RFSHQ
| Radio F Software Headquarters (RFSHQ) | |
|---|---|
 A randomly-generated RFSHQ logo circa 2007. | |
| URL | http://twilightfoundry.com/archives/rfshq/ (2014- ) http://www.rfshq.com/ (2004-??) |
| Slogan | "Making your ding ding go toot toot since 2004." "Yes, you can touch it." "Everything your parents warned you about." "Dangerous comedy!" |
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Comedy/satire |
| Owner | Andre Bardin, Dan Gusak, & Various |
| Created by | Twilight Foundry (Archived, 2014- ) RFS Media Productions (2004-2008) |
| Launched | February 12th, 2004 |
| Status | Closed (Public Archive) |
Radio F Software Headquarters (abbreviated, advertised, and better known as RFSHQ) was a Robot Arena 2 community created and managed by Radio F Software. RFSHQ launched on February 12, 2004 following RFS' departure from staff at AceUplink. It began featuring humorous content on May 9, 2004 with the inclusion of the column "The NES Reviews". At its peak, RFSHQ was within the top 100,000 websites online according to Alexa.com and featured over 10,000 registered users.
RFS left the RFSHQ project in July 2008 over personal matters. The website's forums went offline not long thereafter. As of 2014 the RFSHQ.com domain redirects to an archive of the website's content hosted by Twilight Foundry.
During its lifetime RFSHQ was notable for several small milestones. The website served as the testing ground for the social gaming platform that ultimately became TrackMill Games, it was the first website in the world to feature downloads of full episodes of BattleBots, and a humorous viral graphic created by RFS ultimately led to the Six Flags company temporarily retiring their Mr. Six mascot.
Contrary to popular belief, the website was not named after RFS himself but rather the media group he belonged to at the time, Radio F Software. He eventually adopted the screenname Dracophile in 2008 to differentiate himself from the title of the site. Former site administrator (and international music superstar) Cherry Flavored originally suggested the name.
History
Immediately following RFS' suspension from the AceUplink website he set out to create a counter community with the intent to pull AceUplink's active members away. He co-created the first version of RFSHQ in February 2004 with the help of Cherry Flavored and TheDisturbedOne. With the RA2 community beginning to falter and shrink RFS made the decision to move the focus of the website from being an RA2 community to being a platform to share his comical writings and thoughts. The "NES Reviews" column became the first feature on the RFSHQ website with a satirical review of The Adventures of Bayou Billy posted on May 9, 2004.
Over the course of the months following the website would go under numerous revisions and redesigns until 2005 when goose became a part of the picture. As a long-time friend of RFS', goose set the website up with a formal domain name, a hosting platform, a vBulletin forum license, and a more refined and uniform site design. In 2007 goose also designed a content management system entirely from scratch that became the new backbone and delivery system for the website's content. After the initial offer of help from goose, RFSHQ began dismantling and removing content excessively critical of AceUplink and by the time the new CMS launched the content was gone entirely.
Content
Columns
Adventures of Team Nigga Awesome-O Genius Nigga Go!!!!!, The: An independent comic series based upon the trolling group of the same name. Contributor: N/A
BattleBots Update: A weekly column that ran the day after each new BattleBots episode. Featured commentary and snarky coverage of each episode's fights and segments. Contributor: RFS
Comedy Sweatshop: Various image generating scripts that allow visitors to place humorous text on things like billboards and Taco Bell hot sauce packets. Contributor: goose
Extras & Exclusives: A catch-all category used for press releases, featurettes, interviews, and site news. Contributor: RFS
Forum Receptacle: Themed columns and articles featuring content (usually image manipulations) created by the RFSHQ community. Contributor: N/A
Game Graveyard, The: Sarcastic reviews and articles about video games and video game culture. Originally debuted as The NES Reviews. Contributor: RFS
Juicy Tidbits: A category used to run samples of upcoming content and test articles. Contributor: N/A
New Age Comedy: An oddball stick figure comic strip with animated panels. Contributor: TWX
This Week In Anime: "Reviews" of upcoming anime series and merchandise. Contributor: Steel Pinata
TXT Dumpster, The: Full-text articles that did not feature pictures or graphics. Contributor: RFS
Vault, The: A compendium of content created by RFS Media Productions before the establishment of RFSHQ. Contributor: N/A
Worst of YouTube, The: A community-driven column featuring reviews and expositions on terrible YouTube videos and channels. Contributor: N/A
Series
Awesome Video Games: A "tips and tricks" comedy show parodying 1990's culture. Was distributed by RFSHQ for only a small period of time. Contributor: FFSTV
BattleBots: Full-length episode downloads of the Comedy Central show. Seasons one and two were made available. Contributor: N/A
Code: BS: Sketch comedy shorts and segments taken from this pre-RFSHQ show featuring most of the website's main cast. Contributor: N/A
Gemini Show, The: A sitcom/drama series based upon events and people in the RA2 community. Contributor: Gemini
Kids In The House, The: A clip-show series produced in the early nineties featuring voiceovers of commercials and television shows. Contributor: Beantown Productions
Let's Play!: A video game commentary show. Contributor: RFS and Steel Pinata
Levon Toons: Animated shorts and series about freeform topics and abstract art. Contributor: Levon
Radio F Show, The: Sketch comedy series. Ran for 51 episodes. Contributor: RFS
Websites
AUnet: A flash loops website, updated weekly.
Dark Channel, The: Another flash loops website similar to AUnet. Focused more on anime loops.
FLoops: A generator for flash loops that accepted .gif's and sound files.
RFSHQ: The central hub of every other website as well as the main resource for RFSHQ's content.
TinyMe: A URL shortening service ala bit.ly.
TrackMill: A "social gaming" website where users can create, save, and share levels in popular online games. (Still online and separate of RFSHQ now.)
UpUrs!: An image hosting website for the RFSHQ community.
You Got Tay Rolled!: A "Rickroll"-style prank site featuring Tay Zonday's cover of Rick Astley's song.
Legacy
Prior to the establishment of GameTechMods, RFSHQ was the largest and longest-running RA2 fansite on the Internet. Despite re-emerging as a comedy website a mere three months after its launch the website struggled to reach outside of its original audience and ended up keeping discussion forums for RA2 open in its community. The website was fondly known as "Radio Shack" among the Advanced Robot Combat community. During his tenure as site administrator RFS authored over 100 articles and produced several dozen original videos as site content.
As of 2014, RFSHQ's library of articles has been absorbed into the larger archives of the media group Twilight Foundry. The archive is incomplete due to lost backup media and missing directories on the former RFSHQ website.