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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 7</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
                in loonygames:</font></b></font></p>

<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">New!!</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> The Archives have been cleaned up, fead links fixed, and printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments <a href="../../../index.html">on the front page</a>!</font></p>
              
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../2.15/feat/index.html" target="">Livin' 
  With The Sims</a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">: 
  theAntiELVIS explores the wild and wacky world that is Will Wright's <b>The Sims</b>, 
  asking the inevitable quesiton, &quot;is <b>The Sims</b> the first step toward a virtual 
  life where everyone is Swedish?&quot;</font></p>
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../2.15/pixel/index.html" target="">Pixel 
  Obscura</a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">: Josh 
  Vasquez on <b>Omikron: The Nomad Soul</b>.</font></p>
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../rl/index.html" target="">Real 
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        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8">The 
          Community Summit</font></p>
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<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.15/">Jump to an Archived Issue!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.15/">2.15: Livin' With The Sims</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.14/">2.14: To the Extreme</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.13/">2.13: Not Just a Passing Wind</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.12/">2.12: It's Not Easy Being Green</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.11/">2.11: Inside Origin Systems</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.10/">2.10: Game Networking 101</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.9/">2.9: Tell me a Story</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.8/">2.8: Anatomy of a Video Game</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.7/">2.7: 1999 loonygames Awards</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.6/">2.6: PC Fight Club</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.5/">2.5: Paul Steed '99</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.4/">2.4: Sounds From All Over</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.3/">2.3: Kicking Back with a Bear</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.2/">2.2: End of the Line</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.1/">2.1: American McGee's Alice</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.41/">----- Volume 1 -----</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.41/">1.41: Put a Little Love...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.40/">1.40: Game Programming...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.39/">1.39: More loonygames @ E3!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.38/">1.38: loonygames at E3!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.37/">1.37: The ReRuns Issue</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.36/">1.36: Inside Raven Software</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.35/">1.35: Waking Graeme Devine</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.34/">1.34: Writing the Game</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.33/">1.33: Totally Tribal</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.32/">1.32: Under His Skin</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.31/">1.31: The Glory of G.O.D.</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.30/">1.30: Chillin' w/Jason Hall</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.29/">1.29: Extreme Annihilation</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.28/">1.28: Adventures in ASCII</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.27/">1.27: Serious Brass Ones</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.26/">1.26: Two Programs...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.25/">1.25: The Unreal Cliffy B!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.24/">1.24: Gimme Your Money!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.23/">1.23: Old Crusty Gamers</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.22/">1.22: Bugs!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.21/">1.21: 2001</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.20/">1.20: Can't Please Everyone</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.19/">1.19: The Rise and Fall...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.18/">1.18: romuluSngan HoH!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.17/">1.17: A Very Geeky Christmas</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.16/">1.16: 5 Years of Doom!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.15/">1.15: Tune Up Your Game!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.14/">1.14: NT + Games = ???</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.13/">1.13: Blue and Levelord...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.12/">1.12: When It's Done!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.11/">1.11: Hangin' With John Romero!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.10/">1.10: Still Sick of Games</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.9/">1.9: Gettin' Odd with the loonies</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.8/">1.8: LAN Parties...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.7/">1.7: The Community Summit</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.6/">1.6: DRAW Pardner!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.5/">1.5: Taking Aim at Paul Steed</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.4/">1.4: Play Where You Like!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.3/">1.3: *Special Duke Issue*</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.2/">1.2: Are You Sick of Games?</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.1/">1.1: Chris Taylor Gets Some!</option>

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        <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Bobbi</font></b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">: 
          How do you decide what's newsworthy?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Aurora</b>: If it fits 
          our focus, and if it's related to the games our readers tell us they 
          play. Meaning, for us the latest <b>SiN</b> chick ad isn't news, but 
          the demo release is.. it's easy to filter it out</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: The main 
          thing is to make sure that the news falls within the bounds of what 
          you typically post. I know that most news sites will even link to an 
          unprofessional site full of typos if it happens to have a hot interview 
