Welcome to the next generation of RPG Maker Magazine! This day and this site has been the culmination of 3+ years of hard work, planning and patience. There is so much to say and so much running through my head right now, so I might as well get to it, yeah?

Acknowledgements
Before I begin, I would like to thank God above for allowing me to reach this moment in my life and all of His blessings. I have been so amazingly blessed and didn't even know it. My family is one, of course (shout out to Bonanza and Deeper Kyo especially). This community has been one of those blessings and I'm very happy to have completed this site for you guys.



To start, I would like to tell everyone that I can not literally thank Lantis enough for all the work and help he's given me during these last few years. The work I have been doing would not have been nearly as fun or fruitful if I did not have his aid. The countless nights we have spent planning and refining features has been some of the best times of my life and I am really honored to have him as my friend and, as of now, fellow Site Administrator.

I want to thank Stythe for bringing up the ideas of expanding the site past just RPG Maker content. He added another year on the development slate, but it turned out all for the best anyway.



I gotta thank the v6 Beta testers: Fayorei, Draygone and Insultobot. Everyone contributed in their own way, but I have to give an extra special shoutout to Fay, because homegirl really put in some work on helping Lantis and me converting the old system to the new one.

Past here, this is the part I hate because there's so many other people who might have helped maybe once here or there a time or two over the years, but I have forgotten. If you have helped me do something with v6 in any capacity, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please don't take a lack of direct accreditation as an affront.



Finally, everyone who surprised me at MagCon West 2013 with the Wii U and a more important "Thank You" video (who probably fulfill that previous paragraph's requisites), THANK YOU! You made me tear up something fierce on the plane ride back. The fact that you guys cared about me that much...that OTHER PEOPLE cared about me that much is an experience that I will treasure forever.


What is this community going to be?
In the years since v5 launched in 2005, I have changed a great deal. Besides older, I'd like to think I'm wiser. I've had time to reflect on what kind of community I would like to build. Over the years, I have allowed behavior to slide when it came to people I was friendly with when I should not have. My example has actively led to the sad exodus from this community by members who were nice and simply had the misfortune of being quirky or not in our core group of members. I am completely ashamed of myself in this failure. However, it did give me the perspective I needed to make moves to establish a new beginning for this place.



In my ideal community, kindness and friendship are the core principles. People interact with each other, care about each other and each are better people for it. The way I see it, the fact that so many places on the internet where biting sarcasm, veiled insults and the hurting of other people take place exists is quite depressing to me. This is something I want this community to never be a part of.

Now, I am also a realist and I realize that some people will just rub others the wrong way no matter what you try to do. I have experienced this myself. Therefore, the biggest thing to keep in mind as a member of this community is:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

When interacting with others on the forums or the chat or any place where members will gather in mass, I expect and will have all site personnel enforce a policy of tolerance. I'm not saying that you have to respect everyone here (since that is earned on a case by case basis), but I want no one to feel ostracized in our public space. If you have a problem with an individual, you can take it up with them in PMs or you can use Gmail or Skype or whatever other client you want and you can talk about them behind their backs all you want. But that activity will never be tolerated publicly here.



This same directive goes for personnel just as it does for members. No one is above this, not even me. If any of us is caught slipping, call us out. You will be doing us a favor.

The Future of RPGM Magazine
I started v6 with the vision that I could create a site that would work independently of an official "staff" of workers. The power to create content is now within the community's hands. Whether your passion is writing articles for the magazine, uploading LPs or still plugging away at an RPG Maker game, this site will provide you with the tools you need.

On the flip side, the community can vote up articles to send to the front page and support quality posts. They can leave direct feedback on any content they wish, as well. In essence, the community provides content and the community can respond to the owners of it easily.



I'm looking forward to seeing where the community takes this idea.

In Closing

All of this has been created with you in mind. There have been so many games I have denied myself playing because I knew it would take time away from this project. So many other hobbies. Yes, it was a sacrifice that I willingly made because I care about this community as much as you guys apparently care about me.

I dedicate this site, my labor of love, to all of you and to the future I hope for it to have. Let's capture the dream!

-Ix