October Update 2016

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Hey all,

Just a brief update on a few things that have been happening recently as we move on from the 'JB refresh' and into other bits along the way.

- Donation System: Up and running!
As several of you will be aware, along side the JB update, our donation system was revamped and re-released recently. With the release of different stores on our gameservers merged with other updates the donation page kinda went under the radar and a lot of people didn't even realise that the donation system was back up. If you are interested in donating then you can find the page here. If you have any further questions then please ask an admin+.

- Surf: Mini Refresh!
Surf had quite a few plugins and various tidbits outdated, so while it has appeared to have been untouched this last couple of weeks this is due to a test version of surf with updated plugins, a store and a couple of new additions (contracts?!?!) being worked on behind the scenes. We'll make sure to post to let you know once we've released the new server (should be very soon so this month's ranking doesn't go to waste). If you have any further suggestions, maps or anything you want to see for our combat surf then feel free to share it.

- Membership: Application system and possible new benefits?
There's been a slight change to the requirements of applying for membership. Previously you had to be present in this community (all platforms; game, forum and ts) for at least a month before you could apply - this has now been lowered to 2 weeks. All other integration requirements and standards have remained the same, this will hopefully just allow for more people to be encouraged to get involved and apply sooner if they do integrate well. If an individual is declined, the wait time until they can apply again has also been reduced to 2 weeks from the decline date (clarification as many people used to apply a month after the application creation date, which wasn't what was intended).

On to benefits: we want to set up more benefits for members. Currently there are a few minor benefits to membership as well as being recognised as an official part of our community, but we feel as if there should be a little something extra for those who have attained membership to give further point in actually wanting to apply. We had a few brief ideas but the truth is we want suggestions from the community, so feel free to create suggestion threads in the SnQ section or message a staff member with any thing you think could be appropriate.

- Forum: Section controversy.
Although it was addressed briefly in a thread, to comment on the tech section: despite the title and some of its contents not being to many users ideal, the section works as it is. When we use the word tech we don't mean it literally as 'technology' (which would encompass only the current PC thread trend) but as a general 'PC hobbies' section I guess you could say ('mapping/coding/graphics'). Rather than clunk the general section with these PC threads (which despite being repetitive, are somewhat relevant to OB considering we are a PC gaming community) or have a dead section solely for mapping etc it works to have the two combined. It's turned a lifeless section into something with content while still leaving a place for people to share the other things that people wish to post. As mentioned in the thread, if there was more activity for this 'other content' then we could perhaps look into a sub-section to be more definitive but for now this is not necessary. I hope this has cleared a few things up.

- Weekend Tournament: Check it out?
So the League of Legends tournament is this weekend and much of it will be streamed onto the Outbreak twitch. Although we are aware that many of you might not be interested in LoL or the tournament much at all, we would appreciate if as many of you as possible could check out the stream and give it some love - every Kappa counts after all. We've got a few people from OB giving casting a go so hopefully we can have a good tournament and create a somewhat enjoyable stream.

- Tchau: Yung Ricardo
Many of you will have noticed that Blyss is now blue on the forums rather than the senior moderator dark green. It has come to pass that the young Portuguese Bacardi lover must step away from staff duties and become a part of the common rabble. To finish out this post we just want to make it known that we appreciate all the time and effort Blyss has put into this community, both as a mod and senior mod for such an extended period of time. Regardless of people's varied views on him, he was one of the best moderators we've had when in his prime and was a pleasure to have as part of the team. Thanks Yung Ricardo for your service xo

Thanks once again to all who help OB steadily progress, once we get through all of these changes we hope to strive for the best for this community
The OB Staff