The text from the 30th anniversary reboot via Osse's post on the gossiper
Rumour 27 Osse (06/12/24 10:41) 30th Anniversary Reboot Countdown The 30th Anniversary Reboot Countdown ******************************* 1994 ****************************** Early in the year, Manwe and Aule begin discussing the idea of creating a MUD. Steps are taken and on June 8 at 7:26 PM, the first boot occurs, with Ankh logging in to verify it was up and running at its first home: empires.stanford.edu on port 9999. Aule creates his first character (Krysh) soon after. The next day the other founders begin logging in: the idea of The Two Towers begins to take shape, and a Tolkien-based theme is decided upon. On June 10th the first players unexpectedly begin showing up, due to a MUD interconnect feature which Aule soon disables. Through the rest of the year, the founders and first Ainur work hard to shape the idea of what T2T would become. Professions and abilities are coded, and in September the MUD officially opens. Development of West Arda progresses, and plans for East Arda are made. *************************************************************** ******************************* 1995 ****************************** The player base continues to grow quickly as development of West Arda continues, and East Arda opens late in the year. The time of the Clans begins: The Dark Knights are founded by Kraun, followed by the Silver Guardians and Imperial Navy and other smaller clans. These are the days of the great early players: Kerosion, Flint, Kraun and many others, who would go on to become legends. *************************************************************** ******************************* 1996 ****************************** The age of the Guilds begins. The Rimsilval, Amruin and Valacirca guildhalls open. Later in the year, the "Kingdoms" period under Fenris and Mithras begins. Mordor opens, and then the Durmanhoth and Meglivornth guilds enter the game. Soon, the first of many Guild wars begin. The first T-shirt fundraiser is held, and successfully funds a 486/100 server with 64M of RAM to run T2T. *************************************************************** ******************************* 1997 ****************************** RP events begin being held, including the Battle of Helm's Deep. The Fellowship of the Rimbor-Anim guildhall first enters the game, as do Meglivornth wolves. A war between the Durmanhoth and Rimsilval begun by Allusion and Ainaruth grows into an Alliance War against the Durm. In September, Curuntar is made an admin for the first time. In December, Manwe implements 'help fsi' to help deal with repetitive idea reports. Just before Christmas, Curuntar calls for donations to purchase a new server, as the 486 machine is increasingly overloaded by ever-higher user counts. In early summer, Aule hosts a 3rd Anniversary Mud Party at his home in Mountain View, California, attended by a several founders and many players & Ainur. *************************************************************** ******************************* 1998 ****************************** On January 21, Curuntar announces that the MUD is now running on its new server, a 533Mhz Alpha machine. Soon after, Aule declares that the release date of Minas Tirith will be March 15: and on that day, it is does indeed go live and a new online user count record is set. A week later, Curuntar retires/steps down. Also this year, the Mortal Council is created, to try to provide a way for players to deal with some of their own issues, and present considered requests to Valinor. Moria opens in fits and starts, and another war between the Rimsilval and Durmanhoth occurs. The Corsairs of Umbar guild gets a guildhall and the 'aura' command is removed. Around this time, Beren predicts that T2T has, at best, 3 more years of existence left. *************************************************************** ******************************* 1999 ****************************** Curuntar nukes himself on February 7; soon after, T2T moves to new host (with a T3 connection). Banner ads are placed on the T2T website to help with costs - players are encouraged (a lot) to click them. On March 6, the Plantation is removed for fixes and re-balancing, with a hopeful note that: "we'll work on getting it back soon." On March 15 the First Event(tm) is held to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Minas Tirith's release; it is decided that this will be a yearly occurrence. Version 1 of Evil Races (mission-based) are released on May 12, and removed for fixing four days later; they are re-released in August. The first part of Barad-dur is released June 26 and the Alexa auctioneer is added on June 30. In September, the highly popular Guild Rent system is installed. On October 6, new southern West Arda grids added (Dunland, Enedwaith, etc), with a new link to East Arda being added at the Isen River. On November 8, the Eorling race is added. Late in the year, Arda v2 (communities) changes are busily being implemented. On Dec. 19, Bethagan is sunk and the CoU guild is removed from the game. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2000 ****************************** In January, the newbie helper system is added, and also the 'legendinfo' command. Soon after, on February 1, the 'travelto' system is added. Later in February, another T-shirt campaign is announced - these were the black shirts with donator names/guilds on the back. In April, the Newbiecomm is added and later in the month, the 'throw' command. In June, a new system of Inns and innkeepers are added, with the same basic functionality we have today. In July, the playtester system goes live, along with high levels for players. October sees the memorials system installed, and December brings the whip quest's random appearance delay after reboot. At the end of the year, the T2T server is shipped from the west to the east coast of the U.S. for a new hosting setup; T2T runs on a temporary server in the meantime. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2001 ****************************** On January 25, Melkor announces that the T2T server is up and running on its new host. Development of Evil Races V2 is underway, with 'Sauron' (Sire) leading. On Feb. 4, the "bar comm" is implemented: the main comm is now only usable while in a tavern. Soon after, T2T's public comm rating is changed to PG-13 and the 'comm hist' feature is added. On March 15, to celebrate the 3rd Event, a "Battle of Five Armies" RP Event occurs. On April 20, another RP event "Battle of the Isen Fords" takes place. Around this time, the 'briefcombat' and 'story' features are added. In June, Jeffrey's pipe shop opens in Bree with the new, more functional versions of the smoking pipes. Mid-month, a new T2T website is launched, and another RP event "Battle of the Greenfields" takes place. Late in June, the ArdaV2 town kill tracking/reputation system goes live. In July, towncomms are added, and also the 'enemies' list and Weapontraders system. On August 8, the (second) RP "Battle of Helm's Deep" is held, the largest and most complex RP battle yet. In September, town services refusing service to murderers is announced; the following month, guild pets are removed and all uniques are changed to load immediately at boot. In December, the MUD's hosting service changes yet again. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2002 ****************************** After years of effort, Cirith Ungol, Shelob's Lair and the great spider herself are released: death and hilarity ensue. In March, Ost-in-Edhil opens. In May, look/glance grouping is added, followed by the new mounts system in June. On June 26, the removal of the sheriff profession, along with the Rim-Ainacam guild and club, is announced - it is completed on July 31. In August, Melkor announces his "permanent" retirement... and Draugluin takes the role of Power of Law the first time. By the end of August, the new Archer profession is in playtesting. The 'surname' setting is added the following month. In November, an RP event "Battle of Dale" is held. In early December, Osse announces the 'Pledge Drive' fundraiser to raise money for a new server; soon after, the Archer profession is installed. Later in the month, item tagging is added. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2003 ****************************** In early January, the pledge drive Hall of Honor enters the game; later in the month, the main comm returns to global status, with 5 EP cost (no more bar comm). Strongboxes are added, along with the 'legend top' system. On January 31, the Pledge Drive ends well over the original goal, earning the highest-level reward: the Nirnaeth Arnoediad (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) RP Event. As the year goes on, the profanity filter is added, and the Pledge Drive PvP Arena reward goes live. Early in April, a change to the Mortal Council's scope is announced, regarding the removal of its player punishment functions. The 'depart' command is also added, and guild armoury resets are removed and capacity calculations changed. Later, the 'compare' command is added. In May, the first issue of the Common Tater is published. On June 9, the PVP death penalty is reduced. On July 11, the completion of Guild Review (v1) is announced, along with the launch of a new guilds/ clans application system. The Rimsilval guild becomes the Rangers of Ithilien. Soon after, ERv2 playtesting is announced, followed by new Ranger prof playtesting. In August, 'New Rivendell' goes live and Rauko permanently retires. A new server is purchased (with proceeds from the pledge drive), and the transition is announced; by August 30, the new server is live: Aule drives it down to New York City from Boston, where he and Curuntar set it up at the ISP data center Curu owns. On September 23, the disbandment of the Mortal Council is announced, once pending business is wrapped up. In October, the racechange system is launched, and the 'merciful' option is added. In December, the Dunlending start town of Druwaur is added along with the new Edain race. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2004 ****************************** In January, the guild 'overthrow' command is added, allowing members to remove sitting guildmasters. In February, message stones are removed, and the removal of the Mortal Council is completed. On March 9, the revamped Ranger profession is released, and the charm command is removed. June 3 brings the installation of the Petition system, allowing players to submit ideas and requests to Valinor. Also in June, an old 1996 version of T2T is brought online for a short while. The next month, reboot durations are increased from 2-4 to 3-5 days; color titles in the who list are also enabled, along with the 'charinfo' command. In August, the 'dev' command/system is added. October sees the release of the 'pose' command, party gold splitting, skill forgetting and the automated name change system. Early in December, the regions system is added. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2005 ****************************** In January, the 'hands' command and multiple travelto destination- chaining go live. At the end of the month, ERs v2 are released, with closed borders. In February, the IC (in-character) comm is added, and the main comm becomes the OOC (out-of-character). Thief profession changes/ re-balancing are also announced (including gaining experience from stealing and NPCs remembering thefts); mid-month, the T2TMUD.org domain goes live. On March 16, the new automated guilds system (with standard guildhalls and no theme requirements) is installed. Later in the month, region patrols are added. Soon the 'law' command is added; then borders are opened so that Free Races can enter Harondor and Near Harad, and ERs can enter all but West Arda (there was still no lawsys between ER and FR at this time). Thus began the age of the Battlepoints. In May, 'rest' is added to allow faster recovery. In June, Edoras layout changes are implemented, and the west gate is removed; also at this time, the website community forums go live. On July 18, 'fade' is removed and 'camouflage' added for assassins; soon after, the 'imbue' necromancer ability goes live. In August, comm reporting is added, and two-handed weapon damage boost is implemented, and an expanded version of Dol Guldur go live. In September, changes are installed for Mordor, and the gate password system is added. In October, extra HP/EP for high-levels is added, and death penalties (PvP and PvNPC) are lowered again due to death prevalence under the Battlepoints system. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2006 ****************************** Early in the year, the Lothlorien bridge is moved, and regions revised. On February 1, a news post is made announcing a lot of hobbits running around, because a teacher in Herkimer, New York is using the MUD to teach; this was the beginning of the Herkies era. Later that month, Umbar goes live and the Weapontraders system is removed due to bug abuse. Late in March, a revamped/recoded Weapontraders system returns. In April, mutual friend login announcements are added, and Fishing, the first tradeskill, goes live. Towncomms are removed in May, and later that month, Guild liveries are implemented. June saw the new Level 5 and 10 quests installed, along with a re- design of flying mounts to behave more like regular mounts. In July, the 'forage' command is added and the fourth level of Barad-dur released, along with the Baking/Cooking tradeskill. August sees the first player poll about removing regions/battlepoints. On October 6 & 7, the RP Battle of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad takes place. Also in October, the reboot window changes to 4-5 days uptime. December sees the IC comm removed from game. Later in the month (12/21) Castamir is nuked, leading to the MUD fork/ CastaMUD/The New Towers debacle. Christmas Day brings the initial steps of Battlepoint removal, and Lawsys protection begins being applied to ER/FR PVP. An anonymous namechange period begins due to complications from CastaMUD. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2007 ****************************** In January, the 'trivia' system is installed. On March 4, Castamir returns to T2T and the re-joining of the forked MUD is underway. Later in the month, Draugluin steps down (it would turn out to be permanently), and SSL support is added for connecting to the MUD. In April, the 'evade' command is added and Valinor is restructured: several founding Valar (Aule, Melkor & Tulkas) return to active roles; Council and Liason ranks are removed, the Elder rank is added, and domains are removed. May 13 saw the Olog-hai race removed and Easterlings added; later in the month, the ER Legion-to-Guild conversion is well underway, with ERs now being able to form & join