I just want to give a big THANK YOU to everyone at Microsoft who has helped make XNA and Community Games.  There is a lot of "noise" in the forums right now, so I thought I'd take a minute to express my appreciation for everything you have done so far.  Please know some (hopefully most) of us understand what we have now is "Community Games 1.0 "and you are hard at work making things better.  You have done a great job so far, and given us an unprecedented opportunity.  Please don't be dissuaded by the vocal few.  The work you have done so far IS appreciated, very much!

I would name individuals, but it wouldn't be fair as we only see those of you who crazy enough to make yourself public in the forums.  So again, thank you to EVERYONE at Microsoft who has helped make XNA and Community Games!  Your hard work IS appreciated.

Sincerely, Dan Melchione

Ditto to every word! Thanks!

Ditto from me.  This is an amazing experiment that I hope will benefit everyone involved.

also my congratulations to you !!.... dont let this awesome experiment burn to ashes... keep it alive as much as posible!! as its said... your hard work IS appreciated

Thank you, but it is totally you guys that make this possible.
Don't worry about the noise out there -- if someone isn't saying something stupid about you on the internet you're doing it wrong ;)

Best!
xxoo
~kathleen sanders
XNA Community Manager

Reality Shift:

I just want to give a big THANK YOU to everyone at Microsoft who has helped make XNA and Community Games.  There is a lot of "noise" in the forums right now, so I thought I'd take a minute to express my appreciation for everything you have done so far.  Please know some (hopefully most) of us understand what we have now is "Community Games 1.0 "and you are hard at work making things better.  You have done a great job so far, and given us an unprecedented opportunity.  Please don't be dissuaded by the vocal few.  The work you have done so far IS appreciated, very much!

I would name individuals, but it wouldn't be fair as we only see those of you who crazy enough to make yourself public in the forums.  So again, thank you to EVERYONE at Microsoft who has helped make XNA and Community Games!  Your hard work IS appreciated.

Sincerely, Dan Melchione

Wow, I agree on every word... thank you to everyone involved with XNA and Community Games... I appreciate the opportunity more than most people can imagine! :)

I want to express my thanks to everyone on the XNA team as well.  This is giving me a chance to get into the indie-game development scene which I've been waiting for for a long time...  It is much appreciated! :)

I'll second all of that. Keep up the great work guys, and gals ;]

Yeah thanks a lot for all the work you put in. I worked on something kind of similar in the past and I really know how much hard works it takes.  So thanks again.

Yes, I have to say...

Thanks!

Definately have to agree, especially for the lone newbie coder.. I tried c++ for years and all sorts of libraries but never managed to get much, if anything, completed; but xna just makes it a lot easier and a lot quicker to get something off the ground and onto the screen! My thanks to all of you!

I have to agree as well, this time from a professional game developer point of view. I have yet to see a better framework for creating games. Simple, yet powerful. No compromises, 2D or 3D, retro or shader 3.0, PC or Xbox/Zune.

Btw, kudos to the community as well! Without it it wouldn't be half the fun & learning experience! :)

steffenj:

No compromises

There are ALWAYS compromises.  XNA has plenty.

Kudos, Grats and Many many thanks to everyone on the MS Team, as well as to all the rest who have worked helped and participated in XNA as well as all the other projects related and supportive! I made my first game on a PDP-8E with a teletype terminal in...well lets just say I have been called a dinosaur... This industry originated with people like the folks here, and - despite the currently produced mega-epics in the mass market - it's great that this type of opportunity not only still exists, but is supported. XNA (and my wife) have managed to re-ignite some of the passion I experienced then, and I hope to continue, even if I never get a game as far as Peer review!
Again, THANKS! And Merry Christmas (or whatever is appropriate to your view of the universe....) to all!

Tyrac

Yield to temptation, it may not pass your way again!

Coming from a C# background, game development has always been one of my dreams, and it seemed like it would be beyond my reach unless I became really good at C++.

XNA has given me the ability to use my C# knowledge to do what I've always wanted to do and I thank everyone in the XNA team, and all the XNA users out there who use, contribute to and support the product.

Keep it going strong, this is only the beginning!

Thanks from me too. Your work is REALLY appreciated. I've been trying to develop games before using C++ but never got past the rotating cube. Now using XNA it seems like it is only a matter of time until I will be able to put up a FINISHED game for peer review.

Great work everyone at MS.

Only 2-3 years ago I was programming mini-games with KPL (ah, the memories of scripting), and here I am making Xbox 360 games.  Without you guys, none of this would be possible!  Thank you all and keep rocking!

I just sat down and took another look at the day/night lighting system using diffuse, ambient and specular lighting I have shining down on my terrain generated from a simple heightmap. Moved my character placeholder around a bit to check out my collision detection system and clicked a few objects to test my newly implemented picking system.
To think that I've come this far with a 3D RPG all by my self in just a few months is truely amazing I think. And all the credit goes to the Microsoft guys who work the magic behind the scenes.

Another thank you to all of you from the cold Denmark and merry Christmas to all of you. I can only second all of the opinions that Reality Shift presented.

Sigurd