Games you miss playing

[Atrocities]

I am a bit nestalgic and often have a hard time moving past things. Case in point, back in 98 I bought a game called Tribes. I did not have high expectations for this game as it was the first all Multiplayer game ever released. I played it a bit and found that I was no good at it. I hated it in fact. A month later I came home early from work, and could not sleep so I logged onto tribes and started playing. Twelve hours later I realized I was hooked. The game was just so damn fun and addicitve.

Later I discovered the mods, Renegades and then Shifter. Oh how I loved shifter. A bunch of my good friends also bought the game and we formed our own clan named PCP (Population Control Police).

We played this game like no other game before, we were the best of the best of the best and enjoyed it. On any given day during the high life of the game, you could not find a server to log onto unless you were an elite player. We made maps, many maps, skins, and voice packs.

Tribes had so much to offer in the way of game play that all other mp games just pailed in comparission.

This game was going strong until Dynamix, a division of Sierra released Tribes 2. The community immedately split and what was was no more.

I could loose myself in tribes for literally days. I would play 24 hours or more at a time. The game was simply the best all time game that I have ever played before or since.

Tribes will always be my favorite game.

This morning I logged onto Tribes for the first time in over a year and played. I had the feeling of being the Last soldier standing on the battle field after a battle as I gazed out acrossed the game landscape and remembered all of the great games I had had on this particular map. Once so busy with players, now empty.. It was a lonely empty feeling that depressed me horribly.

Eventually I was joined by a player and we tangoed for over 45 minutes. He'd kill me and I'd kill him. I even made a few of my patended moving kill shots with my old favorite the Rail gun. Oh how I loved that gun.

After playing for a while I released how much I truely loved this game. I had stopped playing it because of all the cheaters and hackers. I was an elite player and even at my skill level I found it hard to play a game without becoming angry at those who employeed cheats. (Simular to the ones used in HL and CS)

Now a days I am the only one left of my large circle of former friends who played. I can get one other guy to play, but his ISP is very limiting.

I am proud of the fact that I was considered one of the best players of all time. On the tracking sites, out of over 75k players listed I was listed in the top 25 with a high of 3 and an average ranking of 10th.

What hurts the most is knowning that was will neve be again. That I had something wonderful and it went away forever. Sure the game is still around, but it is dying off and all of the old players no longer play.

The feeling that I am left with is one that can only be described as pale lonelyness. I wish you all could understand the power this game held for me and others. SEIV is a wonderful game and is ranked Number 2 on my list, with a wonderful community, and a solid fan base. But Tribes held something far more for me. I was, for a brief time, something that I had always wanted to be, but will never be again, engrossed in something larger than me, more powerful, and inspiring. I was amoung the Elites players and proud of it.

The feelings of accomplishment, of being important, of being good at something, special, inspired, wanted, of being a team player are all gone.

Tribes filled a void in my on line gaming life and now it is gone. And I do so horribly miss it so.

SEIV, although fun, could never be what tribes was to me. When SEIV has passed into oblivion, and this forum is no more, I will look back upon this time I have spent here, the things I have done for the game, and the people of this forum and miss it as badly as I miss tribes.

[ August 28, 2003, 14:25: Message edited by: Atrocities ]