The History of the Community: Part I

[Aoslare]

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day; and even Slarty will finish a project twice a year. Or part of a project, anyway.

 

Here is the first part of my long-touted (I won't say long-awaited) History of the Community. This part is the actual History, and describes the evolution of the Community over the last 15 years:

 

 

1995-1997: Prehistory

 

This is the period during which Jeff Vogel published the Exile Trilogy. Neither the present community nor its precursors existed during this era; nonetheless, it is the setting of the genesis story for the community, for it was the Exile games, and most importantly, Blades of Exile, published in late 1997, that caused the community to come into existence.

 

 

1998-2000: The Blades Community

 

Although these years predate the Spiderweb forums in any of their incarnations, but a vibrant community sprang up around Blades of Exile and the hundreds of users who designed scenarios and shared them online. In early 1998, the ITW Forums became a popular place for scenario-makers to congregate. Later that year the Lyceum was created and became the hub of meticulous and creative scenario design.

 

The two years that followed are often thought of as the Golden Age of Blades. A huge number of revered scenarios were released during this time. As the community revolved around scenarios, its most prominent figures were designers and webmasters: names like Brett Bixler and Alcritas. This was also the era of the original Arena, hosted by Aceron and then Akhronath. The only users still around from this era, to my knowledge, are Stareye and Lilith.

 

In the second half of 2000, Spiderweb Software cut its support for BoE significantly as it began to focus on the new Avernum line of games. Around this time the ITW Forums went down. But it was another development that truly changed the community at this time.

 

 

2001-2003: The Old SW Era

 

In 2001 Spiderweb created its first message board system, known as the Ikonboard. The Ikonboard was very similar in appearance and function to even today's forums. Its culture was very different, however. When the Ikonboard was created, its community emerged from a primordial soup of Exile and Avernum players of all ages, but especially a lot of pre-teen boys, into which the scenario designers of the Lyceum often ventured.

 

The boards were tumultuous during this time. Mods came and went — there were 25 in the course of these 3 years — and although the community was generally friendly, ad hominem insults, spam, and crudeness that would not be tolerated today were commonplace. Nonetheless a common culture began to emerge and many people felt close ties to the boards. The boards were full of humor: BEEP, News at 11, Nephil vs. Slith, Xian Skull, and a host of other forum "classics" stem from this era.

 

Around the end of 2001 the Ikonboard was replaced with the original Spiderweb UBB. A number of new moderators appeared, and Drakefyre was given the first non-Spiderweb admin account. There were often tensions between members (moderators included) who had different views of what the boards. Some moderators even used their positions to harass other members. These conflicts were well symbolized by the creation of the first two major satellite forums, first Desperance, and then Polaris which was created as a "Conspiracy" and bulwark against Desperance.

 

Much of this primal activity took place in the Misc. forum. Eventually the tides turned against the more abrasive moderators; this was evident first in the demodding of TM, Scorpius, Alec, and Djur, and more clearly in the eradication of the Misc. forum itself at the end of 2002. General conversation was redirected to General, with an expectation of greater courtesy and cleanliness that was often, though not always, met. During 2003, the General forum was fileld with a huge number of RPs, far more than in any other era, and the RP became one of the chief ways in which members interacted and cultural elements were propagated.

 

Throughout this time the BoE community continued to flourish, although there was not the same volume of legendary scenarios as there had been earlier. The BoE community was alternated encouraged by user-run contests and other developments, and slowed by events such as the Solberg controversy, the Blades MegaSite fiasco, and eventually, Jeff's preliminary announcements about Blades of Avernum.

 

 

2004-2006: The Middle SW Era

 

In early 2004, Blades of Avernum was released. It received a furiously mixed reaction from forum-goers. Jeff had taken pains to engage the BoE community in the design of BoA, but many members were not happy with the result, and still viewed Jeff as a traitor from the drop in support for BoE years earlier. This was the Sundering of Blades; conversation about BoA was primary in the forums, displacing even the RPs in General, and initial excitement gave way to fierce disagreement over how to regard BoA and indeed Spiderweb itself.

