Thank you for 4 million hits!

Last night Cardfight Pro crossed the threshold for 4 million all-time pageviews. Though it's only been a short while since I returned to newswriting, traffic has quickly picked up since March. Our daily views are steadily rising back into the range they were before I departed back in October 2015.

There is much that remains to be done, and lost time to be made up for; I once came to believe that Vanguard no longer needed me, and I realize now my mistake. Never once in these past seven years has the game achieved the immortality I set to endow it with. At this very moment Vanguard is struggling against forces which would eliminate it from this world. I am here now because I cannot stand by and do nothing while this struggle takes place. I have seen just how barren and empty the world can be. 2018 will be a year for growing--for growing Cardfight Pro, for growing the community, and for growing Vanguard.

Not just for Itou, nor just for myself, I am fighting alongside Vanguard for the sake of everyone this game connected me to, and everyone we lost along the way.

Announcement: Returning to Cardfight Pro

Everything began here.

I looked into the windows of this shop, and wanted to be a part of what I saw within it. It was here in this store that I learned to strike at an opponent without holding a single thing back. To count card advantage, compose a deck, and struggle with everything I had. Card Capital is where I was taught the rules of Vanguard; Card Capital is where I joined my first team. Card Capital is where I suffered my first defeat, scored my first victory, and swore to become stronger than anyone else. It was where I decided I wanted to make Cardfight Pro. This place did not just exist as an ethereal idea presented in a weekly anime, but through the Cardfight Capital BYOND client, it was a space where I visited with friends and trained daily.

Taken during the final days of Cardfight Capital, January 4th, 2013.

We likely did more talking than playing. From day one, the room was overcrowded, and we tended to gather in Card Shop Handsome more often than in Card Capital proper. (Or the beach.) Nevertheless, we knew that Card Capital was our home. And it remains so.

What did I believe in back then? What was it that lead me down this path? I saw in Vanguard a future. A future where the game was professionalized not just to the same extent as Magic, but to the level of chess, Go, and Shogi. A future where fighters could compete fairly and honestly before an eager audience, and trust in the fact that they would be rewarded not for winning nor losing, but simply for demonstrating their skill and testing one another's abilities. Where an association would provide serious fighters with the freedom to concentrate solely on overcoming the opponents in front of them, without giving thought to anything else.

And I still see that future today.

There is nothing I can do which could ever get those times back. Even resurrecting Cardfight Capital would not bring back my lost friends, my teammates, nor the once bustling community we enjoyed. The world has changed; people have changed. But Vanguard is still here, and its future is still to come.

The world makes sense when I play Vanguard. In my life I have not experienced anything so engrossing as struggling with all of one's might against an indomitable opponent. Nor have I witnessed any scene so special as seeing several hundred people clash in hopes of making the top cut.

This is the destiny that I myself have chosen. No one chose me to do this; not Akira Ito, not Takaaki Kidani, not Nakamura Satoshi, nor did any other representative of Vanguard go and make me into this. I chose this path of my own will, to create the future that I glimpsed so long ago. And I will continue on this path that I have chosen, for the sake of everyone we lost along the way. All this I do, so that this place will continue to be here for those that come after me. No matter how many obstacles I face, my determination will not waver; such is the power to turn despair into hope.

Announcement: Cardfight Pro Live on Patreon, Twitter

Over the past few months, we at Cardfight Pro have increasingly had to face a problem that we would be remiss to ignore. No one should ever be expected to work 48 hours a week and not be paid a living wage for their contributions, but this is exactly the dilemma we have to address. When we started out in 2011 our work was done for free, as a labor of love; but the bar is higher in 2015, and the hours necessary to create quality news are longer. Our goal is to be the NPR of Vanguard. We want to provide the community with a free, nonprofit centralized news source for information about professional level competition in the Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game, and provide support for its burgeoning tournament scene. We also want to be able to pay our writers and contributors a living wage for the work they've done for this community. Working for the good of the community and paying our employees are not mutually exclusive decisions; as part of our solution, we've opened up our Patreon page to public donations. Cardfight Pro will be written for and supported by the public.

