boys are enraged about me pointing out the lack of community spirit? Funny, I don't remember mentioning names. But since it's a group effort now, I guess I did insult every single one of them. As to how little I know, since I have never "met" any of the guys, I guess I don't know what kind of community spirit they have shown except for what has been shown on their site.
4. I guess my definition of "community spirit" and your definition of "community spirit" are vastly different. Actions speak louder than words boys, and you all have a fresh start.

This was followed in all fairness, by a very nice paragraph, about a kinder and more gentler community, which I personally would like to see as well, but my previous comments still stand. Lets put it this way, a lot of very good StarCraft sites has closed down recently, and the sad truth is several could still be here if more effort had been made.

If you think any of my comments were unfair, well that's the way it's gonna be. What I wrote was in my opinion- the truth, and based on personal experience. I certainly can understand that the large sites put in a lot of work on their sites, because it shows, but I will also point out that we are talking a completely different "class structure" here. To the large sites, all they hear is the praise and admiration of their fans for their hard work, and yet the really small sites hear nothing by the huge sucking sound of all the hits going there as reward for theirs.

shiva

shivaSite

The End...
I am just going to bed now, but I do have some quick things to say...

We all know about this Top Ten mess, but that's not what has concerned me. It's what I saw at Simple.Craft...

"For a Better Community- Posted By: Lockeye on 06/13/99 16:52:33 CST We are not banding together against an evil force, but this whole Top Ten skirmish has made most of the webmasters think about what matters most ... the community and it's readers. This is why we now have sites for a closer community. You can read the page here."

This was followed by this....

The sites listed below have removed themselves from the Extreme StarCraft Top Ten, in order to prevent anymore rifts in our wonderful community. It is not worth the bitterness between sites and friends, all for one sites hit counter. We therefor are joining together, putting aside past troubles and uniting as one whole. We will be one community of excellent sites, not many "voices in the dark." The Elite StarCraft Sites for a Stronger Community:

Simple.Craft
StarCraft Legacy
StarCraft.Org
StarCraft Gurus
Brood War Dynasty
BW Addicts
If you would like you site added to this list, email lockeye@simplecraft.com

Anyone notice something? Look at the names, almost all the large sites. Most of them WELL KNOWN not to exactly have the word "community" in their vocabulary, unless their definition of community is "me and my buddies". And they have banded together. And more than likely other "friends" will join up soon. Why do you ask that the Headline is called The End? Because of one simple fact. The end of all the small sites who don't join. To quote Norm from the T.V. "Cheers", "It's a dog eat dog world out there, and I'm (insert site name) wearing Milk Bone underware."

The fact that they are not "a evil force" is utterly laughable. They may not intend the end of a lot of sites, but they will cause it. Anyone have any doubts that all they will end up doing is promoting each other? Even the fact that they are calling themselves " The Elite StarCraft Sites for a Stronger Community" is interesting. They can call themselves whatever they want, but what's their definition of Elite Sites? It seems rather limited, and who decides who's a "elite" site. Lockeye?

Does any of the other sites (especially the smaller ones) expect any of these guys to "help them out?" Hell no, they worry about their sites first (and rightfully so) but truefully, I doubt that they will lift one finger to help anyone else out. After all, your the competition, and despite what they, or anyone else will say for that matter, it's me first, and everyone else last. So don't expect any favors, don't expect them to help promote you, and don't expect them to do anything else but help themselves. Most of these sites have already proven it with their actions.

So where does this leave the rest of us? Death. Already some sites are "out" and as the bigger boys that are not members of the group are gone, so will the other sites go. Already, a lot of the smaller sites of the "community" are dead or dying, and a lot more is on its way. We die because of not only a lack of effort, but because of ignorance of the large sites, a lack of resources, and a lack of knowledge and help to maintain our sites.

2 weeks ago, I started "The Small Site Alliance" for this exact reason. I knew this was coming, it was only a matter of time before the big sites got together. The fact that they have so soon has shocked me, but thanks to Extreme StarCraft, they have. The Top Ten list was the perfect example of everything that I hated about the large sites, their arrogance and their "old boy network", and now it will be almost impossible to crack into the "community" if your a new site.