Thanks to Genies9 for her 2nd donation!

Alert the press: another member has donated. This time it is Genies9 who donates for a second time.

Her first donation gave her Donator status, this second contribution elevates her to the Gold Member league.

Thanks Steph!

Thanks to comet266 for her donation!

What do you know? We have another first-time donor on the books! Say hello to comet226 who joins the growing list of RAF Contributors. She will now the perks given to those who donate.

Thanks comet226!

Ghost Tiger Banned

.

We're not fooling around this April; the member Ghost Tiger, another Venom account, has been banned from RAF.

Props to estrid for contacting me about it.

DYK 52: Did You Know?

That Richard's Animorphs Forum is currently primarily hosted by HostGator?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Thanks to estrid for her donation!

Alas, it is time again to thank someone for their donation. This time, it's first time donor estrid who has contributed to RAF.

If you check out our member ranks then you will see that she will enjoy an additional +10 karma, along with access to the D-Lounge.

Thanks estrid! 

DYK 51: Did You Know?

That Richard's Animorphs Forum's first member; Asmodeus, joined RAF on May 23 2003, the day RAF was unveiled?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

2100 Members

Our 2100th member, maddylynn87 registered just moments ago. Our last milestone, 2000 members happened only 23 days ago.

DYK 50: Did You Know?

That Richard's Animorphs Forum is the must populous Animorphs forum on the internet?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Thanks to omn for his donation!

Spanking new member, omn, who hasn't even posted yet, has donated. If he can, then so can you. As a donator, omn will enjoy the ability to store 1000 personal messages, an additional 10 Karma Points and access to D-Lounge.

Thanks OMN and we hope you stay on RAF.

Thanks to Cerulean for his 3rd donation!

Well, our desperate cry for donations are apparently not in the woods far away from ears. Cerulean, who first donated way back in 2008, and again in 2009 has yet again decided to help out the best Animorphs community on the Internet.

Since he already donated, he already knows what awaits doners on the other side. But he will walk away with an additional 10 karma points for his contribution.

Thanks again!

Thanks to itw2009 / Courtney for her donation!

Relative new-comer Courtney joins the (thankfully) ever-growing list of RAF Donors.

She will enjoy an additional 50 karma points along with the perks Gold Members receive.

Thanks Courtney!

DYK 49: Did You Know?

That Richard's Animorphs Forum Chat Room (RAF Chat) used to be open only on Sundays?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Thanks to Aliciania / Patty for her 2nd donation!

This blog post is a day or so late thanks to our recent migration from our own servers, coupled with my recent in-real-life activities.
Nevertheless, it's time to thank Patty for giving RAF her second donation and the single biggest donation in RAF Donate history.

If you've been observant, then you would realise that she is now #4 on our list of all-time donors.

Just for reference, the previous biggest donation came from Jess, who on May 16, 2009 gave us an unprecedented sum.

RAF Blog Migrated

If you are seeing this then the RAF Blog is no longer hosted on the Richard's Animorphs Forum server. Google / Blogger has decided to end publishing blogs via FTP: so that means that now they are hosting the blog.

If images have disappeared, they will (hopefully) be fixed once I become aware of the issue.

Thanks.

DYK 48: Did You Know?

That Richard's Animorphs Forum has the largest community of Animorphs Role-Playing gamers?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Record Members in February

Last month, February 2010, Richard's Animorphs Forum saw record users registering on the forum. The surge in new members is due partly to the authors of Animorphs, K.A. Applegate and Michael Grant joining the forum and answering our member's questions. Additionally, the mild increase, month over month is a result of beefed up promotions of our community.

As it stands, 190 new users registered in February 2010. This means February 2010 has overtaken April 2009 by exactly 30 members. At the end of February, 2035 members are currently registered on RAF.

2000 Members

The biggest Animorphs community keeps getting bigger and better. Our latest milestone is achieving 2000 members. I would like to congratulate Hundo (who registered on February 23, 2009 at 9:47 AM EST) for being our 2000th member (on paper).

DYK 47: Did You Know?

That Richard's Animorphs Forum eBooks had its best month (hits) in December 2009?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

10 Million Hits!

Three months after crossing the 9 million hit mark on Richard's Animorphs Forum, we've finally made it to double digits.

Thanks to Jen / TobSie for her donation!

