Yeah, I just don't know where I'm going with that post.
This is the very first avatar I used on the Internet. It has a character attached to it, a character that I fondly remember now. He wasn't very interesting personality-wise, but the design I had in mind for him was pretty correct. He was a member of the Kochaque people, from the French comics Dungeon, in which all characters are anthropomorphized animals (difference between upstanding members of society and cartoon characters yadda yadda).
Ooooh, boy... I was, what, twelve maybe, when I created Great Handsome Oppressor. He was just an usual adventurer, not really strong and a bit overweight, but quite friendly and determined. He wore light, white clothes that contrasted with his dark fur. Unlike the rest of his people, which used sabres, scimitars and throwing daggers, he fought with a halberd. He was a burglar too, but was not very good at it, and got caught. He was banned from Kochaque Steppes, got through the mountains, and began roaming the plains.
So many things happened... There was a fan-made, free MMO based on Dungeon. Sadly, this game is now defunct. But back then, I joined that game, as Great Handsome Oppressor. I played it for at least three years. The goals were, apart from leveling, to gather enough cheddar to build a Dungeon with the rest of your guild, and to take over the other guilds' Dungeons. Dungeon raids were a very perilous task that required preparation, communication, and synchronisation. The defending guild's master could directly control the monsters of his Dungeons, which means you couldn't exploit their Artificial Stupidity and had to give it your all.
I didn't even have a computer at home, back then. I'd go to the public library after school, and spend about an hour on the game and its forums, using my action points wisely while I had fun chatting with the other members. I'd then browse the shelves and bring some interesting books and comics home. During the holidays, whenever none of my friends were available and my family didn't plan anything, I'd run off to the library and spend the whole afternoon there, using one of the computers to play and chat.
Thinking back, I think I've never had as much fun as I did back then. Because the community wasn't huge, it was really easy to get into it, as they were very welcoming and friendly, and also very forgiving of newbieness. Almost none of them considered the game to be Serious Business too. There were many guilds, each with their particular quirks, and we all killed each other in good fun. I remember that I was a member of the Metamads, a group of people that thought madness was the key to enlightenment. There were also the Flying Questers, our dearest allies, the Templars of Souls and Time, our eternal rivals, and many others. We also had big projects, like a player-made gazette which got a huge success (I even participated to the second issue, writing an article about music and creating a couple of puns for the horoscope), a neutral Dungeon for big in-games events, and a world-sized game of football between all guilds at once.
I made a lot of Internet friends on that game that I really miss now. Karis, Lutin, Octomad... I'm pretty sure I'll never find them again, and that made me tear up because they were awesome and I hope they're all doing great. I mean, I did meet new people afterwards, people that I really love and that I call my friends without a doubt and without shame, and that I would certainly miss if we were to stray apart.
But it's not the same, simple fun. There are always arguments, tensions, rudeness... Everything is taken seriously, people take offence from the most harmless things, people rarely question their opinions and think that they're right no matter what... Maybe it's simply that I grew up, maybe it's simply the Internets, but I miss being in a relatively small community that didn't care about who were its members, didn't judge them, and just wanted to ensure that everyone felt welcome and had fun.
Maybe that's why I want to stick with the AZ forums. I mean, sure, there are really stupid arguments going on (remember how the Gastly gijinka
had to be black?) and it's easy to offend some of you, but, I don't know... There's always something fun going on, and you're all so nice and awesome. I don't really know how to word it, but I think more easily of you as real people than I usually do on the Internet. Maybe that's because you put some feelings in your messages, eeh... I really don't know how to describe it, but yeah, you feel real, and even though AZ is not all about having fun like the old forum I used to browse, and even though I don't know most of you half as well as I want to, I think I really like how frank and caring you are.
Man I'm just too tusundre to tell you that I love you AZ.
totally blushing
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