Of Players, Warriors and Friends --- Recollections and reflections into the BFTA V1

Almost two years. Amazing, isn't it? That some of us are still in contact with each other, with our sole defining link, a turn-based game with a chatbox.

Friends have come and go, alliances were forged and lost, but we are who we are. Players, roleplayers, and curious folk, who have played BFTA and stayed, not for the prizes, but for the people around it.

This is a transcript of how I came into the game, the people I have met, and the soul-searching reason as to why "The Darkfather" stayed - beyond the prizes, beyond Autoslaughta, beyond the game.
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BFTA - First Contact


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As early as February 2007, a close friend of mine showed me the Transformers movie website, the one with the countdown ticking away to the time that the site would officially open. We were more interested in the movie, and gave little interest in the certainty of seeing another videogame come out of the franchise.

We saw the site months later, but never really payed attention to that one link, that beared the name "Battle for the Allspark." Not until we got drunk in a house party, that is, and decided with clouded judgment to give the game a go. This was the first week of June 2007. We used another friend's e-mail for the account, and decided to go for a Mixmaster Decepticon, which we simply named 'NoodleCon40' out of lazy random fun. We picked a Mixmaster because of top Strength and high base armor, and we thought of making a 'tank' build.

From there, we tried facing different robots in the game. The chatbox didn't appeal to us much, back then. It's full of senseless internet chat taunting, but a few lines actually gave us some good laughs.

It seriously felt like playing Pokemon on a monochrome Gameboy, except that Pokemon had more animated moves. I guess what sustained it for so long was the chatbox.

Anyway, we read the FAQ and game forums a bit while we sat for an hour in the global map, trying to pick three moves for 'Noodle.' We came up with a simple 'Barrier, Focus, and Heavy Combo' arsenal. After several straight wins (some in two turns--mostly after 'Focus'), we thought the game was THAT easy, that it's probably designed for kids of the Ben10 or some other new cartoon generation (well, maybe save some hardcore adult TF fans).

The streak ended abruptly when we took one one particular Autobot --- "Steelclaw," who took our dear Noodle out with one Armor Piercing shot on his first turn. It was then that we noted that one-hit-KOs are possible with fast bots, and hence we decided to give the game at least a month of playtime.

5 of us played the game, but two of them had 2 accounts each, one including the 'NoodleCon40' username.

We all created what we called the 'Drone' series on June 20, 2007, mainly for observation and experimentation purposes. We created new users except for the Mixmaster, whom we maintained.

Drone X225 - Swindle
Drone X226 - Scrapper
Drone X227 - Dropkick ---------> me.
Drone X228 - Longhaul
Drone X229 - Dreadwing
Drone X230 - Payload

Thus, my entry into Transformers BFTA as a player: June 20, 2007. I officially retired from active play on June 20, 2008. My group was part of a local gaming cell called "Cobra," a technically-oriented LAN and online gaming group for Counterstrike, Command and Conquer Generals, Quake III, Silkroad Online and Philippine Ragnarok Online.

All the bots made Major through days of fighting on end, and when all useable data was covered, our activity plateaued, and eventually declined.

Of the 5 players, only two lingered past June. Past all the spare time invested in playing the game and calculating hit and dodge chances in all its power-gaming geekiness, two stayed. Me and X229, who was another friend from the hospital I used to work at.

Come the end of July, X229 stopped playing the game due to time constraints. I was left alone, somehow, but I continued on with our little experiment, testing the limits of my bot against more experienced majors in the game, for the reason that I was one of the few in the group who had a broadband connection of my own. It was there, from playing late nights, that I was exposed to the AoF. The rest of 'Cobra' though, observed while I played, which only happens on Saturday-night booze mixing and lounging sessions.

Primarily, Killer Red and Steelclaw. It was from them that I realized the value of the first strong strike, that small wonder of how cleaving off half the opponent's lifebar on the first blow tips the match highly in one's favor.

Out of perhaps 10 tries, I have only landed at least one win each on the two AoF veterans.