          or something though, so quality of the site isn't always a big issue 
          if the content is there</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Redwood</b>: True</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: for <a href="http://www.planetquake.com">PlanetQuake</a> 
          i'd like to think we try and stay quake related. we get a lot of mails 
          sent in that isn't like robert stutz' reviews for <a href="http://www.3dgaming.com">3dgaming</a> 
          e.g.. good news, but why are they mailing news@planetquake.com? How 
          can you build up a reputation when you don't focus one one aspect </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>NetGuy</b>: yeah i know 
          what you mean. news@quake2.com gets quite a few unreal emails, and a 
          LOT of heavygear emails from phoebus ;)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: heh. yeah, 
          us too</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Aurora</b>: We get a lot 

          of e-mail from people who I don't think send news to other sites because 
          the events aren't related to 3D games</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>loonybo</b>i: just look 
          at the<b> Quake 3: Arena </b>shots that were scanned. Is anyone going 
          to call that a killer new page?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Redwood</b>: nope</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Bobbi</b>: Good point, 
          I think everyone linked to that. Has anybody been back?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: do you remember 
          the url of the site that had them first? i don't. i guess that proves 
          something</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: haven't 
          been back, nope</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Idoru</b>: nope</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Bobbi</b>: So nobody knows 
          if that turned into a decent site or not.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: nope, and 
          until they have something new to report, I'm afraid no one will find 
          out</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: oh wait... 
          gamekilla's? was that it?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: gamekillaz 
          or something, sounds right joost. not a bad site, just nothing I'd add 
          to my bookmarks ;)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: You gotta keep 
          the content rolling out.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: but the interesting 
          thing here seems to be the attitude that they have to keep up their 
          rep now and bring scoops again. an attitude which i share i'm afraid. 
          it's too easy to produce a site on the net. people need to prove they’re 
          reliable</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: There are two 
          issues here. Can a new site "break in?" Yes. If it's providing a unique 
          service. (reposting other sites' news is not a unique service.) Can 
          they get publicity from the big sites? 1. Yes, if their content is good 
          2. Even if they don't they can still break though.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Bobbi</b>: So how does 
          Joe Schmo's <b>Quake</b> page get the scoops?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: they understand 
          that they can't do it on their own and don't start out as a news page. 
          find a niche and focus on it. a small niche</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: they don't 
          need the scoops I don't believe. They can improve their page in whatever 
          way they choose, and maybe that will get the news sites' attention, 
          scoops aren't necessary though</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Aurora</b>: I dont think 
          an audience cares if you have the "first scoop", as long as you keep 
          a high standard</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Bobbi</b>: John Romero 
          wouldn't answer Joe Schmo's e-mail, I'm sure.. (Not intentionally hitting 
          John Romero, just throwing out a name there)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>NetGuy</b>: Sure he would. 
          unless john romero's an eliteist, and that brings us back to square 
          one ;)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Idoru</b>: John always 
          answered mine and I am a Joe Schmo. i have to say he is pretty accesible 
          considering. most of the developers have been accesible. there are a 
          few that seem to be "too busy", but most aren't.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Redwood</b>: Not necessarily 
          true. How do you think I got started? Somebody big answered nobody me's 
          email :)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Aurora</b>: I think even 
          if your not "unique' a personality in your site would allow you to break 
          in as well </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: Yeah, definately. 
          But adding "personality" to news (ala Scary) is adding value and uniqueness...</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Redwood</b>: yes, non-dry 
          info (i.e. personality) helps, even if it's rediculously harsh like 
          BitchX used to be</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: interesting 
          question: and totally without side thoughts, what does everyone think 
          of <a href="http://www.processed.net">processed.net</a>? he updates 
          regularly and had a lot of exclusive screenshots a while back, but gets 
          few hits</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: I think 
          Process runs one of the best one-man news pages out there</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>NetGuy</b>: Honestly, 
          and i'm sure it's a fine site, but i think i went there once for <b>Messiah</b> 


          screenshots, other than that i haven't seen it :\</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: the first 
          four sites I check when looking for news are <a href="http://www.bluesnews.com">Blue's</a>, 
          <a href="http://www.shugashack.com">sCary's</a>, <a href="http://redwood.stomped.com">Redwood's</a>, 
          and <a href="http://www.processed.net">Processed.net</a>.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Bobbi</b>: So, do sites 
          need the help of hosts to exist successfully?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Aurora</b>: I don't think 
          a host is needed to be successful</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>NetGuy</b>: (yah)</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: A large host 
          is a big help nowadays. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>bwernicke</b>: I think 
          we are overlooking some issues because some of us take things for granted... 
