Writer's Portal? What's this shit? I thought this was a Flash site. Tom, I recall reading some little snippet of text you wrote about the decision to keep the portal flash-only, as opposed to allowing the submission of video files as well. I respect that decision, and feel adding a Writer's Portal (along with the "Art Portal" I keep hearing about) would detract from the site's focus. Of course it'd bring the traffic rolling in, but it'd also probably expand the site too much.
I think many websites are trying to be all things to all people-- to provide a constant stream of entertainment for anyone who passes by, whether it be written, drawn, animated, or played on an instrument. Deviantart allows almost anything to be submitted. Still images, written literature, flash movies, films. And you know what deviantart is? It's a giant. An enormous, bloated beast, presided over by an elite group of administrators and moderators, who rarely descend from their thrones do interact with the masses. I like this site so much because it's much more personal and inclusive. Tom, you're the face of Newgrounds. Just the fact that you're writing this newpost proves my point-- this is very much your website, and you make it a huge part of your life. Personally frontpaging submissions, promoting artists you like, ALL THAT JAZZ. With an Art Portal and a Writing Portal and who knows what-all, I think that personal charm would definitely be diminished.
There are places for writing for everyone on this site-- their userpage, and the various BBS threads devoted to writing. There's an entire forum devoted to art. If it's important for people to be able to show off every damn thing they shit out, they can put it somewhere else-- I have a deviantart paghe myself, and it's full of things that have never graced this website. I can't stop the march of progress, and if you really think it'd be a smart move to open up the site to even more things I can't do much about that either. But sometimes, staying out of the mainstream isn't a bad thing.
bye tom give me $100 k