Website news

[Ross Scott]

Hey people, here's an update on things:

 

If you're just tuning in, the site was hacked about a week ago, but it's slowly coming under control. The security has since been semi-patched to hopefully last a few more days while the site revamp is underway. Since the site is slightly more secure than it was, I've gone and replaced the old posts. The new site will have completely different code and be able to support many features. It will have a Wordpress base, which will make posting and commenting easier (especially on my end), and I've been assured there are ample plugins and coding options to make the new site retain similar functionality as this one.

 

My apologies to everyone who's emailed me about the site that I haven't replied to yet. I received so many emails it's a bit overwhelming. I'm not a born manager, so when I'm brainstorming about the best way to go about fixing a problem and receive a couple dozen offers by email, it can be tricky for me to determine who is reliable and competent and who potentially has brain damage. It's like trying to hire someone for a job you don't even know how to do yourself. I suspect that's how many managers operate in the corporate world however.

 

Right now someone with a ton of experience is working on programming the backend for the site, with another on design, however I do want to incorporate more people as needed and have more people on "standby" in case we run into any problems. If you have a lot of of Wordpress or theme design experience, feel free to send me another email just so I don't accidentally miss you in my sea of messages. In the future, I don't want the site to stagnate for months on end like it has because any one person becomes too busy to work on it.

 

As for the new website, upon launch it will have the ability to browse all old posts and the ability to stay logged in. You will probably have to re-register your screennames (not yet), but all your old comments will be preserved. There are many features planned for down the line, but I don't want to overextend things yet. There are a couple things I would like your feedback on. First it's possible that once we reach a certain point, we could post the site as-is, in "beta" form so you could see development and changes on it as it happens. If this is something you might be interested in, let me know, otherwise, we'll wait until it's launch-ready. Also I wanted to ask how much interest there is for having an official forum here. I've tried this in the past, but to be blunt, I simply won't have enough time to browse all the posts, so it will be there more for you to talk to each other about the videos or whatever rather than a direct line of communication (email is still the best method for that, if slow). If there's still enough interest, we can look into what it would take to get a functional forum for the new site as well.

 

- - - - -

 

In video news, the lead sound editor's computer (Otto Beumelburg) has died on him and he cannot currently work on much. Otto saves me untold hours of time and does at least as good a job as I would with sound editing, so I'm going to just keep working on other areas until he's able to get his computer fixed. Also while this will probably disappoint most of you, I'm choosing to continue working on Civil Protection over Freeman's Mind, since I'm currently very driven to get the animation work completed on it. I promise you'll get a bunch of FM episodes once I'm done with the episode however, you can expect at least a dozen or two more before the end of the year.

[Guest]

Mr. Ross Scott,

 

I think you're doing a great job, and I'm very impressed with the--in my opinion--consistently good FM episodes.

 

It would be easy to get bored after a while and have the quality suffer, but I haven't seen that and enjoy each new episode.

 

So, great job, and I hope you get some recognition for your work! [i'm a nobody so unfortunately I can't be of much help there.]

[Guest]

Glad to hear your websites more secure and is finally getting revamped. I wouldn't mind a forum, as that could keep everyone talking about episodes and maybe even give you ideas on jokes for the next episode of whichever series.

[Guest]

Ross I'm so glad you're going to be able to get the videos flowing again soon ill be checking the site daily for it but most of all take your time with it the last thing we want is rushed videos

[Guest]

Man... seems computers are turning against us. No matter, I'll patiently wait for more episodes of either series. Just make sure you don't run on Valve time, m'kay Mr. Scott? Love what you do Ross; none of the episodes ever get old, and the new ones are always hilarious.

[Guest]

No sweat man, you're offering quality entertainment for free AND you're putting in effort to do it through a quality internet site. Take the time you need.

 

I'm not around here all that often myself, but I wouldn't mind if you run a beta version and let the development be done with the curtains open. It's always a bit fun to see and who knows, you never know when an unsought for idea pops up.

 

Looking forward to that CP ep!

[Guest]

Hello Ross.

I for one, would be very interested in seeing the new site even in beta form. As for the forums feature... nice, but critical. What I mean by that is implement it if it's not much of a problem, leave it for later if it distracts you from more pressing matters... LIKE IMPLEMENTING A DONATION SYSTEM!

J.C.

P.S. Sorry about that, but you know it very frustrating wanting to contribute with the cause, and not being able to.

[Guest]

Personally, I think the Freeman's Mind videos are your best stuff. I would love to see you do HL2 like that.

[Guest]

I meant "nice but not critical"

J.C.

[Guest]

Great news, also because you get back to working on CP. I will die inside if you ever leave it

 

You know, you could put the test of new version of the site in different place like accusedfarms.com/test so there won't be sudden flow of "wtf site not work" comments. xP

 

Godspeed,

 

Mick

[Guest]

I thinks it's great that you're focusing more on the civil protection episode. Keep up the good work.

[Guest]

I'd honestly love a forum on this site. It would be a great way to establish a community for your videos, and also a great way for fans to get to know everyone else who is a fan. I'm looking forward to the new site, Ross. Good to see everything is getting back in line. Also, I'm sorry about contributing to the e-mail flood. I sent some subtitles I promised to send in May at about 1 or so. Don't take the Hungarian subtitles I sent; the translator's name is somehow reversed. I'll resend these to you through my personal e-mail address.

[Guest]

Do what ya gotta, man. The work you put out is of high enough quality to justify waiting.

[Guest]

What amazes me is how you don't seem to get disheartened by anything. I mean you have a very mixed fanbase to start, with a lot of people who adore you (some to the point where it's got to be a little creepy and kinda annoying) and a few trolls, many of whom are the most aggressive, rude and arrogant I've ever seen. You don't let them bother you. You run into shitloads of technical problems with Source engine, computer trouble, trying to find a good place to work from and so on. You keep going regardless. Some git/s hack your site, leave some stupid pictures and whatnot. You just go and fix it.

 

If it was me I'd be screaming and shouting and swearing A LOT by now and would probably have quit. You sir have more patience than any man I think I've ever heard of.

[Guest]

Anonymous at 15:37:47: The only thing that really gets under my skin is how long it takes to create some of the videos because I can see so many inefficiencies, bugs, and roadblocks to animating and I could easily have 10x the videos I have now without that. I'm hoping eventually I'll find some solutions to that and plan to talk about that more at a later date.

[Guest]

Everyone should buy his dvd and help him out!

[Guest]

I can not beleive how abcessed you are about all of this. My head may explode under all of this. Wait, what is the new website name?

[Guest]

That's the Ross Scott we have come to know and love.

 

I've been wondering what's going on lately since I haven't heard from you for a while. Either way, glad to hear that you're not letting all of this shit get to you.

 

~Bri

[Guest]

It's good to hear that the site is doing ok, although it's really too bad that Otto's computer died. A momentary moment of silence for his computer, as well as your graphics card...

...

....

.....

Ok, now that that's over, I have to thank you for creating Freeman's Mind, because it helped me build a friendship with a totally awesome and incredibly attractive girl.

It's funny, too.

So, thanks, and I'm looking forward to watching your future work over the next year!

[Guest]

Let's hope you get your computer sorted out before the peak oil crisis comes along.