Our first new RAF member Jen / TobSie has donated! She has already been awarded 10 karma points, and the other perks donators receive.

Thanks Jen!

DYK 46: Did You Know?

That Richard's Animorphs Forum has one of the largest collection of Animorphs Fan-Fiction?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

K.A. Applegate asks...

During Richard's Animorphs Forum's question and answer session with Animorphs Authors K.A. Applegate / Michael Grant a question was asked... by them:

Digital publishing makes the monthly series possible again. (Bookstores hate them, but in digital we don't have bookstores.) Would you -- or your younger incarnations -- buy and read digital books released on a monthly basis? And when you think about it, what price seems fair?

This is a new area and we're trying to get a handle on it.

What do you think?

Reminder: RAF Party is tomorrow!

The first RAF Party of the year begins tomorrow at 12:00AM EST.

Come out tomorrow February 13 and enjoy the day with your fellow Animorphs fans. In case you forgot, if you miss tomorrow's party, the RAF Party is a two day event. So all day Sunday you will be able to be as active as you want to be in the Bored Board; and be rewarded with an increase in your post count.

2 New SMF Mods

First off, the staff has implemented a group PM feature on RAF. This mod will allow a user to send mass pms to a specific group.
You need to pm the moderators? Easy as a click.

If you would like a membergroup added to the options (within reason, of course) feel free to pm me and I will consider adding it to the list.

The second modification is subtle, yet a great time-saver. Users can now expand the page choices by clicking on the ellipses (...) next to the page numbers.

So, for example, with 6 being the page number you are on:
Pages: 1 ... 4 5 [6] 7 8 ... 15
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 8 ... 15

Lastly, as some of you have noticed, I've been promoted to Administrator.
I'm honored to be a part of this community, and i'll do everything that I can to better it.
Thanks to you all.

DYK 45: Did You Know?

That the co-author of Animorphs, Michael Grant's book series GONE has had a forum on RAF since April 11 2008? 


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

2010 RAF Party begins Feb 13

After a one month break (no Party in January) the monthly RAF Parties are back. Expect the February RAF Party to begin at midnight (EST) on February 13. It will continue to Sunday February 14.

If you don't know the Richard's Animorphs Forum Party is, here's the synopsis. The RAF Party is a two day event where Animorphs fans come out on the forum or/and chat to mingle, get to know each other and have fun.

The advantage in coming out on these days is that posts in the bored board are counted (yes, they are not normally added to your post count), and each time a thread is created you are awarded 2 karma points.

So just to recap: RAF Party is on February 13 & 14, so come out and have fun!

NEW RECORDS - February 4 2010

Yesterday, February 4 2010 two RAF Records were broken:

Most users online - First, the RAFmultitude came out on the forum. This resulted in 168 members logging in. See image / screen shot below:



Most new members in a single day - A day or so after the Animorphs Author(s) (K.A. Applegeate / Michael Grant) started answering Animorphs fan's questions, RAF saw the most new members in a single day. This record was previously held by June 5 2008, when Richard's Animorphs Forum completely moved from Conforums to SMF and 23 persons registered on the present-day RAF.
Fast-forward to February 4, I tweeted that RAF was 7 members away from breaking that very old record. I felt that because of the influx of members to ask questions to Applegate / Grant and read their replies, this record could come down that day.

I was right. 27 persons registered on RAF within 24 hours on February 4. Beating the old record by 4 members.

To all those 27 members who registered yesterday - welcome to RAF - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum, and congratulations for being a part of the record breaking batch. Even though you had no idea that records were falling.

Thanks to JakeMates for his donation!

JakeMates donated - moments after he registered - so it's obligatory that we thank him. He will now enjoy the usual benefits bestowed upon donors.

Thanks Jake, and again, welcome to RAF.

1900 Members

A first for RAF in our almost 7 years - we have crossed the 1900 members mark. Our 1900th member is Iapetus, so welcome to Richard's Animorphs Forum, and congratulations to her for being our 1900th member.

It took 24 days for our member count to jump from 1800 to 1900.

RAF Welcomes Back Special Guests

Weeks ago I invited the authors of Animorphs back to partake in some questions and answers on Richard's Animorphs Forum. After a few weeks of patiently waiting (yes I know Michael Grant - 1/2 of the duo - is deeply involved in the Gone Series) I finally got a short reply: set up the thread, and we'll see what we can do.

