Of the Internet and Disappearing Memories.

 Upon receiving a new laptop for work, I decided to sync my bookmarks. I mistakenly thought that the bookmarks on my old laptop were synced with my Google account. This was incorrect. It turned out that the last device on which I linked my bookmarks to my Google account was my gaming computer, which I hadn't used seriously in many years, and got rid of in 2017. I found lists of bookmarks that looked like they had last been updated in 2013 or something. I got really excited about this and was looking forward to a trip down memory lane of old WW2 wargaming pages, blogs and other interesting things. Unfortunately what I got was very different. 

I had a link to a database of Marvel Dice Masters. I used it for squad/deck building. It was a really great resource. Of course, I haven't really played this game since probably 2015, have never seen any of the other sets, the DC sets, DnD sets and sets from other IPs. I likely will never play any of them, other than my current collection. Much like my attitude, the link to that website was dead. 

Back in 2013 I spent a great summer playing Planetside 2. I researched how to maximise my own playing experience, and one of the suggestions was to join a platoon. I followed a page that was devoted to getting the most out of playing in a platoon, how to team up, how to best distribute classes. It was such a great resource.

Gone now.

Star Wars Pocketmodels. A classic game that I collected between 2007 and 2010 probably. It is really fun, it is Star Wars. It is constructible. It is fighting. 

There was a moderately active community that I watched slowly peter out until there were only a couple of people posting on the forum every now and then. Then the site shut down. Sad times. The links in my bookmarks are dead.

The Guild was a forum run probably by Piers Brand. It was the best resource for anything BattleGroup back in the day. At some point, though, it just shut down. Many of the posters there migrated to the Facebook page. Dead link.

Back in 2011 someone created a mod for Arma III, named it DayZ and let it loose. It was one of the best gaming experiences of my life. I dual-screened and had a map on the other screen, which helped me navigate around. "Anyone in Cherno?" Such memories. Spawning by the coast with literally nothing, trying to survive longer than 10 minutes. It was amazing. That map? Dead link. That game? Gone. They tried to create it as a stand-alone game and it was apparently disasterous. 

Back in the early 2000s I had given up wargaming and miniature painting. When the internet really came to life I stumbled across this website. It is by someone called Andy Watkins. He played in 15mm. He had some great terrain, figures and battle reports. Unfortunately he used a lot of Adobe Flash Player to run links to navigate the website. I happened to bookmark one Stalingrad battle so can see these photos. But I can't get to my favourite battle reports. I literally can't access them, even though they likely still exist online. Shame. 

There are a number of other blogs and sites that are no longer functioning. A Yahoo Group for the Crossfire WW2 rules - dead because Yahoo Groups died. A set of wargame rules called Point Blank, with a couple of battle reports - gone. That site is the site that showed me now necessary it is to attach figures to bases. I even contacted the author - Scott Clinton - over on Board Game Geek about if his rules ever got published. They didn't.

I wonder how many other websites are just gone. Along with the dreams and inspiration that they facilitated. How many periods of our lives were based around a thing that no longer exists anymore? 

There was a game a while ago called Star Wars Uprising. I got to travel around, shooting, levelling up. Then the game got shut down. Just like that. The same goes for the failed Command and Conquer reboot. It was meant to be free to play, there are a few games YouTube to watch, I even downloaded the game, but didn't get a chance to play it as I was living abroad and didn't have a good enough computer. When I returned home the game had been cancelled.

Just a whole world of "what-ifs?"