July 2003: Bobosama interviews Iceman

Bobosama: When did you first enter the scene? What was your first site?

Iceman: Well, I found Abandonware in late 1999 when I was searching for Aces over the Europe. I tried to find it through AltaVista, but I only found lots of useless crap sites through that. Then there was one site which had a word "OldWarez" in its title. 

Iceman: The site was down but then I searched for "oldwarez" and found lots of old games that I had lost. Finally I ended up to an abandonware site where I found Aces over the Europe. 

Bobosama: When did you first meet Miles? How did you come up with the idea of starting a ring?  

Iceman: A year after my friend asked me at school that he was interested in opening a site and ask me to join crew. However, he didn't know what content he would put up and I told him about Abandonware. So then we started The Thing, it was late 2000. And The Thing joined first Abandonware rings on January 2001. I met Miles at #pcoldies However, I started at #pcoldies with idling. When I finally started talking there I met Miles We were planning an emulation site with Anti those days and I ended up to a channel called #syntaxerror and Miles was also there 

Bobosama: When did you decide you wanted to start a ring? 

Iceman: DOO was originally Miles' idea, he was planning to start a ring, I think it was on May 2002 Anyway, he asked me to join the crew 

Bobosama: DOO excluded, what would you say is your favorite ring and why? 

Iceman: I have two favorite rings at the moment: TUOL and Abandoned Places. TUOL because it's stable and has regular updates. AP because of the quality sites it provides, good news posts and daily updates 

Bobosama: How did you end up getting a job at DFL? 

Iceman: Diskboy was tired of abandonware and was looking for people who wanted to run DFL (and Diskworld as well). I replied to him that I could keep up TGARL and Elite Links (I was too busy to write news at that time). However, I have now written news on the DFL as well. 

Bobosama: What are your plans for the future? 

Iceman: I'll keep updating DOO, TT and DFL until I'm off to army on January 2004. So for DOO I need more crew members to update when I'm off 

Bobosama: So we won't be seeing any more Iceman in 6 months? 

Iceman: Nope, I'm not going to disappear. The army lasts a year but there are "holidays" when you get home and I can update DOO and TT, and post to DFL then

Bobosama: Thank you for your time. The scene will miss you. 

Iceman: Thanks for interviewer

July 2003: Bobosama interviews Hanging

Bobosama: Hi, thank you for agreeing to this interview. First off, how did you come up with the nick hanGing?

hanGing: Right, get comfortable. when I first came into the scene I was known as jaznatas (jaz for short) - but I wasn’t really "known" - so I decided to search for a new nickname... The full nickname is hangingfromashotglass - a reference to alcoholism. I just shorten it for ease of use. Where I got it from - a song I wrote when I was 15 and drinking (im now sXe)

Bobosama: Interesting... what was the first website you ever participated in at the "scene"?

hanGing: first website I participated on was the reservatory for endangered games as a reviewer - before that I just lurked at the abandonware pub (when TUOL was nearly good)

Bobosama: What are your current projects and plans for the future?

hanGing: current projects - Well I now solely run AbandonRom Paradise and for the moment the emulation ring. I also act as an admin/owner at DaFastLane, and Admin at Tagalaxy. Outside Abandonware/Emulation... I contribute at www.evilpixie.co.uk and will soon be running a site for my band. Any other projects - well I'm always looking for things to do. (few things in works) - but as a web designer im a retard.

Bobosama: What year did you enter the scene and what are some of your favorite sites, rings and webmasters?

hanGing: ooh i think I entered the scene in 99... not quite sure. My fave site has always been HOTU; I loved the reservatory, as well as Turnips vegigarden (my entry to the scene in some ways) Ring - wise, I have to say The Emulation Ring don’t I And Echo ring and Aplaces as well As for webbies, erm I seem to get on best with Asher (aka Lunatic), Diskboy and Voh - but I have met a load of cool people in the scene... oh Iceman deserves a mention as well

Bobosama: Ah, yes, Asher, I remember helping him with LOG before he went off to Israel.

hanGing: we host it... well tagalaxy did i think... not sure... no thinking of Legendaarista

Bobosama: How would you describe the current state of Abandonware?

hanGing: Im not sure, I could describe it as "quiet" - nothing new happens. To be honest at the moment I concentrate more on the emulation side of things. The good thing about Abandonware is that new people are coming forward with a passion that’s needed to keep the scene going. I look forward to the day that I can be treated as a veteran (which in a way i am already)

Bobosama: What are your opinions on Echo 4.0 and Bobosama?

hanGing: I like echo 4.0 - very nice ring (as you can tell by the speed i joined it), as for Bobosama, I think that you're fishing for compliments.

