49) The UXM.Net surely is the best resource when it comes to the X-universe, but when will you start branching out, and adding sister sites about some other Marvel characters, like the Hulk, Spiderman, the Avengers or the Fantastic Four ? Of course expansion is an option, and ultimately it is one of our long-term goals; but that’s really far away long term plans we are talking about. Surely it won’t happen in the next two to three years (and that doesn’t mean we will be ready then).
There is still so much more to tell about the X-Men and their spin-off groups, more than 1000 issues to summarize, dozens of Spotlight On... entries, Crossovers, articles ideas, etc and there is only so much we can do. Expansion might even be a dangerous thing. Right now, we have a certain number of reliable contributers who regularly work for the site, and while we surely had worse times, it’s still the case that we are struggling to keep things running and up-to-date. Opening a sister site, we would have to split up our staff, or at least, several staff members would have to divide their time and attention to keep both projects running.
That would mean less effort being made on the main site, some staff members ending up frustrated with more and more duties being burdened upon them, and eventually the site collapsing in on itself with more and more contributers quitting.
Another problem might be that we simply don’t know as much about the other Marvel characters as about the X-Men. For example, I only read the Hulk or Spiderman on an occasional basis, and while I may have heard of one story or the other, I wouldn’t be able to explain any connections or references to other stories. It’s only surface knowledge I could provide for these two, while I’m somewhat better with the FF or the Avengers (Hey, I just love team books!).
Anyway, to sum it up, expansion: yes, but definitely not now. When it happens, though, I guess we’ll start with the Avengers though, for there are several connections between them and the X-universe (Warbird, Beast, Quicksilver).
50) You need to have some links to other good websites. “UXN did at one stage have a link section on the site, however due to issues beyond our control at our previous web host we had to shut it down. Now that we have settled in at our new host, we plan to bring this section back. Expect to see a new links section appearing in the new year.” (Dean Clayton)
51) How about some Top ten lists? Too opinion-based to be on the actual site. Just because one person (author of such feature) finds this or that character interesting doesn’t mean the audience has to agree. There’s a section at the message board where our audience can exchange their individual top ten lists on whatever topic (best female, best quote, best artist, worst character, ...)
52) Please do a quiz, or some competition. Interesting idea, it’s worth a thought. Let’s see. (But don’t expect any big prizes)
53) I’d like to see some online games. Well, I’m not even sure who of the staff would have the knowledge to program such a game (unless we are to copy some other site’s games, which we wouldn’t want to do), and ever since the Uncanny X-Men.Net has moved to its own server, we have to keep bandwidth costs in mind. I fear that such games might take too much webspace, and costs would rise dramatically. But, once the Links section goes back online, we could link to sites featuring some.
54) How about a classified page to post comics for sale? Sorry, but we don’t want to be involved in any such deals, as when something goes wrong in your private deals or if you are betrayed, then you will surely ask us to give away the identity of the seller/buyer. Actually you can sell/buy comics through Ebay.
55) It would be great if you had a section that would show all Action Figures released by Marvel along with reviews on them.
“Yeah that would be a nice feature, but it would be a very time consuming feature as well, at least until everything was brought up to date. Currently the custom figure section keeps me extremely busy. Searching for new customs on the net and putting everything together for the updates for the site. This is something that would have to be discussed by everyone at the site to see if it’s something we would want to add and if we had anyone who would want to take on this task. Plus there are plenty of good sites out there with this type of information, like Toymania.com, Action-figure.com, Fwoosh.com, and Toynewsi.com. Those are the places that I go for my Marvel action figure news and up to the minute info. Plus they cover more than just Marvel.” (Mark Bowers)
56) I thought I could see my username as one of those who contributed in the past, as I have published a fan fic story. That’s a misunderstanding. We only count the people who help in the factual aspects of the site as contributers. The reason is that they are helping us to reach the site’s original and foremost goal – to become the ultimate resource on all x-related things: issue summaries, character spotlights, etc. These people are spending their own time, so that others might learn something about the comic books they don’t have access to. A Fan Fic writer, on the other hand, is more driven by his own fun and his need to have his work released, so that others can give him feedback or better yet, that he can turn writing into his actual profession. After all your name does appear as the Fan Fic’s author. So, actually the site is doing you a favor, whereas with the contributors, it’s them doing us a favor.
57) Longshot is a mutant. No, he isn’t. A mutant would be someone who is born with a slightly different genetic make-up than their parents, giving them abilities that are unusual for beings of that race.
Longshot was artificially created. He doesn’t have any parents, nor is there any defined standard for what abilities are considered "normal" for beings of his race. He sure is different from other members of the slave race, but that doesn’t make him a mutant, for he was created to be different – wether it was intentional on his creator’s part or not doesn’t matter.
Okay, so much about that. Thank you all for your input, and hopefully my colleagues and I have managed to explain why we won’t follow through with and every single idea that has been mentioned. On the other hand, a number of projects are already in the works, and might be published sooner than you think.
Thanks again for your support and the overwhelming number of messages that let us know we are still on the right track. after all without you this site wouldn't exist.
Uncanny X-Men.Net – for the Fans, by the Fans.
XXXXXXXXXXPeter Luzifer