 

The two other games released during this era, Geneforge 3 and Avernum 4, were by far the most maligned of their respective series, and contributed to the negative sentiment some older members had against Jeff. During the course of this era, there was a slow trickle of these oldbies who departed from the community, sometimes with an angry parting screed, but more often with a gradual, unexplained disappearance.

 

BoA was a commercial failure, but G3 and A4 were not, and indeed brought many new members to the boards. Additionally, the pre-teen boys that had been so vocally dominant in the Early SW Era had grown a few years older. As a result the culture shifted in a more thoughtful direction. The Middle SW Era is characterized, more than anything else, by this mixture of older and newer members. As time went on the community began to seem like more and more of a Community, with zealously followed traditions and even formal rites like Aran's Monthly Stats.

 

In 2006, this convergence of old and new came to a head in more ways than one. On the one hand, it was probably the most social period of the forums. Spiderweb Chats took place regularly, and unlike the Room 3 chats of earlier days, they involved a broad cross-section of members. In General, Spiderweb-specific memes were actively generated, centering around metaphorical depictions of members, custom titles, matchmaking, comic strips, and perhaps most notably, the beginning of Dikiyoba's Episodes. At the same time, General became home to extensive debate threads discussing everything from the nature of love and marriage to the nature of scientific peer review.

 

Conflict with Jeff also came to head in early 2006, in an incident with Ash Lael now known as Ashby-gate. After this point, the remaining oldbies began to leave the forums in greater numbers, while Jeff took a step back and, in large part, ceased visiting the forums. Most emblematic of all was the final banning of Terror's Martyr in the summer of 2006. TM had been the most controversial, and among the most prolific, presences on the forums since their inception. Between his ban, the departure of many other older members, and Spiderweb's shift in focus away from scenario design engines, the culture of the boards began to shift again.

 

 

2007-Present: The New SW Era

 

The end of 2006 was a time of much change. Spider, the mascot of Spiderweb Software, passed on. Polaris died. Salmon led a Conspiracy to inundate the boards with spam, which in fact caused spam to become less tolerated, and led to the cancelling of the Monthly Stats. People held chats to debate whether or not BoA had a future. And Spiderweb released Geneforge 4, a game that was very well received by the community, being described as a fresh start and as seeming full of life.

 

In 2007, Polaris was replaced by the third major satellite, Shadow Vale. It is not just on that account that I refer to the first three years of this era as the Age of Shadows, however. Many older things had recently passed away and were replaced with new things that seemed but a shadow of the old. The memes in General became increasingly a matter for self-spectating. Comic strips and novellettes were gradually replaced with posting games. The debates became less common. TM seemed to be replaced in many ways by ET, who was also very funny, but somehow much less beloved.

 

Early 2007 also saw the addition of a new crop of mods, none of whom were oldbies. Drakefyre had mostly departed by this point, and under Stareye's banner the mods became somewhat stricter, while the boards became somewhat friendlier and significantly cleaner. The UBB.threads "upgrade" in 2008 enhanced this shift as it expanded the spheres of influence of all the mods. It also led to the creation of the fourth and final major satellite, the Calamity Refuge Forums. CRF sucked many of the board's youngest members away; in practice, it became more like the Misc. of elder days, which also contributed to the general rise in expectations of courtesy for posts on the forums.

 

The Age of Shadows also references some deception that took place during these years. Several members had secret alternate accounts that received heavy use, including banned iconoclasts like TM and ET. And out of the posting games had become popular on General sprang Slarty's brainchild, the Darkside Loyalist Witch Hunts, which involved each player having a secret identity. The second one was infamous for being the largest activity ever organized among the community, for generating replies faster than has otherwise been seen, and also for ending prematurely in an angry cloud of fighting.

 

The Witch Hunts had several consequences. Least direct, but most important, was Ephesos's exploration of more social RP formats, eventually leading him to run his Labyrinth campaign in late 2009. Labyrinth became the template for AimHack, a new and much livelier format of RP that multiplied repeatedly and became the most widespread event on the forums.

 

The end of 2009 also marked the banning of the last major alternate accounts. Thus, I identify that time with the end of the Age of Shadows and the beginning of the Age of AimHack. In many ways, the boards have remained remarkably static in the years since 2009. The culture has shifted less than in previous years, the list of mods is unchanged, and many of the users who posted heavily in 2007 or 2008 are still around. This is a very different situation from what you would see if you looked back 4 or 5 years from 2007; and so, in my analysis, the New SW Age continues through the present day.

