3.4.2011
My God…It’s Full of Stars…Part 2
So, by now I am sure some of you noticed the star count got adjusted again. Now it’s 1 star for every 100 comments. Also employed some caching code to speed up the site. You will notice some wonkiness. I fired up the site in Internet Explorer and was given the mobile version of the site, but it loaded up fast, so it was a minor thing. There is an option at the bottom of the page to switch to “normal view”. Also added the dreaded “Like” button for Facebook. It gets us traffic people, so use it!
“My success rate is 100 percent. Do the math.”
10.3.2010
Well, it’s been a while since I posted anything here, but felt the need to address a couple of things. I’ve been seeing comments about Syncourt and his posts. First off, every post on this site still goes through me before it goes live to the site. So, just because a few days here and there will list Syncourt as the Author doesn’t mean those were his posts that he wants to go live that day. I am the one who posted them that way.
So, while I think Syncourt is getting close to having those privileges, they aren’t in effect just yet.
Remember that Fable 3 comes out on October 26th. Unless this site starts launching some nukes or something truly catastrophic, I’m going to be playing that game just about non-stop for as long as my body will let me. I may be on xbox live, but won’t be talking to anyone. Don’t take offense, I just really want to enjoy the experience and as soon as I beat it for the first time, I’ll then return to my normal mode.
That’s all for now…
7.27.2010 – DAMN
Well, you’ve finally gone out and made me get a DEDICATED server just for FactPile. That is awesome. Because of an affiliate site of mine is ranked #1 in google for Starcraft 2 cheats, it crushed that site’s servers. So, I thought I would post it here and all that happened was that the site would crash every 30 minutes because the server was physically getting to hot to handle the processing and had to turn itself off for 10 minutes at a time. When I talked to the hosting company techs, they told me that FactPile was eating up 6GB of bandwidth PER DAY for the past month.
Needless to say, these are good problems to have, but also means I’m gonna have to whore out the site a bit more to cover the additional hosting fees. Just wanted to let you know that during this process, we will lose some comments (when the site transfers the database from the virtual hosting to the dedicated server). So much for playing StarCraft on release day… 
5.18.2010 – Some cool things…
Well, as of this date, we have around 93,000+ comments on this site which means I think we’ll break 100,000 comments sometime in June. That in itself is an amazing stat that shows how passionate and sometimes de-railed all of you readers are to the ‘Pile. For that I say Thank YOU!
Just wanted to update on a few things. I read every email that I get. I can’t reply to every single one or else nothing else on the site would get worked on. So, while you might think it’s gone into a void, I am reading them! I know there hasn’t been any FactPile Awards given out lately – but I think something needs to change so that when a winner is announced, some message appears on the site for all to see.
Also, I’ve been making it a point to let the site run on auto-pilot on the weekends, so *typically* while I still read the emails and comments, unless something dire has come up, there most likely won’t be a response.
Currently working on a contest that I think know everyone will enjoy. Yes, we are going to get a FactPile Champion. Stay Tuned…
3.31.2010. Thinking about…
I’ve been considering getting some database dumps of information regarding certain topics. For example, I have seen places where you can buy an entire db of anime characters and shows. While I know we don’t have a ton of anime character battles on the site, it would be kinda cool to have a well of knowledge to tap into if needed. There are also movie databases (think imdb.com) that might come in handy when we are covering a certain point of contention in a match. What do you think?
3.17.2010. New functionality arriving…
Now that I have a full understanding on the how’s and what’s for the cause and effect of site functionality, some things that have been asked for will start appearing on the site. Fair warning: You all know that I am very good at breaking the site, so be patient if something isn’t working properly, but also feel free to tell me – I do read all the comments and make adjustments as I can.
3.12.2010. Server move just about completed…
Finally. Seems like all the server issues have been worked out. There are still a few new things I need to add, mostly under the hood type of stuff. Way too late to go into details, but I think it’s something that everyone will like.
