VFH turns 5! The blog turns 1!

Hey there everyone! Today is quite the special day for us here at View From Heaven, as today marks exactly one year since this blog was created! But, remember, this was not always the home of VFH, as we previously were located at what is now VFH Classic. So, as an internet presence, VFH is actually turning 5 years old! But I won't give you the full history, instead focusing on why we're here: the blog.

While we found mild success at VFH Classic, things came to a halt after the servers crashed a few times ... not very fun. So, exactly one year ago, I decided to "relaunch" View From Heaven in the form of this blog. Not only would this new format allow us to write more often and cover more topics, but it also gave us the security of having Google as a host instead of relying on our shakey server. Within the next month, I got the ol' VFH staff back on board, and we were off to a new start.

Since then, VFH has grown far beyond my expectations. In fact, here's a quote of mine from a post comment back on March 26th, 2008:

"if i have one goal, its break 5,000 hits in under 2 years. Cause VFH has been up for about.... 3, 4 years? and its just made about 5,200 hits..."

Yeah, I thought that was an accomplishment. To put that into perspective, we ended up surpassing 5,000 unique readers by July of last year, and we are currently near 25,300; that exceeds my goal by nearly 10x from what I had imagined. And really, I have to give a big thank you to all the readers for making that possible.

Another aspect of VFH that I feel greatly aided to the blog's sucess is our social networking. This site wouldn't be anywhere near what it is had it not been for our 280 friends on MySpace, 528 friends and subscribers on YouTube, 221 followers on Twitter, and while they may not get the same attention, our Flickr and Facebook pages have helped as well.

What else can I say? Over the years VFH staff members have come, and gone, and with the inception of the blog we have welcome two new members to the VFH crew. But, it's not just the staff that's changed, we've already had a mascot change. As you may remember, Hewwosaur was the original VFH ambassador ... till we got tired of him and voted him off in favor of the more fitting Viewbear.

Out with the old, in with the new ... in a month

But, I think I should cut the history lesson here; I don't want to bore you (and sorry if I already have). In short, the blog's been around for a year, and it's been more successful than we ever could have imagined. So, thank you, readers! Threaders.

In fact, as a gift, here's a brand new Viewbear/VFH logo for you to enjoy!

That's cake on his face...

View From Heaven RPG in development

Yes, it's true. Hampig and I are currently working on a View From Heaven game.

The game will be created with the program RPG Maker, and will be an RPG (assuming you couldn't have guessed that from the programs name). The game will be approximately 20-30 minutes long, and will revolve around the origin of our mascot: Viewbear. Hence the name of the game; Viewbear: Origins. The game will also include some guest stars such as the entire VFH staff, and our old mascot: Hewwosaur.

If all goes according to plan, you can plan on playing Viewbear: Origins this Christmas.

Viewbear wins!

It's settled folks, Viewbear defeated Hewwosaur in a whopping, 80%-20% battle! So, View From Heaven readers, say "Hewwo" er... "Hello!" to your new (and hopefully final) mascot, Viewbear!

Viewbear has now become our face on both MySpace and Facebook; so if you come across a winged-bear, bearing our logo, you know who sent him! We will plan to use Viewbear much more than we did Hewwosaur. Why? He's just more versitle. Hewwosaur, having Spore roots, became less and less attachable to other things. But with our newfound, completely original, winged hero, the possibilites are endless. And don't fret, Hewwo-fans, Viewbear is kind enough to carry around a comic book of the fallen hero.

Hewwosaur: 2008-2008
"We hardly knew ya."

Stick around, keeping checking View From Heaven. We may be offer something Viewbear downloads in the coming days or so!

Mascot Fight!

Didn't think I'd be bringing this up so soon, but I just couldn't hold back any longer. For one week, a poll will run to decide the final VFH Mascot! Let's have a look at our challengers:

Hewwosaur
The first mascot of VFH, designed in Spore Creature Creator. He, and his rump twin, are just too adorable to say no to.



Viewbear
The newcomer. Seemingly more fitting of the View From Heaven name. Carries not only the VFH logo, but also has a game controller, as well as a comic book of Hewwosaur.

The special poll will be available right above this month's poll. However, unlike this month's poll, the Mascot Vote will only last for a week! Get voting!

It's Over 9000!!!!!!

Yeah, finally a chance to post this video. Even though I'm about 50 visitors late ... See how I didn't even use the Dragonball Z one? That's just how awesome we are! And let's be honest, this one's just funnier. I believe thank you's are in order:

First off I'd like to thank the readers, casual visitors, a wrong link clickers, because without you, the Unique Hits wouldn't go up. I have to thank our press contacts, because without them most of our news and reviews wouldn't be available. I'd really like to thank the staff, because without them, my hands would've broken off already. And not to be selfish, but I have to thank myself for keeping up, because otherwise this would all be nothing.

Another big shout out to all of our new found friends at YouTube and MySpace, combined they make almost over 300 different people! So now it's just too much for me to list. I'd also like to remind everyone that we're also on Facebook and Flickr, so why don't you stop by and say hello? I'd also like to thank GamersPlatform, because even though we have our differences, they're still making a contribution to our content, most notably The Top Ten.

And lastly, Hewwosaur, our mascot.

Because how can you say no to that face?

If there's anyone I missed, I'm sorry, just leave a comment.

Hewwo: It's Official

Here it is, after the brief announcement yesterday...
I give you: Hewwosaur!

This is the official image, be prepared to see it in our other ends of the internet.

Meet your VFH mascot!

It's Hewwosaur !
(like Hello in Elmer Fudd's voice + Saur, as in dinosaur)

I created this bundle of delight, confusion, and disturbance in Spore Creature Creator earlier today ... and I can't look away! At least I can't look away from his main face; the parasitic twin on his backside, I'm not sure what to think of him.

Anyways, I'm going to do some sketching, I hope this isn't the last you see of Hewwosaur. After all, he IS supposed to be our new mascot!