Well, I'm 27 and from Sweden. My father got The City and The Dungeon for our
Atari 130XE and he played it like mad, and completed The Dungeon before I
did! :) (He also completed Bard's Tale, Ultima 4 and Dungeon Master before
me.)

Anyway, The City and The Dungeon is basically what taught me English.

I was never involved in BBS and stuff, but we had a few "clubs" here in
Sweden which my father was a member of... B.A.R.F.F (Bard's Tale Freaks
Federation, I think it was), A.R.F.F (Alternate Reality Freaks Federation,
which later joined with the Bard's Tale club and became Insane Adventurer's
Freaks Federation, I think), and SÄK (Svenska Äventyrsklubben, which even
had a small "fanzine" of its own which was very interesting to read).

Some of the information in the FAQ comes directly from the founders of the
ARFF club, and if you remember me having scanned, hand drawn maps on the
site at one time, they were made by them. They were very suprised to get my
call a few years ago, and very impressed that we had Philip Price and Gary
Gilbertson on the mailing list, but unfortunately, neither of them had any
internet access.

/Robert

----- Original Message -----
From: "Konrad Black" <PhilliKon--btinternet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 12:24 AM
Subject: RE: Player ages.


Hi Lizardo from the UK

We seem to be getting a picture of how old people are, but where is every
body from; it would be interesting to see how many different countries AR
made it to.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lizardo Salazar [lizardo_salazar--hotmail.com]
Sent: 04 October 2004 23:14
Subject: RE: Player ages.

Hello from Peru!

I close the eyes and I listen the sound!

I have 29 years, and I played the first time AR - The City when I had 11
years old in my Atari 130 XE and it is until the day of today interest to me

to read, obvious also of the AR - The Dungeon.

In fact, the best games than I played in that time was with my Commodore 128

and my Amiga 1200, but the last one that memory with affection of those 2
machines is Shadow Of The Beast.

But AR in Atari (in Amiga although I was very good, I do not like so much),
always has been another thing, AR - The City for my and many friends has a
very special feeling, the sounds like the wind, the whistles, the one of
them encounter, or the video like the sun leaving, the shadows, were
something magic in truth, and mainly, the mistic and history.

Until the day of today I keep with affection the original versions in Atari
and Amiga : -)
>From: "Rebecca Steltzer" <rsteltzer--15wpharmacy.com>
>Reply-To:
>alternatereality-From-lizardo_salazar-hotmail.com--alternaterealityarchive.com
>>Subject: RE: Player ages.
>Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2004 17:32:48 -0400
>
>Actually, the award goes to me!
>
>23 (and female). I played the PC version - it came bundled with my
>first computer. I was 10 years old at the time (1990 for those who
>don't want to do the math) and quickly became obsessed with Alternate
>Reality. At the time thought that I somehow had received a "broken"
>game - I would go through some doors and get an error message "Can't
>find dungeon.exe" or "Can't find arena.exe", etc. I was also quite
>annoyed that no matter what I did, I could never join a guild. I had
>found it all quite mysterious - there were so many unanswered questions
>surrounding AR.
>
>Of course when I looked it up online later in life I got the answers to
>all my questions - and then some. It really upset me to find out that
>it was never completed - there was no other game I can remember from my
>childhood that captured my attention quite like AR did.
>
>Speaking of the past, I have since played the Atari version on an
>emulator and was always struck by how difficult it must have been for
>you all to make money in the city at the beginning. The PC version had
>jobs at various locations - the Inns, the Taverns and the Banks - and I
>could always just work a lot if I needed extra cash (or needed to pass
>some time).
>
>Is there anyone else here who played the PC version?
>How do you think it compared?
>
>Rebecca
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Piringer, Frank [Frank.Piringer--msnyuhealth.org]
>Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 10:14 AM
>>Subject: RE: Player ages.
>
>I'm 26 -- so I guess I win!
>
>I got interested in AR back in 1985 (yes, I was 7) thanks to those
>full-page adverts in Home Computing magazine -- the magazine published
>the code for BASIC games, and I was teaching myself the language despite
>being in 2nd grade. Does anyone remember the name of the uber-character
>that was in there--I want to say Jester the Quester but I'm pretty sure
>I'm wrong.
>
>Anyway, I had already gotten my feet wet in the RPG genre with Wizardry,
>but I had gotten fustrated with the multi-character parties and quasi-3d
>maps and had sworn off RPGs until I saw the ads for AR. Even though my
>computer was a meager little Apple //c, with it's Monochrome graphics
>and one 360k floppy drive, it was still being developed for and had some
>of my favorite games still to this day (7 Cities of Gold, Oregon Trail,
>and Night Mission pinball)
>
>Unfortunately, the only version I ever got for my Apple was the Dungeon.
>Or maybe fortunately, because after playing the City much later I can
>say that the Dungeon was a much more rewarding experience for a young
>explorer. If I had the complete open-endedness of the City I probably
>would have gotten bored pretty quickly. Having all of the dungeon's
>different environments to explore was so fascinating for me. I
>literally spent days just searching every square of the Sewers,
>searching for secret passages and bashing Molds and Rats with my torches
>(my weapon of choice for lv0-3).
>
>To this day I'm dissapointed ARO never got developed -- the MMO market
>was still young, and AR was *built* for just that kind of world, ten
>years before they became mainstream. Sometimes, I still boot up AR:D in
>my Apple II emulator -- it just doesn't feel the same on any other
>platform -- and wander around familiar hangouts. Not to mention the
>stares I get on the subway when I sing "The Devourer" when I get into
>the mood ;)
>
>
>Is it him or her? Is it scale or fur? Does it occur
>In the dark of night? Crystal Cavern Light? Metal appetite?
>
>I want to know...
>
>I want to know...you...
>
>--Frank
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Darryl Giors [darryl--mindsyncpost.com]
>Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 8:56 PM
>>Subject: Player ages.
>
>
>Wow, I hadn't previously thought of myself as a junior member of the AR
>List but I just might be one of the youngest. I was only 10 Y.O. when
>AR:C came out. My brother picked up a copy a few months after it came
>out but I didn't really play it until Summer of '85. I was instantly
>enthralled with the gameplay and one of my best friend's whom I still
>see regularly was into the game as well. It became a regular after
>school habit. I couldn't wait until the Dungeon came out and I was
>counting the days despite the delays that occurred.
>
>Anyhow I'm currently 29. Anybody younger than that around here?
>
>Darryl Giors
>
>Lance, of the City of Xebec's Demise
>
>Tyr, wielder of the Eater of Evil, wrought by the Dwarven Smithy of the
>Dungeon.
>