It was then too, that I learned of the presence of organized teamplay in BFTA - the concept of Armies and Squads, much like in MMORPGs.

As I rarely used the chatbox back then, I was somehow oblivious to players who come and go in the zones. A simple "GG" after every match, is all that anyone would have received from me. Trash talkers were few and far between, on that aspect.

But second week of August 2007, a certain Autobot piqued my interest. A preaching Autobot, who seemed to "worship" and "pray" to the Allspark, and roleplayed with such vividness that there are actually other players who followed his lead.

It ploy came into my mind then, to play a similar role -- of the Decepticon kind. Not to lead, though, but to do what Decepticons do best-- to destroy and to stamp out hope, even of the virtual kind. "Cobra" took note of this individual too, and we all decided to create one bot, the product of our studies back then. One bot to virtually destroy him and his ideal.

They called him "Defender of Ancient Times."

We chose a Swindle, and we called it "Darkfather" after much deliberation. The name held much sentimental value for us, since we have been using it for D&D since the year 2000. It's a pride thing. But since it's an online game anyway, there's nothing to lose.

It was a blunder on my part too, as I relied much on how BFTA saves your password in your own PC. By the time I registered "Darkfather", I had no earthly idea what my password was for X227. It was a 12-character gibber that I didn't even bother noting down. In a sense of longevity, I noted my new password on my phone, simply as to avoid that blunder of forgetting something as important as a password.

Unknowingly, I may have acquired more than what I have bargained for--- as I encountered more people, and more interesting personalities in BFTA.


--to be continued

Holy crap, I taught YOU something!?

Very interesting.

Nice post above dark father.the first part was good.i didnt take time to ready the other right now. BUT YEAH COOL THAT WE STILL KNOW EACH OTHER RIGHT ?

must you scream at everything stallion boy?



any who, its amazing what communication in the world web can cause.

Angels and Demons


It was Zone 8. Most of greater and Western Europe was in a close tug-of-war between Autobots and Decepticons, with the zone color changing almost every other day.

It was there that I again encountered Cobra code: Italian Knight (CC:IK), Defender from Ancient Times, an Autobot Dropkick. He often littered the chatbox with medieval whatnots and imposed a "big brother" atmosphere among the Autobots regardless of level.

Things like,

Defender of Ancient Times wrote:

"By the holy might of the Allspark!"


"We will purge the zones of the Decepticons and the Allspark shall be ours!"

germinated from the chatbox every now and then.

When I stepped up to face him, as Darkfather, a Swindle in the private level, he gave the remark that I will remember for quite a long time :

Defender of Ancient Times wrote:

"Flee while you still can, little Decepticon. For I will show no mercy upon your kind."

Ah, finally. The first official trash talk against me in a turn-based game. I tend to remember adversity fluidly, and as a fan of the medieval myself, I mimicked his eloquent display, though I twisted it in the sense that it has to be of a grossly evil theme.

Darkfather wrote:

"You will need all the mercy you can get your hands on, mighty Defender, when your kind starts to grovel at our feet."

I killed him with a mere combo of Tac Maneuver, EMP and Acid Spray. His barrier+emp+everything else technique failed him, as he ate his own lead after being confused for about 3/4 of the whole match. Autorepair didn't help much, as he was burning and leaking too. And my tac just made it worse for him since he's stunned too.

How I gloated at that victory, putting almost every negative status effect on the Autobot Defender on my first fight as a Swindle and walking victorious.

We fought several more rounds though, and as predicted, he had the upper hand because of experience and weapons. It was somewhere in a 5 to 7, favoring him.

It didn't serve as a deterrent, however. It fueled me somehow to play more, to beat down this sole individual to the virtual muck even further. X225 and X228 returned, but mostly only to collect data and ambience of the situation --- eavesdropping on the chatbox and scouring the forums, for short.

It was then that I learned that Defender was the leader of the Optimus Prime Templars, a tightly organized Autobot cell, with specific rankings posted even in the TF forums. This somehow turned into a bane for them, from Cobra perspective. We had the names of members, leaders, and even petitioners who would like to become Templar.

