I didn't know exactly where to put this, so I'll settle with here. I hear people talking often about how long they have played and we have so many returning players, I thought I would do a little survey! I love hearing about people's relationship with this game and their characters. We are a tight community and a rare breed in gamers. Text game?! What?!


Year you first played. How did you discover it?

Still have your original characters? Account? Does it effect how you play? Have your characters grown?



Add a question yourself!

>>Year you first played. How did you discover it?

91 I think. I was in college and a group of my friends that I worked with discovered the game and all logged in together to play for a couple weeks until the bills started adding up. I think it was $6 an hour when I first signed on, and then dropped to $3 shortly thereafter. They all dropped out but I kept playing off and on for another couple months until I melted a credit card. :(


>>Still have your original characters? Account?
My original character was Celros a cleric. At one point (I think it was with this character, but might have been with another one), I hunted rats in the catacombs with Thalior. Wisely, but sadly I stopped playing and when I came back around the time it opened to AOL, my character was gone. I do still have the bard that I created around 96 or so. Celebros, but I've never gotten him beyond the mid 20's.

>>Does it effect how you play?
No. However, back in those days decisions were permanent, or so we believed at the time, so I did reroll characters a bunch of times, get them up to their 20s only to realize I'd made some terrible mistake in training and option 86 them. I was a bit of a character junkie having a hard time settling on something I liked to play.

>>Have your characters grown?
I've gone through a lot of characters over the years, starting them out from scratch and getting them up to the 20's and then either growing bored or as mentioned above, feeling I'd made a mistake. If I had all those experience points back I'd probably have a very post capped character in Prime. As for character development, not so much. Due to starting over so many times, I've never really gotten deeply connected to any one character. I do have 2 in particular that I'm pretty attached to, my original bard Celebros, and my empath Deagol. They've been with me the longest. Celebros almost got married back in the height of the AOL days, but the player of the lady in question had a husband in the real world who got very jealous, thinking it was "real". That was interesting...


I was in and out of the game over the years, sometimes for a year or two at a time, but this last time I came back to the game about a year or so before Shattered was released, and have been here ever since. After getting married and having kids I just don't have the time to get in game much any more, so Shattered was a way for me to still have something. I can still duck into Prime for some RP every now and then, but for the most part I've just been scripting hunting Shattered for the past 4+ years.

I'd say my most memorable time in the game over all the years was the first ride on the Dhu Gillywack. That was some serious fun. My little empath mini was the master of the proto-siegery game onboard. Tens of millions of silvers changed hands over his fights. At one point I was up over 50 million silvers (the richest I've ever been in the game by far). Sadly, luck turned and one of the GMs decided to take a hand and probably would have revoked the winnings had I not lost most of it on one of his few losses. Good times!

Deleted to add an answer to Raelee's question.

Funny thing that Kaedra is mentioned. Not "dissing" Kaedra, but truth be told I had never heard of her until I came back on this go-around. The "go to" cleric that I recall best was a dwarven Lorminstran named Kadesha. I've historically been low key, though, so there's likely a lot I missed.

Here's something that might help with dates if someone is fuzzy. http://elonka.com/SimuTimeline.html

>Year you first played. How did you discover it?

Started playing within the first month it was available on AOL. I just saw it on the opening page and started playing. I played until about the time DR opened. I then played DR until coming back to GS in July 1997, around the time of the web move. I played until 1999, when I got pregnant with twins. Came back again in late 2000 and flip flopped between GS and DR before settling on GS. I stayed until, eh, early 2003. I took a break from 2003 until sometime in 2005 when I went back to school. And so on, and so on, until I came back from an 18 month break April of last year. I would typically come back for EG or other events from time to time.

>Still have your original characters? Account?

I do. Both of my first characters were healers. The first one I had transferred from AOL a few years ago but don't play her. Interestingly, my primary account has been active, and premium, since 2001 even though I haven't actually played that entire time - premium points anyone??

>Does it effect how you play?

Nah. I tend to play a new character with each return, or one that I had just started when I last left off. In fact, I'm about to shelve my current one and take a break for the Summer. We'll see what Fall brings me! Likely something completely new because...

>Have your characters grown?

Truth be told, I don't let them, if not by intent then by design. It seems that when I roll up a character I do it with one purpose in mind for that character; rather like I see a need for a given character in a situation. Once the "purpose" is gone, they tend to get stagnant. I guess I'm a bit of a "character actor".

