Agreeing with most/all of Appoco's post.
I've an idea for the portal though - you could have players submitting pieces of writing to put up on it. Something like a blog - some players can submit overviews of politics and competing allies like the logbook Lokken used to do, others can write fan fiction about the game. I'm sure there'll be some members willing to contribute and it'll be nice for new players to read and encourage them to submit stuff and get more involved. Just a thought