In five days of intermittent nightly playing, I had tackled enough Autobots to reach Major level. You just had to trash talk and catch someone's dislikes consistently to get your fair supply of fights. X228 is a clinical psychologist by profession, and he noted certain behavioral tendencies from certain individuals in the game. The wisdom in the ploy, he summarized in this simple statement:

"Use and abuse."

Cobra conversations in the chatbox were often cloaked in harmlessness or had double meaning, such as

"Yo, what's up? --- Status report; Asan / Saan --- Where; He's with Harvey --Target is in Zone 20 (East Australia)"

Years of playing multiplayer helped set up the common jargon, albeit we spoke in our native tongue within the zones, when no players who could speak my language were present.

This proved efficient, as we are total strangers to the community then.

The Templars found strength in their numbers, their companionship, and their genuine camaraderie. The same thing that bound me and my friends all this time.

If we are to take out Defender's charismatic status in the game as a leader, we have to disband the Templar squad. And that poses a problem, as there is a thin line between personal and virtual relationships. More so, if you deal with an entirely foreign culture.

The targets were marked, and the unholy plot to destroy the Templars was formulated.

The plan however, came upon a huge number of circumstances that would alter its course forever.


--- To be continued.

hmmm

The lines between you and def ancient sound legendary,as if they part of a mythological tale
Amazing what communities,despite there flaws, can generate.

i miss the old days.

Me too...

COBRA Six


Over the course of August 2007 to December 2007, I stalked Defender from Ancient Times.

Whenever we would see each other in a zone, we often forfeited our own matches just to beat each other up, at times in the presence of his Templars, who would then volunteer to 'fall in line' and have their shot at this feisty Decepticon Swindle.

I often hounded the Templars in Zone 5, their proclaimed "Headquarters" ever since the game's contest officially ended. That was one zone that was quick to turn blue, as the Templars often fought harshly as a unit inside it. Third-party IM services such as MSN often guided them in their coordination.

It's a normal thing for me then to type vulgarities when in that zone, as the hot-headed of the Templars often surrounded my bot, perhaps to get to kill me there and send me away, in a string of losses. Which doesn't really happen, except when the top three are fighting too: Defender of Ancient Times, Dr.Loncho, and Wolfengine.
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In that span of time, my friends and I developed six different Swindle builds, of six actions each for the game, simply over a box of pizza and some beer.

We called these set-ups the "Cobra Six / or Six Barrel build," to fight the Templars and incite other Decepts to join in the fray.

We gave each build (six in all) various codes, as to remember them by:

Flash, Mauler, Dodger, Leech, Metal, and Bane. I often switched after several zone jumps, as to avoid being predictable.

The series was made to find out who can 'crack' the technique. Eventually, only four got to solve the riddle (and thus my losses started to climb incredibly after that)

1. Defender of Ancient Times
2. Dr.LONCHO
3. A New Dawn
4. Crosswise

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Defender would often go about his usual ways as "Protect the humans; You follow a dead cause" and other heroic futilities, while I often filled replies with "While you do that, I'm going to kill babies and burn hospitals until you grow the t3sticular fortitude to stand and fight."

Dr.Loncho, who is the Templar second in command, always picks up where Defender left off. I always interpreted that as "being the fall guy."

Dr.Loncho (CC:Diego), is a Spanish rap artist. My nose felt like bleeding whenever we'd trash talk in Spanish... Duh.

Dr.LONCHO: ¿Usted está listo a morir?

Darkfather: Espadas no palabras, coño...

Dr.LONCHO: Jodalo.

Loncho was relentless.

Matches often lasted a minimum of 10 minutes each, because after weeks of fighting mostly him and Defender, he got to memorize all my builds. He'd often launch an effective counter to stalemate everything by the third or fourth turn.

We'd often part ways only because he has to go back and record his album.

