f13.net turns 2: Mr. Raph "Ralph" Koster

[schild]

I recall a forum being born, in the long ago, where discussions were mature and sensible, and the whole place fairly glowed with optimism about the future of this, our medium of online worlds.

Then the beta opened.

I recall another forum, where discussions were elevated and serious, and intricate debates were had about the best ways to build and operate virtual worlds.

Then Grimwell went to work for GamerGod. He's back now though.

Through it all, there endured f13. Reliable in its own way, serving up teh h8, and satisfying everyone's needs for the occasional Winger reference, middling taste in anime, and never-ending threads where even red names feel free to make snarky comments.

This is the point in this little tribute where we're supposed to reference the long and storied history, the way in which it carries or does not carry on from the noble tradition of Lum the Mad's site, the way in which its cousins, brethren, or whateveryoucallem sites have fallen fallow, torn by internecine wars, or whatever. We might mention the way in which its domain name was untimely ripp'd from it, only to be occupied by a blog that, while still entertaining, never seems to get any comments.

We might even mention that SOMEBODY lets Waterthread-f13'ers write for hoity-toity game magazines with slick web layouts. Way to get respectable.

But who cares? The point is that here it is. Still. No small accomplishment in these days when ranting seems like a lost art, sort of like fresco painting or classless MMORPG design.

In tribute, here's a poem written from mostly the first words of the posts currently on the front page of the MMOG forum:

OK
I saw welcome
Blizzard, DDO, SOE, March
yadda yadda yadda
Linky

Welcome, who read the cause?
Zombies zombies zombies.

I tried to cancel
I was poking around
Someone (not me) should review this for us
Needs more grind
Possible time dump for bored people
Enjoy... or don't.

Ah, what better summary of f13? Except there were no cuss words. Happy Birthday, f13.

And I present to you, the rarest known picture of Raph, performing the above post for the Japanese artistocracy.

[Yoru]

First four paragraphs, "here's some things that sound great and amazing; F13 is not these."
Next two paragraphs, "This place has its own culture and traditions. They're not highbrow or the Vault. Its main notable feature is that it's kept on trucking."
Next 'paragraph' is a snarky comment that I can't place.
Next 'paragraph', "Well, I guess staying alive for 2 years is an accomplishment."
And then some random crap.

I appear to have dipped my head in crisco at some point. back soon.

[Lum]

We might even mention that SOMEBODY lets Waterthread-f13'ers write for hoity-toity game magazines with slick web layouts. Way to get respectable.

Next 'paragraph' is a snarky comment that I can't place.

Joe Blancato, founder of waterthread.org, is a writer for The Escapist.

[EDIT - Shockeye] Lum's BBCode is weak and Joe's a "Content Editor". Previously he was a "Contributing Editor". I guess they don't want his contributions anymore. Back to the cage with him and what-not.

[Murgos]

Lum = pwned.

[Shockeye]

Lum = pwned.

Not really. I just didn't feel like posting a follow-up about Joe since I was already in there fixing the BBCode. It boils down to being lazy.

[WayAbvPar]

We might even mention that SOMEBODY lets Waterthread-f13'ers write for hoity-toity game magazines with slick web layouts. Way to get respectable.

Next 'paragraph' is a snarky comment that I can't place.

Joe Blancato, founder of waterthread.org, is a writer for The Escapist.

[EDIT - Shockeye] Lum's BBCode is weak and Joe's a "Content Editor". Previously he was a "Contributing Editor". I guess they don't want his contributions anymore. Back to the cage with him and what-not.

They don't have BBCode in the wilds of Texas yet. Or they did, but it gotten taken away in a huge twister. Or by a band of maurading banditos.

[Lantyssa]

It got slick with oil so someone dropped it.  Then their horse stepped on it.

[Azazel]

potted summary of the history of f.13 please.