When I came back this time I was going to maintain a complete personal detachment for me, and a complete emotional detachment for Avalera. That lasted about a month. I'd like to say I don't regret not maintaining that stance, but eh. All in all I'd say I've played about 40 characters that someone might remember, so it's hard to have any real growth. Maybe the next go-around.

>How many alts do you play and do you actively play them? Why or why not?

I have three accounts, two full and one with 5 characters. I actively play one from each account - sometimes at the same times, sometimes not. If I had one account I would likely just play one character as a given rule - this is why I have more than one account. I like doing different things but don't want one character to miss out.

New question: If you've played for a while, do you like a small player base better (the 300-ishnow), or a larger (like the 1000+ days)?

I have totally been unable to decide. I like having more people to interact with. As it stands now it seems really small. I'd rather be a small fish in a big pond I guess - More places to hide.

<<Funny thing that Kaedra is mentioned. Not "dissing" Kaedra, but truth be told I had never heard of her until I came back on this go-around. The "go to" cleric that I recall best was a dwarven Lorminstran named Kadesha. I've historically been low key, though, so there's likely a lot I missed.

When my main PC (and oldest, with regard to this thread) was working through Voln, I definitely remember squealing (okay, whatever men do that isn't squealing, but squealing-like) when I got Kadesha to bless my weapon. ZOMG, ALL THESE SWINGS AND STUFFS!

I started playing around '95 or '96 or so. I deleted my first character and then rolled up a second and have held on to him ever since, albeit I have not been very steady playing. ;)

I was introduced to it by an ex-girlfriend. Best legacy she left me with. -_-

My character has definitely grown, specifically as I grew from someone who knew not to mention AS 140! outloud in-game to understanding roleplaying and reading/engrossing myself into the world that had been built for the game.

GM Scribes

>Year you first played. How did you discover it?

I assume it was late 1999 or early 2000, because I discovered GS through the INC magazine article, which Elonka's website has listed as:

October 15, 1999 : Simutronics listed as #295 on Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies in the country

I've never been a fan of AOL and knew nothing of Genie, so I never played via those servers, but when I read about the game in INC, I knew I had to check it out. I was instantly intrigued and impressed, although (in case my character's name doesn't make this apparent) I was a bigger fan of Tolkien and playing a Dark Elf, than I was of Elanthia, at least initially. It took me about a year to realize that Elanthia had its own history and lore, and that I needed to incorporate that into my backstory, RP, etc.

Those things noted, obviously I have taken time off - this last break of 6/7 years was my biggest break ever.

>Still have your original characters? Account? Does it effect how you play? Have your characters grown?

Yes. Turinrond was my first character, although I rerolled him EASILY about 20 times during GS3, before there were fixskills. I have my original account, it will never leave my possession.

I don't know. I've spent so much time in Turin's headspace, that his responses are pretty automatic. Although with the dramatic quest stuff, I had to pull some of my responses as a player in some situations and reconsider where ole boy would be on the matter. Much of that is due to me being away for so long and being somewhat rusty in that regard. I'm likely not doing him justice, but fortunately it is still only a game.

My other characters, and there are tons, are pretty static, with the exception of Turin's little protege', who is ... less angsty and more of how I wanted Turin to be well after it was too late for me to play him that way. Turin will always be a bit of a backwoods drunk hick, but his focus has evolved into a much more strategic and spiritual outlook, something that I would have never predicted or expected when I first rolled him up, or even the twentieth time I rolled him up.

>How many alts do you play and do you actively play them? Why or why not?

I built several supporting characters last decade in order to support my main's RP and also to give myself a break from the cold, aloof, hard character that he was evolving into. And then there are about a dozen characters I rolled up and took to maybe 5 or 10 just to tinker with mechanics. Of the characters that are actually reasonable level, there's another ranger (the protege'), the simpleton pacifist healer, a dwarven mage who started out as a mechanical exploration and whose RP I haven't really fleshed out whatsoever, and the merchant uncle, who was always intended to be the familial patriarch/center, whose RP basically evolved into "I ain't getting involved with Turin's business no more." after he got attacked by some Dark Alliance folks during the Griffon Sword Saga. There's also Dalinald/Dalinauld the Mockingbird, a character built specifically to mock and parody Turin and other friends, but I haven't played him in a long time, and probably don't drink enough now to pull him off convincingly.