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In the absence of Loncho, Templar Third in Command sometimes took his place: Wolfengine (CC:Okami -- Nipponggo for 'wolf')

Kazumaya, otherwise known as Wolfengine (Crazeclaw), was Japanese. He often roamed the eastern side of the global map (probably being true to his origin), or at times Zones 1 and 2.

He was the most serious, probably, as he joked around little. When he says he'll hunt you down, he really meant it.

Wolfengine was one of the most careful of the Templars-- he counts durations. He knew exactly when to pull off the Turrets, and when to lob the EMP, and when to raise the barrier, as if he's playing chess two moves way ahead of you all the time.

Our fights were often silent, but it was fruitful and entertaining in a way. Cobra technique "Leech" was derived from Wolfengine's fighting style -- which was then my longest-running technique (from December 2007 to Feb 2008 straight) until Autobot Crosswise countered it so perfectly that I had to drop it.

Spoiler:

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In the course of fighting the Templars, I got to actually know the people behind them better, not by spying on them or having a friend or two check on the zones, but by chatting with them about nothing.

Surprisingly, Defender and I both have the passion for the bladed arts: Defender loves swords, I like knives. He's into kendo and the Samurai ideology (hence Kazu and he gets along perfectly) while I'm into bushido (the Japanese war philosophy). Sometimes in the course of debate about religion and philosphies (like the World Forum), we sometimes lose ourselves in it that we don't realize we've fought over thirty fights.

In one of these debates, I met Last Bott, who happened to be in Zone 5, in my one-on-one with Defender. I recall her sharing her thoughts about Tai Ji Quan, a slower form of Wushu, that is more known today as a way to eliminate stress rather than the martial art origin that Def2 and I were tackling then.

I would meet many other folk from the game, as time progressed.

--- To be continued

Awwww, my sissy!!^^

i remember her.


>_> and i burn down hospitals...

I wonder if we will be considered legends in tf2. we all have our legendary tale.

yes true but the new people dont know that.LOL

yup. thats why when the new tf2 forum shows up we should move there and tell our story to the world and give people the link to this site!!!!!! muaahahahahahahahahahhahaha my plan is in effect. lol i have no plan just jk but thats what we should do guys. lol

Many times ive thought to go on telletran 1 (for those of you that dont know its a tf wiki)
and add our guilds and the pioneers within them in order to record our virtual sieges amongst another. Even including operations from both sides. However I have not done this out of mere laziness

DarkFather as always speaks with authority. I might throw in some reflections about the Templars and DAT or Def2 (Defender of Ancient Times).

As DarkFather mentioned, you will all know perhaps that DAT had an archaic manner of speech, what I, as a gaming virgin, later learned to be called "role play".

While this piqued his interested, it grated on my nerves incredibly. He spoke of concepts such as honour, valour and his code - yet in many ways he had so many weaknesses apparent to me.

Top of the list - women. Talk about slimeballs. DAT2 would hit on anything that moved. His relationship and subsequent abuse of my friend Liss, would turn what was a merely professional interest in killing Autobots, into a personal vendetta that would send him to the brink.

Ego. Sharing a timezone and nickname with DAT, coupled with my unhealthy penchant for slaughtering strong autobots meant that we were destined to bump heads. He could not accept nor reconcile defeat - the idea that there were robots stronger than him was beyond his conception. A huge flaw - and worked in tandem with his next flaw (stubborness) to my great advantage. Fighting DAT was a new experience for me, in my scrapper, and we had many long battles in which I admit I learned a great deal - culminating in the battle for the name "Def". I won't bore you the details of the series of battles we had for the name - except to say that I won of course, and that I respect Def2 for remaining true to his word.

Stubborness. As mentioned above DAT was a stubborn SOB. This helped him with lesser opponents - but was a huge thorn in his side against greater challenges. He was too stubborn to change his robot type (until the VERY end when all was lost) and despite experimenting with different weapons and strategies, he never really evolved past a barrier-based game (with AP and EMP) and was overtly defensive. I admit his phase using energy cannon to try and counter my AP was frustrating but ultimately proved uninspiring.

