QUOTE OF THE DAY : "God Bless America, and God help Canada to put up with them." --Unknown

SONG OF THE DAY : Mos Def and The High and Mighty - B-Boy

LINK OF THE DAY : Newgrounds: Fun Flash Games

Let them come:
They come like sacrifices in their trim,
And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war
All hot and bleeding will we offer them:
The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit
Up to the ears in blood.



Ahh... It's good to be back in Nar Shaddaa. Only 30 people here? I remembered this place when it was full constantly and you had to fight to get in.

Nar Shaddaa: A fictional den of scum and villainy that doubled as a place for 12 year old newbies to say how gay things were, and for seasoned vets to say how stupid the newbies were; And then promptly whoop their collective asses. I am of course talking about a now derelict meeting place for gamers.

I'm a gamer. I'll always be a gamer. I enjoy playing games, both online and offline. I've had a lot of good times playing games. Back in my junior high and high school days, I played a game called Jedi Knight : Dark Forces 2. Sequel to the popular Star Wars set first person shooter Dark Forces... 1.

This was a great game. One of the best games of all time in my opinion. I played it online and I met a bunch of great people through it, many of whom I've known for almost 7 years. We were in gaming guilds/clans. Pretty self-explanatory... We were part of the clan, we stuck together, and we fought other clans.

They were good times, and unlike anything else that has been before. A group of people around the world, strangers, come together in the name of fun, without ever meeting in person. Online gaming is a very unique experience. And was even more unique in 1997, which in terms of the internet was a long frigging time ago.

It's just kind of mind boggling. I've known these clanmates longer than some of my real life friends. Yet I haven't, and probably will never meet any of them. We weren't computer geeks who couldn't even talk to a woman, some of us probably were... But we all for the most part were normal guys and girls who just enjoyed competition. I only know the real names of a few of my clanmates. Most though I only knew by their internet alias' ; DE_Exar_Kun, Admiral_KsD, KDE_Euphoria, Jedi Master_KsD, Surge_KsD, Gordakarn, DE_Rebel1, HecRol, etc. The list goes on, you know who you are.

Call it the ramblings of a washed up hardcore gamer... But we were the best. We were respected in clan circles. Our clan Dark Empire probably had some of the best players in the world in it, and I'm not exaggerating that fact. What is internet respect worth though ? In '97... Not a hell of a lot. As time goes on though, I think that will change. Already there are professional online gamers, albeit few and far between. They will multiply though, as gaming comes to the forefront of public consciousness.

I think in retrospect, 25 years from now, people like my former clanmates and I will be seen as trail blazers. My friends-who-are-strangers and I had a lot of good times, and whether or not I ever meet them in person doesn't matter. We shared an experience that we'll all probably remember for the rest of our lives, and you can't ask for more than that.

So to all the great people I've met in my online gaming travels...
Thanks for the good times... It was fun.

Logging off the Zone.

-Will
   Sunday, October 12, 2003