          ie: resources, Joe Schmoe can not necessarily afford a server with tons 
          of bandiwth and ftp space. It is not always just about news, but files 
          as well. I can't imageine where our sites would be without a resource 
          like <a href="http://www.cdrom.com">cdrom.com</a> backing us. Enabling 
          us to store thousands of files.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Idoru</b>: thats where 
          site like <a href="http://www.planetquake.com">PlanetQuake</a> or <a href="http://www.telefragged.com">Telefragged</a> 
          come in, when a person(s) show that they have the talent and the drive 
          to build something worth going to, sites like ours can provide them 
          with bandwidth and storage</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: I've gotta 
          agree with Brad there, <a href="http://www.geocities.com">Geocities</a> 
          just doesn't cut it typically</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: want to know 
          what the first site is i check out?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: sure Joost 
          :)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: the competitive 
          site i'm the most afraid of</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: Hahahah!</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: (and no, 
          i ain't saying what) ;)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: we want 
          the name damnit ;)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>bwernicke</b>: <a href="http://www.3dportal.com">3D 
          Portal</a> ;)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: sometimes 
          it varies</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: Excellent strategy. 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: depending 
          on how long ago bastard gave his last pep talk</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>blitz</b>: why is this 
          a competition in the first place ? for what purpose</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: it's a friendly 
          competition though (at least with news)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: it's a competition 
          over who read news somewhere first. there's only so much news to go 
          around. news items are replicated elsewhere</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>bwernicke</b>: Competition 
          is a given in this, you cant have pages offering similar content and 
          not call it competition</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: brad: you 
          don't _have_ competition ;)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>bwernicke</b>: Joost, 
          we have our share, but we actively promote them as well via several 
          methods</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: Joost, I'll 
          give you that, we don't have the competition that a <a href="http://www.planetquake.com">PlanetQuake</a>/<a href="http://www.telefragged.com">Telefragged</a>/<a href="http://www.warzone.com">Warzone</a> 
          have, but it is still out there</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: Competition 
          = the audience winning. ;)</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: competition 
          encourages you to do your best and provide your visitor's with the best</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Aurora</b>: BUT you don't 
          have to let it be competative</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>NetGuy</b>: i don't think 
          news is a big competition as much as hosted sites are.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>bwernicke</b>: Netguy, 
          I disagree, but I see why you might say that</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>blitz</b>: seems to me 
          that people go out of their way to try to take sites from hosts. I have 
          had mail forwarded to me from people that I host</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: that impression 
          is overrated and quite frankly not true in my case</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>NetGuy</b>: maybe from 
          your end but it happens quite regularly with us.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Bobbi</b>: Has the possiblities 
          of money being made from fan-based websites ruined the 'fun' in running 
          a site? When does money need to be considered, no site can run forever 
          without financial backing? And how would a 'good' person handle it?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>blitz</b>: <a href="http://www.quake2.com">quake2.com</a> 
          does not profit from advertisers, we spend more money then we make</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: I believe 
          it does ruin the fun for the majority of folks. I'm not sure when it 
          needs to be considered, but a 'good' person would make sure to take 
          care of his people before himself</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: popularity 
          means more people consume more resources to do your sites. money has 
          to be made to pay for those</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Idoru</b>: For <a href="http://www.telefragged.com">Telefragged</a>, 
          we had to run banners to generate income to pay for bandwidth an servers. 
