15 years of Magistream: share your memories!

[faedemon]

i have so many good memories on magistream! this is the site on which i came up with my forever username, and it's where i primarily roleplayed as compared to other forums, and i met a lot of good folk back when i was first active. can't believe i stayed away for so long! i love this site a lot and am so excited to be around for its 15 year anniversary

[silentstarelly]

I remember seeing a phoenix egg and a phoenix hatchling and being intrigued by the artwork. I joined the site soon after.

I remember back when 1k gold was a LOT, and you had to really work to save up.

I remember when the Chestnut and Autumn Kirins came out. I only liked the Chestnut ones, but I found someone selling Autumn ones for a really good deal: 7.5k each. I bought one or two, and ended up selling them a couple of weeks later when someone was offering 15k. I felt guilty at the time, but also couldn't pass up such a big sum! And I remember really kicking myself a few years later when those were worth > 1 million.

I remember when the Kitsunes came out. I would check the stream all the time and stare at it, then have a mini heart attack when I saw one as I scrambled to try to click it. I was so proud of getting even just a couple of eggs. I still get a little excited when I see the eggs in the stream.

[crazyflight]

i've waxed sentimental about the early days of this site a few times in the last few years since i've popped my head back into the HWYD thread, but it bears repeating how grateful i am for the lessons i learned — often the hard way — from being super active on this site as a tween. i certainly made my way onto a fair share of blacklists back when i was a snot-nosed kid, and perhaps it took some serious scolding to learn what it meant to belong to a community and give meaningfully to the people around me. a lot of the people who were patient with me are still here, and i'm honored to call them friends as i've started becoming a bit more active again!!

enough about me, though. i fondly remember goofball behavior in the morgaln fanclub, platy floods and the platy warhammer and all, and how the guild's quarter could often get so active that a thread page would fill up in mere minutes. i think many of us had some really great roleplay content that we wish we could go back and read sometime (it can't just be me!). belmos's nursery auctions were always incredibly chaotic and exciting — i used to set alarms on my ipod touch, sometimes in the middle of the night, so that i could vie for the last bid and then wait around for the dust to settle following a potentially invalid bid or two or five. i remember laughing til tears were in my eyes at some of soch's posts (i learned the word "smut" on this site as an eleven-year-old, by the way).

what great times! it seems a world away, but also so close, and i hold it close to my heart even if the memories are a little hazy, clouded by time.

[BBkat]

I'll be honest, I do NOT remember how I found this site. Probably a creature in someone's signature somewhere.
I DO remember that for, whatever reason, when I first started I could not access the Reindeer Games b/c I got a message about not having the privileges to access that forum. Never did find out what that was about (you can see it at the beginning of my post history and how other ppl had the same problem).

I have joined many a petsite over the years, and am very glad that while a number have died, sometimes without answer (anyone remember World of Umbria? yeah) this one is still around.

[Rainwater]

I'm pretty sure I found this site by seeing eggs in signatures on Dragon Cave. I know I was entranced by the Pegasi and wanted some of my own. Then I saw the Dark Unicorn and was sold. While not my first release, I remember the Temple Cats showing up. Had to donate for those.

I think one of my big memories would be the first gifting event. If I recall correctly, there were only 10 slots available for gifts, but it was so much fun giving out gifts to everyone.

Also the Snowball fight. That was fun.

Granted, I also remember getting my first Keep Spider. It dropped down from the corner of my screen and I nearly fell out of my chair in fear that it was a real spider.

Spoiler

I have joined many a petsite over the years, and am very glad that while a number have died, sometimes without answer (anyone remember World of Umbria? yeah) this one is still around.

Yeah, I remember that one. Sad it disappeared, but I was falling out of my phase with it too.

[Aneira]

I'm nearly certain I found Magistream through someone's signature on another adoption site, specifically the Direwolf. Back when I was a child obsessed with wolves, certain that I was going to be some kind of wolf biologist when I grew up. How far off I was with that!

Now it's the only adoptable site I keep up with. And honestly, Magistream helped me through the roughest time of my life. It was the year my dad passed away, and I really took to online games as a way to handle my depression. I was much more social on Magistream then, unfortunately, as a rambunctious child that got her socialization nowhere else. Really though, the site helped me grow in a lot of ways. I found an absolute passion for writing, my first roleplay being on this site. It helped me cope, and I received some great advice that I genuinely took to heart from people on this site.

I think my favorite times of Magistream was when the NPC fanclub was up. I can't entirely remember the name, but the NPCs would stop in for a visit every now and then. I remember being so excited every time I saw that orange name, and all the interactions that are, as I look back at it, incredibly cringe from my side. But I was, quite literally, a little kid excited for storytime. Truly, whoever was playing those characters at the time, really made a kid's day.

I also remember when the site sold shirts briefly! I still have mine somewhere in storage. I found it after I moved back from Prague, and even though it is WAY too small for me now, I couldn't bring myself to throw it out.

[Shakura]

Waaay back in 2009, I found magistream, together with dragoncave and the now defunct Valenth via gaiaonline. (which I found through a Banner Ad on Animexx, a German manga & anime forum)


Kantra the Koi fish was one of my first creatures.