Barrier theory complimented his stand and fight philosophy but he never really harnessed the additional penetrative impact of an AP after Tact - which is so effective against a barrier - effectiveness his stubborness would later put this down to me cheating in the game.

The end of DAT was at the brutal hands of the minions. Barricade and Bludgeon were swindle bots born and battle hardened in short and bloody massacres against the Prime Warriors - both DAT and Magnum suffered horribly in the wars against The one tru Megatron (HAIL!). Operation NewDawn worked perfectly - with both groups (PWs and Templars) reaching out for help to strong autobot army - the mere sniff of a strong ally temptation enough to part with vital intelligence.

I'll leave DarkFather to flesh out the fall of DAT in far more eloquent terms - but his fall from grace was as spectacular as it was inevitable.

Defbringer

Yo hello, man, i just came to talk about my exp. on tfl,
since this is a recollections
I was known at first, as megamixera,
i knew mothman4, syther red killer, blackfire, tean, def, wolf, mad, horrid, hawk, toaster, octapus,
I knew, Sargent, Jazzskye, andrewblue, neyo, Letoya McCloud, James Marvelous, Jerry Storm, Jay Cash, J Money, and Jeremy Extrodinaire, when i became Jack Platinum da Platinum Kid,
I can say, i wasnt one of the good autobots, like I had good skill, but i couldnt say I had an autobot heart,
Ive made many people, mad. and then won them back,
I bet most of the people here, still remember some of the stupid things, that i did,
and I'm sorry for it ,
Im just waiting for tf2, to come out
but if i had people that helped me alot other then the people up top,
then they had to be darkfather, defbringer, shdwofdeth09, shinedevil, Randy McCloud, Lamar McCloud, & many other people, that i did not mention, Thanks for all the people that read on this,
but my favorite moment, was when I was an autobot, known as Jack Platinum, I was a longarm, the first time I was known as Jack, but I was going out with jazzskye, or as she known as legendary, back when i was 16, last yr.
She was very cool, I loved her, until, I got the gang, together to form the riches, gang, then one of them james, marvelous, told her i didnt love her anymore, so she left, n never came back, I just wished that she could have listened to my side,
So Man, thanks for all who read this.....
and comment on it,
Ill take the good, comments with the bad ones,
So i mean, comment n ill thank u for it

[img][/img]sorry i meant for tf, the game, not the website, sorry everyone

platinum wrote:

Yo hello, man, i just came to talk about my exp. on tfl,
since this is a recollections
I was known at first, as megamixera,
i knew mothman4, syther red killer, blackfire, tean, def, wolf, mad, horrid, hawk, toaster, octapus,
I knew, Sargent, Jazzskye, andrewblue, neyo, Letoya McCloud, James Marvelous, Jerry Storm, Jay Cash, J Money, and Jeremy Extrodinaire, when i became Jack Platinum da Platinum Kid,
I can say, i wasnt one of the good autobots, like I had good skill, but i couldnt say I had an autobot heart,
Ive made many people, mad. and then won them back,
I bet most of the people here, still remember some of the stupid things, that i did,
and I'm sorry for it ,
Im just waiting for tf2, to come out
but if i had people that helped me alot other then the people up top,
then they had to be darkfather, defbringer, shdwofdeth09, shinedevil, Randy McCloud, Lamar McCloud, & many other people, that i did not mention, Thanks for all the people that read on this,
but my favorite moment, was when I was an autobot, known as Jack Platinum, I was a longarm, the first time I was known as Jack, but I was going out with jazzskye, or as she known as legendary, back when i was 16, last yr.
She was very cool, I loved her, until, I got the gang, together to form the riches, gang, then one of them james, marvelous, told her i didnt love her anymore, so she left, n never came back, I just wished that she could have listened to my side,
So Man, thanks for all who read this.....
and comment on it,
Ill take the good, comments with the bad ones,
So i mean, comment n ill thank u for it

I remember Jack Platinum well (and quite a few of those other bots you had too) - what a name! what a fighter! and what a mouth! I might be wrong but I think you hunted me down at first - but I respected you being upfront - you were like...you killed my brother and now you have to pay...

