Introduction of Home Base and Newsfeed

Home Base was the new website that replaced the Scholastic forums, similar to the MBs replacing the STACKS six years earlier.
Home Base was launched on February 13, 2019. At the time of its launch, MBers were not aware that it would take the place of the forums. Because of this, most forumers reacted positively to the new site. The game allowed for more opportunities to interact with other members outside of the forums. While the mini games were certainly geared towards a younger age, they were still amusing to play. Compared to the outdated graphics of the Spirit Animals game (Scholastic's previous multiplayer platform), Home Base was aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable to navigate. Of course, the games and interface still had glitches -- Home Base was still in its beta stage, after all. Compared to the growing number of glitches in the SA game, though, Home Base's controls allowed for a drastic improvement in the player's mobilty, agency, and overall experience. 
Newsfeed went live soon after, but the feedback on it was less complimentary. No signatures were available, the number of characters in each post were limited, and the ways the threads were displayed was confusing. All these issues were commented on, but nobody worried too much as the forums were still active and available. 
All this changed when mods announced that Home Base and the Newsfeed would replace all of the message boards in March. MBers realized that the Newsfeed, with its many issues, would soon be their new home. Home Base was a definite improvement from previously existing games, but the Newsfeed was a downgrade from the forums. Since the majority of forumers were mainly active on the message boards—the interface the Newsfeed was made to replace—this news was not met positively. 
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