Of course, even though I was miles away from a computer I immediately set up the thread, and asked members to ask the questions they always wanted to ask about Animorphs, Remnants, Gone or Everworld. The only difference with last time is that instead of
bombarding the respondents with questions that may have been asked before, the staff will filter out the questions: posting only what hasn't been asked before.

A day or so later on January 29 2010, K. A. Applegate and husband Michael Grant created the account applegate/grant.

It didn't take long for someone who I never expected to be brought into the mix: their son: the very famous (to Animorphs fans at least) JakeMates.

So as it stands, the authors of Animorphs are on RAF answering questions, while their son is updating the Gone community on particulars.

Thanks to Myitt for her 3rd donation!

So you think you can donate? Well, apparently Myitt can: and has - again.

This blog post is to thank Myitt for her contribution, and congratulate her for reaching the Gold Member status - facilitated by her donation, and climbing to #4 on the leaderboard..

If you haven't already, head over to RAF Donate and contribute.

Complete Q&A from first visit from Applegate / Grant

Thanks to Adam for compiling this.

These questions and answer sessions happened between January 18 - 29 2008 on Richard's Animorphs Forum (Classic)

Here are the previously asked questions and answers.

RAF: Richard's Animorphs Forum members
K&M: K.A. Applegate or Michael Grant (authors of Animorphs)

QUESTIONS ALREADY ASKED

Shorter Answers

RAF: Did you like the TV show’s interpretation of the books?
K&M: We didn't like the TV show much. We were upset that they went live action rather than animated because we knew they wouldn't have the budget to do it well. Doing it right would have been very, very expensive. What they ended up with was rubber Andalite heads on sticks. I think we watched two episodes.

RAF: How is it that none of the Animorphs have ever been taken to see a therapist? Especially once the war is over?
K&M: Why no therapy? Probably because when we started writing Animorphs we didn't have kids of our own. We were sort of guessing about parent-kid relationships, and I don't think the notion of therapy ever entered our consciousness. When we were kids there was no such thing as therapy for kids -- although we probably would both have profited from it. Of course now we have kids, so . . . Our son was born right around Animorphs #11. Our daughter came along post-Ani.

RAF: Why did you choose the name Jake for the leader?
K&M: You should bear in mind that we're talking 12 years ago or so when we were first creating Animorphs. It's like a lifetime since then. As far as either of us can recall it was the usual process of going through a baby name book and going, "how about Dirk . . . how about Jason . . . Okay, let's try something in the M's . . ."
Jake just seemed like a strong, masculine name. We definitely didn't name them after anyone we know. Oddly enough our son -- who came along later -- is also Jake. But again it came down to a baby name book and the realization that it was a good, strong, sort of timeless name. We were frankly a little embarrassed, naming our son after our "hero," because we worried people would think we'd named him after the other Jake, and that would be just a wee bit weird.

RAF : Are you ok with the fact we're making the series as e-books and sharing them?
K&M: We're not sure how to feel about that. We've never had a problem with fanfic like some writers do. Rather the contrary. It's flattering and fun and good practice for aspiring writers.
But there is of course a legal problem with distributing copyrighted materials in this way. We obviously aren't going to be suing or threatening or any of that. In fact, we think on balance it's probably a good thing.
But you should understand that Scholastic also has rights here, and they may take a more aggressive position. And you need to understand that we can't "tell" Scholastic to let it go: they have their own ownership rights, and they've invested a lot of money in Animorphs. So we couldn't give you permission if we wanted to, we don't have the legal right to do so.

RAF: Do you think that Animorphs will ever make it to the big screen?
K&M: There is a reasonably serious move under way to do a big budget Animorphs movie. By that we mean that a producer has contacted us and let us know that he would be pitching the idea to the studios -- as soon as the WGA strike is over. The producers are serious guys. The studios they are going after are people who could actually pull it off. But right now it's still probably a 20 to 1 shot. Keep your fingers crossed. I'll say this: the producer is a serious Anifan.

RAF: How long did you originally intend the series to be and when you started did you have the same ending planned out that ultimately happened?
K&M: We didn't know. I think we signed for 3 books at first, then more, then more still. We figured we'd keep going as long as Scholastic would send us contracts. But at some point we thought, "Okay, that's enough."