3.3.2010…Been a while
As you can see, there’s been some time since I really talked about anything here, but that’s mostly because there are a ton of things going on behind the scenes. Let’s just say that I know it’s stuff all of you will like. Also, I can’t get over how many great battle requests have come in recently – new characters, great scenarios and some very strange but interesting matches as well. Be patient, I am getting to them and there is a method to my madness! FactPile is starting to get some attention from other parts of the web, and I really want this year to be the one we all look back on and think: “Remember how FactPile was BEFORE it sold out?!” – Just kidding. You know I’m not getting rid of this site. But, I am actively trying to get more attention to the site, so if anyone has any ideas, feel free to let me know.
Cripes…1.12.2010
Yes, FactPileTopia is currently down as I was trying to install some mods for some fun stuff to take place. Instead, I had to update to the latest version of the software and CRASH! fatal install. Am waiting for the hosting company to respond so that I can at least get the previous version up…
Gotta make the donuts…12.15.2009
Look out over the next day or so as I try to get to the final “tweaks” done to the site. Don’t be surprised to see something appear and then be gone when you goto the next page. I will be adding some minor items to make the site function better and hopefully, it won’t cause too much trouble…
Commenting…11.23.2009
For whatever reason, commenting decided to stop working on the site today. I’m not sure why, so I’ve been scrambling like crazy to figure it out, and have some techs looking into it now. Hopefully, this won’t last too long.
Design and Cache…10.20.2009
I’ve FINALLY seen a design that I like for the site that hopefully makes it easier to navigate and find what you’re looking for. I’m going to condense the topics in the hopes of making battles easier to find, and I am considering the retirement of the “MC vs” category. Also added a “cache” feature which should help the site run faster as it will serve up static pages where needed instead of hitting the server every time a page is called. And Finally, congrats to Jwlynas for finding the Easter Egg here on the site. I have some cool schwag ordered and once I get it, I’ll be shipping it across the pond…
Hackrz…10.14.2009
I know there is no absolute way to prevent hackers from hitting the site, but before the new look arrives, I wanted to make sure the infrastructure of the site was better built. I feel foolish for waiting this long, but there is finally a daily db backup in place so that the next time a hacker hits this site, at the most we’ll only lose a few hours worth of data. I’ve also been working on cleaning up the database to make it easier to work with, and had to create some new tables for some of the new things on the horizon.
Pagination…8.24.2009
So I tried to add it and it blew up the site. I know this sucks, but for the time being I have to take it off since nothing I try gets the pages to function normally. The re-design is now in my hands to move forward and since I have the results of the survey to shape the layout, I’ll be working alot on it. What does that mean? Hopefully it won’t impact the site too much but I’ll have to spend less time monitoring to get it done. The poll question has a benefit of allowing instant posts to go through – the downside is that since I won;t moderate them, I won’t be able to see the “pulse” of this site. And instead of answering through the comments, you’ll most likely have to contact me via email to get your questions through.
More info – 8.21.2009
The survey is going well, getting some great feedback, will talk more of that in the future. Since I’m always tinkering with ways to build up this site, I had a “happy accident” in which I stumbled upon something that will greatly increase the size and content of this site. Will keep it under wraps until the re-launch, but let’s put it this way – you could spends days at a time and never see the end…
What’s in store…8.15.2009
First thing – permalink structure was updated. So instead of “factpile.com/samus-vs-darth-vader” it’s now going to show “factpile.com/samus-vs-darth-vader.htm”. It’s a stupid thing done only to please Google, but it’s time for this site to grow.
Speaking of which, as some of you know, I’ve been tasking everyone’s favorite person to hate, ExpertImp, to make a new design for the site. The hold up has been on my part since there are some server issues that need to get resolved. On top of that, I’m going to re-structure parts of the site to give some sections more personality, and you’ll know what I mean when it happens. But, this is going to take some time to get it done right. I am actually having an IA (Information Architect) review this site to see how we can improve navigation, easy to get understand sections, and help define the “brand” that has become known as “Factpile”.
Hopefully, by next week, I will have a survey asking all readers for input on what they want this site to evolve into. Nothing is considered too crazy at this point, I want any and all suggestions.