Turin's the most challenging to play, but also the one I am the most emotionally invested in, and also the most advanced, level-wise - so, he tends to get most of my attention, particularly now when I have limited time to play.

>If you've played for a while, do you like a small player base better (the 300-ishnow), or a larger (like the 1000+ days)?

I much prefer the larger player base. While the smaller player base has its advantages - knowing who to find for what is a double-edged sword, and that, to me, takes some of the challenge and freshness away. A larger player base seems to attract some of those names that have faded away with time, and increases the chance of making new friends or finding new roleplay or .. I don't know.. I remember doing events and having tremendous turnout and being really thrilled with the interactions between people who had never met. It didn't even have to be about me or our group or whatever, just that we did a "thing" and at that thing, new friendships or animosities were created. I liked being able to go into TSC, or the small park, and people watch for 30 minutes or whatever, and find RP without having to be obnoxious.

>Most influential PC/NPC on your main character?

Turin's mentor was Turgen, (Lord of Ditches and Pollywogs), who really pulled me off the turnip truck into some semblance of a reasonable player. Great great mentor.

Akayria really influenced us in terms of roleplaying, finding that niche and developing it.

Dgry, who has been somewhat of a mentor / trainer for most of the time Turin's been about.

That's at the core of things.

Otherwise, there's a handful... like Charna, Nyrithorn, Venrath, Lucos, Porcell, Tierus, Valicar and a few whose names escape me at the moment (or they are still playing and influencing and that belongs in a different folder) ... that they are just so good at what they do, that it forces me to be better, or at least to try and be better. I'm a better RP'er because of their players - Turin is a bigger/better/badder (? - fill in the blank) because of how those characters affected his outlook, etc.

Then there was this one assassin NPC, and I'm ashamed to admit that I can't remember his name, but it was part of the CoL revamped quest, (I'm pretty sure that it was Khaladon's NPC), but his killing method of choice was hurling these daggers that disintegrated on contact (after damage was done) - and I remember thinking, NOW THAT IS HOW AN ASSASSINATION IS DONE, and Turin (who may know somewhat of the Council) was instantly sold on thrown and hurling in his desire to emulate that NPC.

Fun little thought experiment; I hadn't really thought of some of this stuff in a while; yay for old men waxing nostalgic. :-p

~ Bill, Coyote.

Yes, that was him. Age and memory.. alas. Thanks!

~ Bill, Coyote.

<<Funny thing that Kaedra is mentioned. Not "dissing" Kaedra, but truth be told I had never heard of her until I came back on this go-around. The "go to" cleric that I recall best was a dwarven Lorminstran named Kadesha. I've historically been low key, though, so there's likely a lot I missed.

Yeah exactly. I actually mistook the name of Kaedra for Kadesha when I came back a couple years ago. Though even before Kadesha there was Primum, king of the rescue.

I want to say I started in 1996 on AOL. I was 13 and was staying the night at a friend's house and he introduced me to it. But we found out some other kids at our school were also playing. Minus a few re-rolls, my first main character was Tiramisu, a pacifist who sat at the North Gate raising all day, by merits of tart crumbs he kept in a milk pail. The first time I quit I gave him and all his stuff away. Some of my friends ever saw the character again, and I was asking more recently, since I saw the name of the character I'd given everything to in the game (but that character easily could have been transferred as well).

When I came back I had Slimy for awhile who thought he was a gremlin, but that got boring after a brief stint. Around 2000 was when I rolled up Kaldonis and he's pretty much been my main character since. One summer in undergrad I must have gotten bored with Kaldonis and made Flail who was, at that time, a halfling warrior (eventually converted to a paladin since warriors past level 20 bore me to tears, giving me a reason to play him again).

From late 2002 through 2006 I didn't play at all. I think for a bit in 2007 I was playing. I came back in 2009 and played Platinum for probably a few months, and maybe a month or two in 2010/11. I guess since I came back in February of 2012 I've been playing fairly consistently (although consistently for me doesn't even mean getting Gift done every week).

---

>(OOC) Rozy's player whispers to the group, "Spiiiiiderhalfling!"

>Out of no where, a ki-lin gallops in.

>>Aiska has already influenced my newest alt addition Czshkela by making it impossible to be as surly as I originally intended her to be.

