Origins of on-line gaming

Mono Monday: Origin


The mono Monday challenge this week (thanks to jensphotos) is Origin.  We were asked both for the origin of our Blip name, and encouraged to say how it was that we started on Blip.


In my case, the name Sheol derives from computer gaming.  When Id software came up with their first person shooter Doom, back in 1993 they created a rudimentary 3D environment which it was suddenly possible to share with up to 4 others over a network.  I can still remember the excitement of setting this up on a mini network at work, in the evening after hours, and trying to collaboratively beat the bad guys. 


The game coding very rapidly improved and by the time of Doom 2  just 1 year later the internet service provider CIX was providing a Doom 2 server.  Then came Id software's next release - Quake in 1996 which kickstarted online gaming proper.  The 3D environment was much better realised, the networking code was much improved and it was possible to dispense with the computer foes and play in teams against other on-line gamers.


Of course, if you were going to play Quake online, you needed an on-line name - you couldn't just be Player [1] any more.  Inevitably names tended to  reflect the nature of the game, hence I chose Sheol which was a demonic character in Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant fantasy series.


Inevitably my on-line presence was initially focussed around the game (which I spent far too much time playing, and took far too seriously).  So I retained Sheol as my on-line name.  


I don't play computer games any more, I haven't since I gave up playing Quake.  I find them far too addictive and don't trust myself not to waste far too much time on them.

As for starting on Blip? 


Well, like many others, I had been taking pictures for years, but recognised that I ought really to be making more of an effort to take better pictures.  I liked the concept of trying to take a picture every day,  and had come across Blip via Facebook, so one Christmas I made the New Year's resolution that next year I would "do" the Blip thing.  


At the time I thought I was simply taking a photo a day and uploading it.  The social networking aspects of Blip had not really occurred to me, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed them.  I'm still here 4 years and 28 days later.  I'm struggling to keep up with other's journals but anticipate that life will get slightly less hectic over the course of the next year and hope to be able to be a better Blipper as a result :-)