We fought many times and I remember our battles well - from initial competition grew mutual respect - which remains to this day.

I salute a true game player!

Def

True that, brother,

The mighty Defender rusted from within, causing his downfall and the dissolution of the Templars. The Minions simply gave them that helpful 'push' down the cliff to end the misery.

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The ties that bind: OPERATION NEW DAWN

There were times that I couldn't find any Templars to goad and fight with, no thanks to the time difference.

In their absence, I have come across a lot of interesting personalities, each leaving their personal mark that would add color to the game that is BFTA, at least, on my perspective.

The most notable characters that helped mold me into who I am in the game, from August 07 to January 08 (This largely excludes the people I met in the forums-- see next chapter when it comes out):
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Killer Red - I came back to pay my dues to one of the personalities who opened my eyes to the Swindle platform, other than Steelclaw. When we finally met in Zone 1, I told him that I learned what I do from him, he humbly dismissed it as a normal thing, given the game's simplicity. The fight was rather short, three fights in a less than 5 minutes. Of that, Killer Red won --- with a critical AP shot that came out of nowhere, settling the score to 2-1, favoring him. Killer Red was one of the first Autobot leaders that I faced, other than Def2 at that time. From that point I rarely saw him, as well as the AoF, only to learn that most, if not all of its members are American. The time difference.

Harmony10 - I was bored out of my wits then. Def2 is out and the Templars are nowhere to be found. Harmony10, a swindle Decept, (Liss) literally reached out and chatted with me. I was surprised that like Def2, we are of the same age. I've been fighting kids or teenagers for days. It's a fresh change. We often met in the game afterwards, chatting and such, even purposefully leaving the game just to chat on YM or MSN.

In a short span of time, Liss and I became quite close, somehow transcending from the game itself. We listened to each other when we feel down and we gave each other advices. It was in one of her grieving days, that I learned that the boyfriend who was giving her a hard time, was no other than Def2. Theirs wasn't a mere online relationship in a chatbox, from what it seemed. And Liss somehow took the brunt of the blow. This event served as fuel --- nay, a catalyst, to work the destruction of one of the most influential groups in the Autobot sector. I treated Liss like a sister I never had. The feud has gone from virtual to personal.

Darkknight1: I met Darkknight1 through Last Bott, in one of my sieges against the Templars. He gladly decimated the other half of the map. I remember him most for his quip about our names, both being 'Dark' and working at that same time. It was nothing but friendly banter, but soon, we were watching each others' backs when in the same zone.

Unext: Josh used his yellow scrapper effectively, hands down. He's quite a challenge, for he's quick to adjust to techniques. And his humility never left him, even through victory or defeat. He was somehow, everybody's friend. That is one of the few Autobots I have come to respect.

Heromus Prime: He was an unruly fellow in the game, and he talks trash like there's no tomorrow. But he's amiable, and easy to get along with. He's just sees the game as it is -- a game. Hence, he forged little alliances with anyone. Until he created the Great Pumpkin who became a real dirty stick on the side of Pony boy and the PWs in the later aspects of the game. His contribution to the Minion cause and to the execution of Operation Autoslaughta was priceless.

Saucyminx - Once a minx, always a minx. Like Liss, she became a close friend too, and was pretty much detached from the game, thus, enjoying it in its purest form. Whenever I want to break free from the roleplaying, they played a big role in balancing things out.

Tean - One of the coolest players I have ever met. I always thought Tean was a boy until Last Bott told me otherwise. She followed the golden rule to the book: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Tean kicked ass on purpose rarely, because she's an overall happy person. But when she said she would, it's like having a laser pointer on your eyes that won't go away. You'd get a lot of solid dress-downs too, straight from the Orient. Rock on.

Foxy Lady - It was from Foxy that I learned of the Decepticon faction called the Wolfpac. Obviously, she and Icewolf would be howling all over the place, and then the Pac would flood the zone altogether. She's a really sweet person, even in the game, and those who know her even in the forums can attest to it.