And so I began collecting little pixel creatures, checking my eggs every day, and getting new eggs when slots free up.

I remember the introduction of new shops, guilds, the pond, new quests and many, many new creature releases. I remember the introduction of tabs, the bestiary, the introduction of families, the world map and the permanent increase of egg slots by one.

I remember back when Calico/Black Tienko came out and I wanted one, but they were donis, so I missed out. Back then I was just a student and paypal wasn't really a thing.

I think I broke at least one hard drive by opening tabs beyond my Computers limit haha. But that wasn't only Magis vault, Valenth did a huge part as well.

I remember when I missed the first badge ever, because I didn't gift enough during the Christmas (09?) event. I didn't knew you'd get a badge! I also got coal and no bell/chain elk which made me very sad for a long time. This badge had been my only missing badge for a decade until I messed up last year with the Anniversary badge, so I am missing two now.

---


I remember the 3 group challenges, in which I all participated, breeding Puvia, collecting Potootoos and throwing Pumpkins! I tried my best, even though I was nowhere the level of dedication some of my teammates had, but every bit counts, right? And I was on the winning team for each of them.


I remember the big crash and Database rollback!
Someone send me a Raznak by accident, actually meant for a user with a similar name. They let me keep it. It then got lost in the crash. I restored it through the lost creature form though. Then Master Belmos gave me another Raznak, but I declined the trade since it didn't feel right.
I also got 10 parentless Ice Gryphons (which I had been collecting for a quest) and a parentless Tinsel Wyrm to replace the bred one, that I traded earlier.

I remember how I decided to start collecting a bird army to have some specific goal that keeps my interest going.
Some time later, I decided to finally buy Donis, but only if they visually appeal to me or are birds. I'll buy ALL THE BIRDS.

I even remember the first time I got a doni from the site-wide gifting. This little Kaeran here. A few years later, I returned the favor and gifted someone else a doni.

It is wild how websites like these persist through so many years. Checking in on my creatures every day has become my daily routine and I've been doing that since I started with it.
Every day I get up, open Magsitream, open Dragoncave, open FlightRising and do stuff there.

Through the years, I've taken hiatuses on Neopets, saw Valenth fall, saw WorldofUmbria disappear without a trace, quit GPX+ and joined FlightRising. But Magistream (and dragoncave) have more or less always been there and it is comforting to know that they are here to stay. At least for another few years, I hope.

[Pugnacious]

My fondest memory is of the Oblivion Pillagebeast prank I still remember us all desperately trying to figure out some "puzzle" to hatch the eggs, people making fan sprites for fake hatchlings, people giving up and freezing them, and the few that kept them going, until they eventually turned to rocks.
That may pre-date my account, I had a previous account but lost the info for it after I quit MS for a good while after the "rapture" where I lost nearly all my creatures, and I simply did not have the patience nor kept track enough to fill out all the creatures I had had. Please don't go after me for that, I genuinely have no memory of what my username even was.
Also! The Pugeon scandal! Not a fond memory, though, alongside the rapture. Admittedly, I was very much on the side they should've been free event creatures as opposed to donis, (still feel that way, tbh, as much as I love 'em- they just don't quite feel doni quality, at least for the Dark Pugeons) but at least now I'll get my chance to get all the Pugeons I want when their month rolls around.
Sorry if that's a taboo one to bring up, but boy they caused a ruckus.

ETA: Oh, and I'll never forget getting my dearest Bartholomew!

Neverending thanks to user @ObiWanKenobi!
I named him after our real male fawn pug at the time, who has since passed... I haven't thought about it before, but it's nice to have this little guy as a remnant of Barty. And part of the reason I can't wait to get my hands on a female Light Pugeon and male Dark Pugeon, after my souldog, Faith, a little fawn female pug, and Flag, my first pug. (All since passed, but of course still loved deeply.)
And when I finally was able to get donis myself! My dears, Ben and Willard.

[Revan]

Not to bring it up here as well, but the sad news update for today did prompt me to write this. Honestly, for me, what makes the site so memorable are the people. The friendships that I have built over the years with my fellow magi, the caring and compassionate nature especially of some individuals, is what makes this site so wonderful to me. Over the past 15 years, this site has become almost a part of me, a second residence, where I can hang out, rant, rave, and be an overall goofball, and it hurts greatly when anyone, particularly long-time members and/or frequent posters decide to leave for whatever reason or, sadly, pass away. I feel that, overall, we are a family here, and I continue to hope for this family to keep growing and keep on building those friendships in the coming years.

[BeeNme]

I joined May 27th, 2009, and I remember there being only four creatures!

I joined May 24, 2009, and also remember when there were only 4 creatures - the kraken had just been released and were hard to get!

I remember when posting was the only way to earn gold, and people had a hard time hatching eggs and growing creatures because there was no incentive for people to click. I remember the discussions of giving gold for clicks, with one person being vehemently opposed, saying that if they were to give gold it should only be 1/4 gold per click.