<maniacal laughter>

---

A Taladorian knight dies from your shot!
>exp
Level: 11

>I assume it was late 1999 or early 2000, because I discovered GS through the INC magazine article, which Elonka's website has listed as:

Correction: I converted to Onar 12/26/99, so.. it was fall of 1999 that I started playing.

The big break I took was, according to logs, August 2009 to March 2014, so more like 4.5 years, not the 6/7 I've been stating elsewhere. Though I played my main very infrequently in 2009, due to my frustration with THROWN mechanics.

~ Bill, Coyote.

>Year you first played. How did you discover it?

I started in August of 06, I had recently moved in with a couple of people and one of them had played GS years before and started to play again because the mud we had been playing died.

>Still have your original characters? Account? Does it effect how you play? Have your characters grown?

Yes, although I did move my main to his own account to give the alts a chance. My character has been through a lot and it has certainly had an affect on him. Never did think I'd end up in the spot I am with him though.

>How many alts do you play and do you actively play them? Why or why not?

I have quite a few alts but I only really play 4 of them right now. Although at times I may dust off one of the others for a bit here and there.

>If you've played for a while, do you like a small player base better (the 300-ishnow), or a larger (like the 1000+ days)?

I wasn't playing when it was 1k+ but I do miss the number of people when I first started which was more in the 600-800 range.

>Most influential PC/NPC on your main character?

I won't share this one but for those that know him well enough it shouldn't be hard to guess.

>Year you first played. How did you discover it?

99 or '00, I think, I honestly don't remember. My elder brother played it and got me into it. I have a very clear but strange memory-feeling of the first few days of it that will always stick with me. Something that made me feel that this sort of thing was up my alley. A nostalgia but in reverse, you know?

>Still have your original characters? Account? Does it effect how you play? Have your characters grown?

Nope. I don't even remember my character's name or most of that world, honestly. I was much younger and didn't invest much in the RP past staying in character. When I came back, it was starting new entirely.

>How many alts do you play and do you actively play them? Why or why not?

Zero. I experimented with alts for a bit, but decided I wanted to flesh out Rowmi and tell his story fully. I don't do well with writing multiple stories at once. Right now, I'm having far too much fun with Rowmi to switch gears. Maybe I will start another character in the future (In the beginning, I debated whether making a Shadow from FF6 type character, but decided I didn't want to play a quiet character this time.)

>If you've played for a while, do you like a small player base better (the 300-ishnow), or a larger (like the 1000+ days)?

Keep in mind that I was much younger, viewed the game differently, and didn't really RP as much...but the smaller scene is amazing. I came back and was completely surprised at the depth, skill, immersion and inclusiveness of the player's RP here. I came back because of nostalgia and stayed because I was simply stunned by how much everyone made it fun for me. On that note, I don't get all the arguments regarding RP. I found everyone who wanted to RP was inclusive and inviting. The evil, or good, or annoying, or difficult characters are still willing to interact, and we as players can entertain each other by writing mutual stories. It really was a new experience to be a part of a moving story, with hundreds of different writers. It simply cannot be duplicated through other media. I had some amazing times RPing with all the different "cliques" and learning about them in turn. Everyone has their groups, but the good RPers will always interact. And that small detail brought me back, and to stay. Thank you to all the players that have affected Rowmi in some way for good or bad--you know who you are. And also thanks to the GMs that make it possible.

>Most influential PC/NPC on your main character?

My character is still relatively new to the scene--only 11 months (wow that time flew, though.) But, I think the PCs know who they are, who helped shaped Rowmi. He made some very close friendships that have helped him through the rollercoaster of this last year. As for the NPC, it was Walkar. Rowmi only knew him as the half-skeletal, berserking shadow of a man, because that is all he saw. He only learned the truth of the man until it was after the fact, and the realization that the shadow turned Walkar into the abomination shook Rowmi to the core. It really illustrated the broad, harsh power that is threatening the world; and the fact that Rowmi was so zealous to save his new home that he never stopped to research into Walkar's past--the fact that Walkar was once just a man who made a choice that he thought was correct--humbled him greatly. Thanks to that player/character (you know who you are) that showed him that, it really was a turning point in his development.

-The mind behind Rowmi's eyes.

>Year you first played. How did you discover it?
It was a long time ago, that's for sure!