 

 

----

 

I am indebted to Stareye, Lilith, Alorael, and others for sharing their memories of the older time periods. If something above is inaccurate, however, it's probably my fault; I've only just completed this draft, so corrections and other feedback are welcome.

[Dikiyoba]

W00t!

 

Dikiyoba eagerly awaits the remaining parts of the History.

[Randomizer]

A sign of the coming Apocalypse, Slarty is finishing our History.

 

I can't wait for the more detailed version since most of the juicy stuff predates my membership. Keep up the good work.

[Actaeon]

I gather that the history will be completed by fleshing it out, rather than chronologically. Although if you start writing our futures, I'll be very impressed.

 

(Also, this backs up my "midbie" label.)

[Dantius]

It took you this long to finish like three pages of narration sans primary sources and a graphic?

 

I mean, give the prior record of completion of vastly epic projects by various people on SW, I guess it's still better than just not doing anything at all, but I was expecting something more along the lines of Slarty Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Blades Empire or Slartydides's History of the Oldbieonnesian War if you've been working on it for so many years.

[Callie]

You are vastly underestimating Slarty's powers of procrastination.

[Sudanna]

The UBB upgrade didn't lead to the creation of CRF. CRF gained population because some people were dissatisfied with some of SW's members and a perceived elitist culture on the boards. This new community drew some others who came just as part of the natural growth of the forum. Now, most people have left, but Sy, Iffy, Neb, ADoS, and myself are in the chat almost every day.

[Dantius]

Originally Posted By: Excalibur

I just noticed that Dantius and I have an identical number of posts

And now, I am the master and you the apprentice.

[Rowen]

That seem mostly on spot from what I remember. I thought that the Solberg plagiarism happened earlier then 2001 on the ikonboard (summer or fall of 2000). But my memory is a bit foggy on that exactly.

 

And I am now fearful, if Slarty is finishing projects then the Mayans did have it right.

[Actaeon]

Originally Posted By: Dantius

Originally Posted By: Excalibur

I just noticed that Dantius and I have an identical number of posts

And now, I am the master and you the apprentice.

This can only lead to bad things.

[Cairo Jim]

Now I see what I've missed out on on those longs years I went missing. I also wondered when TM got banned. Well now I know.

[Ceiling Durkheim]

Oh man, I remember the Lycaeum. Strictly speaking, I remember the "Lyceum," but I think that's just my memory slipping in my old age. I wrote some pretty second-rate scenarios back then. In my defense, I was thirteen.

[Triumph]

That was a really interesting read! Thanks for sharing it, Slarty!

[VCH]

Yeah, thanks Slarty.

 

Witch Hunt was awesome; it's too bad it ended as it did. I even sort of remember the final scene.

 

Any way, it's strange to think that I've been here off and on since 2001, although I have never been that involved in anything.

[Balladeer]

Quote:

CRF sucked many of the board's youngest members away; in practice, it became more like the Misc. of elder days

Dysphemism say what?

[BMA]

If there was on option to choose, I would gladly have taken the middle SW era; which were apparently full of fights, bans, TM's, ET's, chats, rites and memes. Nothing ever happens now.

 

Oh and 'Dikiyoba's Episodes' seems to be down. Is there an alternate website where we can read Dikiyoba's stories?

[Actaeon]

Check out Aran's thread "Encyclopedia Ermariana Not Working", just down the page. I think he hosts Dikiyoba's stuff, so if he goes back up, so will Diki.

[Aoslare]

Originally Posted By: Actaeon

I gather that the history will be completed by fleshing it out, rather than chronologically.

Originally Posted By: Dantius

It took you this long to finish like three pages of narration sans primary sources and a graphic?

No. As I stated above, the History has multiple parts. I actually started writing this part this morning, although I first had the idea for it in 2008. However, most of the time I have put into this project already has been on the other two parts. One is an EXHAUSTINGLY linked timeline (the primary sources on which this part is in fact based), complete through 2009 at the moment, but waiting for PPP to shift so I can fix the links. The other... well, the other is a surprise, but it's also partially complete.