RAF: are you going to be a permant resident here on this forum or are you just passing though?
K&M: We're never permanent.

RAF: why did you make so many Animorph books?
K&M: We wrote til we burned out. That's the truth.

RAF: How many copies have been sold of Animorphs?
K&M: We've heard the number 30 million from Scholastic, but who knows? That sounds about right. Animorphs #1 broke 2 million.

RAF: Do you ever plan to release the Animorphs 'Bible' that you've referenced in prior interviews, or is that completely up to Scholastic?
K&M: Nah. M doesn't want anyone laughing at his drawings.

RAF: What do you think of the audiobook project, and would you like to play someone?
K&M: That'd be something we can't officially sanction or participate in.

RAF: Were there any Animorphs stories you really wanted to write but couldn't?
K&M: No. The editors never vetoed anything. We wrote what we felt like writing.

RAF: Why where you so cruel to tobias by taking rachel away from him?
K&M: Tobias was destined for a life of sadness, don't you think? But there was always nobility in his sadness. As for Rachel, she was the ultimate warrior: without a war to fight, what would she have done? And what better way for her to go than by fighting a desperate battle against impossible odds?

RAF: when you started writing the series did you know it would be a war story with the characters having to face moral dilemmas?
K&M: Yeah, we always thought it was kind of like this very old TV show called "Combat!" It was about this tight little platoon of soldiers in WW2.

RAF: If you somehow actually met your characters in real life, what advice would you give each of them?
K&M: Hmmm. We don't think we'd give them any advice. They all did much better than either of us would have. Maybe some romantic advice. To Jake: go ahead and kiss the girl.

RAF: How much input did you have with the ghostwriters? Did you give them something like a detailed plot summary and told them to fill in whatever needed to be, did you tell them a few main points and then leave the rest up to them, or did you just say something like "Go write a Marco book" and let them go to town? And also how did you choose the ghost writers? (assuming that you did) Were they personal friends or just another struggling writer looking for a job?
K&M: The ghosts worked for us. That was our deal from the start. Most often when a series goes to ghosts it's run by the publisher or a packager. But our ghosts were our "employees." That having been said, we loosened the grip in later books and gave more responsibility to an editor who was employed by us. Then we came back and wrote the last 2 books. We also wrote all Chronicles and Megamorphs. We sent detailed outlines, but also strongly encouraged ghosts to come up with ideas of their own.

RAF: What was your favorite book in the series and why?
K&M: Probably Book #4, the dolphin book. That's when we realized we had the rhythm of the series down, and started having fun. Also the one where Cassie dies until she comes back via butterfly morph. (Sorry, we never recall the book titles)

RAF: What was your inspiration for Remnants?
K&M: Remnants was a strange situation. Basically, Everworld was very hard to write. It was long. It was complex. 200 plus pages per month as opposed to 140 for Animorphs. It was too much. When Everworld wasn't really a hit we suggested to Scholastic that we switch to a new series, a shorter series. They agreed. Remnants was, in the start, about the sort of vague notion of using art as a milieu. That plus blowing up the world of course.

RAF: Did you ever thought of using the alien race of the Garatrons from book #37 The Weakness again before the series ended?
K&M: You want to bear in mind that we were writing at such a speed throughout this period that we often created things and then lost track of them.

RAF: Who is your favorite character that you've created?
K&M: Hmm, favorite character? Probably Tobias, just because he was unique. We loved the idea that he was trapped in morph, so lonely, so estranged from everything. Plus he could fly! But we like all the characters. Cassie is probably most like K and Marco is most like M.

RAF: Are you proud of the outcome of your stories or do you wish that is had gotten media attention like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
K&M: Animorphs was this really great thing in our lives. We sold 30 million books, made a lot of money, had some fame, had a lot of fun. When we started we were broke and depressed and defeated. We'd be fools to complain about not being as popular as Harry or LOTR. We've been nothing but lucky, and we are nothing but grateful. Especially to all of you readers.

RAF: Who burned down Joe Bob Fenestre's house in #16?
K&M: You know, sometimes when we leave it a mystery for readers it's because it's a mystery to us, too. We love leaving people guessing. It leaves us guessing, too.

RAF: which book was your favorite and why?
K&M: Earlier I mentioned #4 and the butterfly book. So I'll add a third: Hork-Bajir Chronicles.

