A long time ago in a galaxy far far away the first of us on 2old2play started migrating to make this our home for all things video game...
What initially was just a small gathering of friends has become what you see here today. I don't think anyone ever imagined what 2old2play would grow to become in those early months. Doodi was just looking to build a hangout spot for his buddies to talk shit, run their potty mouths without fear of reprisal, and occasionally get a little gaming in. Our version of a "clubhouse" for all things Halo 2 if you will, since that was by far the dominant game in those early days...probably even the only game.
I remember so fondly that first LAN in Chicago, and meeting the people that I consider some of my closest friends today. To give you a little perspective, in that first year, the majority of the LAN attendees all sat down to dinner together...at one table...with one waitress. That is how few there were of us. Once the gaming started, I doubt there were more than 25 all told in that oh so small and oh so smelly conference room. While every LAN holds its memories, none will surpass this one for me. Ebola getting violated after becoming nearly blackout drunk, meeting Doodi (Lisa) in person for the first time and wondering who the "teenager" was, having Knaabi parade his wife and kids through the game room and watching all the "F" words getting immediately curbed, being threatened by hotel staff because of our volume and the liquor consumption, meeting the first three O.G. Wheezing Geezers and watching them become the second site clan, and the first official LAN Halo tourney which doodi and DSmooth actually participated in, and so much more. The feeling of walking into a room of people and calling each other by gamertags for the first time is a feeling that I remember to this day. I wondered then what it must sound like to outsiders to hear names being tossed around like Bubba, Sub-T, doodi, King Drewsky, DSmooth, etc. I suspect the hotel staff was expecting wizard robes and cardboard swords and guns to be brought out. That first LAN was important to many of us in different ways. Globally for the site and I think most importantly, we have seen so many LAN offshoots develop as clans get together with their members and the yearly annual site LAN has become a great yearly event which many members plan some part of their year around.
In the last five years, we have also seen the site undergo the various versions of metamorphosis that makes it what it is today. We've seen many new clans form, seen a few clans forget what this site is supposed to be about and leave. We've seen new faces come, seen many old faces go. The last I consider every now and then and wonder where some of my friends have gone. Many just quit visiting and never officially post any message about "leaving". We simply notice they are gone months or weeks after they have left when there are no more posts.
We've seen every years new version of "post-whore"...it must be difficult to maintain since no manages it for any extended period of time. We've seen the addition of blogs, the removal of the "thumbs" button, "blog-whoring", people up in arms about "blog-whoring", the short time period where blogs seemed to be more about porn than about what was going on in lives, and watched many personalities and lives develop through the blogs.
People develop and change, but we've seen whole clans do the same. Personally, I've seen the original clan undergo a number of changes as well. Unlike most clans here, we are no longer really a gaming clan so to speak. As we were comprised of the longest tenured members, we have maybe had the most atrophy. People's lives change and other areas of those lives become more important than gaming. We now sit around like a bunch of grumpy old men, wax nostalgic, post major accomplishments in life outside of gaming, and really just "keep in touch". Occasionally, a die hard trooper (looking in swooshdave's direction) tries to drum up support for a new Halo being launched. Most members now are in 2 or 3 other clans as well, so that they can actually have groups of people to play with, and some of us have found that we are too set in our ways at this point to be in another clan. We all still come back though and I suspect consider our original clan to be our home as well as our video gaming "family".
2old2play has been a gaming beacon for so many through the last 5 years. So often I read from people that they "would have given up video gaming online if it wasn't for 2old2play". I think many of us often lose touch with how important this community is or what it has become. It becomes easy to take for granted having older and mature members at our beck and call to play with on any new game released. I don't think many of us in those first fledgling months would ever have envisioned that 2old2play would develop like it has. I doubt that anyone would have suspected that 2old2play would affect so many lives and built so many friendships that exist outside of an online medium. As a community we've built relationships which at the core of it all is what is so important about what has been accomplished here. Many of the members of 2old2play have formed life long friendships, that will likely endure long after the website is a memory.
If you have an opportunity, remember to thank those people that have helped make this site what it is. Doodi and DSmooth for the site work (which happens even when you don't know about it), your Moderators for the work they do behind the scenes keeping the site clean and free of asswipes and timmies, anyone involved in the podcasts, your favorite bloggers, those writing front page articles, and those people who are consistently keeping you in touch with new gaming news. Lastly, remember that the site does not run on thanks, and there are no millionaires backing it. It does require fees, and your donations are what keep it afloat. If you have never donated, perhaps you can figure out a way to toss a couple of bucks in the kitty every now and then. If you have donated, but not recently (for whatever reason), try to do so once or twice again in the next few months. (I haven't in a while either with the tough economy, but I can skip some Starbucks for a week for what I get here). If you donate frequently, I am sure that your efforts ARE noticed and appreciated.
Here is to 5 more years and the new friendships to be made that we don't even know about yet!!