          We wanted to expand from our previous host and host ourselves so that 
          was the plan we choose to take. It is a proven plan and it works</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Aurora</b>: Cash certainly 
          did ruin the fun, which is why we don't really do it anymore. Our host 
          is one of the few who remembers that without affiliates (sub sites/hosted 
          sites) they wouldn't be able to do so much network advertising, and 
          we've decided to just go with our share from that</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: There are several 
          reasons to run a website. 1. Because you love something. 2. Because 
          you have something to share 3. To meet people 4. To augment your income 
          5. To BE your income. ;) I don't think reasons matter so much as results.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Idoru</b>: It has lost 
          some of the fun to be sure, but when some dude sends you and email saying 
          thanks for you help hosting his or her site it sorta makes my day</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: or all 5. 
          the big question is (and pardon the pun), where's the critical mass? 
          and have we reached it?</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>blitz</b>: well, I think 
          a lot of people are turned off by the whole competition issue. one of 
          the big reasons unreal.org does not exist anymore</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Bobbi</b>: Don't you get 
          to a point tho, where you can't just run a site for the fun of it...that 
          you NEED money to continue?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: yes, and 
          it takes heart to stay in it when you're at that point</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Bobbi</b>: Chris..what 
          do you do then?</font></p>
        <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: well, I'm busy 
        with school, and am unable to squeeze in both a job and a web site... 
        so for now I'm just going further into debt :) </font> 
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>NetGuy</b>: i think that 
          depends on the hosting. i mean anyone can run their site on <a href="http://www.geocities.com">geocities</a> 
          for free for as long as they want</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Bobbi</b>: <a href=http://www.geocities.com">Geocities</a> 
          can only offer so much space and bandwidth...it's not realistic for 
          anybody to hope to run a large scale site from there</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: Lots of things 
          to consider when you need your site to pull in income. Like journalistic 
          integrity, competition, finances. :I </font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: what if 
          money means you can expand and provide the same kind of coverage you've 
          done on a small scale for even more people?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>blitz</b>: what if it 
          means all you see is $$</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Aurora</b>: If you feel 
          you are going to reach that point, you need to re-evaluate and stop 
          expanding if you can't keep up</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: if I didn't 
          love it, I would have quit long ago</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Idoru</b>: It turns into 
          a vicious circle, you generate income to expand servers to increase 
          service to buy more bandwidth, etc...</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>NetGuy</b>: it depends 
          on the staff too. noone on our staff receives any kind of monetary compensation, 
          which is fine, but a lot of it depends on how far you plan on taking 
          your site. and how much time and money you want to invest in it.</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: fargo: interestingly 
          enough i got a few emails about the <b>Shogo</b> review and <a href="http://blackmarket.planetquake.com">black 
          market</a> </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: Exactly!</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>loonyboi</b>: well, that's 
          a good point, joost. was that a questionable move on your part, Fargo?</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: <a href="http://www.planetquake.com">PlanetQuake</a> 
          wants to provide a slew of services for users. One of those -- a no-brainer, 
          actually -- is an online store. Of course starting a store has all sorts 
          of issues of its own.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>blitz</b>: true</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: Like software, 
          security, promotion --And how do you promote a store with no content, 
          and how do you get content if your store has no promotion? So you've 
          got to move slowly, take some baby steps. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: and if we 
          think <b>Shogo</b> is a great game, why not tell them where to get it?</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>loonyboi</b>: but if 
          you generate income from something that you write a positive review 
          of...isn't that contradictory?</font></p>
        <p> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: cross-promotion? 
          I believe it is contradictory for sure, but a brilliant business move</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Aurora</b>: I would think 
          so, and then how do you make your readers convinced what you write isn't 
          biased</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>ChrisDay</b>: Aurora, 
          I don't think some readers can be convinced</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>jschuur</b>: innocent 
          until proven guilty?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>loonyboi</b>: that's like 
          trusting Sierra's magazine's review of the new <b>King's Quest</b> game.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fargo</b>: Fortunately, 
          Monolith was interested in working with online communities, so we saw 
          a preview of their game and it was very cool. They were open to letting 
          us sell it, hopefully as part of a full-featured store that we want 
          to expand into. They came to our LANParty and showed their game to people. 
          I didn't need to edit their comments; reponse was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. 
          I played through the game and loved it.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Aurora</b>: and if you 
          sell it to make a profit, how do your readers know that isn't why your 
          review was positive? Thats one main reason why I use fan-based game 
          sites for info rather than game mags</font></p>
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    <td><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
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      Bergman &amp; its participants. All other content is &copy; 1998 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
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