Sorry, not me. I started playing sometime around '97 or '98. I know at the time the province of Illithi or Qi'Reshalia didn't exist yet, of course nor did Fornsted. The highest circle Bard listed at the time in the Bard guild was only circle 20, and I had to pay by the minute to play on Yahoo!. I stopped playing on 3 different occasions. The first 2 times was due to having to pick in life what was more important to pay for on my budget and, sorry to say, Dragonrealms was not a priority. The last time I quit was due to frustration over what I felt was gwethsmasher abuse, but I returned, and when I returned there had been major changes to the gweths. I was an Estate Holder for a short time sometime in the late 90s early 2000s, I just recently became an Estate Holder again. Some characters that I had whose names I remember were Salbir, Eyedrop, and Chippy (not to be confused with the GM of the same name). I honestly don't know the name of my first DR character. My fist Simutronics character was a Bartlby in GS3 who was named from the Herman Melville short story, "Bartlby, The Scrivener." When I tried to use the same name in DR, it had already been taken, and I think the owner of that character later became a GM as well.

It would be nice for Simutronics to give something special to loyal consistant players who have stayed 20 years, or at the very least when the game hits 25 years, as just a way to show appreciation for those who consistently stuck around.

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The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Bertrand Russell
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=love

I started in '96, before the Bard guild came out. I was an Empath for a day or two but became frustrated on learning that I couldn't hunt, as I could with my Empath in GS. So I returned to GS.

When the Bard guild came out I saw an ad on AOL and thought it looked interesting. I believe I switched over full time to DR in February '97, playing a Bard. I played until around 2003, when the Outcast War really threw a wrench in my RP experience. Returned around 2007 and have been playing since (wow, this just made me feel old).

I definitely remember the times of pay by the minute. I racked up at least one $300 bill and my parents were NOT happy. Remember all those "free AOL for 100 hours!" cds? I convinced my parents to switch to AOL when it was only at 15 hours because hey, 15 free hours of DR.

>>It would be nice for Simutronics to give something special to loyal consistant players who have stayed 20 years, or at the very least when the game hits 25 years, as just a way to show appreciation for those who consistently stuck around.

I had a friend who played straight for 10 years from around the web time as well, and she DID get some kind of reward from Simu, which was nice. She wasn't premium either.


- Navesi

I think we started in same year 96. I Played a tiny bit in Genie and was hooked. Restarted during AOL Web Migration. Played a strong 7 years. Left Came back last year had a blast, wishing all that time I had been continuously playing. I've now been traveling the past few months and coming back next month. Made some great friends during that time. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Regards,

My parents also did not appreciate the AOL bill. $20 for 5 hours was it? I got into DR after playing a Star Trek chat room based RP stuff. Ten Forward Lounge, anyone? My middle school aged sister was more into the fantasty stuff (Red Dragon Inn I think?) and introduced me to DR. Think I took two longer breaks.

Jalika

I can recall both the Red Dragon Inn on various BBS Door Game boards and the Star Trek sims in AOL. I tended to hang out more in Yahoo rooms in my DR heyday though.

I was 01, but Cap's has been arround since the game first came out, as another char, but still she's been playing that long

~Purnay
"The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his."

Like many of you, I've been in and out of Elanthia for over 20 years. A friend knocked on my door one day and said "Hey, there's this awesome RP text game I think you'd like that's in open beta now, it's called DragonRealms." That was the summer of '96. I quickly rolled a character, took the first stats I got (not knowing you could re-roll til you got the best stats), raced off to find the Ranger guild and eagerly began exploring the Crossing.

I spent nearly a decade immersed in Elanthian ranger life and got waaaay too addicted to the game, but also made some great friends - a few of which I keep in touch with today. I still have fond memories of the wonderful people who helped me in the beginning - and some who weren't so helpful but entertaining nonetheless (ahem, Snare LOL). I still smile when I remember how some wonderful cleric helped me after my first death - I can't recall her name exactly, only that it started with a V... and of course dear Azante who was always coming from the far reaches of the land to rezz me after I wandered into yet another place that I had no business hunting.

For me, DR has always been more about the people and the wonderful encounters and conversations we had, than it was about the game itself. Many of my old friends are gone, or were when I left a few years ago, but perhaps I'll see some of them again, and I certainly hope to find new ones. Elanthia brings out the best in most of us, and like so many of you, I, too, just can't stay away. I've decided to return again, for the umpteenth time, and hopefully reignite my passion for DR.

Long live Elanthia!

Amberyll

Hanryu,

I have an account with Discord, how do I add the chat for Dr?

Blufalcon