Shinedevil - He was feisty. But effective. He was much like Unext on the Decept side (he controls a lot of bots at the same time), except that Shine clearly had a real group to complement his all-or-nothing attitude. He often batters on a person's ego, thus exposing his enemy's weakness --- making Shinedevil one of the most subliminally dangerous people I have met in the game. He's a medical professional too.

Wolfpac: No other Decepticon talked with such direct malice as did the one of the most famous bad boys of BFTA. When it comes to turning the world red, he works like a machine. The fact that the Pac (and subsequently, the Horsemen) operated in the hours that the Minions and the Eastern factions are away, helped the Decepticon cause a great deal.

Iron Mike: When the wolves laid low, the Horsemen rode into the battlefield, squaring off with what the game's population had to offer. The first that comes to my mind when the name Horseman was mentioned, was this individual. Their code of war is known among the various armies. Their concept of family and solidarity proved to be effective, as we all know, the Horsemen ride beyond the game, and will ride along with the few groups that remain, into V2.

iifvcklikeaPORNstar: Like most of the women I've encountered, she too, takes the game at face value. She may not be interested in the zones that much, but her companionship and her candidness makes the stay worthwhile.

Swindle James: James was hard as a rock in the game. He's one of the few majors who actually invests in his personal style of play. He even goes as far as to videotape his streaks of pawnage, near the end of the game. Like rubbing salt on a rough, bloody gash.

X autobot: X was unique in a sense that he hated the Autobots back then enough to make a name out of it. Though he may be feisty within the forums in the later aspect, he made an interesting ally within the game. Must be the Irish blood or something.

Red Vill: Red Vill is from my country. He was known then for his nonsensical quips like "Toink" and his penchant for bringing out the "Pizza time" or "Nachos" in the chatbox, much like Bats would scream "Eggs." I doubt that these two ever met in the game, though. He fought systematically and effectively, fighting often alongside me, Defbringer, Last Bott and Harmony in Zone 8 on most days, and sometimes even against the Templars in a chaotic group battle.

Anais: "Bonsoir, Darkfather" was her earnest greeting every time. This french girl loved Transformers in its basest form, like Hawk did. Exception is, she loved Megatron the most. She donned the Autobot emblem, but her heart belonged to the Con hivemind. How zealously she worked to help bring Operation New Dawn to its present status -- a complete success. Quite unprecedented -- and efficiently dedicated, for such a young girl.

Star Adder - My first true run in with Star Adder was in the Horsemen Forums, when after I received an e-mail from X228 reporting a series of brainstorming posts from the PW forums (about an impending mass assault versus the Decepts), I personally entered their site and chanced upon a certain remark from Adder concerning Jews. Hence, the "Jew" accident that lasted for a couple of weeks. I called Adder a snake in the grass, of which, ironically, he adapted, and adpated excellently at that, as he took on a more forward role in the aspect of roleplaying: Both as a renowned fighter and a rising mastermind in BFTA's web of conspiracies. This is one Prime Warrior who earned my respect as far as maturity (and learning) goes in the game.

Magnimus Prime - PW Magnum and the Prime Warriors fought side by side with what is left of the Templars by the end of Operation New Dawn. Loncho never played anymore due to his Album Launch, and Kazu (Wolfengine) rarely went in anymore. The PWs came too late, for short. By the time they came, Def2 and his remaining lackeys were literally down in morale. The full brunt of the Minion game harassment and subsequent psychological barrage came down hard. Def and I remember Mags personally, as there was a time when the PWs mutinied against their leader-- and then for a time, there were two Prime Warrior Armies.

As per the principle of "Use and abuse," how we raped that particular flaw and used it against the newly divided faction, bending even some members into the Minion fold. Remarkably, despite the adversity from all corners of the game, even from the Shinedevil's Horde and the Horsemen's unyielding pressure, the PWs held together and became a more solid faction. It proves to show that group adaptability is the key - something that the Templars never got the chance to experience.