RAF: In book #4, The Message, Ax tells the Animorphs that, "The way the lake curves forward into the grass, framed by derrishoul trees," is called "enos ermarf" in the Andalite language. I couldn't help but notice that this was an anagram for "farmer nose." So I was wondering, was this kind of word play in alien names a one-time thing, or are there more puns and things of this type I should be looking out for?
Darth:
K&M: I don't think that was a deliberate anagram, but we have definitely done that. Neither of us can recall any but the well-known "Nothlit" thing. We used to live across from the Minneapolis Hilton and stared at the "Hilton" sign as we wrote. Nothlit is Hilton rearranged a bit.

Longer Answers

RAF: If you still remember, where exactly did you get the idea for the series? Was it just one of those "oh hey that would be pretty cool" ideas that you wrote on a napkin one day?
K&M: We remember that very, very well.
We'd been writing for a while, having very moderate success with YA romances like Boyfriends/Girlfriends. We weren't quite broke but we were pretty close to it. We were living at the time in an apartment complex called Plantation Gardens in Sarasota Florida. It was hot, of course, and we were walking, trying to get some exercize, doing it at night because it was hot.
We were both a bit bummed. We didn't want to keep writing YA romance. We wanted to get into a younger age group. We wanted to write something more fun. K wanted to write single titles. M argued for giving series one more try. We discussed what we'd write, in a perfect world -- assuming we were staying with series. K said she wanted to write something about animals, especially something that would really show animals as they are, realistically, something that would really let readers get into the animal's mindset.
We both thought: okay, kids that turn into animals, that would be neat. Then M said, In order for that to be a series we'd need a science fiction premise. The animal powers would have to be used for something dramatic.
It took just a couple of days for all the rest of it to come together. We created a "series bible," with character bios, plot, some rough outlines. M actually included hand-drawn pix of space craft and aliens. We sent the idea to Scholastic. The letter ended with, "This is a cool idea." In a shockingly quick two weeks they wrote back and said yes.
Kind of a major turning point in our lives, along with when we first met, when K said "let's write," and when K said, "Let's have kids."

RAF: What advice would you give to other aspiring writers out there?
K&M: Well, first of all, forget the usual advice about writing what you know, or even being an obsessive reader. The first requirement -- and it's tough news to have to deliver -- is to have some innate talent. We don't know if that's a function of DNA or environment, most likely a bit of both. But if you don't have some basic talent you won't make it.
That having been said, you don't need to be F. Scott Fitzgerald. You can start with a "B-" in talent and still have a very nice career, if you work very hard. If you are relentless. If you are willing to adapt. If you can get knocked down seven times and stand up eight.
But it's not a great life for most people. It's a solitary occupation. No one who is not a writer will ever understand your job, so unless you have the good luck to be married to a writer -- as we are, obviously -- you are all on your own.
You have no one else to impose discipline on you, to make you work. You have no health plan, no retirement plan, no unemployment insurance. No one will hold a benefit concert for you when you go broke, and the overwhelming majority of writers are broke. You almost never know where or when or if your next paycheck is coming.
There is zero glamor. Zero. Maybe twice in ten years someone has said, "Wait a minute, are you K. A. Applegate?" There is no rock star aspect to it. Writing is you, and a cup of coffee (and a cigar in M's case,) and a laptop, typing. Tap tap tap, three hours a day for most writers. It's a short work day, that'd be one of the plusses. You work for months or even years and when you're all done you have a book and the odds then are probably 99% that you will never sell it. That no one will ever read it.
You'll get dumped on by agents and editors. You will get rejected with curt, dismissive form letters. If you do manage to get published the odds are overwhelming that you won't make as much money as you would waiting tables or doing any decent job.
So, the first thing you need to ask yourself is: is that the life I want? If it is, fine, go for it. But there are a lot fewer people making a decent living writing books than there are making a living as surgeons or corporate lawyers or bankers. I guarantee you that the odds of you getting into Harvard Law School and graduating are better than your odds of supporting yourself by, say, writing kids books. Think about that, and how hard it is to get through Harvard Law.
So, you have to have talent, and you have to work hard, and you have to have some market savvy, and you have to get lucky. I know that as writers we're supposed to be encouraging, but since you asked we'll do you the favor of being honest and not give you the usual bs answer.
If you still want to be a writer, you'll find there are a dozen different approaches. But basically it all boils down to this: write. Write a story. Read it back. Listen to it. Rewrite it. Repeat until you think you've got it right. Make sure it has some plausibility in the market. Submit it and see if anyone buys it.
Not exactly encouraging advice. But honest.