Originally Posted By: Thin Gypsy Thief

The UBB upgrade didn't lead to the creation of CRF.

Sylae created CRF during a particularly long SW forum downtime (2 or 3 days at least, IIRC) when it wasn't clear when the forums would come back online, as a "refuge" for forum members to still have a place to hang over. Hence the name. This downtime was one of a number that followed shortly on the heels of the upgrade to UBB.

Quote:

CRF gained population because some people were dissatisfied with some of SW's members and a perceived elitist culture on the boards.

Indeed, that's a relevant point and I should probably add it. I should probably say more about the specific tensions that buffeted Desp and Polaris in their early days, too.

Originally Posted By: Rowen

I thought that the Solberg plagiarism happened earlier then 2001 on the ikonboard (summer or fall of 2000).

Your memory is close: it happened at the beginning of 2001, and it took place largely at the Lyceum and not on the SW forums.

Originally Posted By: Jewels in Black

Quote:

CRF sucked many of the board's youngest members away; in practice, it became more like the Misc. of elder days

Dysphemism say what?

Based on the times I lurked at CRF, at least in its first year or two, I think what I said is quite accurate and not a dysphemism at all -- particularly given that I don't think my description of Misc. was negative, either.

Thanks Jewels, Nalyd, and others for the feedback!

[Acky]

Nice work. Will be interested in the next update.

[Randomizer]

For those that want to read or reread Dikiyoba's stories, they can be found here on the earlier site.

[Cairo Jim]

Although I was only about 12 at the time, I did like the old SW era. Ever since Misc got scrapped and General sort of took its place, it did get a tad boring. That and, since I did have several years of very limited, intermittent internet access, a lot of the interesting oldbies left. The ones that stayed all turned into smarties.

[In Half Now]

Thinking about the past feels vaguely sad. :|

 

But this was an interesting read.

 

add: Okay I tried to go read some ages old chats from my early SW years and everything just turned painful. I change my mind; thank goodness those times are gone.

[Astinus]

It's interesting to see just how far Spidweb games have come.

 

Good stuff, Slarty.

 

Originally Posted By: In Half Now

Thinking about the past feels vaguely sad. :|

 

But this was an interesting read.

 

add: Okay I tried to go read some ages old chats from my early SW years and everything just turned painful. I change my mind; thank goodness those times are gone.

 

(.) (.)

[Dikiyoba]

Originally Posted By: Randomizer

For those that want to read or reread Dikiyoba's stories, they can be found here on the earlier site.

Only the first three are available there. But that's okay, because only the first three are worth reading anyway.

Dikiyoba.

[A less presumptuous name.]

Wow, a fascinating read. I've been here for decent number of years, although I haven't been one of the fancy "active members." With Spiderweb's recent influx of new players, first with Avadon and then the new platforms, I've felt like an old member. This really puts it all into perspective for me, since my oldest memories only go back to the beginning of Slarty's newest age.

[Kelandon]

But the scandals! The wire fraud accusations! The Zeviz adminship! The mod elections! The sex and violence! This history needs to be jazzed up with less family-friendly fare.

 

The Solberg controversy suddenly became a lot less interesting to me when I realized that it was basically just Alcritas arguing against Djur for about a day or two.

 

I was most active from 2004 to 2007, and I always had this feeling that it was right after everything interesting had happened. As far as I could tell, the best time to be in the community was from the beginning of the Lyceum forums to about the closing of Misc. (What was that, 1998-2003?) I think this history somehow captures that feeling.

[Aoslare]

Wire fraud accusations? Now that's one I haven't heard...

[The Ratt]

It's interesting to look back and see how things have changed. I still check the forums basically every day, but I no longer hold the aspirations that I once had; I realized there are more important things than moderating debates, which can go over my head, or getting a custom title.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: HOUSE of S

Wire fraud accusations? Now that's one I haven't heard...

Alcritas was one of those members of the BoE community who really, really didn't like the fact that BoA got made and released, to the point of viewing it as a deliberate plot to destroy the BoE community. He was upset about some term or other in the BoA licensing agreement contradicting something that Jeff Vogel had said sbout the game on SW's website, and made a thread on the Lyceum about how it might constitute wire fraud.

