A Brief History of the AFK.
Doug — Feb 20, 2010 00:04:39

AFK for Life was my first major attempt at a website. It was a disgustingly basic website. Sporting a very 90s red background, a name created at literally the last minute, a sketch portion (mostly because I just desperately wanted content), and a loose promise to keep constant updates. I created it as a web-based home for my video game reviews I did for my local newspaper, but, really, I only made it to actually put my very light HTML skills to use. If you actually look at the old site (ignoring the fact that, as of right now, you can't), you'll see that I kept a fairly constant update schedule going. I updated once a week fairly regularly.

Then, out of absolutely nowhere, I changed it up. AFK 2.0: "A Very Purple Vibe." Yes, it was purple. Very purple. I created it thinking it was a royal purple, but ended up with everyone telling me it looked very... Well, bad. The logo took me seconds to make, killed the relevant feel of the old one, but it looked cool! At least, it did to me; at that point in time, anyway. So what did I do after keeping a fairly constant update schedule on that for a few months? Why I went and changed it up again.

AFK 3.0: "Breathe in the Blue." Ever play Fallout 3? Then you'd find that funny. Yes, the background was blue, and it implemented this fancy "PHP" thing I had heard so much about. Automated posts/reviews, databases, it was all very much beyond me, that's why someone else behind the scenes built it. After a while, I learned the ropes of it, however. This satisfied me for a while; after all, I'd spent a long time on it. But, being the fickle little human I am, I soon grew bored with it. "Blue? Come on, man. Lame! No one likes looking at blue!" That's why I decided to do something new. Something that I thought I'd make with AFK 3.0; A Webcomic.

My webcomic has had at least 10 different faces, 8 different names, and countless characters created and discarded; more if you count ideas thrown out that were never given serious thought. Finally, Ethan (former AFKer "Slipstream") and I decided to do one following 2 roomies that started an electronic store. That soon fell through after we A: Ran out of ideas, B: I realized I can't draw minotaurs at all (don't ask), C: The idea kinda sucked, and D: We had many better ideas. I finally settled on my idea I'm using right now. Ethan planned to write for it, but soon gave up due to personal issues. I am now writing it and drawing it.

But what was I doing in the meantime? Why making a new site, of course! I never planned to do an "AFK 4.0." I considered giving it a tag-line of "AFK 4.0," but I soon dumped that idea. It was dubbed "Project 379" for quite a while, but soon picked up a completely nonsensical name that only, and I do mean only, made sense in my head: "Ecocity." (pronounced "eh-KAH-sih-tee") Where I came up with that, I cannot say, but I was dead set on keeping it. Then I realized the domain was taken, and that everyone would pronounce it "EE-koh SIH-tee," like a hippy town. I couldn't have that. So, I decided to tack on a "ti" to it. Thus "Ecoticity."

You can consider this new website "AFK for Life Patch 4.0: An Eco-Friendly Yellow," or you could just call it what I dubbed it: Ecoticity. Please note: the webcomic is not done, nor will it be done for a while. I'm really slow at this thing, and I take a while to get them done. Forgive me. The game/movie review pages are fully functional, yet lack an archive. The Landscapes are totally done, so browse those to your hearts content. The about page could use some more FAQs, so send those in to "Doug (at) ecoticity (dot) com"

That brings me to another point. For years I've hidden behind an alias of some kind. I've transfered between countless various aliases, most notably, however, "Aroinak." This site is going to be the first thing I've just signed up for using my name and not really caring enough to use an alias. If you care, go you; if you're anything like I'd expect the common reader to be, you don't, so I don't expect you to.

Well, I figured I'd just fill you in, give you a little history, and tell you all to enjoy the website! Check it out, give me tips, tell me of errors, offer to help, yell at me for sucking (please don't), whatever! Just check it out, and hopefully you enjoy! Also, note this site is in open beta right now. So, the æsthetics could very well be tweaked, the site as you know it could be altered at random intervals, and it is open to creative criticism (if you're going to tell me I'm doing it wrong, tell me how I am, and how I could do doing a better job at it). I much appreciate the read, the page views, and the consideration! I hope you like the site, and enjoy your stay!

Oh! One more thing! I plan to do weekly updates. 1 review per week; be it either game or movie, there will be one of either up. No particular pattern between the two, just whatever I could fit. Not sure on an update day yet; we'll hit that wall when we get there. Thanks again!

PS: Comment below! Yes, you can comment! Feel free!

PPS: Email me with any broken links as well, there's bound to be lots.

- May the Zombies be Merciful.

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