Dear HaloCharts Community,

Thank you for making HaloCharts one of the best places to game together, to have fun together and to just hang out. I have seriously enjoyed so much of the last 4 years by being a part of HaloCharts and from getting to know so many awesome people out there. Some of my greatest moments in gaming came while being a part of XBL parties made up of HaloCharts members.

HaloCharts grew into something I never expected it to be. It started small and was mostly just a tool and about a year after it began the amazing community appeared. We did some really cool stuff before anybody else and I'm extremely pleased at it's success. During HC's peak (summer 2011), HaloCharts was seeing on average over 10,000 visitors per day. In the 4 years it was up, HC tracked over 3.4 million gamertags and had just under 150,000 registered members.

There's a lot on the radar for the Halo series, and I fully expect to see more and more stats sites popup over the next year. I'm excited still to see what 343i does with the Halo games and will always look back on the 4 years of working on HaloCharts as one of the best times of my life. I think I was able to turn into a pretty good Hog gunner thanks to so many of you! *cough* pete *cough* psy *cough*

So thanks and maybe I'll see some of you on Xbox live. I can always be reached at firestream@gmail.com and at Twitter.

- Firestream

 

Why did you close down HaloCharts?
The big question. It was due to a combination of things. Basically, HC got to be more than I could handle, even with the amount of help I was getting from the community. HC required hours of my time on a daily basis to keep it running smoothly. The database alone had surpassed 50gb and was a pain to backup, restore, optimize, etc. In the end, the work that I had to put into HC was affecting my job and my family and I needed to stop and focus on the things that are the most important in my life.

I donated recently, will I get a refund?
If you donated in the last 6 weeks, you have already gotten a refund. I went back as far as Paypal would allow and refunded the donations. If it was before that, I am sorry that I cannot redund the donation as it was already used to pay for the site's server. I am thankful to everyone that supported the site over the last 4 years.

Why haven't you sold the site?
At first I thought about selling it. I think the domain alone has a high value, but in the end I decided it was best to keep the domain as I really didn't want to risk seeing the reputation to site had get tarnished by changing ownership/management. That and who knows what the future holds. It's always possible the site could return in the future if I can bring it back in a way that doesn't eat up my life.

What are you going to do now?
Not work so hard on hobby websites. I do plan to continue development of HaloSphere and HaloChallenges though and probably work on a few smaller projects of mobile apps.

There are a billion people I'd like to thank personally, so if you aren't mentioned here don't take it personally!

HC Redemption - My partner in crime for so many of the years HC was up. Thanks for your friendship, your ideas, your support and encouragement. I'm sure we'll cross paths again in the future and we'll definitely stay in touch.

Pete VenkmanPHD - You drove me to a ton of great games in Halo 3. It was a pleasure meeting you and hanging out with you and Egon in Atlanta. Your ideas and vision led to so much awesomeness on HC from the extended Halo 3 ranks to the HCPL (and even Halo Challenges, but I don't want to start that debate up again!). Thanks for everything man.

StaticFlatline - For getting me started on Halo and subsequently starting HaloCharts. For all the help on HC and for the crazy nights of Halo 3 and for being a frakalakface.

TuffJuice and Hensods - The only people I ever trusted to help with site code. Your work and ideas continued to make HC fantastic.

Halbarand - Thanks for sticking with HC even in rough waters. You were one of my favorite people on HC and a fellow RPG'er. Thanks for all you organized in the final months of HC.

Psyfireman - Thanks for all the HaloSphere inspiration and ideas. I look forward to seeing what we can still do there.

Boss Vos - For starting one of the most popular groups on HC. For being an awesome host in DC and for the many good times we had online and on the site.

RippinHeads - For being a good friend and for showing me so many tips in Halo 3. It took a while for me to get better at the game and I know I learned a few things from playing with/against you. I'll never forget 5 vs you on The Pit.

Obi Wan Stevobi - Your dedication to Forging is unsurpassed. Thank you for helping HC have more of a presence of Forgers and thank you for all the work you put into BTB2011

Peug and Skwiddly - For great nights of Halo with people just taking it easy and having fun. Out of the large amount of people I've played with, you guys were probably at the top of my list for the most fun to play with.

EgonSpenglerPHD - Was great to meet you in real life. You were a machine and I appreciate all of the things you had a presence in. I'm still hearing about all the different places on HC that you were active in. Especially thanks for your work in Halo Force.

TMS LW198 - You are an awesome guy and a master of firefight. Always was a pleasure when we could play together. Your suggestions and support always meant so much to me.

HC Jules - For moving up the ranks of the site super fast and for your dedication to the HC Podcast, which I always thought was an extremely awesome part of the site.

HC Knanibear - Thank you for your generosity. You sponsored more players that I've ever seen and all of them were extremely grateful for that. Thank you also for your support in HaloSphere.

Louis Wu - For always running our news! For being a straight-shot, down to earth guy and for the help and support in HaloSphere.

BS Angel - For allowing me to help out back in the HMB days and for the support now with 343i. Best of luck to all you do with 343i and Halo! There is no better person out there to be the Halo Community Manager than you.

Halcylon - You are super talented man. It was a pleasure working with you and watching you get to your dream job. Can't wait to see what you do next!

Art Dept - Essentre, Surpriser, Kegonomics and the rest of the team made some really awesome graphics for the site. You guys are super talented, so keep up the good work!

Halo Force - To all the members, past and present, for your work on a daily basis keeping the leaderboards clean. It was a job with almost no reward, but so many of you did it anyways. You have my gratitude.

HCPL - Made up of some of the best players to ever play Halo. You guys are pro's in my book and you will be missed.

GrifballHub - To Pup and Goose, you guys have one of the classiest communities out there. Enjoyed the GB and Swat games and I'm sorry we didn't get to do more things between the two sites.

Bungie - HC couldn't have existed without your creations. Thanks for only banning HC's IP once and thanks for the Reach API!

This list is likely incomplete. I will continue to add to is as I remember who else I'd like to thank.