Q&A
Joshua Griffin
Joshua Griffin Q&A – webmaster of TheForce.Net
How was theforce.net started? Is there procrastination in your roots? Take me through a summary of your history.
TFN started in 1996 by Scott Chitwood and Darin Smith. They were a couple of average guys with an unhealthy fascination for Star Wars. Over time, the few pages on the Texas A&M servers grew exponentially and so did traffic to the site. The site today, now renamed TheForce.Net, is seen by over 70,000 pairs of eyes daily, and contains 13,000 news pages alone, not to mention all of the static and hand-coded stuff. And TFN’s staff has grown appropriately as well, with now over 50 people on volunteer staff, from moderating the forums to posting the dozens of news articles daily. I’m privilidged to oversee it now with a fantastic core staff.
In your own words why should a procrastinating Star Wars fan go to your site as opposed to any other Star Wars site?
Procrastinating, by nature is waiting until the last possible moment before the completion of a desired task. TheForce.Net should be the first stop for all procrastinators because you can get a daily dose of Star Wars in seconds, and get caught up on years of news in a simple format and readily available. Not to mention the fact that it is totally free, something also important for those who want it all at the last minute, and not willing to ante up much.
Is there a lot of competition between your site and other Star Wars sites for information and spoilers?
Sure, and competition is very healthy. Many sites have come and gone since our early days, and TFN’s goal is to remain consistent through all of the prequel saga. After that who knows, I think I’ll move on to something else. It just wouldn’t be as fun.
I know that you aren’t lucasfilm but have you found any information on the extras that may be included with the episode IV, V, and VI DVD’s when they are released?
Not too much, expect for the fact that rumors persist that there was plenty of extra footage shot, to make the Ultimate and final special editions of all six films. I do expect them to be spectcular, when they arrive in 2006.
How popular is the Star Dudes Saga? I know I love it!!!
It is absolutely huge. Rich has done a fantastic job making the series fun, quick and totally gnarly with the Dude saga. As always – I can’t wait for the next installment and you’ll only find them at TFN!
What would you prefer to do in the Star Wars Universe and Why? Your choices are: Fly an X-Wing, Play holographic chess with R2D2, Lightsaber duel with Darth Maul (if you choose this give your lightsaber color), Kiss Princess Leia, or swim laps in the Dagobah Swamp with Yoda
Hmmm .. I’m happily married, so I’d have to rule out the whole Leia thing, though as a kid that would have easily been number one. I’ve always wanted to be a fighter pilot, but since my eyesight was so bad I couldn’t get in for the fighter squadron roles. So, I chose another path in life – but a chance to fly an X-Wing, hey, an F-14 for that matter? I’m there.
When i bought one of the newer Boba Fett Action Figures I attempted to leave it in the box for investment potential, but just couldn’t, cause it looked so cool. The next day i ripped the box open and played with the action figure. Are you a keep the box closed type of person or open the box type of person? Or don’t buy action figures at all type of person?
I don’t have a collection. Isn’t that wierd? I have a few figures people have given me that are in the box, but surprisingly enough I’m not a big collector. As a kid I had it all though, and would be a millionaire if I still had all of that in mint condition. Wow. I still remember the thrill of finding the RoJ figure I was looking for and having to shell out $3 of my allowance. Good times.
If you gave Darth Maul a rubiks cube, in your opinion, is he able to complete it?
No, he would eventually become frustrated and crush it.
I truly feel that in Darth Vader’s chamber (in The Empire Strikes Back) there was an atari hidden in there for him to play. Who else do you feel in the star wars movies is a closet procrastinator and why?
I’ve got to think 3PO had to have used R2′s digital projector for some big screen gaming. And you’ve got to know that shooting up some womprats on Tatooine must have been a fun pastime, right?
