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(24th
June 2005) Kali Central is back! Yes the old kali server kali
central where all war2 newbies used to hang out is back, server#190. Kali
has had huge problems with being down for the last week, now it is back
up on a temporary server and Jay has created Kali central as a default
chat server, whether this lasts remains to be seen, but its fun to hang
out on Kali central again :) Please check the Kali
website for the latest on kali's current status
Excerpt from the front page of Kali website.
Do you want to play games online? Download the software that has literally
come back from the dead...with a vengeance. Since last year, more than
150,000 new users have registered the Kali software.
I am Jay Cotton, Founder of Kali. I now have the software rights to Kali
back and am ready to continue development. I want to thank the dedicated
fans of Kali who refused to let it fade away and have contributed to its
resurgence. Kali was one of the first to prove online gaming was a reality
back in the 1990s and received many awards. Now more gamers than ever
are on the Kali system, proving Kali is here to stay! Thanks,
Whether Kali remains is to be seen but it was the primary online gaming
system when war2 was at its height and is indeed still used by a lot of
people to play lots of different games.
Kali was largely responsible for the popularity of Warcraft 2. The ability
to play online against anyone in the world was a real bonus back in 1996.
The most popular server in the beginning was Kali Central.
This got a fair bit of bad press because of the number of noobs on it,
howevery there is nothing really wrong with being new at the game, and
we were all noobs at one point so it served its purpose to break us all
into the game.
The sheer number of people on the server made hanging out in chat a bit
difficuly as there was too much going on, so people started to disperse
to ther servers, like Kali St. Louis, Axxis, Castlenet, Skylink.
Popular servers outside the USA were Kali Arkaden (germany)
and MPX Australia. The latter being where i hung out
and was home to the successful OZWL (Australian Warcraft League). NWL
games (National Warcraft League) were usually played on Kali St.Louis
2.
When i changed my isp, i started to use only the local Australian servers
which was the aforementioned MPX Australia, this changed
to OGN (oceanic gaming network) when they bought the
OZWL league. After that died, we moved from one Australian server to another
each time one died, Power up, Hunterlink were two that
come to mind before we settled in Omninet. Whenever that
one goes down, we visit Starcraft.
There were literally hundreds of servers, alot dedicated to specific games,
the Warcraft server was of course very popular, as was
the Descent 2 server, a game which had the same popularity
over kali as warcraft 2 did. I used to spend a lot of time on the Links
LS server when war2 started to fade, another popular meeting
point for case's ladder players of Links 98.
Kali was a real community, everyone had their server and their crew, and
i had mine. It was a fantastic meeting point for like minded gamers to
have a lot of fun against anyone in the world. In its hayday, there was
nothing like it around, Jay Cotton (founder) was little short of a god
:)
The introduction of Battle.net and other free online gaming networks did
kali no favours at all, however Kali still survives today, though in far
fewer numbers, as a recent screenshot testifies
Omninet is now server number 280
As you can see the old servers have all but gone, If you fancy playing
some brood war or even war2, Server #280 Omninet is the probably your
best bet, (highlighted in the picture). You dont get the lamers that you
get on battle.net.
Its where i hang out, it can be very quiet sometimes, depending on the
time of day (08.00 GMT-15.00GMT are the best times in weekdays, weekends
the window is longer) but there are games to be found if you log in at
the right time and catch enough people on there. Here are some of the
folks who still prefer Kali over battlenet.
Omninet is the last of the Australian servers, after MPX, Hunterlink and
powerup went the way of the dodo. We have compliled a list of all the
people who have come and gone over the years in our little world, if you're
remotely interested, you can download the
list.
If you ever fancy a game of war2, catch me on Omninet and say hi :)
I have been recently looking at the kali bulletin boards, there was this
post from a guy who took a trip down memory lane and was a nice read,
although he wasnt a war2 player, he was certainly a kali fan.
As the holiday season is upon me, I sit and ponder about days gone
by. I found myself once again revisitng the Kali Website just to see what
is going on. Even though I seldom get the chance to play games on a regular
basis, I cannot help myself but to remember the days when Kali and the
members of this community was very much a part of my life.
