It's Allakhazam's 10th Anniversary

DING. It was 10 years ago today that I posted a one page guide to how to play Everquest and linked it in various forums. People liked it and suggested additions and changes. Over time, it grew and grew into the monster it is today with a network that covers hundreds of games and gets over 600 million page views every month. We have a great staff of over 40 people currently working on the site. More importantly, we have a great community of gamers without whom we would just be another boring web site. For our 10th Anniversary, we are going to give back to the community by giving away a month's worth of prizes.

Before I get to the prizes, I want to wax nostalgic courtesy of the internet archive wayback machine and our own archives. (To skip my ramblings and just see what you can win, scroll down to the bottom of the page). Unfortunately the original version of the site is lost in time. Old time EQ players may remember the animated ogre and wizard and the clashing color scheme. One thing not lost to time is the EQ Site Update Archives. Reading through the first couple months really gives a sense of how this evolved from a small guide to a multifaceted information site in just a few months. It's also kind of fun.

The first archived version of the site I can find is from October, 1999, when we were still part of Gamestats. That was actually the snazzy updated design that one of our readers had sent me because he was tired of looking at the old colors every time he wanted to look up a quest. Again, old EQ players might find it amusing to look through some of the subpages there to bring up long repressed memories. One of the updates notes that the site had recorded its millionth visit in August.

It was January 2000 when we left gamestats and moved to our own URL and allakhazam.com was officially born. By that time Andy Sharp, aka Illia, had teamed up with me to try to bring order to the chaos I had created. This led to a newer version of the site, which you can see here. It also led to our very first actual database, the famously misspelled Illia's Beastiary. By the end of the year, Illia had managed to take most of the site's data and organize it into a real, searchable database, with yet another brand new design. We were one of the first sites on the entire internet to have a database of that size, extent and complexity, and I am not just talking amongst gaming sites. By this time we were doing a very respectable 15 million page views a month and Illia and I had decided we might actually be able to make a living doing this. To my wife's consternation, I left my job as a lawyer and dedicated myself full time to playing games.

Then came 2001. This was a devastating year for the internet. Advertising revenue completely vanished and huge numbers of sites just dried up and disappeared. We were hit hard as well. By March, our revenue stream had basically died. I found myself rethinking whether the site could even continue. Most of our competitors simply closed down. Instead we sat down and devised a premium membership system that we hoped would bring in enough revenue to survive until ad revenue returned. Our goal was to build features people would pay for that would still leave all of the actual information on the site free for our users, who had after all contributed most of it themselves. That September, coincidentally on the same day the twin towers came down in NYC, we crossed our fingers and launched our premium service, one of the first of its kind on the entire internet. It succeeded beyond our wildest expectations, eventually rising to over 45,000 members and saving the site from extinction. A month later we even hired our first employee, Lori McCauley, aka Darqflame, who still works here today.

2001 was also the year we branched out from Everquest, launching a site for the new MMO Dark Age of Camelot. Sites soon followed for Final Fantasy Online (2002), Everquest Online Adventures (2003), Star Wars Galaxies (2003) and in 2004 both World of Warcraft and Everquest 2. Other now defunct sites were launched for games such as Anarchy Online, Lineage 2 and Planetside. In the process we built our own custom forum system, hired on more fanatical gamers as staff, designed a host of new tools, and gathered literally millions of pieces of game information in one single place.

That leads us back up to 2009, where we have databases, wikis, forums and news coverage for hundreds of MMO games both large and small. Over 10 million posts have been made by almost 1.5 million registered users. Everquest alone has over 80,000 items and 4,800 quests listed. Most importantly, we have the greatest community of gamers on the internet. For this we thank you all.

So now that you have read all the way through to this part, I can tell you what we are going to do this month. Every day from now until April 3rd, we will give something away to an active member of our community. Daily winners can win things like a 60 day subscription to WoW or SOE Station, and at the end of each week we will pick a weekly winner and buy them a Nintendo Wii, and finally at the end of the month we will pick a community member and buy him or her a gaming ready laptop computer. To be eligible to win a prize, all you have to do is log into your account and continue to contribute to the community by posting in our forums, adding comments to our databases, or editing our wiki. The more you do, the more chances you will have to win something. Complete rules and details can be found at this link.