guilds. In June, auction inventories are globalized, and kudos and rpscore implemented. In July, Weapon traders and Armour traders are removed again, this time permanently. In August, newbies begin being automatically teleported to a cemetery and given a tutorial on first death; mid-month, the new T2TMUD.org website launches - the same one we still use. Late in August, the Rider profession is added for FRs, and the ER Fighter and Bountyhunter profs are removed. Other professions are updated and standardized and this time, and some FR professions are opened up to ERs; Sniffers are also re-coded to be (roughly) the evil equivalent of FR rangers. In September, because of the profession changes, the racechange records are cleared, allowing players to change again. Also in September, the 'updates' system is added, along with weapon fortification, auction gear requests, and alchemy's conversion to a tradeskill (with recipes to be added 'at a later date'). In October, the Legions/Warlords system removal is complete, and the following month the Rhun grid map opens. In December, a T-shirt Pledge Drive is announced, with a contest to be held for the logo design. Also in December, the 'shiv' command is put in, as well as the 'settings' command and bank consolidation with single balance. Late in December, a 2-reboot ER->FR FR->ER racechange period is announced, and ER highlevels are enabled. Ghorin is promoted to Power for the first time. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2008 ****************************** In January, the Petitions system is removed due to Valinor feeling over- whelmed by them. In March, Durmanhoth members abuse bugs to take over the Quickblades guild; offenders are caught and nuked. Soon after, a one- week suspension of Durmanhoth guild is announced. March 15 sees the addition of Pelargir District 2, and the 10th T2T Event ends with a battle against Angortheg, the Cold-drake. On March 31, the Durmanhoth guild is dissolved permanently, their guildhall closed in a storm of theatrical flare from Aule and Tulkas. In May, the 't2tpledge' command is installed to launch the 2008 T-shirt pledge drive featuring a player- submitted logo by Semaj; this pledge drive features t-shirts, mugs and mousepads. In June, the ER Level 19 quest is released. August sees the 'survey' system implemented, and guild activity requirements suspended. In the final quarter of the year, the 'packtag' command goes live, the Necromancer spell Sandstorm is replaced by Hurricane, and Guild Review v2 is announced. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2009 ****************************** In January, the new website flash client is announced; followed by the T2T Twitter channel going live in June. Also in June, as part of Guild Review v2, racechange records are reset once again. June sees the release of wagons and carts, followed by the Blessing of Mandos and quest points tracking system in August. In September, total (lifetime) experience tracking goes live; later in the year, the Pelargir inner district is released. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2010 ****************************** In January, the 'map' command is implemented, and 'landscape' removed. In March, sparring goes live and client MXP support is added. On March 31, PvP flags are first announced; by April 9 they are in in play- testing. In July, T2T Facebook integration is implemented, allowing the MUD to be played from that platform. On October 23, the PvP flag system goes live. Also in October, Ghorin announces that T2T can now be played from MySpace(!!!). Also in 2010, Tellhists begin to persist across logins, Mathias is actively working on Tradeskills, and quest/corpse- looting protections are added. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2011 ****************************** The MUD enters more of a dormant stage at this time, with fewer large development projects and changes underway. February 6 sees the Corsair Keep installed. In June, Guild Missions testing begins. On December 18, PvP Merciful is added. Luthien is promoted to Power for the first time. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2012 ****************************** In June, the redesigned 'New Bree' is installed. On Halloween Day, T2T is offline for a day due to a power outage from Hurricane Sandy. On Nov. 22, it is announced that T2T is moving to new hosting provider due to the old ISP shutting down. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2013 ****************************** Iron Hills City is released. In August, the 'pvp off' flag option is removed, defaulting to merciful instead. Arwen is promoted to Power for the first time. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2014 ****************************** The dynamic who list is added to T2T webpage. Around this time, there begins to be serious talk in Valinor of permanently shutting down the MUD, due to dwindling hosting funds and lack of activity. Several of the Ainur rally to raise funds and keep it alive. Gimilkhad is first promoted to Power. