GP turns 3!

I meant to have this up last night, but somehow forgot...

Three years ago (yesterday), I gave launching a RPG play-by-post site a final try. I'm glad I did, as the community it's built, the people it's helped, are numerous. I admit, things haven't grown as well/as fast as I would have hoped or liked, and I can't say I've worked as hard on it as I should have, but thanks more to you guys than me, a fantastic, friendly community has grown, giving a variety of people, such as those who don't have the time for live games, people who've never played RPGs, or people who just want to play more RPGs, a place to play games with respectful people.

Nearly 300 unique people have logged in within the last month, with over 200 more than once. There have been over 120,000 posts in 2700 threads in the last year, with nearly 16000 posts in 600 threads within the last month. 327 games were made in the last year and nearly 2400 characters (though the real counts are definitely WAY lower, with the number of test games and test characters created). Over all, big numbers, I think. But the best thing is still that the community has continued to grow and stayed friendly.

To celebrate, I'm giving away some stuff. I'll have gleams up soon, and I still have to decide what, but at least one price will only be open to people who are currently active members of GP (meaning you've logged into GP in the last year and made at least one post). Among the prizes I'll be giving away:
- 1 Star Wars Armada core kit
- 1 Monte Cook's Numenera: Into the Deep
- 5 Tunnels & Trolls "Grimtina's Guard" Adventure, signed by Ken St. Andre
- 2 DriveThruRPG gifts cards (I'll figure out the amount later)
- 2 bags of 150 dice courtesy of Easy Roller Dice Co.
- 2 sets of beautiful gunmetal dice courtesy of Easy Roller Dice Co.
- 3 15-track BattleBards albums

Maybe more items will get added. You'll be welcome to try for any prize, but you'll only be eligible to win one prize. I've decided to leave the contests open to people outside the US, barring extraordinary shipping costs. If such a case does arise, I will make it up to you in some other way.

Sweet Keleth :) love ide idea, unfortionally i live in Europe but great initiative, if somehow i get picked i will see what i can doo with shipping and costs, because free stuff and only have to pay for shipping is always cool :)

Happy Birthday, GP! You've done AWESOME work here, Ro, and we're immeasurably grateful to you for creating this place for us!

Prizes!?!? Who cares for prizes! You've created this incredible place we get to share and enjoy. I've only been here a month and it's already been some of the best gaming I've done in a long long time. Three cheers for Keleth! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!

That is fabulous! Three years with a relatively booming, friendly, and active community is a huge accomplishment. My hat is off to you.

I looked it up, and shipping to just the UK (London) would cost about $70 for Armada, at which point, I'd rather give someone a gift card to get the game themselves. I think the costs for Into the Deep and the Adventure books are reasonable (if I can figure out how shipping customs work), and I'll probably add a DriveThruRPG gift card on there as well, for the people overseas.

I just discovered this site recently and am having a blast, thanks for putting this site together !

It's been great seeing GP grow the last two and half years or so since I've first signed on. Without this place I very much doubt I'd have returned to the hobby that I loved when I was growing up. Thanks a ton, Keleth, for all of the work that you've put into GP. And thanks to all of the people I've had the good fortune to play with over that time - you people are awesome!

Here's to another three years!!!

I've been here a year-and-a-half and I've gotta say that I can't get enough of this place and the people I play with here. I'm very proud to be a part of this amazing community :)

Well I've only been a member here for a few months but I have already gotten myself into 8 games, all of which I've been having a blast in. The community that you've built here is amazing and the amount of work you've put into the site is staggering so I just wanted to say thanks and I'm soooo glad you gave it that final try (the only thing I'm upset about is I didn't find about it sooner!)

I've already posted a happy "I love you, bro" style thank you thread to this site, community and Keleth. But I'll say it again! Thank you! This place is a blast! Happy birthday GP!

So amazing. You've opened my eyes to the wonderful world of PBP and I can't imagine going without. This site has allowed me to play a ton of games that I wouldn't play IRL, and meet a bunch of great people. Including you, Ro. Thank you very much for your past and continued efforts.

So, the folks over at Easy Roller Dice Co. have decided to join in, and are adding 4 amazing prizes to the pot:

2 bags of 150 dice
2 sets of their AMAZING gunmetal dice

I'll likely make this 4 prizes, because more people having more dice is always better. Dice for the dice god, more dice for the dice throne. And win or lose, I hope you'll all check out Easy Roller Dice Co. Fantastic products, fantastic people, more dice.

That's awesome Keleth! Fabulous prizes for fabulous reasons.

I've only recently become a member, but I love this site and the community. Thank you for all your work here.

Congrats my friend. Very kind of you to do this give away.

It's a great thing you've done here Keleth.

As far as how much work you've put into, well that's between you and your ambition. For me, this has been a wonderful introduction to PbP, and the only way I PbP. Your site, especially when compared with others (of course I looked around!) is extremely intuitive and easy to use. You're also extremely involved and on the spot with assistance or guidance. Add to that an extremely pro-social community that's still growing, and it's something you should definitely take pride in.

It's a pretty amazing thing when you think about it. You've provided a place for so many of us to meet and enjoy some of our favorite games. Sincerest thanks, and a happy 3rd to GP!

Happy 3rd GP and good luck to those who enter, there is some pretty cool stuff on that list.

As many of the people said, thank you for all that you do for this site. While you may think you're slacking or what-have-you, you've built a great place with an amazing community and gave people the opportunity to experience RPGs, that they wouldn't of been able to for one reason or another. The amount of involvement I see from you is awesome, to say the least, so don't think you aren't working hard enough. So again, thank you Keleth, for everything you do and for this amazing site. I'm looking forward to the years to come and all the greatness that awaits.

Happy anniversary and this is awesome!

I'd gladly pay shipping to the UK!

Awesome dude :)