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Dreadknux

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Revision as of 15:59, 9 February 2006 by Ss is testing (talk | contribs) (Webmaster History)

Svend Joscelyne, aka Dreadknux, is the well-known founder of The Sonic Stadium, and is viewed by many as an inspirational webmaster that changed the way Sonic websites were handled during the Internet Boom, inventing community events in order to benefit the world of fans. Well known for his colourful and intricate website designs, Dreadknux is currently refitting The Sonic Stadium with a new interactive system with his partner in crime, B'man.

Webmaster History

  • Discovering the Internet in Late 1999, Svend became aware of his fellow schoolmates' habit of downloading Sonic the Hedgehog ROMs and playing them in the computer centre. Remembering his childhood, Svend searched the Internet looking for Sonic sites, expecting to glean nothing. On the contrary, websites were scattered all over the place, including the two major sites of the time Sonic HQ and The Sonic Foundation. The page that caught his eye however was The Moogle Cavern, a website created by Kulock.

Svend first appeared on the Message Board of The Moogle Cavern. It was Kulock's website that had single handedly rekindled the Sonic fandom within him. Having repressed his Sonic fandom during the Sega Saturn era - like many Sonic fans - he was taken back soon after discovering the Internet in 1999 by the vast number of websites that were dedicated to Sonic the Hedgehog. Soon after making friends within the 'Moogle MB', Svend decided that he could help other Sonic fans by sharing what little information he knew on the internet.

March 2000 began the production of his own Sonic website. On October 24th 2000, The Sonic Stadium launched on a simple free account, with few pages and little content. Over time, more sections were added, and content began to flourish - with news stories and information being posted in a unique, friendly method that brought visitor and webmaster closer together.

'Dreadknux' began to re-invent the online Sonic scene from early 2001, when he was pondering why his site was not getting much attention. He came to the conclusion that visitors already familiar with established websites had no reason to visit a small webpage that would be likely to have the same content as the established sites. It was also apparent that there were few opportunities for member interaction. That was when Dreadknux created The Sonic Site Awards - an annual awards ceremony that applauds the efforts made by small Sonic websites trying to break through. This, coupled with a Radio Station venture and up-to-date coverage of Sonic Adventure 2 brought a lot of attention to The Sonic Stadium.

The 'SSA' remains as the major event that the entire Sonic community looks forward to - from webmasters to visitors of all Sonic sites. The event has not lost its focus since its inception, despite The Sonic Stadium website becoming massively popular.

Not resting on his laurels, he created a forum in late 2001 called the Sonic Stadium Message Board, which has since become the most popular Sonic Forum on the internet during 2003. As of October 2005, control has been passed to Roarey_Raccoon to maintain the community vision Dreadknux had of the SSMB. The radio station, SEGASonic Radio, started life as 'Sonic Groove Choons FM' and was renamed in late 2001 to give the project a new lease of life.

During that very same time, Dreadknux had launched an addition to The Sonic Stadium called "The Sonic Fan Club". The first of its kind, it was a fan showcase akin to fanart and fiction galleries that other sites had, but it catered for all aspects of Sonic fan creation. Since its creation its priorities have been pushed aside, but a glorious re-invention of the entire project is on the cards for 2006.

Mid-2002 brought controversy when Dreadknux and his friend Sonic_Hedgehogs (original webmaster of SONIC NEWS) decided to merge both websites to form the Sonic Stadium News Group. During BETA designs, Dreadknux borrowed background images from Sonic HQ - and unbeknown st to him, Sonic_Hedgehog's SONIC NEWS content was largely from other sites. The SONIC NEWS content issue, coupled with Dreadknux's forgetfulness in failing to remove the original backgrounds led to an unnecessary and scathing attack by the Sonic HQ community members. The understanding Sonic HQ webmasters and Dreadknux attempted to stop the bad feeling, but the damage - including an invasion of the SSMB Forums - was too far inflicted to continue the merged project. As Sonic_Hedgehogs abandoned the SSNG project, Dreadknux decided after a while of inactivity to pick up the pieces himself and revive SSNG, while renaming the website back to The Sonic Stadium.

2003 brought the invention of The Sonic Stadium Network; one of many ideas that inspired many small websites to adopt the 'Network' method. The Sonic Stadium was the first site to balloon into a fully fledged Network, and initially included TSS (the abbreviation of 'The Sonic Stadium' that was visitor-instigated), the SSMB and SEGASonic Radio. The Sonic Stadium website itself was now starting to pick up incredible pace, and the addition of FastFeet Media - a project by collaborator Graham Seward (FastFeet) - and the Sonic Site Awards helped satisfy the Network more. A fangame group called Shadow Team - of which Dreadknux is also involved in - and spriting website The Sonic Spriters Network by Roareye was also added later.

  • SEGASonic Radio saw a change in administration on 18 Jan 2006, as SpawnofSonic had found no time to attend to his new radio station head position since getting the job the previous November. FastFeet was given control of SEGASonic Radio, while Svend would still maintain an overseeing position.
  • On 8 Feb 2006, Svend had a run-in with GamePro magazine regarding the uploading of scanned pages from their current issue. The material featured the entire article of their exclusive story on Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 game). The scans were removed.

Other Jobs

As well as controlling The Sonic Stadium throughout this time, Dreadknux is also a leader of three in fangame group 'Shadow Team' - a group that has been inactive since early 2005. He has also been vocal on his SEGASonic Radio station, regularly hosting Sunday evening programme "The Sonic Hour". The Sonic Hour has been the headlining programme of the SEGASonic Radio scheduling since "LiVECAST" (live broadcasting) was introduced to the online radio station in 2003. Today, 'SSR' stands as the most popular, if not one of the only surviving Sonic the Hedgehog online radio stations. As of October 2005, direct control has since been passed to SpawnofSonic.

Easily reachable via email and Private Message, Dreadknux has been happy to help those who have wanted to break through with their own website, like he had to during 2001. After webmastering for five years, October 2005 sees the fifth anniversary of the website he created that started it all. Considering his future career as a journalist for the video game industry, Svend has recently had to recede his control to those he trusts dearly, while concentrating on his University work.

While Svend continues the path of his career (while maintaining TSS directly), his mark on the entire Sonic community has been left, with both old and new Sonic fansites featuring menu gradients, 'Network' features, and community incentives to help make their community - and the online community as a whole - a better place. While his online duties have been cut back, Dreadknux still has plenty of innovative plans to launch and to reveal and will continue to try and set the standard for the next generation of Sonic fansites, as much as he has done so already.