Please indulge me while I take this trip down memory lane. For those that
think that paying 10 bux is too much to ask, then hopefully this story
may convince some of the newer people the importance of having such a
community and that $10 is a small price to pay.
As the years have past alot of dates have all blended together, and some
of the details may be a little fuzzy.
I remember getting a copy of MechWarrior2 (that would be the DOS version),
I played in single player mode for about a month as I started to tire
of the game. Having a screaming 33.6Kbps modem I came across a piece of
online gaming software called Kali. My initial thought was "Kewl, I'm
pretty kick ass at MW2 and not I can go and beat the crap out of 'live'
players".
I downloaded the software, realizing that there was a 15 minute time limitation.
I jumped onto one of the MW2 Servers (GC NetMech if memory serves me correctly).
I saw a room called Jade Falcon and barged right in. I sat quietly for
a few minutes just to see what was going on (anyone who knows me knows
that for me to sit quietly take allot of effort on my part). I noticed
that there was a couple of players who seemed a bit "thingyy" about there
game play. One of them asked if I wanted to try out for the Clan. So after
restarting Kali to reset the 15 minute restriction, Here I go dropping
into the game with a couple of guys, One was named RedClaw and the other
Nemesis. Well long story short, that 15 minutes seemed like forever. These
two guys basically handed my hat to me. I soon realized that they had
a reason to be thingyy, they were good and they were willing to take the
time to teach a "newbie".
At that point I was hooked, I pumped my CC numbers into the old Kali machine
and my codes were sent. I learned allot from RedClaw and Nemesis about
the actual art of fighting in a Mech, I learned the art of lag shooting
and overall battle conditions. From Hades Prime and Khan Jackal I learned
the Strategy of War in the TKZ Universe.
I soon found myself wanting to start up my own unit. that is when I met
Vapor Trail. It first started out as an idea to not have any type of formal
rank structure, just a bunch of guys (and gals) getting together to have
fun playing. As time passed this hodge podge, rag-tag group grew, there
was Abbadon, Namrac, JaggedEdged, 976-Pain, Pennywise, Tinker, HardRock
and a slew of others that have faded deep into the recesses of my memory.
I won't bore you with all the exploits of the Shadow Warriors, But from
the personal side I will just say, that I have seen allot of my friends
go through allot of personal issues. I have seen these friends lose family
members, have seen them go through financial difficulties, and have had
these friends help me get through some tough times of my own. I remember
the countless phone calls to Paul out in California as we discussed the
Administration of the TKZ League, and then to spend another couple of
hours on the phone to Joe in Chicago to plan out how the operations side
would work. The Irony of it all (and only those who know the MW story
line can truly relate). I was born of the clan side while Joe was from
the Innersphere. I think that is what made us an impartial governing board
of the TKZ. Unfortunately, we both hit that "burn out" stage at the same
time.
I retired from the Shadow Warriors and left the unit in very capable hands,
Left the TKZ, and Kali in general due to real life issues (isn't it a
shame that real life interferes with our gaming time?). from time to time
I stop back in to see what is going on, I find myself yearning for those
glorious days gone by. Those days when you could always find one of your
friends online to have a game with, or just to sit around and "shoot the
Sh!t" with.
Over the years I have purchased 3 Kali Accounts, in my mind it was not
money wasted. The last time I came around to "check up" on things I met
many of the "old timers" I was given a present. It was this present that
made me realize how many lives have touched mine and how many I have touched.
I would like to share this present with you now: http://216.8.95.130/kalikids30302x2.jpg
For anyone I may have failed to mention, your memory is no less important
to me, there have been so many great people that I have had the pleasure
to interact with, that naming each and every one of you would be such
a daunting task. So I will conclude with this:
To all of my allies, I Salute you.....
To all of my enemies, I Honor you
To all of the Shadow Warriors I Praise you with this: "Yea though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil, Fore I
am a Shadow Warrior and I own that Freakin' Valley".
Salutes.... ~SW-Jester~
Price for a Kali Account: $10.00
All the friendship and entertainment that lasts a lifetime: PRICELESS!!!!!
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