Patreon is an efficient system which allows patrons to donate whatever amount they feel the content is worth, or are able to pay. Patrons of Cardfight Pro can donate through a pledge, paying whatever amount they feel comfortable with on a monthly basis. We do not need a tremendous amount of money, nor should anyone feel compelled to donate large sums. If all of our readers donated just $4 a year, our chief editor would make minimum wage. (Note that a pledge can be made for one month only and then canceled later, to make the donation truly one-time.) As Cardfight!! Vanguard continues to grow and Cardfight Pro grows along with it, we will be able to hire more permanent staff, and realize our long-term goal; a print publication available on the magazine racks of retailers and bookstores across the United States. If our campaign is successful, readers will observe an immediate effect of their support--Cardfight Pro will move to a twice-daily schedule, updating in the mornings and evenings every day of the week. As an immediate reward, patrons who pledge $4 or more will be able to suggest articles to be written and published on Cardfight Pro, and all patrons will have the option to receive public acknowledgment (in the form of their name, their username or other preferred identification) at the end of news articles. Business owners that pledge $8 or more will also be able to have their business identified as a source of support, allowing them to advertise their brand on the site. Those who pledge $30 or more will be able to have a strategy or deck analysis article written at their request.

As part of our transparency policy, all funds donated through Patreon will be disclosed annually during our end-of-year reporting in December. Money paid to employees and contributors will be clearly labeled, as will work-related expenses for travel and equipment. At this time it is believed that upwards of 98% of the funds received will go to paying the employees. We have no desire to misuse the funding our supporters provide; Cardfight Pro must match the will of the community as nearly as is possible. Our services will always remain free to the public. No one will be excluded from content based on donating too little or not at all.

Although the bar can always be set higher, Cardfight!! Vanguard is by far one of the best balanced games of its era and we do not want to drop an opportunity to help develop the very special community it is host to. Your donations will enable us to travel nationwide to cover tournaments across the United States, and eventually internationally.

We are also now live on Twitter; follow us @vanguardus

Statement of Purpose & Ethics

Last updated June 18, 2014.
Preamble
Over the past three years the research methods, style of presentation and integrity of Cardfight Pro as a publication have undergone dramatic transformative revisions that stretch the limits of what can be defined as a web log. Although statements have been made in the past regarding the general direction and purpose of Cardfight Pro as an organization, there has never before been a single defining document which outlines the goals, methods and ethics it answers to. In light of recent events, it is the view of the head editor that such a document, testifying the will of the organization and the responsibilities of its editors, is called for.

Cardfight Pro maintains that it is not in fact a blog, but is a journalistic resource of integrity that is also hosted on Blogger and makes use of its features. It is generally recognized as a reputable source by the global community of cardfighters, and handles a certain responsibility of disseminating information about the progression of the game across the world, with special attention given to professional play. In absence of other uncensored and unbiased publications independent of Bushiroad Inc. and its related companies, the weight of that responsibility to report professionally and in a trustworthy manner to the general public is severe.

We recognize a special right of the public to be informed and a right of the individual to inform. Even when the truth is painful, it must be pursued. That is not just the right of journalists, but our obligation to the next generation; the community of cardfighters owe to its successors an explanation of why and how we can come to do terrible things. When a chance at absolute truth is present, it must be taken. This process of handing information down among generations of people is a defining feature of human cognition, and through it the praxis of journalism may be considered a form of fuller humanization of those involved. We recognize that truth and transparency will beget deeper understanding of one another.

