Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Dear Fellow Toad-Gamers,

Hola, amigos. It's been awhile but we've been busy little beavers at TG Central. Just a couple of things I want to run by you and then it's back to the code mines.

One of the ways that we really think we really stand out from the crowd of other amphibian-themed game sites is with our community. And that's just as much your doing as it is ours. And with TG 3.0, we want to make sure that we can give you the tools to take our community to the next level. Here are the big concepts of what we're planning:

Gated Community - All the rage among the jet-set these days and we're taking that concept online. By charging for membership, we're going to keep the riff-raff out. No bots, spammers, scammers, jammers and any other -mmers will be allowed in. For those nefarious types bold enough to plunk down real green for admission, they'll get the boot as soon as the first time they step out of line. We're going to set up methods for you to help us keep watch, too. A neighborhood watch with virtual flashlights and matching jackets. Mebbe a golf cart, too.

A Home Away From Home - Each member will be able to set up his or her own home page, with colors, graphics, pithy sayings and images of those o' so adorable grandchildren. Who never call. Ingrates. You'll have control over the color and style and you'll be able to pick and choose from a number of cool widgets like slide shows, sounds, weather, clocks and your personal high scores.

Event Registration - For online (Bingo!) and offline (Toga Party) events, you'll be able to invite your chums and even cast about for some new ones. Set up that standing online poker table for Friday nights, invite your old bubs from the neighborhood and kick back for some fun, without having to inhale Chuck's rancid stogey. Or even wear pants.

Email - We're planning on integrating email into the new site in some fashion, how that's gonna work we're not quite sure yet. One thing for sure is that each member will receive his or her very own toadgames.com email address. You will be the envy of the condo board when your missives about trash collection and people not parking between the lines at the pool come from your exclusive toadgames.com email address.

Forum - As we've mentioned before, the forum will be pervasive throughout the site. You'll have running commentaries in each game and section on the site. Scrolling messages will announce new top scores and who's butt you'll have to kick in SnakeFish to regain the top spot.

This is just to get started. And like any project, the "oh, we could do that and we could do that" factor has gotten us a bit off schedule. Not to mention that we're all still full-time clock-punchers. But we'll get there and with your help, we'll make TG 3.0 the place to be. Pants optional. Keep those comments coming and until next time....


Peace,
Lin