With Gratitude

Thanks & Dedication

Crimson Protocol exists because other sysops kept their realms open and their hardware running for years before me. They poured time, money, and patience into MajorMUD when the rest of the internet was busy moving on. They gave players like me a way in, and the inspiration to eventually build this. With gratitude:

LostWays BBS

For years of quiet dedication. Doors held open, server running, realm sustained. The kind of place that proves a small system and a stubborn sysop can hold a whole community.

Homage Legendary · Water Walkers

Boots · All Classes · Level 5 · Limit 5

BearFather’s BBS

For the unglamorous, year-after-year work of running a MajorMUD realm long after the rest of the internet stopped caring. The gratitude is in the uptime.

Homage Legendary · Sword of the Bear II

2-Handed Greatsword · Level 100 · Limit 1

Paradigm’s ParaMUD

formerly GreaterMUD

For refusing to let the engine freeze in the Btrieve era. The fork that proved the medium still had fight in it — and gave a generation of late-comers a modernized way back in.

Homage Legendary · NULL Syntax

1-Handed Ninjato · Level 100 · Limit 1

Forbidden Playground

Virginia Beach, VA · circa 1994

Most importantly. Where it all started, for me. SVGA monitor humming, 14.4k modem on the desk after the long climb up from 2400 baud. The day the connection finally caught up with my reflexes was the day I won my first PvP duel in MajorMUD — and you never quite forget the first one. Without that particular dial tone, none of this exists.

Homage Legendary · Dreamer’s Lyre

Bard Instrument · Level 100 · Limit 1

And to every sysop, every player, every late-night logger-in who kept this corner of the internet alive when no one else was looking. The lights are still on because of you.