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[SeaGtGruff]

While starting YAGOA (Yet Another Game Of Arena)-- this time as Keef the Khajiit Thief (or should I have named him Khiif?)-- while consulting the manual to appease the portal's gatekeeper, I came across this:

http://www.bethsoft.com

Which led me to this:

https://web.archive.org/web/19961030025 ... thsoft.com

Which led to many minutes of enjoyment. I must return to this mysteriously desserted realm (mmm, 21-year-old tiramisu!) when more time I have.

[Imbalance]

This is proof that Internet culture peaked in the early 2000's.

[Cassandra]

Old websites are so neat!

It's kinda weird to think that's from before I was even born, though.

[SeaGtGruff]

Wow! You're just a kid!

I won't tell you that it's from a time when I was 37. Oh, wait-- I just did. Old age strikes again! :p

[Cassandra]

A young'un, indeed. ^-^ It makes it kinda weird because I didn't really use the internet until recently (like, 2014), so I never experienced "old internet".

[SeaGtGruff]

I didn't go online until 1995, so I never experienced what the internet and bulletin board systems were like before that. I used to spend a lot of time in AOL chat rooms or posting in usenet newsgroups and email lists. It was a different landscape back then, yet not really so different.

[Imbalance]

You haven't lived until you've placed the handset of your rotary-dial phone onto a modem and connected your Commodore 64 to the world wide web. Admittedly, that wasn't quite me, either, but I've been witness to the example. I harbor a touch of envy for anyone whose frame of reference does not include a time before streaming HD video.

[SeaGtGruff]

I got a Commodore VIC-20 for Christmas, but what I'd really wanted was an Atari 800. So when the Commodore 64 came out and I'd earned some money to buy another computer, I bought an Atari XL instead of a Commodore 64. I later upgraded that to an Atari XE, and also bought a used Amiga from one of my friends. But I never went online with any of those computers, because I'd read stories about computer viruses and I didn't want my computers to get infected. (The danger didn't apply so much to my Atari computers since I didn't have hard drives for them-- although I think it might have been possible for my collection of 5.25" diskettes to get infected?)

Anyway, when I was finally ready to go online in 1995, I bought a Compaq computer with Windows 95. That was pretty much the end of my Amiga days-- although I had had some really great times playing RPG games on my Amiga. But back to the topic of modems, I never had an acoustic coupler type of modem, although I was very familiar with the infamous modem sounds from my numerous dial-up modems. At that time I was living in an apartment complex that wasn't very far from a canal and a river, and I was forced to go through many modems due to lightning strikes which wiped out either the telephone wall jack, the modem, or both. Later, after I had upgraded to a broadband modem and a Wi-Fi router for home networking, I lost both my router and internal network card due to a bad lightning strike-- and yes, by then I was a fervent user of surge protectors (not simple power strips, but actual surge protectors), however this particular lightning strike hit a pine tree that was literally just outside my window (and boy, did it scare the living bejeezus out of me).

Oh, yeah, those were the days. :p

[Wolfborn]

this particular lightning strike hit a pine tree that was literally just outside my window (and boy, did it scare the living bejeezus out of me).

Same thing happened to me when I were but a wee little lad. We had 5 or 6 huge (~60ft. tall) spruce trees in our backyard. One fine Sunday during a thunderstorm there came a brilliant flash and an earth-shattering KABOOM and after recovering our wits sufficiently we looked out the window to see one of the trees down to 30' tall and firewood strewn all over the backyard. (Too bad we didn't have a fireplace!)

Back on-topic, my first access to the 'net was around mid-nineties via dial-up modem. I remember my Internet plan had a 10-hour per month limit. Yes, kids, you read that correctly: back then connection limits were time-based, not data-based. So I had an average of about 20 minutes per day to surf the 'net, and of course I would regularly exceed the monthly limit and end up paying more in over-use charges than in plan fees. A far cry from these days when I can stay on as long as I like and never get anywhere near my data-usage limit.

[Aarah]

I can't remember when I first experienced the internet, but it was dial up when you could sing along to that weird tune it made.

I remember when I was little, my Dad had this chunky grey laptop and to get into the desktop you had to type cd/windows onto a blank screen. I just recall there being lots of instances where you had to type cd/. Lol.

Hidden:

So much lightning in here! Wowsers! And SeaGtGruff, you have an excellent memory for all your consoles!

[Imbalance]

Lol we sound old. I wasn't an avid Internet user until it became more visual, which is probably about the same time for most of us. I very distinctly remember sitting at an Apple machine in the school's computer lab, frothing at the mouth for more than half an hour for a single screenshot from the not-yet-released Super Mario 64 to display on the highest resolution color CRT they had at the time. It was marvelous. He was standing there in all his 3d glory before a mirror in the castle, his reflection before him accompanied by the ever hovering camera guy, all in perfect polygonal shading. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

But yeah, not much later I did the chat room thing and countless forums. It was a fun novelty to be able to tell kids half my age that I had email older than them. That wore off, though. It took a long time for me to be willing to give Facebook a try, perhaps in large part because it had all been done for me, but moreover there is no real sense of community like I found 15-20 years ago. The Internet was at its best when it was about information, as seen above. As it became more about advertising and "social" sharing it certainly grew in popularity but also feels like it lost something. I dunno what, like wonder and amazement and unbridled potential, I guess. Ugh, now I feel as old as I sound.

On a brighter note, here is to a fun Arena romp, SeaGtGruff. And thank God for the WAYBACK.

[SeaGtGruff]

I don't know if anyone here watched "Halt and Catch Fire," but I loved the first few seasons where they touched on early online gaming (which I never participated in) and early forums or chat rooms.