Thanks to Adam for his 7th donation!

Top donor, and long-time member Adam has heard our cry and graced us with his 7th donation.

Thanks Adam!

DYK 44: Did You Know?

That the D-Lounge was opened on July 11, 2009?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Thanks to Ossanlin for his donation!

Luke / Ossanlin is the first person this year to donate. As a Gold Member he will enjoy "God" member benefits along with his shiny new gold color, text, 50 karma points and of course access to the D-Lounge.

Congratulations and more importantly, thank you Luke for your donation.

Everworld eBooks 4 & 5 Uploaded

Thanks to Dameg and her team of Animorphs eBook contributers, Everworld eBooks #4 (The Relm of Reaper) and eBook #5 (Discover the Destroyer) are now available on RAF eBooks.

New year, new bills

Hello fellow RAFians (and passersby), it's your ever-present, yet never-present administrator, and founder of RAF, Richard.

This blog post is an extension of an earlier plea on my Twitter page where I asked members to donate to RAF.

While the year is new, Christmas gifts have been bought and most importantly, there is a crisis in Haiti; unfortunately RAF has bills to pay.

Please visit RAF Donate to help pay the bills by donating via PayPal. Also on that page you will see the perks you will get; but only if you input your username in the appropriate field.

Thanks guys.

DYK 43: Did You Know?

That the author of Animorphs, K.A. Applegate joined and posted on RAF?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

DYK 42: Did You Know?

That January 2009 is the most active month (in terms of posts) on RAF since RAF moved in 2008?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

1800 Members - again

The biggest Animorphs community has yet again hit a 100 members milestone. This time Richard's Animorphs Forum hit 1800 members; taking less than a month to jump from 1700 to 1800.

The next milestone - 1900 members has never been hit before.

DYK 41: Did You Know?

That Richard's Animorphs Forum has over 10 Animorphs related projects?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

RAFchat Name Change

Our RAFchat Audiobook Project room's name has been changed to RP & Projects, including various other subjects such roleplaying and projects.

Enjoy!

DYK 40: Did You Know?

That in the month of October in 2009 over 1/2 terabyte or 512 gigabytes of data was transferred on RAF?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

2009 according to Google Analytics

So 2009 has come an gone, so in keeping with tradition, I have saved and uploaded statistics for RAF provided by Google Analytics.

Click here to see 2009
Click here to see December 2009

Congrats to the Gods!

This year a few members reached the pinnacle of the RAF Ranks: God.

Congratulations to the following members who crossed the 5000 post mark in 2009:

1. Gaz
2. estrid
3. Estelore
5. Russell
6. Goom
7. Phoenix
8. Faerie Larka
9. TobSie
10. Liz
11. Anna
12. DinosaurNothlit

Thanks to all our doners in 2009

2009 saw the most amount of donations made by members (and non-members) of Richard's Animorphs Forum. In fact 42 donations were made, ranging from $1 to $75 in a single donation. Of course a few chose to donate more than once, and we surely must applaud those who thought it beneficial to. .

The top 10 donors of 2009 are as follows:

1. Jess
2. Adam
3. Russell
4. Wildweathel
5. Ash
6. Nine out of ten vissers
7. AniDragon
8. Spartan 281
9. Marie
10. Myitt

So here's to the donators of 2009, I hope you continue to support RAF, nit only through monetary donations, but through activity on the forum.

*some donors did not want their donation(s) published

Happy NEW YEAR!

Happy new year to all our Animorphs fans, and RAFians alike. How will you ring in the new year? How did it go?

Post here!

DYK 39: Did You Know?

That it took Richard 6 years and two months to post his picture? 


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Thanks to Truth for his donation!

Hirac Delest founder, Issam/ Truth has donated for a second time. Thanks Truth!

To donate, visit RAF Donate.

Animorphs Audiobook - Megamorphs 1 - Chapter 1

If you missed the announcement, you would not know that Jess & Mr.Guy have been working on the RAF Animorphs Audiobook Project recently. More specifically Megamorphs 01.

Here is the first installment of Megamorphs... in audiobook (mp3) format.