WTF! Why was/is Factpile down!? – 7.12.2009
Ok, here’s the low-down. There was/is something going on with the database powering the site, and there were some server load spikes due to this site. Being that the site currently shares it’s hosting with other sites, ALL the other sites were being impacted. So the hosting provider had to turn off FP so that the other domains could operate normally. So, consider it “growing pains” as this site continues to evolve and get bigger. So now I’m in the process of getting Factpile it’s own server so that it can run on it’s own without affecting other sites.
“My God…It’s full of Stars!” – 6.8.2009
What movie is that from? First one to EMAIL me gets some schwag. I’m going to bet that Matapiojo gets the answer first. Anyways, changed the value of a star to 50 posts for each star on the site, that should reduce the number that appear next to some people…
Whoring out the site…5.18.2009
Today we added video game and movie trailers to the “playlist” at the bottom you’ll see affiliate links to buy or get the media shown in the post. This is a test that’ll run over the summer to see if it’s worth keeping or not (the affiliate part) – Otherwise, I think there is enough interest from the readers here to watch a few clips of upcoming and past games and movies. So, it won;t just be for the new releases, but as we find older ones that are classics, we’ll place them there too.
Something bigger in the works 5.5.2009
Besides fixing the above db error (which should be gone soon!), a decision has been made to “take it up a notch” and put this site on the same playing field as ign. Now we’re not claiming to be anything like them other than having more content on the site and hopefully not as cluttered. So the posting schedule won’t be interrupted as this happens, and some hints that were dropped before will soon come to pass. We’re looking to have everything ready by mid-June. This should be fun.
Tinkering with new design 3.31.2009
Currently experimenting with a new design that includes a new layout – don’t expect anything anytime soon as it’s causing some havoc on everything tested so far…
$#@!&* Filter off 3.26.2009
You know, I was trying to keep comments clean for the sake of advertisers, but since none of them pay for shit, I am letting loose on the language. Some obvious things will remain, as if you drop nothing but f-bombs that will be edited, otherwise, we’re forgoing the advertisers for the readers.
Blowin Stuff Up – like links – 3.5.2009
I know this will cause some trouble in the comments section, but we had to change the naming structure of the urls for seo reasons. So, what used to be something like: factpile[.]com/archives/60, it will now be: factpile.com/master-chief-vs-boba-fett
Forum Integration – 1.14.2009
We’re starting to work on a forum section so that more communication can take place without the ‘Admin’…
…and it’s proving to be more difficult than anticipated…
Site is acting wonky 12.11.2008
That happens as we upgrade, it’ll look ‘off’ but everything still works. promise.
Winner Award! (11.5.2008)
The first ‘official’ and decisive victory goes to the Star Wars universe over Halo. Congrats for the idea and as others clearly emerge, we’ll award this rare trophy.
POLLS! (10.14.2008)
So, polling ability has been added. Depending on your response, we’ll see if we include them in the battles to help determine the winner…
UPDATE: (10.1.2008)
We’ve been listening and are going to be starting a series where each character will have their most ‘Badass Moment’ or ‘Heroic’ or just flat out ‘Coolest’ moment that makes you like the character. We’re looking for suggestions as to naming this new section, so if you have any ideas, we’d love to hear them!
So, we realize we need to install some better ways to get the site organized, and it’s always an issue when you have a ton of information stored in a database.
We’ve heard your suggestions about a better site design, polls, ranking/rating systems, to even voting on which of the matches you want to see published.
We are listening and making changes. As hinted before, we are testing a new design and a part of that is how all the current site data ports over to the new look. In the past we just push it live and work through the kinks live. That’s still probably going to happen, so if you visit the site and it’s acting a bit wonky, that’s why.
Since there are soo many MC battle requests, we’re thinking about having a week full of nothing but Master Chief battles – about 3-5 a day – is that something you’d be interested in seeing?
That way we could even up the ‘Battle Request’ list and have a more even rotation of all the series.