So happy anniversary to the Allakhazam Community. It has been an amazing ten years. I hope I will be writing up an even longer and more rambling post in 2019.

Comments

« Previous 1 2 3 4 5
Post Comment
Tempest Bebende!
# Mar 14 2009 at 9:19 AM Rating: Decent
This was, and still is, the best site for in game info.

thank you!
Congrats!
# Mar 11 2009 at 3:11 AM Rating: Decent
Congrats and thank you for the years of help that you have provided.Without Alla i would still be stuck on many quests!Looking forward to many more years of this great website!

SWG Junkie:Shadowfire
Happy Anniversary!
# Mar 10 2009 at 1:50 PM Rating: Decent
Scholar
28 posts
Congratulations.

When I started Playing EQ I had bunches of questions, every time I would be told, did you check Alla? So I did, and decided to subscribe, now I tell people that ask questions, did you check Alla? That should always be your first step :)

Thank you!
Gendor
Rereading the past
# Mar 09 2009 at 7:27 PM Rating: Decent
I played EQ since May1st 99 until now. I remember those early days of 3-4 sites where one could get info.. those days were so cool. as no one knew what zones were where, what all this text meant.. ie how to deduce or complete quests.. You can get a feel for it 10 years later by rereading some of the threads on here from the first posts on.. The threads themself read like an adventure.. Thanks to Alla et al :) for being there to help!
Gratz on 10 years
# Mar 09 2009 at 1:59 PM Rating: Decent
Gratz on 10 years

I enjoy this site and I use it almost every day.


____________________________
https://eq.magelo.com/profile/1007622
Grats
# Mar 09 2009 at 1:28 PM Rating: Decent
Wow, congratulations. This site is the first stop for me, and has been since I started playing EQ2 in Dec 2005.
Thanks so much for being there when we needed you.
Gratz!
# Mar 09 2009 at 12:18 PM Rating: Decent
48 posts
Happy birthday Alla :) Btw, I believe SOE owes you big time (at least a 'thank you') for maintaining and growing this website as you have...because without Alla's, I think it's quite possible that EQ would be in the MMO graveyard...
Thanks to Alla's for 10 very helpful and informative years!!
# Mar 09 2009 at 12:05 PM Rating: Decent
I remember the week before I signed up for EQ (December 1st, 2001), the referrer told me about this site, and much of what I learned came from these very pages. What a resource this site has been over the years, and even today I use it for my WoW quest, item, and mob info. You've really hit upon the key things that bring people here and keep them returning: broad scope, depth of detail, and ease of use! Looking back at the version of the site I remember really stirred up a TON of fond memories - thanks for the stroll down memory lane!

Here's to another 10 incredible years of MMO coverage!

Most sincerely,

tonemand (Colga Tuk, Tarlam Shardonnel - Innoruuk/Nameless EQ, Tarlam Shardonnel, Colga Tuk - Kithicor EQ2, Tarlam, Ghultris - Gurubashi/Bloodhoof WoW)
Grats!!
# Mar 09 2009 at 11:38 AM Rating: Decent
*
69 posts
Happy Aniversary!
Congrats!
# Mar 09 2009 at 10:39 AM Rating: Decent
*
73 posts
Just want to say Alla has been my friend thru EQ1, DAoC, even a stint of WoW, esp. EQ2. Couldn't have done as well in the games without you. BTW how do I get one of those great T-shirts yall had?
CONGRATULATIONS ! !
# Mar 09 2009 at 10:01 AM Rating: Decent
Smiley: smileHAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!Smiley: lol AND MANY MORE. hard to believe i remember the changes. i played EQ for 5 years, took a break and now am playing WoW. i have used this site more as you have added more information. thank you for surviving!
thanks
# Mar 09 2009 at 6:30 AM Rating: Decent
congrats Alla. I can't even describe how much of a resource your site has been to my gaming experience. Thank you!
10th Anniversary
# Mar 09 2009 at 4:19 AM Rating: Decent
25 posts
As someone who logs into Allakhazam almost every day, I greatly appreciate you being there. My son turned me onto you years ago, he is an avid user for his game of Final Fantasy XI. There I found the link to my game DAOC - what a wonderful site! Any question I have, I can typically find here. You have no idea how many times even technically you have been a lifesaver. My computer thanks you, my toons thank you, and I thank you!
Thanks...
# Mar 09 2009 at 1:31 AM Rating: Decent
*
133 posts
Thanks for all of this, Allakhazam staff...for all the info and all the laughs. This site has guided me through several games and I've always referred players here in-game when they seemed to need a good informational resource. I remain very appreciative.

