Just so viewers know, I've enabled an interstitial ad on the site. It's the first such ad requested on the site, through the AdBrite service, which I haven't actively used since mid-2005; I found that Google AdWords was sufficient to chip in enough small change to make me feel that the site isn't just a huge drag on the server that doesn't pay for itself. It doesn't pay for itself, but at least it's not freeloading.

With the onslaught of new Halo 3 information in the past few weeks, I've begun updated our Halo 3 FAQ. At the same time, I'm changing the way FAQ pages are stored and displayed. Currently, only the Halo 3 FAQ is in this system, but eventually it will be used for all FAQs.

To cope with all the new things we're tracking now, we've made some additions to the site. There is now a Halo Wars image gallery and a mirror of the QuickTime version of the Halo Wars trailer; this is a mirror of the same file provided at HBO and re-encoded by Louis Wu.

Parallel to the changes that we made in how the Bungie Timeline works, letting you search, filter and sort entries according to different criteria, we've now revamped the entire user profile system. Among other things, this allows us to bring back the Gamertag Database with much better features than before.

As part of the most recent technical upgrade, we've revamped the appearance and functionality of the Bungie Timeline. Now, all entries are presented in an easier-to-read table format, and users can change the sort order from earliest to most recent. The table also displays which game the event is associated with and which platforms each game was for.

As of now, Rampancy.net is running on the latest and greatest stable version of the Drupal content management system, Drupal 4.7. This version has been out for some time, but just now supports all the contributed modules the site needs to run. Some features (like the gamertag database) are offline for the moment but should be back soon.

If you see any errors, drop me a line at narcogen@rampancy.net.

Just a note in passing: with the spike in interest in Halo caused by rumors of the impending announcement of Halo 3 at E3 this year, Rampancy.net passed the 10,000 registered user mark; runLIKEhell1393 became user #10000.

We've opened up a few new pages as a result of Bungie's Halo 3 admission at E3 this week:

High Impact Halo has also done a major redesign, not just of the main site, but also of the forum, which has migrated from phpBB to vBulletin. If you haven't already, go check out the changes.

The latest system upgrade at this point is mostly completed, and the updated version is now "live" on the site. At the moment most of the old features should "just work" although there may be some occasional hiccups while the search index and caches rebuild themselves. You may click a link only to get a completely blank page; hit reload a couple of times and the problem should go away. If that one persists we'll definitely be looking at it.

Rampancy, visiting family on the US East Coast, wishes you and yours a happy happy carnage carnage holiday season. Season's Greetings!