Download here.

Audiobook Announcement

Click here to listen to an announcement regarding the audiobooks

DYK 38: Did You Know?

That as of December 2009 over 11,000 personal messages have been sent on RAF Forum?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Will Animorphs re-released? Yes!

Although it has already been speculated by Hirac Delest, popular Animorphs archive website; there seems to have been a confirmation on the issue of Animorphs being re-released.



Animorphs co-author, Michael Grant has tweeted saying that Animorphs will be re-released "in about a year".

UPDATE: Here's an update from Michael Grant. He says that the re-release of Animorphs will be edited with "elaborate new covers".




Happy? Sad? Discuss on Richard's Animorphs Forum

DYK 37: Did You Know?

That the first RAF Party was held on November 15, 2008?


Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

1700 Members - again

Looks like there is no shortage of Animorphs fans. Why? Because Richard's Animorphs Forum has once again crossed the 1700 member mark.

Thanks to Marie/kitsunemarie for her donation!

Newcomer to the wonderful world of RAF, Marie or kitsunemarie, has joined the list of donators. In fact, she moves right on up to the Gold Member position after just 8 days registered on Richard's Animorphs Forum.

Again, I (and of course on behalf of everyone who cannot donate) wish to thank you for your contribution.

Thanks to Shanker for his donation!

Well, I just woke up to see an email from our partner PayPal, telling me RAF received a donation from one of our members. Coming up on his second RAF birthday, Shanker has decided to do what many have been doing since I set up the account: donate.

If you didn't know already, donating to RAF helps paying the bills.

Anyway, back to Shanker: yes he donated, and now his pennies are in the RAF Fund jar* along with the others. Did you know that donating isn't only cool, but you get stuff for doing so? Indeed, for his contribution, Shanker received +10 Karma, and some brand new stars below his name, along with the fancy title of Donator. In addition, he now gets to show off that he has access to the D-Lounge.

So if you haven't donated before, or just want to show your love for our great Animorphs community, head on over to RAF Donate: and make sure you have a PayPal account.

Thanks Shanker!


*Not a literal jar... there's just a page on PayPal that tells me how much is the in account: that's all :(.

Thanks to Myitt for her 2nd donation!

Generation 3 member Myitt has yet again donated. Since she has already donated, and enjoys the perks donors receive, but she also receives +10 karma for her contribution.

Thanks again Myitt!

DYK 36: Did You Know?

That the posts on RAF exceeded 100 megabytes on July 18, 2009?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

RAF Awards 2009 - RESULTS!!!

The winners of the 2009 RAF Awards have now been posted in the first post of the linked thread. Congrats again to all the winners and nominees! :)

RAF Awards 2009 - Announcement

The polls will all be locked at 12am GMT tomorrow night (it's currently just gone 7pm GMT at time of posting) so you all have just under 29 hours to do any last minute voting. The results of the polls will be posted in this thread shortly afterwards.

Thanks to Spartan 281 for his donation!

There is a new Gold Member on RAF. Spartan 281 also known as Parker has donated to RAF. Not only has he given the well needed funds, but he received in return +50 karma, access to the D-Lounge and all the other advantages Gold Members have.

Thank you Parker. From all those who use RAF, and her services.

DYK 35: Did You Know?

That when you report a post all members of staff get an email immediately notifying them?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Want to Know What the D-Lounge is?

Easy, go to RAF Donate, and donate $5 or more. Not only will you access this ultra-exclusive lounge, but you will also help RAF out.

This Saturday is the Meet & Greet!

Just wanted to send a reminder that the next Meet & Greet is scheduled for this Saturday.

DATE: Saturday the 28th (November)
START TIME: 6:30 pm EST/ 5:30 Central
END TIME: Around 10:30 pm EST/ 9:30 Central. Though it can go longer.
PURPOSE: Encourage new members to come into chat to meet with each other and current members.
WHO'S INVITED: Everyone!!
WHERE: RAFchat

DYK 34: Did You Know?

That new RAF overtook RAF Classic in terms of posts after one year and a month (back in July 2009)?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

9 Million Hits on RAF Forum

Today RAF Forum passed the 9,000,000 hit mark.

To see more stats, visit the RAF Forum Statistics Page.

Huray!

DYK 33: Did You Know?