I never posted till 2001, but was a user even prior. Remember when we had to actually type out quest guides to submit? Oh, wait...that was probably just me, since I didn't know how to screen-cap, etc. Hell, I didn't even own a computer back in those days; the owner of the machine I used then has long since become my beloved wife. (Blame it all on her! She's the one who got me started gaming.)

/still can't type for ****
//still pretty computer-impaired
///still playing...still here, still learning all the time
////still love the foul temptress ;D
Happy Anniversary!
# Mar 09 2009 at 12:31 AM Rating: Good
Congrats! Thank you, everyone who ever added anything to this site posts, quest info, etc. you have helped me more than you know. And especially to the staff =^_^=




...I want to play video games for a living. Pick me, pick me!
Happy B-Day
# Mar 08 2009 at 8:21 PM Rating: Decent
4 posts
Congrats Allah! I enjoyed reminiscing about the past as I read this. I can't believe it's been 10 years! Hope you are still doing this 10 years from now.
omg
# Mar 08 2009 at 6:37 PM Rating: Decent
*
86 posts
10yrs??? where has the time gone. Nice work guys. Always the place to come when looking for info. Grats on 10yrs.
____________________________
Fizen Dirtnap
GRATS!
# Mar 08 2009 at 3:40 PM Rating: Decent
Scholar
41 posts
Just a note to say thanks for all the hard work over the years :)

shaiz
Allakhazam's 10th anniversary
# Mar 08 2009 at 12:01 PM Rating: Decent
**
610 posts
Happy 10th anniversary Allakhazam,

Been playing EQ1 since late 2005 and the wealth of information on Allakhazam has been "indispensable" for the advancement of my characters.

Thank You Allakhazam.

Live long and prosper

Edited, Dec 2nd 2009 8:58am by hexeez
The contest
# Mar 08 2009 at 11:57 AM Rating: Decent
Scholar
*
78 posts
Well, DANGIT! I won't get a contest entry because I generally just post recipes...I can't think of 100 words to put in any forum (/em cries uncontrollably) As a general rule to me, anything over 100 words is usually just /rant on.

Edited, Mar 8th 2009 2:57pm by missleta
Gratz
# Mar 08 2009 at 10:56 AM Rating: Decent
49 posts
Celebrate 10years Wahoo
Happy Ding-day!
# Mar 08 2009 at 6:27 AM Rating: Good
**
647 posts
Congratulations to everyone who worked hard to make this one of the absolutely outstandingly useful sites there is. EverQuest certainly wouldn't be the same without the site and the community. Keep up the good work!
congrats on 10 great years
# Mar 07 2009 at 9:26 PM Rating: Good
28 posts
and here's to more to come " POP " break out the bubble machine !!!!!
Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!
# Mar 07 2009 at 6:37 PM Rating: Excellent
Gratz on 10 great years. I'm glad to have supported your business as I truely would have been lost with out the premium membership.
Thank You !!
# Mar 07 2009 at 5:48 PM Rating: Good
Many years lurking.....always have what I need posted...soooo never really get a chance to post something usefull.Been my Internet homepage for at 5 years or sooooo......! Started with EQ....then SWG (when it was fun!).....WoW....LoTR....back to WoW. Keep up the great work that you and yer staff do...awesomness + infinity!!!

Thank You!

Gekkoracing
« Previous 1 2 3 4 5
Post Comment

Free account required to post

You must log in or create an account to post messages.