He also rarely posted on the SW forums because he considered them "corrupt", which was what made nominating him as a candidate in the moderator election so funny. In hindsight, dude was kind of unhinged sometimes: guess that's what comes from being a little too into classical philosophy.

[Goldengirl]

If this is part one, and it goes all the way from the beginning to the current era, what will the next parts consist of? Horoscope predictions of the future of Spiderweb, or perhaps a more fleshed out history for each era? An extensive retelling of the Mountain of Shadows RP, perhaps?

[Kelandon]

I didn't realize that the Lyceum forums still have most of their stuff on them until just now, when I went looking for the wire fraud stuff. There's a link to the original topic here, but the topic doesn't exist anymore, as far as I can tell, and I can't find it easily on any archiving system. It's mentioned again here.

 

As I recall, the substance of the accusation was that the BoE license suggested that Spiderweb would continue to support the game and fix bugs even after release, and since Jeff decided that he would not do so after a certain point but never changed the license, every sale that he had made was fraudulent, and use of the postal service, etc., in furtherance of fraud is also mail fraud. Al, as a law student at the time, presumably knew that this argument was a stretch at best.

 

You can get a little bit of the tenor of the times from reading those old topics, though. (Or the Megasite topic, or Solberg. All of this was circa 2001.) A fair amount of anger had built up in the community over the course of 1997-2001, so when the Spidweb boards were founded, the first few years were tumultuous. It wasn't until 2006 or so that the particularly unruly elements had most departed and the conversations became, well, a lot more tame.

[Dintiradan]

Hey Kel, I was just doing a trawl myself, and I found this.

 

Originally Posted By: Goldenking

An extensive retelling of the Mountain of Shadows RP, perhaps?

Zephyr Tempest's Milkshake brings all the demons to the yard.

[Balladeer]

My view of what was said about Misc includes "insults, spam, and crudeness that would not be tolerated today" and "Some moderators even used their positions to harass other members" and "abrasive moderators". Not that I disagree with the assessment of how CRF is run (indeed, I think it's a good thing to have a separate place where the talk isn't censored by the company's need for "family friendliness" and I cannot say that our mods have never been abrasive... Sorry Artemis) but I noticed a marked absence of speculation on the crudeness of Desp and SV. If you're going to comment on the climate of CRF, you should comment on the climate of all the satellite boards.

 

I also noted the 'CRF sucked members away' part which could have been said much more neutrally.

 

Edit: Completely unrelated; why is it that whenever I figure it's time to check in over here you're finishing up one of your little projects? It's like that silent mental victory you have reaches out and pulls me in.

[Tyranicus]

Originally Posted By: Jewels in Black

I also noted the 'CRF sucked members away' part which could have been said much more neutrally.

Unlike SV, CRF did in fact have that impact on the boards though. The people on SV continued to post on SW. The same is largely true for Polaris and may have been true about Desp, although the latter board's heyday was before my time.

[Actaeon]

There's a find line between an addition and an alternative. Shadow Vale probably pulled a few posts from Spiderweb, but it also existed during a solid period of activity which it, in part, created. One could assert that many of those lost to a satellite would likely have left altogether otherwise. In any case, since the demise of Misc, I think there's a need for a more casual outlet for the community. Someone always fills it.

[Harehunter]

Thank you Slarty for this historical summary. A few of the more recent threads have had me wondering about this chronology.

 

As an oldbie, I was not active during the BoE era, but I did manage to scrape a few sites into my archives. It was in the pre-history days that I noticed web sites appearing, and then disappearing. I resolved to preserve as much as I could, wondering if there would ever be any interest in this material apart from myself. I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to give back to the SW community, never having any inkling of an idea that it would be this strong after this long. It is a pleasure to interact with all of you.

[Balladeer]

Originally Posted By: Tyranicus

Unliked SV, CRF did in fact have that impact on the boards though. The people on SV continued to post on SW. The same is largely true for Polaris and may have been true about Desp, although the latter board's heyday was before my time.

It can still be said with neutrality. "A number of younger members started posting there exclusively." But who are the people who left? Nioca? Sylae? Nalyd? Iffy? ADoS? Neb? Myself?

