: All of those issues are big ones, though I don't think any are as big as the
: simple fact that we don't have a recent online game related to the site
: (there's my vague idea, btw). That's actually 10,000 since the November
: launch, we wiped all of our old user accounts and started anew with Halo's
: launch. I'm curious how big a factor the staggered launch is. I've been
: intentionally keeping chapters outside the US that have no activity alive,
: figuring they'll pick up once they have Xboxes.
Apart from the staggered launch you've got the problem that many EU countries will land some heavy taxes on the Xbox unit and the games themselves. In Ireland for example (well known for it's high taxes) I'd be lucky to see any change out of $500 US dollars if I bought an Xbox and Halo (I'll let you know the exact price when I find out what it is).
I take your point about not having a recent online game. Myth and bungie.net took Bungie into fan base orbit. Granted there are a lot problems with on-line play but it generates a more immediate online fan presence. With the current Xbox version of Halo we are back to circa 1995 and lugging a Mac CPU and monitor over to a friend's house to play Marathon. Granted in 2002 the amount we need to lug is very much smaller. But that's progress for you.
Cheers
Hamish