Metallic - Foul-mouthed son of a bitch Autobot. But he fought squarely, and he knows how to detach clean from the game. He ain't choosy. Fighting him was a good way to fight stress. Except when he spams the chatbox.

Ponyy Boy - After the Fall of the Templars and the subsequent mutiny within the PWs, there was Ponyy Boy. He liked to talk trash, back then, not realizing that half the people in the zone are active Minions and Minion agents. Bad place to talk smack, really. However, Ponyy loved a good fight, and perhaps that is what made him unique: He's not choosy, and he'll take on anyone, even the most prominent players in the game. He reminds me somewhat of Metallic, if it had duct tape all over his face (or hands) so he'd stop spamming the damn chatbox. I take note, though, that Ponyy genuinely enjoys the combat aspect of the game. Bliss, is it not?

Defbringer - I met Defbringer in one of my escapades against the Templars. In a brief chitchat, we both learned that we shared the same enemy (Def2) and would wish for nothing less than his downfall. His concern was Defender, mine was the Templar group itself. Though the Minions weren't born outright from that moment, the way was slowly paved for the integration of "One Decepticon Army," under the one true Decepticon leader, Megatron.

The Decepts are more concerned with forging their own armies, and making names for themselves, that the Autobots under the charismatic helm of the Templars are slowly picking pace. Some even go as far as calling themselves Megatron (blasphemy). There was subsequent talk of a new order, a new dawn for the Decepticon regime in BFTA, where in the game's basest sense, the Decepticon global score should go over double of what the entire Autobot score put together should be. "Operation: New Dawn" was thus put into place.

This was perhaps one of the most successful covert roleplaying agendas in BFTA, leading to the creation and destruction of several factions within the game. It can be recalled that at one point in time, almost every Decepticon in that timeframe (O:ND) hated the Dawns (Autobots), from New Dawn to all the other "Dawns" that came to exist. This was not the primary objective however, but this was a by-product of the operation.

The goal was to backstab the Templars in their weakest hour in the dirtiest, inhumane, most mentally scarring way possible. That was like gaining their trust and then shooting them in the face with their own gun. The Templars as a group, are a cloistered set, they never let anyone they don't know in. They used a referral and merit system of sorts. The Dawns picked fights with the best that the Decepts had to offer. Everything went full circle somehow, when it threw a stone into the hornet's nest: The Pac.

The fury that was the WolfPac, and the Horsemen that organized from within it, served as a driving force to the whole operation. They showed no mercy to all Autobots. Thus, the unnamed servants of Megatron had free leverage, a strategy used in marketing and business. This compelled the remaining Templars (perhaps, except Defender) to seek assistance. PWs are there, yes. And so are other Autobot Armies. The Dawns, in their notoriety, offered help (which was ironic, and a blatant, dirty lie).

From there, "mal-guidance" ensued within the Autobots. I played on the Decept side solely, fighting the Dawns "for show" to get the other Decepts to rally against the Autobots with their armies. Slowly, the Templars decayed, what with all the poison that was being fed into them. Their members left one by one, never to play V1 again, while some turned solo or joined other armies. When the Templars needed help the most, the Dawns evaporated.

The Decepticons who executed the operation revealed their true color: Decepticons under one flag, one leader: One True Megatron. On that fateful day, in front of Defender, when he was cold and alone in the center of Zone 9, surrounded by Bludgeon, Defbringer, Me, and several Minion agents (names withheld for their privacy), Defbringer let out this wonderful quote, which I have pasted into MS Word and had come to use in one of the Countdown dialogues:

Defbringer wrote:

You are nothing but an empty shell, a faded memory. This is the dawn of the true Decepticon, under the One True Megatron. And we are his Minions.

Decepticon Barricade wrote:

All HAIL MEGATRON!!!

"Hail Megatron" --- thus, the Minion herald.


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To be continued:


Next: The forums, theMandalorians, wussy1, TDO, and a lot more.

HAIL!!!!