First Halo Comic

Tang, founder of Slacker Pimps (/fanclub/571), sent us a great new feature, this Halo comic: /images/site/halo/comics/tang_2-28.jpg Check this out and let us know what you think... if you like it enough maybe we can convince him to make it a regular feature.

Group Activity Logs

I've taken a few users' requests and made the group activity logs (previously only a staff tool) accessible to all group members. The activity log is an easy way to check up on what's new in your group, especially in your databases. The link can be found when you're visiting one of your chapters, in the left hand navigation bar, below Members.

No More Double Spacing

Achronos forgot to mention another little fix he implemented while adding in yesterday's formatting shortcuts. You no longer have to put two blank lines between paragraphs in the site's forms to create a paragraph break, only one. Might seem insignificant, but if you've used the site much you know this is a blessing.

Marathon Infinity Netmap Poll

We've updated the Marathon Infinity favorite netmap poll with the remaining contenders, but we've also carried over the winners from the original poll, Duality and Route 66. Go vote!

Ask and You Shall Receive

FrogBlast noticed a new theme yesterday--Soffish. Though we'd accidentally posted the old version of this theme, his detective work convinced us to finish the new one. Now the water stuff item theme you've always wanted is finally here! Careful, transparent resin may leak out.

New Formatting Shortcuts

I just added a little feature for those of you who post news frequently. Now, instead of using [ bold ] you can use [ b ] (no spaces). Same goes for the italics and the teletype tags.

DoubleTree Number Correction

A big warm thanks to crbuke who pointed out that the number listed for the DoubleTree in our E3 story was incorrect. The correct number is (310) 395-3332.

Changing Email Bug Fix

Whoops. Both of our gremlins, Chucky and Cpt_Canuck, pointed out that they were unable to change their email address since the code update. The problem has now been fixed. (Make sure your address is up to date before enabling the email feature!)

Wir haben Halo Zeite Updatschen

Pardonez moi, but if you've never been to a foreign film festival, now's your chance! Today on Tru7th & Reconciliation, we've added a "foreign films" section to the gallery. While our European friends await the release of Halo, you can find out how to say, "a dozen superior Covenant battleships" in French, and use it to woo women.
While you're here, take a look at the grand Finale of Halo (Cutscene x70b) in our latest installment of the storyboards section.
Audieu!

New Communication Tools

Today marks the first significant feature update since themes: email integration. You can now choose to have the server notify you by email when you have messages and when news is posted to your chapters. This update also includes the following additional features:

• You can now receive messages and news from your chapters via email
• User profile pages now display location info, home page, and instant messenger contact info
• You can now choose to display your email address in your user profile (it's hidden by default)

There are several security features built in to the email notification system to ensure it isn't abused. First, you must verify that you actually own the email address before the feature is enabled. Second, your email address is hidden from the sender field. (Thus, if you send someone a message or post news the notification people receive will show the sender's email address as the Bungie server's, not yours.) Third, you now have a personal blacklist, which you can use to block messages and email from specific users.

Anyway, lots of you requested this feature, we hope you like it! Head to the Your Settings page (/site/0/user_settings/) to adjust your account's options

Bungie.net offline at 2pm PST

The bungie.net websites will be taken offline at around 2pm Pacific time for a large code update. Downtime should be no more than 1 hour, probably less. After the update, we'll have some new community features for you. More on that later.

MythForums.com Site

I just noticed an interesting site I hadn't seen before, http://www.mythforums.com. This site is providing a service to those without their own web tools, a mission dear to our hearts. If you have a Myth-playing Seventh Column chapter you may want to consider getting a forum for your chapter hosted at their site, since we don't have them here (yet!).

7th Column Week in Review

Another week, another review. Speaking of reviews, we have some new database types for you that allows you to set up lists of movies and books and rate them. As for the 7th Column, well, I'll assume that your lack of mail to 7thcol@bungie.com means that everyone is hard at work planning how to dominate at the upcoming E3 tournament. Don't forget to sign your chapter up at /perlbin/blam.pl?file=/news/stories/bungie_party_at_e3.html! In other news:

• The Mob of Angry Peasants (/fanclub/415), is seeking members, and wants to advertise their upcoming events. They mention that "The Mob really likes media attention. It's the media that really gets things done in politics, and The Mob is aware of this. This is why The Mob is drawing attention to its upcoming Bureaucratic Upheaval. Everyone is emplored to assist in this upheaving of the bureaucracy." Uh, yeah... Moving on...
• Tigaj, founder of the Tigajim Assassins (/fanclub/800), is looking for Halo players in the vicinity of Greeley, CO.
• The Crocodile Bungie chapter (/fanclub/26) is having a LAN party in South Australia on the 23rd... uh, that would be today in the USA. Sorry about that guys. But if you're in Australia, check these guys out, Halo is coming there too!

And so ends another week, and my first time writing the review. Be sure to send us your postings for the week in review to 7thcol@bungie.com. Also, check back early next week for some new features for every user that 90% of you wanted. In related news, 75% of all statistics are fake.

Two New Databases!

I've ducked the "no new feature additions on Friday afternoon" censors and created two new database types, Movie Reviews and Reading List. Even better, both are hooked in to the poll system, so chapter members can rate books and movies. Enjoy!

Y.A.F.N.M.P.

Continuing in the tradition of fine past polls we've posted another "favorite net map" poll. This time we're looking for your favorite Marathon Infinity net map. This is the first half of the list, so the winner will advance to the next poll.

And The Winner IS...

Congratulations to Tom Van Sinden of Los Angeles, CA, the lucky son-of-a-gun who's won the Covenant Elite sculpture from the Bungie Store drawing! Also, don't miss our interview with Juan Ramirez, the sculpture creator, and the new X70a storyboards at Tru7h & Reconciliation.(/site/1).

Korean Myth Fan Site

A great new Myth fansite has come on the scene, http://www.mythfansite.com. There's one catch--it's all in Korean. Once you get past the language barrier there's a lot there to see though, so be sure to visit. (Thanks to http://www.mythvillage.org/ for the heads up.)

Myth II Server Shut Down

Last night the Myth II game server was shut down once and for all. Some of us at Bungie met each other there, and met some of our best friends there. We too shall mourn it's passing. Yet we hope the seeds of friendship so many Myth players have planted will grow and someday blossom.

There is already an alternative server at http://www.mariusnet.com where you can play Myth and Myth II online. Since we released the source code there has been a great deal of activity at The Myth Vault (/site/3) developing additional 3rd party servers. And of course there's the Seventh Column (/site/2), a site to help you maintain your circles of friends. We encourage all Myth players to participate in these projects and sites and help us build Bungie's future community.

Halo Calendar Poll

We have a new Bungie.net poll over on the left on the main page, this time asking how much moolah you'd be willing to shell out for a 12 month Halo wall calendar. Well, what's it going to be?

Marathon 2 Netmap Poll Results

Oh yeah, before I forget. Thunderdome won our Marathon 2 netmap poll with 41% of the votes. Everyone's Mortal But Me came in second with 26%.

McLees Day at T&R;

Not that we're starting a whole "theme" tradition every time we update the site, but today we've been abundantly bestowed upon by Bungie's own Robt McLees. In addition to the highly anticipated interview by the fans, we've added a "weapons" section to the gallery. Also we've created a seventh page to the concept art, including Rob's flood drawings. Knock yourself out!

No More Accidental Deletes

Now, when you hit that "delete database" button, you'll be taken to a page asking if you're sure you know what you're doing. No more accidentally deleting databases! Sorry about this one, it was waaaay too long coming.