Well, it's official. After a month or so of negotiations and discussion by email and in the chat room, Sam, primarily citing lack of time with which to maintain the site, has stepped down as webmaster of Rinkworks, placing me in charge.

A Site Journal post explaining the changes in store for the site will be posted shortly. For now, there's this quick Q&A list.

1. Who owns Rinkworks.com, the name Rinkworks, and the material at the Rinkworks.com website?

The name "Rinkworks" and the content of pages found at Rinkworks.com, created before 2004 Q1 will still belong to Samuel Stoddard, with the exception of Equiworks, IABBBBM, works that originated from the public domain (such as "Things People Said" and "Computer Stupidites"), and reader-contributed work (such as message forum posts or reader-submitted IABBBBM reviews).

2. What happens to Rinkchat/Rookchat?

Rinkchat will still be a major part of the new Rinkworks.com and will be run off of a licensed version of Rookchat. The Rookchat section of Rinkworks.com will be moving to a new website as the transfer of Rinkworks.com from Sam to myself does not include the Rookchat property.

3. Are you changing servers with the transfer of ownership?

Yes! After Rinkworks.com changes servers you will have to re-register for Rinkchat. This server change will take place on or about the 10th of this month. It might take two to three days for the new IP address to propagate through the system. The entire Rinkworks.com website is undergoing a massive redesign. The new design will be at the new server. During the few days after the 10th, if you load up Rinkworks.com and the pages have a light orange/tannish background, you'll know you're at the new server.

4. Will Rinkworks still be accessible at rinkworks.com?

Yes, however during the server change, you may experience difficulties getting to the new site.

5. What's this I heard about Rinkworks.com turning into a pay site?

It's completely not true. Only parts of Rinkworks.com will be behind a pay-to-enter barrier. We're teaming up with BitPass and selling GamePass subscriptions. The way this will work is you can purchase a GamePass through BitPass and every time you log in to play an Adventure Games Live, Enchanted Forest, Murkon's Refuge, or Monster Arena, your GamePass account will be debited anywhere from a penny to five cents. This will allow you to play Murkon's Refuge (or whatever game you have logged into) until midnight, PST for that day's rate. If you play past midnight, PST, your account will be debited another day's worth of access fees.

At this time, there is no plan to make Rinkchat or the message forums (except for the game hints forum) behind the pay barrier.

Popular sections like "The Filmmaker's Exam", "How to be Romantic", and "Lights & Noises" will remain in the free zone.

6. What happens to Sam, Leen, and Dave's admin status in Rinkchat? What about the current ops?

All three still are considered admins, but will be changed to "admin-". All users with "op" status are currently having their past six months worth of Rinkchat activity reviewed to determine if they will keep their op status once the server move is completed and everyone is forced to re-register. If you will retain your op status, check your e-mail in box over the next few days.

More information is coming in a Site Journal update later this evening, which will be prominently featured on the main Rinkworks.com page until the server change.

Thanks for being a part of the NEW Rinkworks.com Experience!

-Faux Pas, administrator.