Yes — Planetarion ( planetarion.com )
A text-based multiplayer strategy game that started somewhere around the year 2000. And of course, being the proper geek that I am, I played it.
Planetarion still exists today. If you’ve never tried it, go ahead — it’s still running, somehow!
The first round I played was Round 3, where I joined halfway through.
Round 4 was my first proper round, and to be honest… I completely sucked at it.
TFD
The Flying Dutchmen was the first real alliance I joined. I played with them until around Round 9.5 — the golden years of Planetarion.
After that, the game became pay-to-play, which I didn’t like at the time.
So I quit. Simple as that.
Titans
After a short break, I started playing again and joined Titans.
That round is still crystal clear in my memory. It was the era of the two mega-blocks — basically the entire Planetarion universe versus the other side: WENX.
We smoked their asses, hehe.
Getting up at night to launch fleets and coordinate defense started to take its toll, though.
After a few more rounds, I called it quits again.
Vengeance
As Planetarion evolved, it became a little easier to play — features like pre-launching fleets meant you could finally get some sleep.
I joined Vengeance somewhere between Round 20 and 25, after a short stint with the alliance LOST.
VGN was great: part of a powerblock with NewDawn, arranging attacks as an attack coordinator, organizing defense as a defense coordinator, and generally being a really active prick 😛
My game improved, and I slowly climbed up the ranks — ending in the Top 1000, then later the Top 500.
During that powerblock with NewDawn I met several ND members — Catwoman, Damo8, De Gekste, Vladel and others.
And I think it was around Round 28 when I decided to apply for NewDawn.
After my interview with Cat, I apparently passed the proverbial bar — and got accepted.
Yay me 😛
NewDawn
Round 33
Absolutely my personal highlight.
We ended up in a galaxy full of friends — even though we hadn’t created a buddy pack or anything.
Somehow, all fifteen of us already knew each other from previous rounds. Pure luck of a lifetime.
My coordinates: 5:1:10.
To coordinate our defense, I built a Java-based IRC chatbot that could handle scans, arrange defense, shout at people, and wake up teammates when needed.
It even had its own website for additional information.
And to make it even crazier — the stack: Java, Oracle Database as the backend (yes, you read that correctly), with a PL/SQL backend and a mod_plsql frontend gateway.
Enterprise software hits Planetarion, baby!
That round was my all-time best — I finished in the top 100,
and our galaxy won.
NewDawn #2
I kept playing until somewhere around Round 40 — starting and stopping as often as I started.
After Round 33, it was really hard to find that same drive again.
Sad
A few years ago, I heard the news that Catwoman had passed away. 🙁
She was the glue that held NewDawn together — warm, funny, sharp, and impossible to forget.
The game wouldn’t have been the same without her.