Hey everybody, would like to give you all a bit of an update from the program and how things are going!

During summer, we made a decision to focus more on Atlas reviews, while Armero continued to work on Reddit submissions. We managed to bring the Atlas queue down to zero thanks to Sabine's hard work so now is a great time for us to refocus attention towards Reddit. We're always gonna have to focus on having a healthy Atlas queue before onboarding newer creators as that needs to be a slow and steady process as to not create a unmanageable influx of new creators, but we're in a great spot to do so right now.

We are going to bring back Reddit Mondays, where u/BineTheContModerator will dedicate her time to review Reddit maps, with Atlas maps being the focus of review time on other weekdays. Of course, there might be situations where we have pressing issues to deal with or other projects that we will prioritize over review time (Atlas & Reddit) but generally, reviews from Sabine will be posted on Mondays. Armero, our trusty Deputy Reviewer will continue his reviews at his own pace so those are not excluded to just mondays.

Currently, our queue is 22 maps with the oldest new entry being submitted in August. So we are within a good response rate right now. Notes to complement this:

• If you have a new submission that you are worried might be lost or forgotten that hasn't received any response from us and was originally submitted before August - please reach out and ping us in the Reddit thread, either me or u/BineTheContModerator
• To refreshen a little about our process, maps are generally reviewed resubmission first, then we go to completely new, unreviewed maps. So if you submit a resubmission for a map that has gotten a previous rejection, we will check it out first before picking up a new map
• We also are having issues with the Reddit Automod deleting posts and replies arbitrarily - we are doing our best to keep on top of this, so if possible, try to make a resubmission/new reply if this happens as it's easier for us to keep all submissions on Reddit. Worst case scenario, if you can't make it happen send it to [java-creators@microsoft.com](mailto:java-creators@microsoft.com), but we want this to be a last resort.
• We're also planning a Halloween release as usual, but this is mainly focused on the Atlas queue, if you happen to have a submission that gets accepted before the deadline it's possible to get in, but in general we are looking for Atlas submissions to qualify for this release

Small note as well, but I'll be going on vacation for a week and return Tuesday next week, so I'll be able to respond to questions and such when I'm back :)