Post your comments below:
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yeah that would be pretty cool i know i like the whole mc vs ??? thing i also love seeing how people try to defend mc thats why its so fun to see him in all the fights plus if you put up more ms vs fights lots more people will come in to put down there opinion so yeah that would be pretty cool
but it would also be cool to put another popular charecter in the fights like u do another series like ??? vs everybody its basically just putting another famous charecter that fanboys will defend in masterchiefs place and putting them in a bunch of fights but do not get rid of masterchief that ones always fun to debate
hey i got an idea,sorry if this has already been posted but what about instead of a fight,a badass contest.charcter vs charcter to see who has done the most badass stuff.
Love the idea, just need a way to phrase it so that people will post correctly! Admin
you should save up some money and make videos for the top three videos. it would totaly be worth it. especialy if it was a good fight with no storyline involved because every body complanes about storylines.
hey guys,i love the new design,but where is the recent posts?
Thanks for the props, as we mentioned before, we knew implementing the new site would be a bit wonky, no worries, the recent posts will be appearing soon…Admin
Maybe a good name would be ???’s achievements vs ???’s achievements
you need to put the posts in a list like last time this with th pictures is just to hard to get to stuff.
So noted, we’ll get to that…
well i figured id ask here….
so you guys are posting fan-fics on different games?
if you do decide to do it,will it be weekly or what?
gimme all the details.
@marche – Well the thinking was to do something bi-weekly to get started and depending on how well it goes, we could ramp it up if all parties involved are up to it. Currently the first storyline would take place in the Halo universe (big shock, I know), but we are open to consider all universes for stories…
so admin,what do you mean free schwag?
@marche – stuff like shirts/hats/etc…Things of that nature.
so how does this work,comment activity?some kind of point system?
We’ll let you know, stay tuned….
Hey Admin, did you disable smileys?
@Baron Somebody – don’t know if you noticed, but the site is not formatting properly – we upgraded to version 2.7 of wordpress and it blew up the layout of the site – so we have to remove stuff to see what breaks it and then put it back. I’m sure they’ll be back soon…
hey adnmin will you do a darth sion vs. darth nihilus please please it would be so cool please consider it
See how long the MC fanboys fight against death
Nightbringer
Please admin-Nightbringer vs MC.
I’ve asked 3 times now!
please do darth sion vs. darth nihilus it will be so cool please do it
um admin,what happened to the winners? did they get e-mails?
The Hall of Epicness
@admin
Is there a way we could have a “Next 10>” button below the Recent Comments section?
Maybe even a fight title above each Recent Comments as well?
Also, how likely would it be to have an individual “Top Five” link for when we are logged in? A section that would let us tag up to five battles that we can quickly access when we are logged in to WordPress.
@Matapiojo – points 1 and 2, I can look into. As to the third option, I am not aware of any plugin that could do that, and since I am a hack and suck at php, it doesn’t look good at that happening!
HAHAHA
Well it is what it is, right?
I appreciate you looking into the other options.
Love the idea of badass contests.
It could be divided into most badass, most evil, most determined, most powerful etc
I miss the selection of emoticons you used to have, ever thought about bringing those back, admin?
@The One Sin – I’m looking for a plugin – the one that I was using was blowing up the site so I disabled it.
so admin. are you updating or something?
UGH! seems likes something else is broken again…
…looks like the place where I got this theme is down…not a good sign…
Admin
There we go, much better now.
Testing forum software, should be ready by next week!
Got my baddass shirt. Thanks admin.
@Matapiojo – Glad you like!
props on the new forum,but where is the edit button.
@marche – the forum is still being worked on for bugs…
Aye, im am extremely glad to see the forum go live. This site has grown quite a bit in a few short months (and I’m glad I had a hand to play on that).
I also noted that you liked the “Factpile Primarch” title. I might just get me a second shirt!
how about we get to choose how many comments we see at a time.the battles with a lot of comments take a long time to load.
– that might be an issue beyond what can be done with the site. Some elements can’t be changed, but I’ll look into it. Admin
“factpile.com/master-chief-vs-boba-fett”
I like the 3/5/09 update very much. That can only be pure profit for the site.
Good job, mate.