The first three seem to still post here frequently. For myself, I find my own activity at any forum has dramatically decreased. You might notice in Nalyd's post that I wasn't included in the people that chat there every day. Just the natural progression of going from Homemaker to having 4 part time jobs on top of going back to college.

And not that I watch his posting habits closely, but ADoS has always seemed to post more at satellites than at SW proper especially since Jeff asked for stricter rules. I didn't really get to know him until I started frequenting Desp. With his mental ailments and personal habits, a non-family friendly environment is just a more... open place for him to talk.

Iffy, perhaps, and Neb also would fit the bill of going to CRF to not come back. Anyone else did not stick around at CRF either (Vergil was notorious for being banned at both forums, we'd just let him come back from time to time to try again.) and so showed their tendency to 'hop from place to place'/'move on' as a character trait rather than something that CRF did.

Or maybe it is just my uncomfortableness with the assertion that CRF did anything, as it is an inanimate/virtual object. Community members chose to come and go as they pleased. Some found CRF more to their liking than SWF and spent significantly more time there with a few using it exclusively. Some deep friendships were formed. But the statement that CRF 'sucked' those members away, as if the place has the ability to capture and keep anyone from coming back is... I want to say 'absurd' but it is more like 'something to roll ones eyes at'. Silly, perhaps? Just as silly as claiming that the SW forums drove them to it.

[Aoslare]

Yes, I ought to say more to characterize Desp, Polaris, and SV as well.

 

I'm not sure that it would be possible to characterize any of these four satellites in any way without offending someone, though. All four had elements of exclusivity, oppositionality, posturing, resentment, and snobbery, though the particular way those elements showed through was different in each case. Desp resented the world in general and some members on SW in particular, Polaris resented Desp, SV resented some members on SW, and CRF resented mods on SW and SV. I think the interplay of these elements is particularly evident in the frustration shown by members who frequented multiple boards, on the attitudes in play: Jewels being a great example.

 

Of course many cool things happened on each satellite as well; and it is perhaps a bit reductionist to only talk about the boards in terms of how they related to the SW community at large, which I think I can best describe as "narrowly". But this is a history of the SW community, not the satellite boards, so in order to fit everyone in the shot, they must be content with the less flattering camera angle.

[Actaeon]

The relevance of the satellite boards to your project is, then, the effect they had on the main community?

[Balladeer]

If I had to characterize them, I'd say Polaris was a gentleman's club, Desperance was a strip club, Shadow Vale was that bar where everybody knows your name and Calamity Refuge is that one table at the bar where Barney, Robin, Ted, Lily and Marshall all gather to exchange funny anecdotes, life lessons, and explicit exploit tales... or just complain about life in general, you know, whichever.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Jewels in Black

If I had to characterize them, I'd say Polaris was a gentleman's club, Desperance was a strip club, Shadow Vale was that bar where everybody knows your name and Calamity Refuge is that one table at the bar where Barney, Robin, Ted, Lily and Marshall all gather to exchange funny anecdotes, life lessons, and explicit exploit tales... or just complain about life in general, you know, whichever.

desperance is more like Skull and Bones. an exclusive subcommunity where a bunch of crazy stuff goes on but it's not actually as big a deal as people seem to think.

[Dintiradan]

And Polaris was more like a Masonic Lodge. :-P

[Rowen]

Slarty, will the continuation of the history be in this same thread, new post or edited into the first, or a new thread all together. Every time I see someone post in this one I think you updated it again and get all excited only to see that we are talking about satellites and the raging hormones in our youth against the machine. Makes me miss the silly posting of Polaris, and I'm still trying to move on with my life now that its not just dead, but gone.

[Alorael at Large]

Here's my view, as someone who posted on Desperance for a while many, many, many years ago, posted on Polaris simultaneously for a while, and then dropped Desp and stuck with Polaris irregularly until it died.

 

Desperance started off as one of the more independent satellites. It had its own projects and ideas, notably Djur's vaporware re-implementation of BoE. It had a low signal to noise ratio, but there was real and interesting discussion there along with memes posted in bold, italic capitals. And yes, it was also a community that took pride in its ability to shock and appall. Desperance was also a clique on Spiderweb. Not all Despers were active on Spiderweb, especially later, but many were, and they were perceived, rightly or wrongly, as being more than willing to work together to belittle and harass and just bring a little Desperance mayhem to Spiderweb.

