13 Years on the Internet
Jun. 29th, 2009 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kronmanOver the weekend, I ran into a private server for my first MMO game, Redmoon. This got me thinking about my past on the Interwebz and what I was doing during certain stages of my life.
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To test my self-teachings of HTML, I created a Sailor Moon fansite on Geocities. It still exists, but only until later this year. While I haven't used it in 3 years or updated its content in over 7 years, it will be sad to watch it die. (I also helped![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
morganskye with her first website there, as well as a few other sites I created for school projects.) Just as the Gen-Xers mourn the loss of their Michael Jackson days and childhood iconography, I'm going to miss my first (and only self-made) website.
2000-2004 College Years
Other highlights: College had a crappy cable Internet line, I paid for cable at home during the Summer, but parents kept dialup (and still have it to this day). I went home every weekend to do laundry, and I took my tower with me to stay online. NPrimary email was Hotmail and CofC.edu. Memes started to appear because the Internet community was growing so large. Search engines used were Yahoo and later the infamous Google. Browsers: Firefox.
2004-present After College/Married Years
Current gaming experiences: It's impossible to list every game I've played in the past 5 years, but many were: Diablo 2, City of Heroes/Villians, Everquest 2, Ragnarok Online (see? still up there), World of Warcraft (tried it for 2 weeks), Warhammer Online, EVE Online. It seems that I tend to rotate through games, sometimes going back to them later. Paying monthly for a game makes this habit easy.
Beta tested, but didn't buy it: Lord of the Rings Online, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, Hellgate London. I've seen many games die terrible deaths. Some of them shouldn't have made it out of beta (coughtabularasacough).
First person shooters finally got into my gaming diet: Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Quake Wars: Enemy Territory, Battlefield 2142, and Call of Duty: World at War. I can only play FPS's effectively on the PC, and even then my aiming isn't so stellar. You won't see me going on killing sprees, but my enjoyment of these games has only gotten better. It's like learning that you can love more than one game--your heart gets bigger.
Other highlights: I now own a cell phone (iPhone) that I use not only as a phone, but as a way to update Twitter, check in with my guildmates on our website, play games during long waits, and find my way around town. I use Gmail as my primary email address. Live Journal is mostly updated though shipments to it from Twitter. Interest specific websites becoming not only their own communities, but their own utilities (Ravelry for knitting/crocheting). Memes come and go like underwear. Free browser-based MMO's. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter: all used to keep in touch and all becoming the same utility. Browswers: Firefox, Chrome, Safari (iPhone).
The Future
Gaming: Two games I'm waiting on are Stargate Worlds and Star Trek Online. Both were pushed back due to the economy, I believe, but promise to be phenomenal once released. Games will become communities in their own right.
Blogging/Writing: I'm hoping to find more reasons to blog and keep others updated. My hobbies are expanding to include not only my love of crafts, but also my love of learning, so hopefully I'll be able to offer my insights as I grow. I have a young Writing Journal that doesn't get enough love, just scraps I have to get out of myself at times. I don't need attention as a blogger, but I'd like to refine my writing to be comprehensible to others. Or maybe I'll finally pick up my bass guitar and learn how to play it.
Highlights? Everything is becoming mobile. One day the desktop computer will be replaced by the mobile office and wireless facility. The only thing keeping businesses grounded will be physical product. Whole cities will become WiFi hotspots, eventually whole countries. The Internet will be free...and necessary.
The days are gone for such play. Another day in its place. I have played so many places. Diosa, Sakray, Nektulos, Freedom...now realms left behind. Iron Rock may soon join their ranks. For what? For where? The opportunity to play an old game? An "old flame"? Tempting. Yet the times are different. The world has moved on.
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1996-1999 High School Years
While in high school I used the Internet for chatting in Virtual Places through Excite. There I learned nettiqette as well as general computer knowledge through the many friends I made who had my same interests (Japan, Anime room, Roleplaying). Chat rooms were better than the real world to me at that point in my life. You could be a fly on the wall, or the center of attention, hated, loved, dramatic, eccentric. You could be whatever persona you wanted to be. And there I found the personalities that were inside me. I had two online relationships (not at the same time, mind you!). I still talk to one or two people from that time in my life, and I've seen many more go on to have exciting lives.