Is it possible to have multiple pages for some of the threads? The Battle Request is getting particularly huge, and it’s almost impossible to post any suggestions when I go over my download limit, or if I’m downloading something else at the same time.
Otherwise, maybe you could start a new Battle Request thread.
yeah, we’re looking into how we can remedy that – Admin
Thanks Admin, good luck with said remedy.
Thank you for condensing the stars, admin. Mine were getting a bit out of control.
Have you been contacted with the answer to your stars question yet?
No! – Admin
Thats lame.
You mean to tell me I’ve been holding out the answer, giving the oportunity for another Piler to get schwag because I already got some, for nothing?
BTW – What is your reasoning for me being the first to get it? Clearly you were not incorrect, but I wanna know what gives me away. Is it cause I’m the closest to your age? (old farts)
lol – because I think you’re the only one who reads this section!…Admin
HAH
Owned (still on the ropes on whether its you or me who got owned by that)
Jesus Christ. Still no one?
I can’t hold back any longer!
2001: A Space Odyssey
You failed me, FactPile community. You failed me.
Mata isn’t the only one who reads this page, It’s just that I’m waiting to see if you put a new tourney section up. Like Battle Requests but with halo, killzone, COD4, Cellfactor Phycokenetic wars, HAZE, stuff like that.
There is something in the works, just give it a ‘lil bit more time…Admin
Lol i haven’t check this section in a while.
Oh well.
I can wait. Besides, how often is a new section made on this site? and one from the new guy no less.
For bonus Points, that Quotes was spoofed in “The Last Hero” By Terry Pratchett. Excellent read.
Congrats Matapiojo.
Had I seen the question earlier… alas.
I can pass. I wasn’t after the lewt, and you 1-upped me with your quote trivia.
oh i wish i was a Oscar Myar wieneeer… GIANT HAIRY CABBAGES!!!
what? no father’s day battle royal?
No, No battle royal.
that sucks, ah well I got to see some major pwnage from L-W today so i’m happy
“what? no father’s day battle royal?”
You are right!
I would have loved to see a father/son special throughout the site.
Maybe a tag team/group combat of SW vs. Marvel
Jango Fett – Boba Fett & Darth Vader – Luke Skywalker
vs.
Wolverine – Daken & Hulk – Skaar
Or individual duels
Mephisto vs. Blackheart
Ares vs. Phobos
Thor vs. Odin
Jericho vs. Slade
etc
etc
@admin
i suggest the section, Marche gets the credit. DAMN IT!
@admin, have you received my article yet? If not I can always send it again.
Yes, didn’t you get the email reply I sent? – Admin
@Draco
ONLY US IN THE FACTPILE ELITE GET ARTICLES!!! NOW BEGONE WITH THEE MERE KNAVE!!!
@ Baron Somebody “ONLY US IN THE FACTPILE ELITE GET ARTICLES”
Not true.
We encourage any and all who want to take a crack at writing to submit their articles. As ExpertImp and the Triumvirate can attest to, it’s not easy writing articles on a weekly basis, and their efforts are appreciated by yours truly.
@Draco
Game night was started by me back in feburary,check the thread.
@admin
You have some splainin to do.
Needless to say why was FP down?
“Needless to say why was FP down?”
Still is, but hopefully all the ones that care will realize that it is only the home page. The site can still be accessed via the other pages.
Now, if only the “Coming Up” section was viewed more…
Yup,seems barely anybody looks at this page anymore.
sorry marche, it’s just that I suggested it for the mainland. Just so you know, I was just miffed that I didn’t even get an honorable mention…
@admin
I was kidding, I would never seriously mean that lol
“sorry marche, it’s just that I suggested it for the mainland. Just so you know, I was just miffed that I didn’t even get an honorable mention…”
I don’t think you should get too worked-up over this. There are many, many other avenues in which you can contribute in our little corner of the webs.
Pfft, you could even organize a game day. See how they like DEM apples!
If its any consolation,you reminded me to get game night back up.
Its just a matter of willingness.
And me forgetting.