Bobosama: Well thank you for your time. Big things are on the horizon from Bobosama in the future, keep your eyes peeled.

hanGing: I always keep an eye - especially to people that could be as good as me!

July 2003: Bobosama Interviews Bunnzy

Bobosama says: Thank you for agreeing to this interview. When did you first become involved with Abandonware? What was your first site?

Bunnzy says: I first became involved around.. 97 or 98... I was a lurker, looking for old games. I was too scared to talk to people online :-) My first site was BA [Bunnzy Abandonware], which started in 2000.

Bobosama says: When did you release version 2.0 of BA? Could you describe the original for us?

Bunnzy says: Version 2 was… mid 2001. It was first black and orange :-)

Bobosama says: Who were some of your first contacts in "the scene"? Which sites, webmasters and rings are you most fond of?

Bunnzy says: Fond of... aww. My first contact was sheppy. The people I am most of fond of are the people from #abandongames infinity-irc. But im pretty good friends with nearly everyone :-)

Bobosama says: BA aside, are there any sites or rings which have a special meaning to you?

Bunnzy says: Well, being over on AP is cool! And there are a few places that I have fond memories of that I wish were like they used to be. I guess I don’t have as much to do with abandonware forums or anything like I used to. Things in the http abandonware scene aren't like they used to be. In some ways they are better, in other ways they are not.

Bobosama says: I know what you mean :-)
What are your plans for the future?

Bunnzy says: For me or for my site?

Bobosama says: Both

Bunnzy says: BA will continue to live on. I don’t add many games, because im restricted, I would love to expand, but we just don’t have the facilities. I also like to keep it controllable, and gord and the small group of people that help me out are my angels. We'll keep it going. It’s what i know and love - abandonware. Myself, well... My mum has had her cancer cleared, so I can once again plan ahead for what I wanna do. I'm moving overseas in 6 months

Bobosama says: To where?

Bunnzy says: I have an on year around the world ticket, I can go wherever i want

Bobosama says: Stop by New York :-)

Bunnzy says: for sure. you can buy me a coffee :-)

Bobosama says: Haha, will do Bobosama says: Is there any title which means something to you? Such as your first game, etc.

Bunnzy says: I can’t remember my first game, but when I think of old games I think of Race! A game by Carl Erikson.. the game that i used to play with my cousins. Collecting spanners n stuff, crashing and burning. Those were the awesomest times of my life

Bobosama says: :-)
Bobosama says: On a closing note, what are your thoughts on EchoRing 4 and Bobosama's quest to revive it?

Bunnzy says: Stick with it. The abandonware scene needs growth. Things are never easy, but we all get there. and good for you :-)

Bobosama says: Thank you for the kind words. Good luck with Bunnzy Abandonware 3.0. See you in 6 months :-)

Bobosama

I first learned about Bobosama through his websites EmuGateway and WizardWare, which revolved around Abandonware Emulation games and Anime. Very nicely designed and user friendly websites. He then immersed himself into the abandonware community and was a likeable character. With ambitious momentum he also started EmuWare, which had been an Abandonware/Emulation ring. My interest with abandonware had been phasing out and I had less and less to do with it at this point (2003/2004) and NeoPickaze and myself called it a day with our abandonware ring 'EchoRing' and the .com had been sold off (more on this scandal in the future) against my wishes, however I had retained the .co.uk for keep sake.

Starting an abandonware ring (or any website) from scratch was not (and is not) easy if you are not used to endless days of websites not updating, no new sites joining - it can all seem a bit pointless after a while, if you are doing it for external interaction. I believe he felt like that with EmuWare and had eventually closed that project. He then reached out to me and told me he had been a fan of EchoRing when he was a member of it and wanted to revive it. I appreciated that there had been someone that was a fan of the ring and didn't want it's legacy to end the way it had done (dormant and sold off - more on this scandal in the future) so I threw my support fully behind him and offered any behind the scene help I could do. He breathed new life into Echoring, had a decent sized crew, added features that NeoPickaze and I had not thought of and was able to attract members to the ring we had been unable to do so ourselves. After 18 months or so, the natural evolution happended and EchoRing closed with his farewell message. I understand he had stayed in the scene for a while, concentrating on his website EmuGateway.

Quite a few years afterwards I learned from Diskboy that he had sadly passed away. This left me quite shocked. For me, Bobosama epitomised - new blood, change, progress and ambition. I feel very fortunate that I had became friends with him and felt honoured that he had been a fan of a website I had something to do with and helped revive it.

At the time he was in charge of Echoring, he published a series of interviews with people in the Abandonware community of that era - which I retained and feel it would be fitting to publish them here, once again.

Rest in Peace Boris - thank you for your everything.

