2014: Our year in review (Part 1)

2014 has, without a shadow of a doubt, been the busiest year yet here at Z&A. As with 2012 and 2013 we thought it'd be fun to review the year's key events.

January kicked off with a new release on the first first day of the year, possibly setting the tone for a year with a huge number of releases. A week later we reintroduced the Z&A Punishment Pickers having rewritten them to provide a lot more functionality. Our first Raven Park dance of the year was goth/Victorian themed and held to celebrate the opening of the Raven Park Abbey.

Other releases this month were the bend over barrel, the dog cage and reboots of the whipping posts and staked out. We also made a little gift for all VT members to help celebrate VT's 6th birthday.

The second Raven Park dance of the month was originally to be Beatles-themed but turned into a no-theme dance when Vila couldn't attend (the Beatles theme was for her).

February was a fairly busy month that saw the release of the new range of Z&A restraints. Other releases included the Quadcopter and the reboot of the single ceiling chain point. Because it was Z&A's 4th birthday we also made the Misfortune Cookies and the Chandelier Gag available as gifts to everyone who came to the birthday party and we then released them along with the Stocking Gag the following week.

Raven Park dances this month included a Beatles theme (postponed from the previous dance) and, of course, the Z&A birthday dance (which was actually held at Z&A).

March continued with a mixture releases of brand new builds as well as reboots of older products. The first release was a reboot of the popular Z&A Lamp Post, now all in mesh and with a much lower land impact. Next we extended the restraint range with the Z&A Nipple Pins. The following week saw the release of the Z&A Arm Cuffs as well as reboots of the wall chains and single wall chain. Finally we released an update to the Z&A Sub HUD as well as reboots of the Z&A Dootmat and Quadripod.

Raven Park dance themes this month included Cyberpunk and anniversaries.

March was also the month where we were saddened to hear of the passing of Madame Lizbeth, someone who has a significant place in the history of Z&A.

April brought the Z&A Soap Gag, Z&A Thought, reboots of the Leaning Cross, Staked Wide and Pet Cage, reboots of the carry restraints (including the ever-popular shopping bags), the start of a small range of wearable devices (great for restraining people in no-rez areas) and reboots of the shackle rod and sitting cross, a reintroduction of the leather and bunny hoods and the addition of a wool hood and catsuit and finally a reboot of the Z&A Anti-Cam and the release of a non-RLV mesh stable suitable for pony boys and girls.

Dance themes on Raven Park for the month were deranged circus and twisted Easter.

May kicked off with the release of two new cells, the first in a while (something that would change later on in the year). The following week saw the start of a project to replace our original Rosewood products with a new range of Chestnut-textured reboots. The following week saw the first release of a Z&A vehicle in quite a while along with two more additions to the chestnut range. The final releases for the month included reboots of the relief cushion and the bend back stand.

Raven Park dances this month were themed pony play and all things related to the British comic 2000AD.

June kicked off with the first hunt we'd taken part in since The Femdom Hunt IV. Given the theme we couldn't not be part of the D/s hunt.

Releases for the month started out with a chestnut version of the hanging plank and a reboot of the weight hang in light, dark and chestnut versions. The following week saw 10 new products released, including the Z&A Floor Scrub, a reboot of the arch hang frame, the stress display and the arms up display. The following week was equally as prolific with another 10 releases that included reboots of the cage frame, the tell display cage, the forced all fours and the kneel cross. The month ended with the release of 8 more products that included the wall display cage, the storage box and versions of the single and double wall chains to match the chestnut range of devices.

One short-lived release this month, made especially for members of the RLV Communities group, was the Z&A Cake.

Raven Park dance themes this month were Mel Brooks, Messed Up Disney and Armagriddon.

Behind the scenes this was the month that the very early planning work for The Femdom Hunt V started. Also behind the scenes Antony had his head deep into lots of scripting, working away on this year's second big product range release. More on that in the second half of our review of 2014.