January 2002 - LuNaTiC

LuNaTiC/LuN then afterwards known by his own name of Asher had started out with his download website AbandonRom Paradise. The likes of Dafastlane (DFL) started to gain popularity (and notoriety for the disputes in 'Da News' section) in the scene; LuNaTiC started his own community website called The Abandoned Galaxy (TAG) the aim had been to deliver a one-stop shop for the community and it had produced the initial Abandonware Awards and editorials which where opinions on the community and also had guest editors. This would serve as a rival to DFL, however from memory it had not been as interactive (the ability to leave comments) LuNaTiC had immersed himself into the community and had become a beacon of information as he knew all walks from the scene, which helped to serve him well for the popularity of TAG.

The Saint Hi LuNaTiC since the opening of The Abandoned Galaxy, quite a few things have happended over there - such as the awards and the whole Anon editorial situation a while back, can we see anything else that might be as talked about as those two things in the near future of TAG?

LuNaTiC Well, i guess we'll just have to wait and see ;) Basically, i dont go looking for controversy (which some have claimed) but i wont hide away from something if needs be. So if something in the future annoys me enough, sure, ill write up an editorial on it, but if not, things could just stay peaceful :)

The Saint What are your goals for The Abandoned Galaxy?

LuNaTiC When i first started, i wanted to use things like The Abandonware Awards to help unify the scene a little. Since then, my goals have changed slightly. Now im more interested in providing the best possible resource to webmasters & abandonware enthusiasts that i possibly can. With the site reviews, game reviews, everything else and several upcoming features, i hope to provide all that any abandonware person could ever need, except the downloads of course.

The Saint If there's something about TAG you could change, what would it be and why?

LuNaTiC Hmm...thats not an easy one. I'm quite happy with the site right now, and the way its heading. If i could change anything it would be the download site reviews, which have taken longer than expected to do, but we are getting on to those now, so its not such a big issue. Other than that, i cant really think of anything i would change.

The Saint The Abandoned Galaxy awards, a few people are saying these awards where 'Fixed' what is your view on this?

LuNaTiC Well, i know they werent, so it doesnt really bother me a whole lot, to be honest. Anyone who wants to accuse me of fixing the awards is free to, but they will be doing it without any basis whatsoever for their accusations. Besides which, The Awards are just a bit of fun, and fixing them wouldnt really serve a purpose anyway. On another note, many of the sites i wanted to win didnt. Surely if id fixed them i would have changed this?

The Saint What are your views on the current state of the scene? Is there anything/anyone that's really getting on your nerves?

LuNaTiC The community (i dont like the word scene) as a whole is going quite well. Abandonware is just as large and more well known than ever before. However, many people know my views on certain sites and people, and i dont feel that they have the community's best interests at heart. But then again, they probably feel that they do, so i cant forsee that going anywhere. Overall, i feel the community is growing, and will continue to grow, however certain influences are slowing down that growth.

The Saint If you could sum up in just one word to describe TAG, what would it be?

LuNaTiC Alive

The Saint If you could sum up in just one word to describe the state of the Abandonware scene, what would it be?

LuNaTiC Expanding

The Saint What are your views on other the community sites, such as DFL and ToT?

LuNaTiC As an idea, they are great. In practice, they seem to flow up and down like the tide. In general, ToT has improved a lot since its relaunch, although it still seems to be seeking controversy from time to time. Overall though, i think its quite a valuable resource to the community. DFL is an interesting case. It showed a lot of promise when it first launched, but since then has failed to deliver. TGARL has always had problems with out of date and/or just plain incorrect information, although that has improved of late. Da News has not impressed me at all in its short life. Its news stories seem to really lack anything interesting or out of the ordinary generally, although they do have the occassional good topic.

The Saint Your time spent in the scene as up to yet, if there is something/someone you would like to see return to the scene, that has been long gone, what/who would it be, and why?

LuNaTiC I would love to see a return from blargy & his site TACT, as ive always had huge respect for him, and TACT in its day helped me a lot with the download site i was running at the time. But there are plenty of others that would be valuable if they returned to the scene, like Turnip, HaZZeL or Hawk (who still idles on IRC, but has more or less abandoned the web scene)

The Saint What are your predications for the Abandonware scene of 2002, is it going to be a quite boring one or do you think this year will somehow be better than 2001?

LuNaTiC Well, in 2002 i can see some significant changes, but overall i think the community will remain fairly static. I think a few big names are likely to leave, and we will probably see the return of one or two people. Other than that though, i think it'll be business as usual.

The Saint Just as a question that I've been wanting to ask about TAG, how often do you publish editorials? And when will the next Abandonware awards be out?

LuNaTiC We publish editorials as often as they are written essentially. Usually it works out at about 1 a fortnight, but there isnt anything concrete. Note that the editorials space is open to the public, so if anyone feels like writing one, we'll be happy to put it up unedited as long as its not mindless bullshit. The next abandonware awards will be around the same time next year, although i am thinking of putting them on in december only, not running into january, as ill be away again same time next year.