That when you send Richard a personal message he gets the message immediately anywhere he is in the world?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

Thanks to Genies9 for her donation!

It has been a while since I thanked someone for donating to RAF. Well, thanks to Genies9, I have someone to thank :)

She will now have access to all the perks Donators have, which include an additional +10 karma and access to the D-Lounge.

Thanks again Steph!

DYK 32: Did You Know?

That you can collapse the categories on RAF Forum so that they are hidden by clicking on the minus sign ()?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

DYK 31: Did You Know?

That you can view full statistics of RAF by typing in: http://blog.animorphsforum.com/stats/Month%year.pdf?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

...You're Crazier in Person

I just got back from hanging out with Jess (Kit Cloudkicker), Tara (Myitt) and Dave (Pez) in Boston. It seems like RAFians meeting in person has been going on a lot more lately. Jess, Tara, Dave, Estrid and Liz met up in California, then Jess, Tara, Dave and I met up in Hampton Beach, and now Claire’s world trip is causing RAFians from around the world to finally meet. Personally, I think it’s fantastic.

Meeting in person really brings us together as a community. I consider many of you on the forum to be close friends and I’d love the chance to hang out with all of you. Hopefully some day I’ll get to do a world trip of my own. I guess the message of this post is not to be afraid to get out there.

That being said, be careful guys. I’ve been talking a lot about community and close friends and family…hmm I don’t think I mentioned family. But…I have in the past, so yea…RAF is like a family. BUT it is still a group of random internet people. Treat them as such. Don’t put personal information on the site. If you want to share information do so only with the members you really know and trust. And be sure that you really know and trust them. The three members I have met I knew for almost a year before I’d even admit my name wasn’t Duff McCain (hmm, Duff McCain, got a nice ring to it)

If you do feel you have built up the trust and comfort to actually meet a few RAFians then do so very carefully. Don’t meet anyone one on one, invite a few of your friends or a few different RAFians. Meet in a public place and keep the general plan for the day/night to mostly public things. Don’t just head up to a hotel room (haha oops). Tell a few people where you are going and who you’ll be with. If your parents know about RAF then tell them about the meeting. Don't do anything you aren't comfortable with or meet anyone you aren't comfortable with.

And to the younger RAFians…maybe just not do any meetings for a few years. Its just not responsible. You wait a little while and get to know your RAF friends a little better and when you are old enough to do a proper meeting you’ll have a lot more fun.

So…lets organize some RAFcons! Responsibly, safely, and obviously full of insanity. And don't forget to take pictures, especially when someone is doing something stupid.

The 2009 RAF Awards Has Started!

See who is nominated, and vote!

Promote RAF

I am finally bringing over our old initiative from RAF Classic where I ask everyone to show your support for RAF and place an image in your signatures on other communities.

Here is the code in BBC code:

[url=http://animorphsforum.com][img]http://animorphsforum.com/images/pbanner.gif[/img][/url]

The image that will be displyed is:

DYK 30: Did You Know?

That whenever you create a thread on RAF you get applauded (+1 Karma)?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

RAF Chat Issues

For the past few days many were not able to access the RAF Chat. This was caused by subdomain issues which did not redirect users to the right host.

This caused the RAF Chat to point to the old host which does not have the updated member database. Because of this all users who tried to log in that registered or changed their password after September 2009 received an error.

This has been resolved and now our proper database is being used to feed the Chat. In other words things should be fine now.

In addition to this fix, I have decided to make the registration process more simple. So if you haven't registered for the RAF Chat has of yet, feel free to do so now.

Happy RAF Chatting.

DYK 29: Did You Know?

That between January and May 2009 RAF Downloads (primarily our Animorphs ebooks and television show) has used over a terabyte of data?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum

RAFchat Meet & Greet Tonight!

DATE: Saturday the 17th (October) - TONIGHT!!!
START TIME: 6:30 pm EST/ 5:30 Central
END TIME: Around 10:30 pm EST/ 9:30 Central. Though it can go longer.
PURPOSE: Encourage new members to come into chat to meet with each other and current members.
WHO'S INVITED: Everyone!!
WHERE: RAFchat

DYK 28: Did You Know?

That the name Richard's Animorphs was chosen for the website after Richard visited Jake's Animorphs Site?

Now you do.

Richard's Animorphs Forum - The Ultimate Animorphs Forum