Today marks our fifty- thirty-four thousandth view since the revival of Planets Magazine one year ago.

On the one hand, it’s hard to believe it’s been a whole year since we came back. During that time, we’ve released some seventy-odd articles, Guides, and breaking news stories. Sometimes, it’s been tough to come up with something new to say every week, but somehow we’ve managed (– except of course during that lovely vacation when, in contrast to my normal routine, I wrote during the day rather than the night, and I got to watch waves out the window instead a dreary parking lot. Ahh, mojitos! -G)

On the other hand, we’ve accomplished a ton, so much so that it’s hard to believe it’s all been crammed into one short year. We’re halfway through our Threat Assesments series, with dozens more of the new Articles Of War queued up and ready for the presses. Our first Classic Invitational tournament is swiftly coming to a close, and we’re assembling invitations for the second one. Oh, and my dining room has cartons full of custom Planets Mag coffee mugs commemorating the tournament; kick in at least fifty bucks to the prize fund and we’ll mail you one as a thank-you.

(Please. I’d like my dining room back. -G)

Now’s as good an occasion as any other to acquaint you with what’s coming:

You already know about the first two series in the “Articles Of War”; you may not be aware that there are at least two other sets of articles being assembled, plus several more in the planning stages. These will be released gradually over, probably, the next year or so.

We’re also very excited about some of the upcoming Guides we have in store for you. We don’t want to give away the surprise, but we’ll tell you this: We’ve managed to persuade some of our top commanders to share some of their greatest secrets. If you’ve got something of your own, please feel free to talk to us; we’re always happy to consider submissions, though we don’t always have space for them.

We just mentioned the upcoming second Classic Invitational tournament. Every player who signs up can have a mug shipped to them for free, and extra mugs just for shipping cost, as a prize for being selected. We also have some trophies being designed for the winners. If you think you’re worthy and you’re interested in putting your name in, send us a message to that effect and we’ll make sure your name’s on the list.

Speaking of tournaments, we’re continuing our coverage of the official Wars on the Planets Nu site. This year this includes inside views of both the Cognitium War to crown the first League Emperor as well as the Crisium Conflict for the first Grand Marshal. I’m told there’s a new Dogfights Tournament in contemplation as well; more on that in another article.

Each of us also has personal projects that we’re each very eager to see come to fruition. I (Gnerphk) won’t venture to speak for TS any more than this; for me, I’m very much looking forward to the publication of my first Planets-themed full-length book, my own commentary on Sun Tzu’s “Art Of War (In Space)”, as translated from the original Klingon. Not to worry; I’ll keep you informed as to when it’s available for purchase.

We don’t want to leave you thinking that we’re in this for the money. Neither one of us has yet to take a dollar in profit from the website, and that despite some very generous gifts from our readers. This isn’t unusual; costs are always high, particularly for a startup, and the average annual income of a full-time professional writer is around $12,000 (US) — no, I didn’t leave off a zero. This isn’t a cry of poverty or anything; we just want you all to know that we do this for love of the game and for our Planets community, and while we’re grateful for donations, there’s nothing that makes us happier than knowing you folks come here to read what we write — even when you disagree and argue our points up and down in the Feed. (We don’t mind that you’re wrong; no skin off our noses.)

So, as always: Thanks for reading. It’s you that gives us the reason to keep doing what we do, and we thank you for it.

– John (the Gnerphk)
– Talespin (the Talespin)

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We here at the Mag rely on your feedback to measure how well we’re doing, and there’s very little to match that joyful feeling of getting a free coffee. As always, you can make a PayPal donation to support the Planets Magazine, or click the button below to Buy Us A Coffee — and don’t forget to leave a note!