Looking at some of the pages at the old BethSoft site, you can see how they were trying to make the site a fun place to visit, with the way that different pages sound like parts of a text adventure. Yes, the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine is great, although it's also a bit frustrating or disappointing when certain links don't work because the pages they linked to weren't captured.

[Alarra]

Gonna move this to the General section since it’s more about old technology/internet than TES

I grew up playing a Commodore 128 that was older than me (though we only ever used it in 64 mode). The games and music are so memorable, even now. And the code we had to enter upon it coming up, to actually play the disk: LOAD"*",8,1

My first use of the internet was after we got a Windows 98 when I was 6; my parents found some sites with kids games (such as one General Mills had, based on their cereals, called You Rule School) and I also remember Cheat Code Central from way back then. Dial-up (for you young folks like Cass, imagine your computer making this noise whenever you used the internet, as it connected), being unable to use the internet when someone was on the phone and having a time limit per month, all the bright gaudy font and pages and gifs, etc. And the Hamster Dance page; that’s the first meme I remember. Aside from stuff like games and schoolwork, though, I didn’t get around to actually really using the internet, like forums and stuff, till about 2005.

It’s strange to remember a time when Google was lesser known, when we couldn’t just plug directions into MapQuest for a vacation, and there was nothing like Facebook or YouTube, when you consider just how much a part of our society they’ve become.

[Cassandra]

Gosh darn it, Alarra. How am I supposed to get my post count up if things get moved to General?

I don't know if anyone here watched "Halt and Catch Fire," but I loved the first few seasons where they touched on early online gaming (which I never participated in) and early forums or chat rooms.

My mom watched that and really enjoyed it! It seems neat.

The weirdest experience for me, being someone who's fairly new to the internet, was watching War Games. Like, wew, it's hard to even imagine things being like that. It's so foreign. Kinda like sci-fi, actually.

[leroybrown]

Good thread!

This is proof that Internet culture peaked in the early 2000's.

Got me really thinking here and I kinda think I agree with you. I think it's because the internet really started becoming discovered. In 90s I think it was more for work and a bit of research, but mostly work. I mean there was no wikipedia or google that I remember. I dunno when I started using the net, probably late 90s, but the search engine I used was the default which was netscape navigator.

If someone put a gun to my head and asked when the net really started kicking off I'd assume it'd be the napster and AOL IM days. Not sure when gaming started coming to the mix but I have early memories of Diablo I & II online. Also of a friend who wanted to hang out with me but I was playing D2 so he picked up my phone and dialed random numbers which kicked me offline....dick.

I didn't go online until 1995, so I never experienced what the internet and bulletin board systems were like before that. I used to spend a lot of time in AOL chat rooms

I went in a few chat rooms but 99% of the time was just online with friends. I would've been in my early teen years so I remember getting overly excited when a gal I knew would pop up online and I'd get to talk to her. I still remember one particular gals screen name.

I harbor a touch of envy for anyone whose frame of reference does not include a time before streaming HD video.

Not that long ago really. That being said I say to my friends we're lucky to be in this group because we're of the last generation to remember life before everyone spent so much time behind a screen. Also nobody had cell phones, answering machines had casette tapes, and you actually had multiple numbers memorized in your head cause you physically dial them so many times. Car phones were just the coolest. Honestly I think they still are.

(not simple power strips, but actual surge protectors)

What's the difference? I need this for sure, lots of lightning strikes around here lately.

I remember my Internet plan had a 10-hour per month limit. Yes, kids, you read that correctly: back then connection limits were time-based, not data-based. So I had an average of about 20 minutes per day to surf the 'net

I think I vaguely remember this but not too sure. That being said what'd you do with your allotted 20min? Back in the day there wasn't much to do on the net. Also they kinda screw you on time vs data thing don't they? Considering you'd click a page to load and then have to walk away and check the mail or make a sandwich, come back and hope the page has loaded. God forbid the page had a MIDI file and a graphic to play.

The Internet was at its best when it was about information

THANK YOU. You can still find it but it's buried deep and you have to sift through the [&@%!] of content aggregation.

And the Hamster Dance page; that’s the first meme I remember.

Yes! You beat me to it.

[Avron the S'wit]

Oye. Showin' our age here, UESPF.

...(for you young folks like Cass, imagine your computer making this noise whenever you used the internet, as it connected)...

I had the delightful experience of playing this for a room of teenagers when I saw that my descriptions just couldn't justify the experience. Their reactions were incredible, and the questions they had were even better. It made me feel so old...and I am not that old. Old enough, though, I guess. Sigh.

It's profound to think about all the ways technology has shaped us and shapes us. I can think so clearly about life before the internet and all it's connected-ness (shoot, I remember when the "popular" internet came on CD-ROMs and mostly AOL or bust, hah), and I think about life after it. Heck, a good chunk of my life was on the internet. Humbling and strange.

The Internet was at its best when it was about information

THANK YOU. You can still find it but it's buried deep and you have to sift through the [&@%!] of content aggregation.

I concur! Quantity is not always quality. Should be an easy lesson...

[Wolfborn]

I have early memories of Diablo I & II online.

Ah, another Diablo aficionado.

Also of a friend who wanted to hang out with me but I was playing D2 so he picked up my phone and dialed random numbers which kicked me offline....dick.

LOL!

what'd you do with your allotted 20min?

I'd hang around in various chat rooms and play a bit of Diablo online once in a while. It's amazing how fast 20 minutes can disappear when you're just shooting the breeze with random strangers...

Oye. Showin' our age here, UESPF.

Great. Now I have this vision of us all sitting around in rocking chairs in an old age home somewhere...