A decade ago, Bioware held beta testing for an upcoming game, touted as a follow-up to the award-winner Baldur's Gate Series.
About a month before the official release, the May prior, a player named Noggy created his own module titled "Noggy's DK Mod." It was the birth of something that he could have never predicted would be around, and so popular, 10 years later. It was created for members of the Dark Knights online players guild, which he was a part of, but open for anyone to enter.
A few days later someone, another beta tester, did stumble in. He became quick friends with Noggy, Dredge, Ravenna, and the few other DK players, joined their online guild, and was soon helping shape the future of the mod along with them. That someone was Elvamir (me!)
Mid-June of 2002, Bioware officially released what would become one of the most acclaimed and loved RPG platforms of all time - Neverwinter Nights.
As players scrambled to the online modules, the player-created persistent worlds, Noggy's DK Mod grew significantly in membership. It rapidly started evolving into more than just a place for the Dark Knights players guild to hang out, it was shaping into a world and community of its own.
That's when, one night, Noggy, Dredge, Elvamir, and a couple others sat around their favorite table in the DK Inn (later renamed to the Black Lion Inn) and decided to pull the mod away from the player guild association. Noggy, Elvamir, and Rayn were chosen as the Admins.
It was decided to build on Dredge's "Torn Shadows" concept that he was already roleplaying, and create more guilds that the roleplay of the entire world would be based around. Right then and there Elvamir created the Black Hand, and Noggy created the King's Royal Lancers to oppose them. Three guilds, that later became 4 (The Circle), then 5 (the Midnight Company)...
The website was updated. Bio requirement was created. Many of the institutions that define us today (and many other mods that followed our lead!) were founded. And finally, the community chose a name.
Caenyr.
By the end of 2002, not even six months later, Noggy left Caenyr to pursue yet another PW creation, leaving Elvamir and Rayn to lead as Admins for WoC. Months later, Rayn would also leave for RL reasons, and Elvamir was left standing as the lone Admin, and leader of Caenyr.
A few months after Noggy's departure, that leadership would be tested, and so would Caenyr's resilience, as (while he was moving across country, just to make the timing even worse!) the company that hosted both the module and the website went under and all that was Caenyr was lost. When Elvamir got back online he found only a small handful of the community that Laurel was able to keep together and had rallied around some temporary boards, but with no game. Yet they all stayed positive, and roleplayed and spammed their brains out on the forums while Elvamir hosted up a game on his own computer and was able to get a new website established. That's when the look of the website as we know it today, began. It wasn't long until most of the community found their way back home, and many, many new players joined along with them.
By the end of 2003, World of Caenyr was awarded Hall of Fame status by Neverwinter Vault, and although it has gone through many ups and downs in the years since... here we still are.
That was the start of this incredible journey we're still on! The exact day Noggy started up that mod in May of 2002 is unknown, but on the 20th every year we celebrate our anniversary since that was our earliest beginning, and this year we are super fortunate to celebrate our first DECADE as a community! 10 years... that is simply amazing, Caenyr. I'm honored in every way to say I am a part of this incredible community. The things I've seen from players over the years, well... they've impressed me beyond words. And the friendships I've made - they are priceless.
I thank each and every one of you for the honor of being your leader over these years, and especially thank you for all of the help you've given me. I did not do this on my own, not in the least. This place exists, and is still running strong, because of its community of players and the phenomenal Staff. You shaped this world, you keep it active and fun, and you continue to take it forward. I just kick you in the ass every once and awhile to make sure you don't stop doing those things.
'>
As a token of my appreciation, and that of the Deputy Administrators and DM's, we have a TON of very cool birthday activities planned between now and the end of the month! So get ready to enjoy...
- A new, and very special, serverwide quest! It's already started at http://www.worldofca...pic.php?t=29850 so you should go participate asap! Trust me, you definitely want to be a part of this. There is a VERY special, and extremely AWESOME surprise in this one, and it's mod-update related. That's all the detail I'll give you (that the builders will let me!) about that. You will NOT want to miss this RP or what comes with it for you to enjoy, so jump on board the serverwide train and get ready for the ride of your life!
- The 1st Annual Spammy Awards! That's right. Starting this year, and now every year on our anniversary, I'll be hosting (in-game) the Annual Spammy Awards. This first one will be next weekend (day and time TBA separately on the forums, along with the categories.) Who will win the first ever Spammy???
- New portrait pack! DM Malice has been working on it for over a month and it's finally ready! I'll soon have it up on the DL page for you to grab! Thanks, Malice!
- I'll be creating a 10 Year Anniversary banner for us, and I'll put it on some limited-time, commemorative swag in the Caenyr Shop (http://www.cafepress.com/caenyrshop.) So save your bucks and get ready to purchase some Caenyr memorabilia! (Remember, there is no profit made from any Caenyr Shop item, they are priced at the cafepress.com minimum, and sold only for the benefit of the fans.)
- Anniversary spam nukeage! You knew this was coming. It does every year. Get ready for a reset to the Anniversary Spam thread, and a new name for the spam boards.
- In-Game language system. Brutus has been working this side project, and for our anniversary he is going to make it a reality. True languages, in game, for those races that speak in their own unique tongue, and understood only by others who can speak it!
- Website upgrade to PHPBB3 was decided on as part of the WoC Evo initiative last year, and I'm finally going to make it a reality as part of our anniversary. With the new forums will come a ton of new features for everyone to enjoy, while we take advantage of them to provide some improved organization and layout. And don't worry - you won't have to re-register and you won't lose all of your posts, all of that will convert over. And along with the PHPBB3 upgrade (or rolling out in the weeks following) I'll probably make several other improvements to the website to take it to the next level, for decade number 2!
- As scared as I am to do so, I'll be posting a fairly large excerpt on the forums from the first every Caenyr-series novel that I'm writing. It may even be an entire chapter, I'm not sure, but a complete scene at least.
So there you have it, Caenyrites! Our way of saying thank you to all of you for keeping this place alive, active, and tons of fun for 10 YEARS! I can't wait to thank you all again in 2022!!!!!
Elvamir
Owner & Lead Administrator for World of Caenyr ™
http://www.worldofcaenyr.com
Modifié par Elvamir, 23 mai 2012 - 04:54 .