Journalistic Ethics
Websites hosted by Blogger and their associated writers are not presently afforded the protection of state-specific shield laws within the United States of America unless sufficient professionalism is demonstrated; what constitutes professionalism is not clearly established, and there is no nationwide recognition of bloggers as journalists. This much we acknowledge. However, the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics defines and provides guidelines for the field of journalism as a practice. Journalism is a self-recognizing field wherein a journalist is defined by their recognition among other journalists. Academic degrees, the presence of a publisher or the titles associated with any particular company position are irrelevant in this matter. A journalist is made when journalism is practiced, when the truth is pursued through conscientious reporting and voice is given to the voiceless. Those who act according to the Code of Ethics are journalists, and any individual can be a journalist with or without a publication; to arbitrarily restrict that privilege based on the possession of a print platform is to be counter to the very principles of the field and to obstruct free speech.

With or without recognition as a journalistic resource, Cardfight Pro recognizes and abides by the SPJ Code of Ethics to the best of its journalists' abilities. The full scope of the SPJ is available online, but the premises of it and how they affect Cardfight Pro are outlined below in a condensed list. Due to the nature of the Code, it is not and cannot be made legally binding. The Code transcends all legal systems and extends as an international master work of ethics under which each journalist is to interpret independently. Failure to comply with the Code has no legal ramifications, but due to the trust-based nature of journalism it is impossible to work in the field without observing it, as job security, the reliability and bartering of information, promises to sources, and guarantees of anonymity all rely on observance of the Code.

Through abiding the Code, Cardfight Pro promises to:
-Publish information only if it has been validated to the best of our ability, and believed to be reliable. Rumor and hearsay will be clearly labeled or not published at all.
-Pursue both the objective and humane realities surrounding current and past events, providing an opportunity for dialogue among the public on key issues and for individuals to be represented.
-Identify sources where possible, and protect those sources who must be protected.
-Keep promises.
-Not falsify or distort the facts.
-Avoid advertorial and subservience to corporate interests. Uninhibited advertorial will never be permissible on Cardfight Pro, and private interest will never write or buy the news.
-Question the motives of companies as much as those of private individuals are, and never become slaves to hit count.
-Promote transparency between all parties.
-Never plagiarize.
-Seek and fight for the truth even where it is unpopular to do so.
-Break stereotypes and promote understanding of subjects as people, accepting views in conflict with those of the editors.
-Treat victims with compassion and tact.
-Avoid dramatizing personal tragedies.
-Not report harmfully, except where both necessary and unavoidable.
-Weigh carefully the public right to information and the right of private individuals to privacy, and act in balance to these principles.

Kindness, empathy, ruthlessness and antipathy are tools; these qualities should not obstruct the truth, but assist it. In like, advertisers and sponsorship are necessary evils which support journalism, but are never pillars of it. If it does not support the pursuit of an objective and humane truth, it has no place in Cardfight Pro.

Loyalties & Goals
Cardfight Pro recognizes the following charges of it as a publication;
-To uphold the ideals of Akira Ito in cultivating a safe environment for both children and adults to play, compete and interact together.
-To promote and support a professional community of cardfighters in cultivating their careers with integrity and dignity around the world.
-To pursue the truth as it is owed to the public, even at the risk of personal endangerment.
In informing the public on the actions of pros, we recognize that even casual fighters that play for fun can learn and use the techniques developed in the course of professional Cardfight. We also duly recognize the potential conflict of interests between the company and the community, the internal elements of Bushiroad, the visionaries and technicians, and between the fundamental artistic pursuits of what the game should be as envisioned by its many authors versus the practical reality of how it is implemented and is under the established system. Where Ito and Bushiroad conflict, it is our choice to side with Ito.

Therefore, our first loyalty is to Akira Ito and the art of the game and our second loyalty is to the player base. Nowhere within this does Bushiroad Inc. nor any other corporate body have direct influence or control over the publication. The actions of Cardfight Pro International as a journalistic body must always be in harmony with these ideals. The betterment of the community, the individual growth of veteran cardfighters as well as newcomers, and the artistic vision of Ito must each be respected by CFPro as an organization. Whosoever holds the chair of head editor must never compromise one principle for the other, nor attempt to subvert these ideals for his or her own personal gain, nor yield to attacks on these ideals. Cardfight!! Vanguard is a game which brings people together; and Cardfight Pro should do the same.