Halo.Bungie.Org
| File:Hbo-april21-2008.png Halo.Bungie.org main page, April 21, 2008 | |
Type of site | Fansite |
|---|---|
| Owner | Bungie.org |
| Created by | Claude Errera |
| URL | halo.bungie.org |
| Registration | optional |
Halo.Bungie.Org, often referred to as HBO, is a fansite created in 1999 by Claude Errera (known online by the pseudonym "Louis Wu") and "Wirehead" for the Bungie game Halo: Combat Evolved. The site was originally created in 1999 as blam.bungie.org, based on the development moniker for Halo. With the popularity of the Halo series, HBO soon became the largest and most active member of the bungie.org network; the site receives 600,000 page views a day. In addition to posting Halo-related news, HBO hosts forums, fan art, and comprehensive archives of reviews, previews, interviews, and Bungie's own weekly news updates.
History
Claude Errera and several friends first created bungie.org for developer Bungie's other video games, namely Marathon, in 1998; previous to bungie.org, Errera had been involved in other Bungie-related sites.[1] Halo.bungie.org began as "blam.bungie.org" on May 26, 1999 after information about what was to become Halo was leaked soon after the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 1999.[2]
Site components
The front page of halo.bungie.org is a listing of various news items posted that day. News comes from emails sent to the site or from posts made by fans in halo.bungie.org's forums. Topics are fairly broad, and include announcements by Bungie, media mention of the games, and notable fan creations. Since the person who first mentions the news is acknowledged in the posting, forum members compete to get the first word in about major announcements. Bungie employees occasionally participate in this race, and usually win due to their advance notice. HBO is unusual among large non-commercial sites in having no paid advertisements of any kind on any portion of the pages.[2]
Halo.bungie.org is primarily a fansite, and as such revolves around community interaction. The site hosts a number of pages devoted to various aspects of Halo appreciation, including, a story page, containing speculation, literary discussion, and resources such as game transcripts and cutscene libraries, a timeline of the series' events, fan art and fan fiction sections, and screenshots, wallpapers, and other media. The community runs various contests, including a Halo-themed pumpkin carving contest inspired by Bungie, which has been held since 2003.[3]
Hotline Server
Once home to much Bungie fandom the Bungie.org Hotline Server has been resurrected and once again provides a meeting place for Bungie fans to have gaming nights, discuss Bungie related matters and also for mapmakers to collaborate with their team on upcoming mods and plugins.
It runs via the Hotline Communications protocol and can be connected to via any Hotline client at hl.bungie.org.
Recognition and charity
Bungie has a strong relationship with Halo.bungie.org and has called the page the ultimate Halo fansite.[4] Halo.bungie.org is listed as a source on Bungie's project pages;[5] Bungie employees frequent the Halo.bungie.org forums, often to point out a new Bungie.net update or answer questions from fans.[6] HBO often receives promotional items from Bungie to give away in various contests.[7] Its administrators and members have been repeatedly quoted in mainstream publications.[8][9]
HBO webmaster Louis Wu has been interview numerous times, both by gaming sites such as Microsoft's Xbox.com[10] and mainstream media organizations such as CBS.[4] The site was nominated for IGN's "best fansite" award in 2005.[11]
HBO has used its notability to conduct several fundraisers for various causes, including raising money for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief. HBO took part in a massive effort by the Halo community to raise money, primarily through selling collectible items through eBay auctions.[12] These auctions raised just under $11,000 for the relief effort. Members of the community also chipped in through personal means; one HBO member held a charity Xbox live night and raised $139.[13] In 2003, following news that community member Brian Morden's cancer had returned, the HBO community decided to set up a donation fund to support him. Although Brian died later that year, the fund became the Brian Morden Memorial Fund.[14]
References
- ^ Big-Ern (2007-07-08). "Interview with Louis Wu". Gamespy. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ a b Barron, Noah (2007-09-27). "Lord of the Ringworld". The Knight Digital Media Center. University of Southern California. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- ^ "343 Guilt O' Lantern: A pumpkin-carving contest". Halo.bungie.org. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
- ^ a b Chamberlain, Chad; Vitka, William (2005-03-09). "GameSpeak: Claude Errera". CBS. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Bungie. "Bungie: Projects". Bungie.net. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
- ^ Staff (2007). "2007: The Best Year Ever; Fall". Electronic Gaming Monthly. 1 (212).
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Jarrard, Brian (2007-05-25). "Win a Halo Zune!". Bungie.net. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
- ^ Snider, Mike (2007-09-27). "'Halo' takes industry to new heights; early sales slash gaming records". USA Today. p. D1.
- ^ Wylie, David (2007-09-24). "No tomorrow without Halo 3; Fans of immensely popular video game series expect the most from third installment". The Gazette. p. D6.
- ^ Gettys, Jim (2004). "A Labor of Love: halo.bungie.org Webmaster Claude Errera". Xbox.com. Microsoft. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
- ^ Howarth, Robert (2005-12-05). "Best Fansite 2005? - Voodoo Extreme". IGN. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
- ^ Blow Me Away charity auction
- ^ Davies, Dave (2005-09-09). "Gamers get into the action of helping Katrina victims". San Antonio Express-News. Archived from the original on 2006-03-23.
- ^ Brian Morden update page