Brilliant stuff being thrown around here, I recall your idea about the achievements before construct. I'm going to start on drafting some code up for it and planning it tonight.
There's been some other really important points made too by other guys - Matt_K's suggestion about the pre-defined format is a smart idea and would aid in making things consistent and easier to read in general. I had an idea previously that would work well with that and also support the chop newsreel thing at the same time... my idea being that when you create a new chopping thread, their is an uploader box where you can upload the chop + base image then and there, i.e. meaning so you don't have to use
imgur.com or some external hosting service like that. It was an idea I had quite some time ago (perhaps around the time I added in the ratings) because it was needed to support another thing I wanted to see done - thumbnail 'hover-overs' when viewing the forum thread listing page.
Maybe I'll see those things come to fruition. I seem to have garnered a boost in motivation to start building things around here again recently, so I should ride that wave and make the most of it.
Stoked to hear that Klaus is reviving the ezine, that will be a great and welcomed addition back to the place. I literally can't wait to see it back!