I found the game on GEnie, though I really couldn't play it all that much. I remember I rolled up a character who used archery, and someone pulled me aside to very politely tell me archery wasn't actually working. They walked me through what I needed to know, but I didn't get really far into the game.

When Prodigy came out with their 30 hours for $30.00 plan, I went full bore! I mean, a whole thirty hours?! Wow! That was so much time! Of course, I ended up playing way more than thirty hours and had to deal with insanely high bills, but, hey, I was young with a lot of disposable income.

From around that time frame, I remember little details - like, coming upon someone's pile of stuff after they had decayed. I rummaged through what was left, and guiltily stole a few items. I was a grave robber-- and only level five or so.

I remember the glacier opening, and being there when the trail to Icemule was discovered. We fought in the same room as Blades (or was it Bleeds?) and it was such a fan girl moment.

I remember how rare getting something dyed was, and it was such a big deal when the dwarves brought around their wares. I remember my first alteration was an overly ornate ridicuously opulent wedding dress-- that I'd never use. It came from the boutique opening in the Landing, and I managed to be one of the first five people to find the merchant. I was so caught off guard by actually getting an alteration, that I told the merchant to do whatever. It was *diamond dusted*, covered in roses, and sparkled with virginal bliss.

I remember having to borrow 50,000 silver from my friend Caranorn so I could buy a fel-hafted vultite waraxe for a whopping 150,000 silvers. That piece of kit made being a warrioress -fun-.

>Still have your original characters? Account? Does it effect how you play? Have your characters grown?

Kaylari was a fiery haired and fiery tempered warrioress. I played her for a lot of years, but then decided I wanted to know what 'going demonic' meant. I had my friends help me kill her over and over in creative ways until I finally had that experience.

I left the game for a few years, then returned to play a sylvan Lumnisite cleric. She wasn't very Sylvan-y, more of a human with pointed ears, but I really began to appreciate the idea of roleplay and cooperative storytelling. I had some memorable roleplay experiences on that character, enough to really cement my love for Gemstone and its community.

I met my husband outside of the game, only to find out he was also an old school Gemstoner! We came back to the game together about six years ago and began playing Fehala and Aihan. Unfortunately, like so many others, when the economy went flat all of our luxuries had to go - and the high price of this game made it be the first on the list. Reminiscing in the car brought us back for another go-around, so we're giving it another try! This is our first week back, and, woah, it's a lot to catch up on.

>How many alts do you play and do you actively play them? Why or why not?
I tend to be a one character person. I spend a lot of time developing many layers to my characters; motivations, backstory, quirks, fears, strengths, weaknesses, etc. I build up those layers, leaving room for in-game growth, and then see where a character takes off. I find that I can't devote that same amount of attention when I play alts.

In my twenty years, I've really only played three characters.

>If you've played for a while, do you like a small player base better (the 300-ishnow), or a larger (like the 1000+ days)?

As odd as it sounds, I think the community felt more like a cooperative storytelling experience when it was larger. I remember knowing I could go to Hearthstone to find experienced people to ask questions of, or for roleplay. Now, when I try to talk to people, I get the AFK-zombie stare -- and that's rather disheartening for someone who loves roleplay so much.

I think the roleplay quality is greatly improved these days, it just seems to be harder to find those active people. I'm confident my husband and I will get back into the swing of things and find where the roleplay is, it just takes time and persistence.

>Most influential PC/NPC on your main character?
For Kaylari, it would have to be my friends Caranorn and Nystul. We arranged for Wednesday to be -our day-, and rain, shine, tragedy, or triumph, we met every Wednesday and went out on an adventure. It was a bit like a DnD tabletop group, but without the table, or the DnD-- so, just the group.

For the Lumnisite, it would have to be Kadesha and Armaxis. The light and dark play between them had my character caught in the middle, and it was neat to see where she would go based on their actions. It was a character driven story, and I loved every moment of it.

For Fehala, I would say it was the entire sylvan community around the last time we played. It was so much fun bringing the culture to life, made even better by some of the events the GMs put on.

NPC question

Hmmmm, that's hard. I don't interact much with NPCs to the point where they have the impact a player/character might. I have many wonderful players to thank for shaping my gals. I believe both I play are still in growing pains even after said time. Who knows where the wind will blow or what moment will define them. I can't wait to see.