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2015 ****************************** In June, the playtesting system is reactivated. Players of any level can now become assassins (level 5 requirement removed). Brief version of the 'inventory' command is implemented, newbie boards are removed from starter towns, and Alzhak Urk city is added to Rhun. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2016 ****************************** In June, Isigel the Cold Drake has chas for the first time. The 'map' command becomes available for ghosts. ERs can travel to Near Harad at level 5 instead of 10. Handled weapons in a shop can now be wielded, and players of level 5 and under now get a free strongbox in inns. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2017 ****************************** Ranger abilities receive some tweaking and upgrading, and all in-game herbs are standardized. A permanent tag for killing Shelob is added, and a pipe shop is installed in Azrakadar. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2018 ****************************** In January, level 24 becomes attainable for the first time. Later in the month, the T2T Patreon is announced, which for the first time provides stable, consistent funding to cover the MUD's hosting costs. On March 15 (20th Event Day), the new Region system is installed. In August, Vildoran is promoted to Power for the first time, taking the role of Production. A change to the regions system allows conquerors to use key services in regions they have overtaken. New characters begin receiving 10 Awareness and Fire Building skills on creation. 'Legend top activity' is removed. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2019 ****************************** In August, the Mirkwood Battleground Beta playtesting begins; later in the year, a Mirkwood Battle Under the Trees Battleground test takes place. Party say history tracking is added. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2020 ****************************** The advent of COVID causes a noticeable up-tick in T2T activity and user counts. In May a server OS upgrade results in period of driver issues and instability, with shorter reboots and other issues: note that Osse had not yet returned and none of this could be blamed on him. As of March, handled armour in a shop can now be worn. Haradrim War Oliphaunts can no longer be picked up and used as containers. An inn is added to Elrond's House, and auction request ledgers are installed. The number of allowed aliases is increased to 1000. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2021 ****************************** In May, Osse is restored by the admin, returning from a 11-year hiatus; by August, he takes on the role of Power of Communications and is busy finding clever new ways to crash the MUD. Soon, a new merch pledge drive launches, featuring updated versions of the 2008 designs on a range of items. Also around this time, the disclaimer is added to 'help tradeskills' regarding them not being under active development. On August 22, the inaugural T2T e-mail newsletter is sent. In September, Vildoran's automated Mirkwood Battleground goes live and accessibility (vision- impaired) improvements are installed. Late in the year, a revamped version of the Beast Hatchery is released, with significant upgrades to Martalk and Githbromiel. The Dwarven Warhammer quest is re-worked, and a more powerful version added. The Many-Tailed Whip quest is also re-worked during this time. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2022 ****************************** In January, Arwen retires as Power of Law after many years. Later, the prompt setting's $I options list is expanded. Aliases are enabled for ghosts, auction request supplier tracking is added and the entrance to Belegost is reworked. Work on Project Az (Moria expansion) begins in earnest. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2023 ****************************** The 25th Annual Event(TM) takes place, with many old players stopping by to say hello. A bug preventing ghosts from using travelto is fixed, and an improved pelt-crafting system is installed. *************************************************************** ******************************* 2024 ****************************** Here we stand, on the edge of the future: who can say what it will bring? We are proud of the 30 years of T2T history that have gone before us, and hope that it will continue to exist for many more years to come. We give our thanks to our players and Ainur over the last three decades, for devoting uncounted hours of their lives to this unique game. Who can say where we go from here? No one, indeed, for truly: The Road goes ever on and on, Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet; And whither then? I cannot say. ***************************************************************