Login Issues Fixed

Update: All of the problems have been resolved. If you experience more problems, don't hesitate to send myself or Yeroen a message.

We have recently found some issues with creating accounts and the login/logout process that cropped up after yesterday's update. We are working on the problem, but until then you may experience problems creating an account, among other things. We hope to have the problem resolved in a few hours.

Marathon Art Gallery Launched

Update: Claude from Bungie.org pointed out that this isn't actually the Marathon Art Gallery, but just a preview of the gallery. Well, it's a damn fine piece of work nonetheless.

We just learned from the Marathon Story page about a new site, the Marathon Art Gallery (http://marathon.bungie.org/temp/). Be sure to check this one out, it's chock full of art from the legendary Craig Mullins.

1000 Strong ... And Growing

Today marked a momentus occasion--the Seventh Column, Bungie's army of loyal fans, is now 1000 members strong! The honor goes to Blasta_Thug, founder of The S |/\| a r |\/| of Marietta, Ohio (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/580).

Old Poll, New Poll

That last poll was interesting. It seems the Outtakes, Multiplayer Guide, and Interviews sections are the most popular on the Tru7h and Recon site. I guessed 2 out of the 3, but I didn't realize how much people like those outtakes! I'm out of touch. Well, anyway you're in luck, because I believe Jay the Younger has some more in store! While you wait go vote in our new poll.

Off To a Slow Start

We have some fun stuff planned for the sites this week, but unfortunately you won't see much of it for a few days. Candyman is finishing up a feature for 7th Column chapters that you're absolutely going to love. Matt is pestering Rob for those Halo interview questions back, plus finishing up another interview. Modem is slacking off, as usual, working on a game-related project and watching kung fu movies. Mordia is starting on a "making of" feature you should enjoy. Achronos is trying to solve some technical issues with the database server, plus trying to convince me not to make him implement all the cool features I want on the site. And I'm just kickin' back....

Disappearing Database Entries

Update: All of the display issues with old database entries have been resolved; the entries should all be back now.

Some of you may have noticed that a bunch of your older database entries appear to be missing. Rest assured, the actual entries are still there. The problem is just a display issue, and your old entries should reappear as soon as the display problem is fixed.

Bug Fix: Disappearing Events

Finally figured out why events were sometimes disappearing from the sidebar. The problem is fixed.

Week in Review Submissions

If the 7th Column Week in Review is going to happen again this week you're going to have to do the work! Seriously, if you have something you'd like considered for inclusion--an event you hosted or are hosting, a chapter seeking members, etc.--please email details today to 7thcol@bungie.com (yes, this changed from @microsoft.com, though both will work). Be sure to include your login name and your chapter's name, as well as any relevant or interesting details.

Access and Database Problems

We're aware of an intermittent problem some of you are having accessing the site, and another with disappearing database entries. We're unsure of the cause in both cases. Rest assured we're doing our best to track things down. We'll have an update as soon as we figure more out.

New Database: Halo Gametypes

We've got a new feature lined up for every chapter to assist you with keeping track of what game variants of multiplayer Halo are good. The Halo Gametypes database type allows you to input different game variants for all to see. People who can view your database can then rate individual variants. The results will automatically be tallied and averaged so you'll know if that variant will go over well at your next LAN party. If you have any problems using this new database type, message myself or Yeroen.

New Poll: Favorite Halo Section

We've posted a new poll to fill the time while we argue over the two top mottos in the last: We're everywhere! and Tru7h. Carnage. Bungie. Check out this new Bungie.net poll and let us know which section you like the most on the Halo Tru7h and Reconciliation site.

Halo Update-a-thon

Just got back from vacation ... sorry, I missed a few messages. Fortunately the team has been hard at work. Candyman has posted a whole slew of updates to the Tru7h and Recon site, including Mordia's top story on Marcus Lehto, Halo's art lead. Check out the article and its model animations by clicking on the picture of Marcus above, or visit the site and view the new Gallery section or listen to the two new sound outtakes (marked New! after their names).

Scheduled Maintenance

Update: The maintenance has been completed, and all servers are back up. Luckily, the Webmaster was distracted by a passing ice cream truck.

All of the Bungie web sites will be taken temporarily offline at 5:00pm Bungie Standard Time (Pacific) for some maintenance. Downtime is expected to be less than one hour, assuming The Bungie Webmaster doesn't get involved, in which case all bets are off.

A flood of Halo updates

Ok maybe a trickle. But it's all good! This week we've added a sixth, flood-filled page to our screenshots section:
/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/site/1/site/halo/features/screenshots06.html.
Secondly, by popular demand, we've added Joseph Staten's grunt outtakes to the Audio section:
/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/site/1/site/halo/features/outtakes_03.html
Lastly -and you're not gonna believe this- we updated our soapbox within 2 months of the last one. Incredible!
/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/site/0/site/bnet/soapbox/soapbox02_01.html
A tip o' the hat to Joseph for this one. Thanks Joe!

7th Column Week in Review

Here's a quick rundown of happenings in the 7th Column. This and the seeking members list below took me a while to compile, so please don't spam me with messages telling me what I missed. Instead we've created an alias specifically for that purpose! If you have something you think worth mentioning when we review the week's happenings please send it via email to 7thcol@microsoft.com. No promises it will be included, etc., etc. You know the drill. Anyway, on to the week in review!
Gatherings

• Northwest Halo Players (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/2) held a gathering in Everett, Washintgon hosted by Craiz. More than 20 people attended. The event featured 4 Xboxes with projectors, 5 Bungie employees ... and pizza!
• Tacoma Xbox LAN Club (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/289) held a 4 person gathering in Tacoma, Washington.
• HALOID (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/295) of Boise, Idaho held a 6 person gathering called "Funfest I". Read the details in their articles database.
• Space Coast Halo Club (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/391) of Titusville, Florida held an 8 person LAN party.
• Halo Players @ Microsoft (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/452) held their first gathering when they should have been working.