January 2002 - Gravedigger

Gravedigger owned DOS Graveyard (download website) and Backlane (webring) Once the abandonware community decided to cleanse itself of Oldwarez and follow a 'pure' path this had ignited a rift with the 'for vs against' camps. He was famed for his various disputes in the scene and speaking his mind. He held resentment towards the three biggest rings (AR, ROA and & TUOL) and started Backlane which would become the biggest ring in the abandonware/oldwarez scene. Gravedigger was a generation before me, so I didn't have any dealings with him - however became interested in how had reveled in controversary and whereas myself and others would seek redemption for our misgivings from the scene, he would take a "So? deal with it!" approach to his critics.

The Saint: Hi Gravedigger, you have been gone for practically ages from the Abandonware scene! DOS Graveyard and Backlane departed at the same time you left too, what have you been doing since you've left?

Gravedigger: Actually, I was fedup of few labotomized kids lurking in this scene including Underdogs, Elwood. Plus, This scene is completly infringing the copyright law of digital media or whatever they call this. HOTU is the biggest site to indulge in these illegal activities.

The Saint: Now as some might think, your grudge with TUOL and co - finished when you left the scene, is this true? Do you still have some bad feelings towards anyone from yesteryear?

Gravedigger: Yes, all water under the bridge. But it was no war. I only tried to show them the reality and they were never ready to except the reality or maybe the reality was too cruel for them to even stand it so they reacted as kids and cursed me for showing them the reality Well, I sometme feel pity of them. :))

The Saint: Do you plan on returning? I read on TGARL that you said "Backlane was the best ring and will be when it returns" when can we expect a return?

Gravedigger: I am returning very soon but only with DOS Graveyard. backlane will also return but not as a ring, more as a search engine for all kind of sites.

The Saint: I understand you have been watching from the sidelines - what is your opinion on the current state of the Abandonware scene?

Gravedigger: ABANDONWARE SUX. Let me rephrase - Its actually the people like J-Who, Marssy etc that SUX and due to them the scene sux.

The Saint: When you was fully active within the scene, was there anything/anyone that really got on your nerves, if so - who and why?

Gravedigger: Haha, intersting question. I wish you could browse the ring created by Lithium. hahaha
http://www.drizzlers.f2s.com/pissed.htm

The Saint: If you could sum up in one word to describe Backlane when it was alive, what would it be?

Gravedigger: RULED, that is the right ONE word

The Saint: What are your views on TUOL and AR at the momment?

Gravedigger: The whole damn war started due to backlane, they were completely jealous of my ring LOL. Tuol and AR almost the same as they were before, cruel, unjust, selfish, cunning, stupid, can you add some more words here please. LOL

The Saint: At the momment, how active are you and do you talk to many people from the Abandonware scene still?

Gravedigger: Yes, I do sometime visit the Pub, irc channels related to the scene and chat for fun with old dudes like Haba, Nemisis etc.

The Saint: Did you ever hear of someone called 'Warmonger'? he ran a Oldwarez ring called 'TOAR', a lot of people said there are similarities between yourselves and he is a regeneration of you?

Gravedigger: Yes I know this asshole. He is not even shit of me, he is too stupid to fight Tuol members because he was not arguing on solid ground.

The Saint: When you return to the scene, will it be with a 'bang' or will it be peaceful?

Gravedigger: No I will try to sneak in the scene without even joining any ring or advertiseing in the scene. DOS Graveyard is not coming back as an abandonware site or totally archive.

The Saint: What website/person would you like to see return to the scene?

Gravedigger: I love to see Nemisis Abadonware again. that was the site I leeched many games. LOL

The Saint: If you had a messeage for someone in the Abandonware scene, who would it be and what would you say?

Gravedigger: Yes, I wanna curse PsOmA in public, Do NOT trust that person.

The Saint: Apart from AR & TUOL, have you noticed any of the other rings? If so which ones and what are you opinions on them?

Gravedigger: Hmm.. Well all other rings are better than these two, I would say. Atleast they care for the members

January 2002 - Tee

Tee owned a website called Da Fast Lane (DFL for short) which was co-owned with his real life friend Shaka. It originally started as a download website that had been themed on his favourite game; Jones in the Fast Lane. I personally had not been aware of Tee until he converted DFL into a community website, which incorporated news articles ('Da News') which allowed the community to write and publish articles (prior approval by a DFL team member required - however, a majority of articles would be published) that gave the user the ability to comment too. The Giant Abanadonware Ring List (TGARL) which would showcase and archive all the Abandonware Rings of past and present. There had also been plans to open up 'Da Games' which would be a download section and 'Da Ring' which would be an abandonware ring. It had became apparent quite fast, that as the 'community' would be split into 'cliques' that 'Da News' would serve as the centre stage for discussions (also spats) to take place and have a wide array of input. In my opinion, this had been and would become the most succesful of any community websites that the Abandonware scene had encountered.

