For the last three years, since The Weirding's inception, we have updated on Halloween. Technically, I tend to update a page or two here and there at least once a month or so, but Halloween is when we do "The Big Roll-out" - many pages and departments get updated and a slew of new content is published. This Halloween will be no different.
What to Expect This Halloween (2009)
If everything goes well (it almost never does, I'm sorry to say), the Halloween 2009 roll-out is going to be legendary... well, historical, at least. There are major additions to both the Chill and Dark Conspiracy departments, as well as some design, navigational, and layout improvements. Champions has already received a recent facelift and will also have new content. There is also a new feature interview with a legendary creator and performer, as well as improvements to the feature interviews already in-place. We'll drill these down in a second; first, I want to discuss advertising.
Advertising
I am very open about The Weirding being an advertising-sponsored site; I've discussed it at-length elsewhere numerous times. Unfortunately, advertising is something which has to be closely, and constantly, monitored. When the site first launched, I relied on the most popular ad network, but I had far too many issues with it, and had to completely expurgate those ads from the site. Of course, that forced me to find a replacement(s).
Once the ads were determined and implemented, I had to monitor their performance for a few months. At this point, I have some idea which ads and advertisers work for us, but I also have a few more to try-out. I not only want The Weirding to pay for itself, I also want to bring you the best products, services, and collectibles I can. Tabletop gaming is a lifestyle and The Weirding was the first site ever to treat it as such; I've been discussing the "lifestyle" approach for over a decade now, and you can find those posts, pages, and comments across the Web and in Web archives.
The point being: Bear with us while we get this stuff worked-out. I will never employ full page ads or pop-ups; the rest you'll just have to learn to deal with if you don't like ads. However, I go to great lengths to consort with sponsors and advertisers who offer products and services which appeal to gamers and our lifestyle, so you'll hopefully find them useful.
Chill
Gah... I have so much stuff for Chill that I have never gotten published - even back in the GeoCities days! For years, I had that "Coming Soon" page setting there - and it was the only thing published! There are many reasons for this, but one of the biggest is that I have never entered this information - it's all on paper - and that alone makes it the biggest project going at this moment. However, I got some content out a while back and it's time to get back to it. So I have:
Vincent
Almost as old as the country itself, Vincent is as well-known for its gangland ties as for the rumors of Unexplained happenings. A brief history of the bustling port city should serve GMs well. The Eastgate neighborhood of Olde Vincent is also presented.
Books and Lore
I finally get around to detailing some of the books in the Vincent Campaign. Lore of the Wampyr establishes how future books will be handled and presented.
A Major, New Menace
Drawn straight from the early, 20th-Century pulp stories which inspired the Vincent Campaign, a powerful new Menace is also presented, along with discussion which detail how Menaces, the Unknown, and the Evil Way are handled in the Vincent Campaign.
Dark Conspiracy
Dark Conspiracy is one project of which I am very proud, even though I realize it could be done better. In my defense, I have said (time and again) that I felt it was more important to present the information than to sit on it until I determined a better presentation and had time to put it all together, but I'm going to try to get it all right, this time. It may take a few passes, but I have a feeling you'll enjoy what you find.
Metrodome
I completely fucked-up the page during an attempt to add advertising and never got back around to fixing it. With everything that was going on in my personal life, it became a non-priority. I hope everyone understands! Still, it will probably be fixed before Halloween. This go-round, we present the BioMed sector, complete with a campaign! Yes, you can run an entire campaign set entirely in this single sector of Metrodome! Depending on the time it takes to get this done, there may be another neighborhood or two.
Randomizers
Another section I fucked-up and never got back around to fixing, the Dark Conspiracy Randomizers help keep GMs creative throughout the long sessions by providing interesting encounters, ideas, and details for everything from Haunted Houses to Alien Races to Demonground and beyond.
Champions
The Champions Department got a major boost over the summer. Not only was a plethora of new material introduced, existing content was reformatted, the navigational systems were gone over (though there are still issues), and the layout was corrected. While there are still bugs to be hammered-out, Champions @ The Weirding looks better than ever and it's easier than ever to find whatever it is you want.
World Notes
This Halloween, you will find more about the Megacity Campaign setting, including transportation.
Again, all of this is contingent on IRL which can go either way at any moment, but that aside, 2009 looks to be the biggest Halloween roll-out in The Weirding's history... so far!
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
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