Firstly, I would like to sincerely apologize for the amount of time it took to get the site fixed. As of now, it seems that Chvy has removed the exploits and got the site back on its feet, so a round of applause to him! Malware errors still might persist until browsers and/or search engines recognize that the exploits have been removed. Spread the word and let's get ModHalo members back here!
For new comers, the idea behind this is to change your name to something more festive.
Before you get name-happy, read very carefully, so you don't get stuck with a crappy name for the rest of your interwebs life, making you the laughing stock of ModHalo.
You get 2 name changes over the course of the next 40 days. Before you get all excited, remember, you have 1 name change to change to your festive name, and 1 name change to change back (and yes, you do have to change your name back). So, my advanced math skills tell me, that each of those changes account for your 2 total name changes. If you screw up, it's your fault, and I will not be fixing it. So think long and hard about the name you want to have for the next 40 days, and then change it if you wish.
The person with the most creative name will win an award!(like... the kind of award that goes below your username)
Making this change only changes your display name, meaning your login name will continue to be whatever it is before the name change. To change your name, click HERE, or click your name in the top right corner of the screen, and click "My Settings." Click "Display Name" and then enter your new, festive name, and your current password (for verification purposes). Then you're done. After that, make an awesome avatar and/or sig, and you're done. Please, keep your sig or avatar recognizable so that people can still identify you. I'll be laying the banhammer down on an individual basis if anyone abuses this.
If, after all this, you realize you did not follow the steps properly and you currently have a crappy festive name, then, sucks to be you!
All awards have been transferred over and populated to those who had them previously.Any member ranked Regular or above can grant any award in the "Achievement Awards" category, pending approval. There are two exceptions - the "Best Christmas Name" award and "Outstanding Modder". Outstanding modder can only be granted by Meta Chiefs, and the Christmas award... well that's an obvious reason.
Feel free to nominate someone for an award if you feel they deserve it. The point of the change is to get more awards to those who deserve it; previously it was Admin only, and it was hard to keep track of who deserved what. That doesn't mean it will be approved, but as long as there is some sort of support for the award (which it wouldn't be a bad idea to PM an Administrator with if you nominate someone) it's likely.
Also, to get people used to the system and to make sure everyone has at least one award, every somewhat active member should have the "Good Guy" award. If you see anybody without it, give it to them. The "Awesome Guy" award has been removed, because it was a terrible idea having those awards split.
Reputation:
I should have done this earlier when the board was offline, but reputation has just been reset to 0 for all members. We're starting fresh with the new system and getting away from that clusterfuck we had with the previous one. This would have been done while the board was offline had I realized (and I should have) that old reputation points would be carried over despite the change in the system.
This means that if you "liked" any post tonight, and really did like it, you'll have to do it again if you want the user to get the reputation. My bad, but I think I'm the one who took the biggest hit so no worries ;)
Some things of note include the new tagging system, which probably would have been a lot more helpful if we had it from the start, a "like" reputation system (I like it - removes the negrep drama we had), a RTEditor, an enhanced 'View New Content' feature, and a bunch of other improvements - most obviously, the skin.
I was a bit rushed for time at the end of the upgrade so as of now the tagging system is temporarily disabled, and I've barely added any awards yet. The tagging system is going to use predefined tags which you can add as a prefix to your topic title - post any suggestions for tag titles and I'll add them.
The awards system is improved and we now have the option for public award granting. Anybody Regular or above will have the ability to grant (most) awards now, with approval. (You grant the award and it gets sent to an approval queue - it won't show up until it's approved in the ACP.)
Post any issues you have with the new software, or anything that looks funky with the skin in here and I'll take a look at it.
Within the next few nights (very possibly tonight) we're going to upgrade the forum to the latest release. It has been up on a test site for a while now, and the reviews have been good from everyone who's seen it. As part of the upgrade awards will be reset; I'll try to make note of who has what but some awards might not be carried over and I could always miss someone. Just make a list of what you have now so it can be added if it gets lost in the transition. In return we'll be getting some improvements like user nominated awards so admins don't have to give them all out.
The forum will be offline for a period of time during the upgrade. If it never comes back it means I've fucked something up and I apologize in advance.
Debuted towards the end of PAX2011, 343 Studios shares a collection of their concept art for their upcoming game, to demonstrate an idea of the atmospheric and aesthetic designs we should be looking forward to later next year. In addition to this, the new forthcoming trilogy to the game has been given a name, The Reclaimer Trilogy.
