The Nostalgia Thread

[Larrien]

I hope that those of you who remember me are doing well and meeting success either in college or professionally.

1. Roughly in late 1999, but I obtained my first gold account in September of 2001. Larrien was created in the middle of 2002. I then went through a difficult time convincing the game's administration that this account had been legitimately upgraded, for reasons that now escape me -- some e-mail receipt confusion -- and from September to November of that year I had no gold access.

1a. During Christmas vacation of 2002. I had just returned from seeing Star Trek: Nemesis in theater, to my great disappointment. As I recall, most of my contemporaries had already gotten in on Era during its beta stage debut (October?), so I thought I would take a few moments of my night to see what it was about. I began to like it too much -- the politics and goings-on of the server distracted me from a far more important role elsewhere, but my lack of time management and circumspection then was a personal failing.

2. Larrien.

3. Era Police. EFBI. Didn't we also have Section 31? Let's be quite honest: the entire system was incestuous, as the same core people made up each subsequent agency iteration. It had nothing to do with ensuring the security of the player base, as the real reason you obtained a tag in one of the above was for perceived importance and self-indulgence. We were never able to accomplish anything, but it led to a myopic culture of hubris, and I suspect I might have been the worst offender.

4. Era Radio. There was also the theater south of the hospital, which one might say was above the typical Era player in scope and intent. During 2003, I was able to manipulate my way into two or three million dollars of Era Hotel room profits, which was utterly inane; the mark of an inflationary and out of control economy, a burden the server never was able to surmount during my tenure despite at least one acrimonious reset.

5. Considering that we are now going back over half of a decade, there isn't a specific event which stands out to me as being greater than the sum of the experience. I had the privilege to interact with some capable, interesting individuals, was a high-profile member of the numerous enforcement agencies above, and earned some notoriety through my occasional public messaging, which I attempted to put effort into -- since it did seem like I was arguing a lot. I noticed tonight that there's not a lot on this forum regarding 'my' nascent Era -- didn't we have our own site at one point?

The truth is, even if that Era came back today, there is no way I could enjoy it. I'd be completely out of place, or out of time. I think those of you who were near my age then know why.

6. jenn's tenure as manager, only because I think it's fair to say it sent the server into a decline it has never come out of. I was a more than outspoken opponent of what she wanted to do with the server, but that's neither here nor there. I think any of us who remember Era during that time period wish we hadn't been correct in anticipating its fate.

7. Obtaining remote control access in September of 2003 for a week in an entirely irrelevant capacity, because it was something I had never experienced before.

8. Leaving Era and this game entirely without a word of notice was the best decision I ever made. What's even more galling is that in the one hour I spent on the server last year, it's as if it was embalmed; excepting a few cosmetic adjustments I could have started again without needing to re-learn anything. This may be a wider sign as to why the overall game is completely inert. Maybe I'll purchase an iPhone to relive my Classic nostalgia again ... not.