MK Land
You have entered the reconstruction of MKLand.
This will be my place for MetalKnights... a fantastic online strategy game.
Take it all with a grain of salt...
It's a view from atop the giant mushroom.
My Thoughts
There's so much to say about this fantastic game. Where does a person start....
I'll go Way back to my online debut... back to 1998. At this point I was the biggest newbie there ever was. I had never been online. When I was in school there was no Windows. The internet was something for large corps and governments; a computer wasn't seen in every other home. I learned to plot an 'X' in class using 'x/y' coordinates.
It took a week.
I didn't know what messaging programs were. Or forums. Or firewalls, viruses and the like. Or anything else 'net related, for that matter. Phrases like 'lol, rofl, roflmao' all read like something from a child with no concept of language.
Thorn and I had just got ahold of a 486 laptop that year. You have to love it when your parents take pity. Shortly after, with the help of Shadow Warlord, we got online!!
We have a number of dear friends who live 400+ km away and the group of us decided to get online Risk to play together, much as we had done with the boardgame in earlier years. Somewhere along the line we came to Metalknights before we found Risk. It looked good and we decided to try it out. We never did get Risk.
And I guess that's where the MK story starts for me. It didn't take long for me to get hooked on the game and I was fortunate to have somewhat of a knack for expanding. Overall I didn't do too bad. I caught onto the basics fairly quickly but my inexperience was obvious in my strategy. Metalknights and scorpions whenever I could (I didn't play cheap maps lol)! I insisted on taking every enemy factory I found whether I needed it or not. And all unregged!
At some point, maybe 6 months in, I joined a recruiting game for the James Gang and Delaro took me on board. It was a great alliance to start out in. They gave me freedom to learn and never cursed me out for bad allied play (concepts of staying out of a game to keep the other team as last in, and the like, weren't in my thoughts yet so I can imagine I messed up a few plays here and there). I still hadn't realized the forums where there, nor was I talking to other players through icq yet; just the odd messaging through in-game mail.
I'm not sure when I 'entered' the MK community. I know I met Dbodette and a few others and that was it for me. I was totally hooked.
The combination of the game itself, the help that's out there both from players and websites, and the people I met, it caught me.
The game itself has the potential longevity of chess. It doesn't rely on bells and whistles and fancy wallpapering to be good. It has the classic theme of strategy; pitting your wits against another without worrying about ping rates and cheats. Knowing when you win it was through your ability, not because of outside help, programs and server weaknesses.
The community that has developed is unlike any I have seen online. Once you get to know the people it seems like a real community. Weekly there are 'old timers' who pop back for a game or two, or even just to say 'hi, i'm still here. how the hell are you all.' I really like the game, but it's the community that draws me back and I think it is the same with most players.
There is Skyven, game creator, god of mkland. Rarely seen, he stays around just enough for us to know he's still there and not a myth. Thankfully he does. Although no longer a player himself, he remembers us and is quick to fix errors and bugs, should they occur.
Then there are certain players who are the gameskeepers, as I like to call them. People that take it upon themselves to go that one extra step. Sometimes sticking their nose in, sometimes being asked to help. They are the movers and shakers and community glue. For example, there is Dbodette and Genie.
I think at one point Dbodette knew, or knew of almost every single player in the game. I never knew her to turn away anyone needing help. A lifetime honorary member of the MKC. A true friend to many in the community and an mk mom to so many new players. She deserves her own statue in MKLand.
Genie.. well what hasn't Genie done. The map committee, the fairness committee, an incredible, informative site, organizer of events, tournaments and games, helping new players. The list of his contributions goes on and on. With him it's not so much what he does, but why he does it. I think he may be one of the players that feels as strongly for the community as I do.
These are but two examples. There were others before and others since.
And then we have the forums. The Main, Support and Flame. The main and support always have players stopping with questions, answering questions or just talking about the game.
The flame. Well the flame is almost its own little world in MKLand. Maybe the roadside bar just outside city limits. BYOB (bring your own bud, dummy. They serve beer.). Friends argue, enemies war, insults swirl around in wafts and gusts. The only rule is..
well there isn't any.
It's one of my favorite sites, inspiring me to start the MK Writers Fan Club. Myself being the number 1 (and only) member. I'm making up T-shirts someday. Writers like the mighty McGoogan. Stringing together words with such fluidness and originality that you read on with a smile even if the flame is aimed at you. And Jynx. Does his post have a hidden meaning just waiting to bite your ass? Or is it nothing more than the ravings left from some idea in a scary closet of his brain? And Glynis. Coarse, crude and blunt. There is no wonder about where he is directing his thoughts, and you have to admit he definately has a style his own. And on and on it goes.
The collection of people is very diverse. We have all walks of life, ages range from 7-70, interests and conversation go from music to medieval warring to skydiving to politics to the war of the sexes to almost anything you can possibly imagine. And even Metalknights sometimes. :)
And finally a little more on the game itself. I won't get into tips and tricks here. There are so many good sites out there now I'd be hard pressed to find something new to tell. The game as a whole is very well made. Simple enough that a new player can pick it up and enjoy it with relative ease, complex enough that mastering the game takes time. Diverse enough with the variety of players and maps to stay new even for those who excel at the game. Metalknights and the Players are definately worth checking out.
Come join us