10 Years!

[AmonGwareth]

From all of us at Virtrium, we'd like to thank all of you for helping us reach this amazing milestone! We couldn't have done it without your support. Here's hoping for many more years to come!

(note: its the 10 year anniversary of the North American launch since the EU 10 year was last week - December 4)

[Guaran]

Tonight I will try to post links to some screenshots of some good memories in Horizons/Istaria.

Myself as a level 20 something hatchy trying to help kill a level 80 Avatar of Pain... all the while thinking "ooh this will be really good exp!" in a group with some lvl 60's players. It was just a few hundred exp I died a couple times.

The explosions of the Machines of Inhibition, Famine, Discord, etc. on twilight shard.

Daneth performing the ceremony which freed the Dryads on Twilight shard while a big crowd looked on. (Never did get my Envoy of Aubradrine title)

My guild all secretly building the bridge to Lerena, late on a Friday night, so we could then run across a buy the plots. The bridge popped, the final builder started running across, it blinked out for just a second, then back in for good, and he fell and drowned in the water.. lol. He had to run all the way back from Aughundell (Feledan was blighted then) to get his plot.

My Rop ascension about a week after rop was released. I died on the peak from all those mobs while waiting on all the guildies who helped, had hoard craft parties for me, to get there. Had to submit a ticket since it bugged my rop.

I remember running all the way from Aughundell down to the swamp, and where you could semi-safely go and where you couldn't, avoiding dark stalkers and werewolves.

[Sindala]

Ahh, those were the days.
Doing the Augh - Harro run as a newbie down the 'path of death' past the werewolves

[Guaran]

Here's some more of those memories http://community.istaria.com/forum/s...l=1#post111652

Here are some pictures from the destruction of Twilight

First night Harro's destruction. Blowing off lots of Fireworks.

Second night Aughundell, Dikaina's destruction. Trashed plots. Selen. Tazoon. Blighted Feledan.

Some of the group chat is funny

Tomb you used to be able to get into, but dev's filled in with dirt:

Eastern Deadlands Tomb 1
Eastern Deadlands Tomb 2
Eastern Deadlands Tomb 3
Eastern Deadlands Tomb 4
Eastern Deadlands Tomb 5
Eastern Deadlands Tomb 6
Eastern Deadlands Tomb 7 This one shows where it is.
Eastern Deadlands Tomb 8 Looking up the stairs.
Treasure island

Old staves with tricking we used to have 2Prong Crooked Plain

Old video from beta Check out some of the combat animations

[velveeta]

i have way too many memories to post about any of them - illy's last night, my first plot, my first alt.......
so instead, please feel free to view my photobucket album, an ongoing work of homage to my second home.

http://s2.photobucket.com/user/velve...ary/game%20pix

[Zarkela]

Yes, though I started on the Chaos shard, it was nearly 9 and a half years ago today (9 years 5 months roughly) The year was 2004, my RL partner and I had just moved to Tennessee and were living with a friend in a trailer. Today, we own our own house in Tennessee.

Yes, much water has passed under the bridge for this Dragon, once a hatchie in New Vassarack, I remember all the ordeals, the
Were Wolves, the Arbutus, and the efforts to reach adult.

The merging of the Shards and the event that went with it collecting all those DP's

Becoming an Ancient with the dawning of the Ancient quest.

Drowning in my first lair.

Oh yes, those few who are still around from back then, I raise my glass and say "Kudos! Kudos for all those great times!"

[awdz]

I took a walk through memory lane by looking at old, old (now locked) threads I had started or posted to. Wowsers, it's been an amazing 10 years! Thank you, Virtrium, for making it possible for us to continue!

*serves klava all around, presenting each with a towel and a curtsy*

[Sindala]

He probably needs to be online for the links to work.

[Silithus Zerr]

Big congrats on 10 years. I started back in 2007 myself, and every time I left I found myself missing this place. Memories of friends and the Rites of Passage, both Adult and Ancient.. All the adventures. At times this place was where I could go to find good people in the midst of chaotic life events.

I really appreciate the work that Virtrium puts in keeping this game up after all this time, when there is so much competition. I think it's a testament to the quality of the idea and game-play framework, in combination with the great community. Sure, we've had difficult times and have had our differences - but no community lives without times like that, and it's important to remember that were all part of the family of Istaria. And that family has survived for ten years and continues.

Thanks to everyone involved,

Silithus

[Justa Mirage]

I will have to look at my screenshot directory... I have some from the very beginning, but not a whole lot. I think a lot of the fun memories was trying to beat the resource server lag by collecting 3000 logs and trying to make it to the machine before the server realized I had chopped more than my inventory could hold.

Also, when they released the Dryads as a playable character, they used the algorithm for the dragon for the /excite emote and the dryad characters did this bizarre stretchy animation including the female dryad's breasts would shoot out like little skinny toothpicks. Too bad I didn't video screen capture that, it was hilarious.

[Fyrethorne]

Yes, a big thanks to Virtrium for the continuation of Istaria!

[Satturn]

Yay Happy Anniversary Istaria, will be here for the next Anniversary and more to come

I really wish i could have played at launch, can only dream x3 Awesome game

[DragDen]

Yay, congratulations to everyone! Long life to Istaria!

I started to play in 2009, and Istaria is unique to me in a way that it's a place which I once called a heaven . I still remember that moment... https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...3-50-08-07.jpg

[AguaRush]

Warms my heart to see that screen shot

I am missing my Istarian family.
When I stopped playing a few months ago I think I was around my 7-8 year anniversary.

<3 Cheers to everyone. Maybe I'll come back and celebrate this month.

[retsnom]

Thankyou for the lovely years <3 Horizons was my first mmo and it will be held close in my heart for the rest of my life <3

I can still remember being new and having no clue what to do, i was just amazed there was other people, actual human beings that i had never met before behind the characters :S

I guess a guild took pity on me as they invited me to come to harro with them ...never before have i experienced a more nerve racking, exhilarating time in my life... we set off as a little band of adventures with the high levels escorting the low levels through dangerous deadlands, farming golems and helping people craft. It was truly an amazing experience <3

http://i.imgur.com/ymVfVA4.jpg

If any of the players in the above photo still player or look at this, Just know that you made my newbie years in mmo's an amazing time and i'm sorry i bugged you with noobish problems :P

[Guaran]

Here's screenshots from January 2004, my guild finishing the bridge to Lerena, then running across to buy plots. We all had dragged our disks there (probably from Aughundell) each of us carrying a load of construction materials. They had calulated everything needed, and we had it all there ahead of time, left our disks there, so we could come back at 1am to finish it and buy plots without competition
Back then cargo disks of other players were invisible.
January 16th 2004, from 1:08am to 1:26am central time on Twilight shard:

Bridge 01
Bridge 02
Bridge 03
Bridge 04
Bridge 05
Bridge 06
Bridge 07
Bridge 08 Done!
Bridge 09
Bridge 10
Bridge 11 View of the finished bridge from the hill overlooking Lerena.

The next week it made news on the Artifact Entertainment website, we were the first shard to build the bridge, and I believe it was the first world construction project ever finished as well.

[Malicore]

I've been here, since near the start of beta. Gratz on 10th anniversary. Tazoon.com is gone, so most pics and posts also gone...

[AmonGwareth]

I've been here, since near the start of beta. Gratz on 10th anniversary. Tazoon.com is gone, so most pics and posts also gone...

Of that first year and beta, yea... Amazingly these forums have been in place since late fall of 2004 so we have TONS of posts here from post-merge on.

[Dacurly]

Guaran, none of your pic links work for me