To test my self-teachings of HTML, I created a Sailor Moon fansite on Geocities. It still exists, but only until later this year. While I haven't used it in 3 years or updated its content in over 7 years, it will be sad to watch it die. (I also helped
morganskye with her first website there, as well as a few other sites I created for school projects.) Just as the Gen-Xers mourn the loss of their Michael Jackson days and childhood iconography, I'm going to miss my first (and only self-made) website.Other highlights: Nothing but dialup available. Other chat clients I used include ICQ (4143764--why do I remember that number!?) and AIM. Blogging didn't exist yet. My primary email address was through Hotmail. I used pirated (cracked) software for programs such as Paint Shop Pro and CD burners (because what 15 year old could pay for it?) Finding cracked software and authentication codes were a search engine step away. Search engines used included Netscape, Excite, and Webcrawler. Browsers: Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.
2000-2004 College Years
After my teenage obsession with chatting with EVERYONE died, I had to replace it with something. Crappy scanners, even crappier web cams (I must have owned 4--and they all sucked), AIM, and early MMO's were the ticket. Blogging was starting to crop up in the form of "diaries" such as Xanga and Live Journal. I had accounts on both.
First MMO experiences: Redmoon was my first MMO experience. Like so many games I've gotten in to, I played it with my then boyfriend (who I had met in Virtual Places.) I also met my long-time friend Jazzy sama (his Philar was Hokubokosni--why the hell can I still spell that!?) while there. Many of us then went on to play Ragnarok Online--which I played for many years on an off, even after I got married. I also tried out Everquest, but surprisingly, it just wasn't my thing. I wasn't very mature yet, and I enjoyed cutesy sprites more than anything.
Other highlights: College had a crappy cable Internet line, I paid for cable at home during the Summer, but parents kept dialup (and still have it to this day). I went home every weekend to do laundry, and I took my tower with me to stay online. NPrimary email was Hotmail and CofC.edu. Memes started to appear because the Internet community was growing so large. Search engines used were Yahoo and later the infamous Google. Browsers: Firefox.
2004-present After College/Married Years
I got married in 2004 after I graduated from college. These days have been filled with networking home computers and all-in-one printers, a few good (and numerous bad) PC games, digital cameras, Flickr and Photobucket, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and the beginnings of 3D MMO's.
Current gaming experiences: It's impossible to list every game I've played in the past 5 years, but many were: Diablo 2, City of Heroes/Villians, Everquest 2, Ragnarok Online (see? still up there), World of Warcraft (tried it for 2 weeks), Warhammer Online, EVE Online. It seems that I tend to rotate through games, sometimes going back to them later. Paying monthly for a game makes this habit easy.
Beta tested, but didn't buy it: Lord of the Rings Online, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, Hellgate London. I've seen many games die terrible deaths. Some of them shouldn't have made it out of beta (coughtabularasacough).
First person shooters finally got into my gaming diet: Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Quake Wars: Enemy Territory, Battlefield 2142, and Call of Duty: World at War. I can only play FPS's effectively on the PC, and even then my aiming isn't so stellar. You won't see me going on killing sprees, but my enjoyment of these games has only gotten better. It's like learning that you can love more than one game--your heart gets bigger.
Other highlights: I now own a cell phone (iPhone) that I use not only as a phone, but as a way to update Twitter, check in with my guildmates on our website, play games during long waits, and find my way around town. I use Gmail as my primary email address. Live Journal is mostly updated though shipments to it from Twitter. Interest specific websites becoming not only their own communities, but their own utilities (Ravelry for knitting/crocheting). Memes come and go like underwear. Free browser-based MMO's. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter: all used to keep in touch and all becoming the same utility. Browswers: Firefox, Chrome, Safari (iPhone).
The Future
Gaming: Two games I'm waiting on are Stargate Worlds and Star Trek Online. Both were pushed back due to the economy, I believe, but promise to be phenomenal once released. Games will become communities in their own right.
Blogging/Writing: I'm hoping to find more reasons to blog and keep others updated. My hobbies are expanding to include not only my love of crafts, but also my love of learning, so hopefully I'll be able to offer my insights as I grow. I have a young Writing Journal that doesn't get enough love, just scraps I have to get out of myself at times. I don't need attention as a blogger, but I'd like to refine my writing to be comprehensible to others. Or maybe I'll finally pick up my bass guitar and learn how to play it.
Highlights? Everything is becoming mobile. One day the desktop computer will be replaced by the mobile office and wireless facility. The only thing keeping businesses grounded will be physical product. Whole cities will become WiFi hotspots, eventually whole countries. The Internet will be free...and necessary.
The days are gone for such play. Another day in its place. I have played so many places. Diosa, Sakray, Nektulos, Freedom...now realms left behind. Iron Rock may soon join their ranks. For what? For where? The opportunity to play an old game? An "old flame"? Tempting. Yet the times are different. The world has moved on.