The Saint: Hi Tee, since relaunching DFL into a resource site instead of the download site it used to be, how have things been going? Have you had any issues so far? In your opinion has it been harder running, opposed to just as a download site?

Tee: I always wanted to create a resource site, and Da News is working great as a news service... our problems has always revolved around servers... The old university server was good, but denied me in getting ftp-access - so I had to send stuff to shaka, then he had to upload. Real time-consuming and not to mention boring method. That's why TGARL had long runs without updates. After we moved to Diskboy's server, I got ftp-access (wee) but some IE6 users had problems with the site because of the servers incompatability, and the server was also quite slow. Now Diskboy is deleting his hosting account, so we have to move servers again :( We moved all the stuff back to the uni-server, but it's not working properly... don't be suprised if DFL is down for a while in the time to come... Our code and design has worked great, so we actually managed quite fine. It's just as easy running the news site as the download site, as long as the system is created. But the creation process is a long and hard one, shaka worked several weeks to create the download system, and a long time on the news site too... but as I said, after it's created it's a walk in the park. The problem with the game site is that it takes a long time to write reviews and find screenshots for all the games, so I guess it's easier now when we dropped it. We plan to launch the game site again, but then we're going to hire crew that can run that section. After Jason, Diskboy and NeoPickaze joined the crew as newswriters, I've gotten more time for TGARL... thank god..

The Saint: Do you have any further plans for TGARL? When will we see 'Da Games' section and 'Da Ring' added?

Tee: Hmm.. I'm not actually sure about TGARL... I think I'll add some more features to it later, but ATM I don't have any certain plans of sudden changes. Da Games and Da Ring, the question already asked 1000 times unfortunately still can't be answered yet :( What I can tell you though is that Da Ring isn't even under construction, so Da Games will definately be released first! The problem is lack of time from shaka's side, he has to focus on his University education - something I have total respect for and don't want to rush him too much! Afterall, real life comes first!

The Saint: What would you say your goals for Da Fast Lane are?

Tee: Our goals...
- To release Da Ring and Da Games
- To help visitors in an informative matter
- To serve kickass godlike aw-news
- To get lots of awards :P
- To get a visitor or two ;)
- To keep ruling Da Lane & live 4ever...


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

Tee: I would change our server into a permanent stabil compatible working one... I would also get rid of namezero and buy a real domain... A moron detector could also be installed, keeping all the weirdo posters out of the site... I guess some people are just born stupid ;)

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

Tee: The state of the scene is the same as always. I'm not saying that it's negative, becuase that's the scene I love. Sure there are bad elements, as it is in every scene, but the good elements are truly good - and makes up for it all. About people getting on my nerves, sure.... but I'm not going to go deeper into that subject now, next question please ;)

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

Tee: l337 ;)

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

Tee: wicked ;)

The Saint: What are your views on other community websites, such as TAG and ToT? And what is your relationship like with those webmasters?

Tee: ToT is a nice site, but I still feel that they need to post some descent articles. Since their reopening, I haven't seen a truly good article yet... the "Welcome to the circus" had some interesting points, but was way to bias, and wasn't objective at all. But if that's the way they want to run their site be my guest, just don't ask me to have any part of it. I used to comment there, but in the latest time their subject has been so damn dull, that I didn't even care. I don't really have a relationship with the ToT webmasters at all. I'm sure they're all nice people, when not throwing dirt around ;)
TAG is a really really really good idea, carried out in a terrible way. Don't get me wrong, I like TAG - but they've started on a task that they can never complete. Their reviews is usually very well written, and of great detail - but unfortunately due to the great amount of reviews horribly outdated. Just read the review they did on DFL. Truly amusing I tell you, though sad for TAG. I've had some nice chats with LuNaTiC, a nice guy... but I do sometimes feel that he opens his mouth too much. He has a way of thinking that he's God's gift to the scene, something that has been proven wrong time after time after time... I don't know the other webmasters, though I've chatted with Bunny which is very nice!

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 departed?

Tee: Hmm... I truly miss PsOmA - the first guy to ever really support TGARL when in it's early stages - and his kickass ring Ring of Ages. I also miss The Keep, which I thought was as high quality as HOTU. Another thing I miss is the time when I was an aw-downloader, I don't download much abandonware anymore... I eventually got bored, but I miss the old search for those golden oldies.

The Saint: Now you have more staff, how often can we expect TGARL and Da News to be updated?

Tee: TGARL is going to be updated whenever something new happens to the rings.... Da News should at least have a few articles a week....

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.