 

(I lived through it and participated a little bit, but I was never especially friendly with Despers or heavily invested. I can talk much more about Polaris.)

 

Polaris was born as a chatroom conspiracy in response to a particular episode, a banner insulting ADoS put up by Scorpius and TM. (With much arguing about relative culpability between them.) Eventually there was a forum to facilitate discussion, and then another (and then another and another and another as hosts stopped hosting, software failed, and so on). Initially it was all venting and revenge, but any community picks up its own character. It became a semi-ironic exclusive club, with its own obvious if not transparent code words. It, too, had projects: a massive world-building collaboration was the big one, but RPs were the major fuel for Polaris. Invitational RP, I think I can say without violating secrecy: the idea was to cherry-pick the cream of the crop from Spiderweb, maybe seduce some promising people into the public areas of Polaris and then, when they proved their mettle and worth, reveal the secret inner sanctum. Mostly more RPs, really.

 

So what were their characters? Desp's was vitriol, much of it I think for vitriol's sake and the humor involved, and it's not like Despers spared each other all that much in their needling. Polaris started out as an opposition group but most of its life was spent in a comfortable feeling of being the elite... but with a lot of silliness and self-awareness.

 

—Alorael, who wishes there were more left of other communities. The Phoenix Boards and the other one that Lady J hosted, with their huge overlaps. The early era with the profusion of Ezboards, most largely ignored. The deeper conspiracies that still cannot be revealed! There were wild, heady days in Spiderweb's youth.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Lack of Dearth

Desperance started off as one of the more independent satellites. It had its own projects and ideas, notably Djur's vaporware re-implementation of BoE.

djur still wants to finish that btw

i mean he won't, but he wants to

[Alorael at Large]

I'm not going to hold my breath or send him my money, but I'll be quite happy if he ever does.

 

—Alorael, who on reflection notes that what makes Slarty mockable isn't that he promises great things and doesn't deliver, but that he promises great things and sometimes comes through, partially or in full. Drakey was funny because his scenario was supposed to be the greatest thing ever and was good fun for years. Promising an endless series of marvels and delivering none just makes you a buffoon. But if delivery remains a possibility, even if it's not probable? Ah, then you can keep everyone on tenterhooks forever!

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Lack of Dearth

But if delivery remains a possibility, even if it's not probable? Ah, then you can keep everyone on tenterhooks forever!

really in some cases that's better than the alternative, as anyone who's played duke nukem forever knows

[Alorael at Large]

Everyone had given up on Duke Nukem. It had no suspense left. People weren't shocked when it came out, just surprised and a bit confused.

 

—Alorael, who hasn't played the newest Duke Nukem. He also hasn't played any others. His feelings towards the franchise remain unchanged.

[Dintiradan]

Tell all expose time!

 

Yeah, here's the thing about Invision Power Board, which is what Polaris and Shadow Vale used: very easy to set up hidden forums. In fact, there are ways for one admin to hide forums from other admins. I get the feeling that Polaris had more hidden forums than actual forums. I mean, there was one forum that was visible to everyone except the admins (however, you could access it if you were logged off, so that kinda defeated the purpose).

 

And since Alorael just revealed the Weather Balloon to the few who didn't already know about it: yeah, the RPI was a thing, but it was a completely dead thing by the time I got on board. And it really wasn't that much of a secret. It was clear that players in the Avernum RP were acting in concert, I just assumed they were coordinating via chat rather than by forum.

 

Shadow Vale had Aran as one of the admins, so it has a similar culture of hidden forums. The Temple of Dikiyoba was there, and I get the feeling it existed on Polaris as well. I'd feel bad about revealing it, but to be honest it was just another spam forum, and barely visited shortly after its creation. There was also a forum dedicated to buffer overflow exploits in BoA. I don't feel bad at all talking about this, because it started out being public, and was only hidden after it starting attracting teh haxxors.

 

I'm trying to think of any other satellite boards that haven't been mentioned yet, and the only I can think of is RIFQ. Another also-ran with no real charter.

[Actaeon]

Well, there's still five people in the "Avernites Anonymous" Facebook page.