It's Our First Birthday!
November 27, 2009 10:57 AM
Dear Citizens, a great day is almost upon us. December 1st 2009 marks a very significant date in the lifetime of SmallWorlds - It's our 1st birthday.
Amazingly, 12 whole months have passed since we launched out of Beta, and what a tremendously exciting year it has been. Honesty and I are just as proud as we could be that our work serves such a wonderful community and that we get to contribute to the evolution of such an exciting game.
There's no doubt about it, we have a passionate, supportive, committed and growing community here on SmallWorlds. There are all kinds of fantastic updates being released regularly into the game, and some exciting features are being readied for release in the near future. SmallWorlds really is getting better all the time!
A Brief History of SmallWorlds
As you can see from the timeline, SmallWorlds has had lots going on in 2009. Most satisfying for us has been the healthy growth of our citizen population. It provides us with some direct evidence that SmallWorlds is really 'hitting the spot' for citizens old and new.
A celebratory drink with Mitch Olson and Darren Green
I had a bottle of bubbly I'd been saving for quite some time and I couldn't think of a better time to open it than now. I invited co-founders Darren and Mitch to come and share it with me on the eve of this exciting day, and together we toasted SmallWorlds. I had my trusty notebook with me of course, so that I could share a little of our conversation with you...
Kent: So, Darren and Mitch, what a wonderful achievement. How does it feel to be sitting here today with a whole year of SmallWorlds behind you?
Mitch: Well Kent, I'm feeling a huge sense of pride in what we've created here with SmallWorlds! It's a real team effort; everyone at SWHQ has been (and continues to be) just fantastic in bringing our vision to life. The SmallWorlds community is a diverse and and extremely creative one... and really I'm just feeling tremendously grateful to everyone, and of course excited for the future. Happy Birthday to Us!
Kent: Darren, can you share with us a couple of your personal SmallWorlds highlights over the past 12 months?
Darren: It's been quite a year Kent, and it's going to be difficult to single out just a couple... certainly getting some industry kudos via our Adobe Max award win was great - and in particular the win being made possible through the support of the SmallWorlds community, that felt really good! And, for me just the continued growth of the SmallWorlds population is incredibly gratifying. It's great that there are so many people having fun and enjoying what we've created.
Thanks to you both. Darren and Mitch, I know for certain that I speak on behalf of the whole SmallWorlds community in thanking you for manifesting your brilliant vision for this game, your very tangible caring for the SmallWorlds community and also when I express our collective excitement in looking forward to the great stuff you have coming up for us all in the future.
Dan SmallWorlds Bakes YOU a Cake!
A man of many talents, here's yet another to add to his already impressive list! Dan has been been sneaking into Ace's Appliances at night, mixing away, creating something that no 1st Birthday celebration should be without. Made to his Granny Zelda's secret recipe, Dan has baked for us all a delicious chocolate first birthday cake!
Whats more citizens, he hasn't just baked one..oh no no! He's slaved over that hot stove so long that he's actually managed to bake a cake for each and every citizen. Dan, what a simply stupendous effort.
It's easy to get your delicious 1st Birthday Cake. Simply visit the Happy Birthday SmallWorlds Space and complete a very simple task - and it's all yours!
It's Dan and the team's way of saying a heartfelt "thanks" to you all. We are deeply appreciative of the part you play as a member of the SmallWorlds community. The 1st Birthday Cake is available for a limited time only - the Happy Birthday Smallworlds space will disappear on the 7th of December so make sure you get your cake now - it's bound to become a rare! You can receive one cake per SmallWorlds account.
SmallWorlds Birthday Celebration - Come Celebrate with Us!
You might like to pay a visit to the Happy Birthday SmallWorlds space sometime on the great day itself. On Tuesday the 1st of December, SmallWorlds staff members (including me!) will be popping in and out at various times and you just never know who you might run into.
Dan SmallWorlds will be making a couple of appearances at some stage, and he's eager to hear if you think his cake is a success!
A few words from some excited Citizens
Achieving this significant goal filled me to the brim with enormous pride for SmallWorlds and the entire SmallWorlds community. Just as I was about to publish this story, I had an urge to jump in-world, to meet a few citizens and obtain their reactions to the news of SmallWorlds 1st birthday. Here's who I happened to meet and what they said:
Nixie Bryce: "I think SmallWorlds is awesome and so I'm happy we all made it to the first year! I can't wait to celebrate our 2nd birthday!"
Jacob Qualls the 2nd: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SMALLWORLDS!!! Its been one year of lots of fun and I think you're all doing such a great job!"
Monique Maynor: "I love SmallWorlds and I am so happy that it continues on and on!"
Jonah Thomas: "I hope SmallWorlds is around for my kids! Happy Birthday to the best game ever!"
Our Thanks to you All
What a milestone we've achieved together! There's no doubt about it, SmallWorlds has a tremendously exciting future ahead. Not only do we have a vibrant, engaged and growing community, we've also got a world-class team of very talented artists, developers, operations and moderation staff (and if I may be so bold to say it, some rather good journalists too).
We've got exciting plans for the future and we're awfully glad to have you along for the ride.
~ Kent Kronkite
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Topic: 11/27/2009 It's Our First Birthday! (Read 2906 times)