• Sardaukar Legion West (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/201) is trying to build a consolidated Western US chapter.
• Stosh from Mob of Angry Peasants (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/415) is working on a logo/t-shirt design for their chapter. That's cool.
• Achronos has a feature for chapters in the works (and almost complete) that all you Halo fans are going to love.
• Several Bay Area chapters are discussing plans for a huge Bay area LAN party.

• News posts now default to publicly visible.
• Fixed a bug that caused problems for people editing events with markup tags in them.
• Fixed a bug that wasn't clearing the cache when news was edited or deleted.
• Fixed a bug where the overview member count wasn't getting updated when new members were accepted.
• Fixed a bug that was causing news submissions to not show up in the navbar.

• 342 7th Column chapters
• 787 7th Column members
• 7688 Bungie.net members

Chapters Seeking Members

I've compiled a list of the various chapters that are actively recruiting members:

Western US

• Front Range Company 7 (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/382) is seeking members in the Boulder, CO area, while Akkula's Soldiers (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/82) is looking for members near Fort Collins, and Remedy (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/435) is looking for recruits in the Denver/Metro area.
• BayAreaHaloPlayingGroup (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/17) is looking for members in, well, the Bay Area, California.
• ZPGh (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/267) is seeking members in the Provo, Utah area.
• Scoobs Nightmare (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/451) is seeking members in Beaverton, Oregon.
• Seattle Area KidsAllowed (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/413) is seeking members under age 18 in the Seattle, Washington area.

• PA Myth Addicts, Inc. (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/301) is desperately seeking members in the York, Pennsylvania area.
• Retinel Church (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/275) of Holden, Maine is seeking members.
• Utfoo (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/111) is seeking members in the Pittsburgh area. They also called dibs on creating the giant Ling-ling statue.
• Gonzo and Crew (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/416) is looking for members in the Richmond, Virginia area.
• Nepenthe: Seekonk (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/376), a local close knit group of players, is entertaining membership requests from the Seekonk, Massachussetts area. Metrowest Halo Group (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/136) is also looking for members in Massachusetts.

• Halo Inc. (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/345) is looking for members near Brownwood, Texas.
• The Game (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/139) is seeking 2 more members in the Little Rock, Arkansas area.
• Hot, Flaming Death (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/303) is looking for members in the Alexandria, Louisiana area.
• Central Flordia Halo (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/396) is looking for members in, you guessed it, Central Florida.
• Halo Atlanta Lan Org. (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/150) is looking for members in the Atlanta, Georgia area.

• A Halo Person (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/438) is seeking members in the Chicagoland area.
  
• HALO Fighters (/perlbin/blam.pl?file=/fanclub/107) is looking for members in the Rosemount, Minnesota area.

Flood Revealed

Halo.bungie.org has posted a great new feature: a guide to the Flood (http://halo.bungie.org/flood)! Louis Wu made a recent visit to our offices, and apparently made off with some classified shots thanks to inside help. Candyman!

7th Column Motto Poll Round 2

Two mottos were obvious winners in the last Bungie.net poll, We're everywhere! and Tru7h. Carnage. Bungie. However, we've received additional submissions since the poll went live, and since there's no consensus here we thought it'd be interesting to throw these new contenders in the ring. Let us know what you think ... is there a clear winner?

Bug Fixes: News, Overview

Just made the following fixes that I've been putting off for way too long:

• I've fixed a bug that was causing the news submission count to not show up in the navigation bar for group staff. Be sure to check for new submissions, I suspect many of you have stories waiting in the queue.
• I've also fixed an annoying cache bug where news on your front page wasn't getting updated when you edited or deleted stories. Whew!
• Finally, I've fixed a long-standing bug with the group overview. Your member count should now update immediately when you accept new members and when members leave your group.

Marathon:Resurrection Tournament

The Liandri Depot is hosting a Marathon: Resurrection tournament. Marathon:Resurrection, for those of you that don't know, is an Unreal Tournament mod that meticulously re-creates Bungie's Marathon in a true 3-D game engine. And more importantly, playable over the internet by Macs and PCs alike.
From the site:

Team Unphorgiven is pleased to announce its first official Marathon:Resurrection tournament. It has been a long and tedious process to make this venture possible, that is..real Marathon multiplayer experience over the Internet. It's great to waste your friend to bits across the room and hear them scream in frustration while trying to re-spawn, but doing it across the world has its benefits..such as doing it 'commando' if you know what I mean...
Entries will start to be taken through the form below from Jan. 16 to Jan. 29. The tournament will start on Feb. 6th. Games will be played on weekdays after 6pm PST. Please use the form below to indicate your preferred time of play below in _PST_ time as well as indicate the time difference in the appropriate field. Weekend games may be scheduled depending on the number of entries.

Bug Fix: Messaging

That auto reply quoting I added was causing problems for some people trying to reply to messages, so I've disabled it. If you were experiencing problems with the messaging system give it another shot.

You Stole My Poll!

I didn't, Stosh from Mob of Angry Peasants did. He suggested moving the poll for chapters so it resides below the navigation bar, thus freeing up more room for databases in the sidebar. I liked the idea so much I made the change. What would be really cool is if you could determine the position for yourself. Perhaps we'll add this ability a little down the road.

The 7th Column For Dummies

One out of five respondents in our last poll indicated that they don't know what the 7th Column is all about. Frogblast just reminded me we have a page that explains at /perlbin/blam.pl?file=/site/2/site/fanclub/about_fanclub.html. Who put that there? Please read up on our mission statement before you vote in the poll.