Anniversary retrospective

[Nelson]

It was a year ago this month that I downloaded the S:TW demo. I had seen previews in magazines and was anxious to try it out. The hype had been very promising but I had heard it all before.

WOW!

This was it, the real deal, the Big Kahuna! I played the final training round over and over.

Then I got online and looked for a fan site. There had to be many others who new a great thing when they saw it. That's when I found the ORG. We hashed over every aspect of the game, including, of course, the campaign, about which we knew very little. I learned to edit the demo to get new OB's. Guys made new maps and scenarios and I got them all and played them all. (they're still at it) It's kinda funny looking back, but I played the demo so much that when June finally, oh so slowly rolled around the final release seemed more like a big expansion!

The dojo has been through a couple of incarnations since then but has remained a good haven for all things (and all people) Shogun. Now, with the Mongol add-on just around the corner, I'm back in the same situation. Waiting for the next great installment. I enjoy the game and the ORG just as much today as I did a year ago.

Dreamtime, CA, and all the moderators and denizens of our dojo, past and present, have provided me with quite a bit of entertainment for which I am grateful.

In fact, I hope to stick with it for another year!

[solypsist]

wow.

Truth be told, I can't even remember logging onto the .Org for the first time ever or just why exactly I bothered to stay on after my first few visits. It certainly wasn't because the forums were chock full of praise for the just-released STW

Much like the sky, the .Org has just sort of been here, to be beaten and abused just as much as praised and loved (ack!@that maudlin line.)

[Kurando]

Anyone remember that old-old message board from like 2 years ago? -No moderators, no registration required, no ranks, no post count, and only one forum area with no off-topic content allowed + at that time the game, (and the demo for that matter), were still miles away from release.

We sure had some good people around back then. It was amazing that we managed to keep things on track for so long (we probably went a good 6 months with nothing, but productive thinking, and no arguments), but once the demo came out we got a huge influx of people and everything fell apart like a Chinese Motorcycle.

..

Stuff I remember from this time last year:

-One hell of a top flight editing community developed in the wake of the demo (lead primarily by Anjin-San and 007).

-There was a Clan Page Competition on for the best designed site (Towashima, Kyudo, and Tokagawa took the honours).

-We were just informed that the multiplayer campaign was going to be dropped from the final release and there was much dessention in the .org ranks.

-I changed the spelling of my name from Kurondo after receiveing a lecture on the subject from FWS.

-The dojo mainstays were: Magyar Khan, hachiman, nodachiwarrior (who's role was similar to soly's now), Dragur, Avenging Warrior and of course Gandalf the Grey.

-The demo was as good as we'd expected + in that regard everyone was happy.

-The RSG, (spearheaded by Erado San, AW and Gandi), started a serious movement to design a multiplay campaign of there own.

-The dojo had just expanded to 4 forum areas, and there was much rejoicing.

-A lovely little sausage named Nelson made his first post at the dojo, (and there was much rejoicing)...

Congrats on hanging around a year Nelson! Though I've never really had much contact with you, I must say that during my tenure as admin you were one of my favorite patrons. Mainly because you were always a gentleman, and you always looked on the brightside of things -you're my kinda guy!

[Tenchimuyo]

Best I can remember, the first time I saw an advertisement about STW was in a PC game magazine(can't remember which one) three years ago. When I first saw the ad, I was amazed at the game. It was a totally different from what I used to play on my old pc. (Warcraft, C&C, etc.)

[The Black Ship]

Ah yes who can forget the old Dojo and all those times I got the "cannot create an account" response.

At first I didn't take it personally, thought maybe I was doing something wrong. Only later did I realize it was personal, and you guys were afraid I'd take over the forums! Little did you know soly already laid claim to that

If only I'd seen the demo before buying AOE/AOK...I could have kept some of my money out of MicroSoft's pocket

[Doragon_Ajidrik]

I actually went to buy Aok:Expansion pack when I ran into Shogun. I just saw the box and just knew that it was more better than
AoC. I have all the AoE/AoK games and many others but Shogun is the only game I play online.

[ShadowKill]

well i have been around since a lil before the demo maybe like a month. but i never posted on anything i just watched it was not untill months after the game came out that i joined everyone on th boards I was never much of a talker but i guess you all brung out thew worst in me

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Clan Shades
Shades
You are already dead you just don't know it yet!!

[FwSeal]

I can't really remember when I first showed up on the forum - January maybe (my current post count notwithstanding - not sure how that's happened...)
Thinking back to February of last year, a few events stand out -

- The WW2 thread that wouldn't die.

- The 'who's the real Draugr?' controversy.

- 'I think I read somewhere that it's coming out March 1st...'.

The thing I remember in particular about those long months of waiting for the full-version release is how certain members of the community really made the most of the demo - they helped keep the STW demo on my computer longer then most full games stay there.