@ admin
i went to the battle requests page and the boxes where you type in the name/email and comment werent there
i refreshed a few times and reset my computer but it still didnt show
so…was it removed? i just wanted to request mass effect vs starwars universe battle
from…..meeeeee
everything should be there. as i mentioned before the site is a bit unstable at the moment- Admin
Same thing happened to me Admin, it just ends at one of L-W’s comments…I wanted to suggest Star Wars vs Metroid
@Marche
You all got me back to this page again lol
Almost forgot, Jason Voorhees vs The Black Knight (Monty Python)
Am i the only one who can’t post in the battle requests?
There shouldn’t be any issues, but if it continues, you can always email me the requests. – Admin
What are the numbers next to the commenters names?(i mean the one next to the recent comments.)
That number indicates how many comments have been made on that particular post. – Admin
Wait… has that Top Commentators bit on the side (between the ad and the tags) always been there…
I’m guessing the numbers are individual topics?
That was just added today (Top Commentators, 7.21.2009) – Admin
How am I not in the top commentors? Look at how many stars I have!!!
Whats the commentators for? I know we have more posts than that.
This list doesn’t reflect total number of comments, instead it lists who has commented the most within the past week. – Admin
Top commentors? Nice.
Hope I’m not the #1 spot always. That is mildly embarassing.
I’ll do what I can to help you avoid that Mata, worry not.
No kidding, brother. You are climbing up indeed.
Mata is still 10 posts ahead.
Btw admin i sent you something in your pm box in the forum,i think you should check it.
Hey admin, I’m still having problems with the Battle Requests page so I thought I might just post mine here:
Me vs Kharn the Betrayer
You will DIE! Even a factpile aura can’t protect you against Kharn…
Admin has better feats.
I want to see Khorne make a website this awesome…
Finding factpile, It’s like finding oil. And lots of it.
@Space Marine
You forget I have Baron Samedi to back me up…
“Me vs Kharn the Betrayer”
Thats even worse then when scenario asked Dark samus vs the god Emporer of man.
“Dark samus vs the god Emporer of man.”
Can you say mind rape?
@Space Marine
I bet I could kick your Austrailian ass lol…oh and I wanted to suggest “What if…Astaroth got Gorechild?”
@Baron, am I going to have to pull out the crowbar?
@Space Marine
Before you do a hatchet/giant wrench/titanium smashing thing will be in your head…
@We will settle this when you get a game I do, Then I shall Own you there. And you fight dirty.
Um, Internal error 500 Admin.
Hey admin. We should have a question scetion. Like If your were in left 4 dead and you could chose anyone to be on your team who would it be? and why?
factpile.wikispaces.com/Chat
Got the chat up(although its temporary)
Oh,and wiki needs moar support.
“Hey admin. We should have a question scetion. Like If your were in left 4 dead and you could chose anyone to be on your team who would it be? and why?”
Feel free to visit the Forums for this sort of thread:
www.factpile.com/forum/smack-talk
“Oh,and wiki needs moar support.”
NO KIDDIN!
@spacemarine. You mean we’ll pwn him at killzone. or you could get cellfactor…
“Hopefully, by next week, I will have a survey asking all readers for input on what they want this site to evolve into. Nothing is considered too crazy at this point, I want any and all suggestions.”
YES!
Bring it on, sir.
Hey, boss.
Are you aware that the larger battles of the site have been giving problems to access since yesterday?
yes, I am currently looking into a dedicated server for the site to resolve those issues. – Admin
hey admin when is the re-launch
re-launch won’t be for a bit. a lot of behind the scene functionality needs built for easier site use for both you and me. – Admin
Hey boss,
Did the 900+ posts on SW vs Halo break that page. I remember the Battle Requests being larger, yet this section refuses to load now.
Can anything be done there?
yeah, I’m currently looking for a way to address this problem – Admin
Liking the new layout Admin. Cheers to whoever facilitated the change.
Solved and solved.
Love the posts being paginated. Now there is only an issue of them blending together a little too much. Is there a way to have a clear divider between posts?
I’m doing some technical stuff today on the site so expect some wonkiness as I try to fix it up – Admin