Well Met! An Intro

Well Met!

Meet Ashlan - me - a 33-year-old gamer currently working in the gaming industry.

Disclaimer: My opinions are my own.

I started my journey playing DOS games on my dad's pre-Pentium PC before even learning how to write. Having a list of commands on a piece of paper was enough for me to successfully load those games and have some fun. At this point I barely remember which titles I used to play, other than CD-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Crystal Caves and Duke Nukem.

Apparently my dad picked up on my passion for games and got me a Sega Mega Drive (the European Genesis) back in the early 90s. I was very confused when he brought it home, as had I never asked him for a console nor even knew consoles existed!

By the time the Mega Drive stopped being relevant I had amassed over 30 games, a 4-player adapter and 8 controllers of all types. For the most part I spent my time playing Sonic games or 4-player games with my friends, such as Micro Machines.

Then came the N64, with 4 controllers by default! The N64 had few but great games. Micro Machines quickly got replaced with GoldenEye and Sonic with Mario 64 - sorry Sonic!

I briefly owned a Playstation as well, but it came at bad timing since the Internet was on the rise. Soon online games were all I cared about.

Age of Empires was probably my first, playing peer-to-peer matches with my buddies. This didn't last long as I soon discovered Unreal Tournament.

Initially I had found Quake 2 Multiplayer, so I tried getting my cousin involved because games are always better with friends. He on the other hand suggested we played Unreal Tournament instead. It was an instant hook. Fast forward a few months and I'm the leader of a mid-level clan, dubbed the best in the region.

Back then online communities were intertwined with real-life social circles and UT was the game all the cool kids were playing. Having Internet back then was a social symbol and what would teenagers aspire to in their early teens if not be the alpha in the perceived favorite computer game?

A few years later the inevitable happened. Epic's Unreal Tournament 2003 fragmented the UT community, something UT2004 was not able to put back together. Epic already being successful thanks to its Unreal Engine, little effort was dedicated to the actual games.

In the post-UT period I played a bit of Counterstrike 1.5 and 1.6, but quickly decided slow-paced shooters were not my thing. That's when the world of RPGs opened up to me.

I'm not sure which came first, but I know I ended up playing Ultima Online and Diablo II simultaneously. Ultima Online was great for the social aspect of gaming while also providing you the freedom to plan your path. Diablo II was great for the grind; getting all the nasty out of the system while listening to some metal.

Both were amazing games, yet I immediately quit both as soon as World of Warcraft came out. It came out of nowhere, but 15 years on I'm playing it still. WoW has played a huge role in my life, one which will doubtfully be overshadowed by any other game to be released. I dare say it's the game of my life.

A lot has happened over these last 15 years, however my aim with this blog is to cover current and upcoming games, from the perspective of someone with a gaming background and experience working in the gaming industry.

Thanks for reading and see you soon!