Memories of the First Colo...

[Clausewitz]

Natmus got me thinking - what is the story behind everyone's first colonization? It seems to be a "landmark" event, particularly for those who have never played any other server of IK before.

I'll start, and please jump in...

I spent a few weeks building up my main at 14:20:18. Those long, tedius gold mine upgrades. Logging in 2-3 times a day, so very little to do, wondering if the game would ever pick up.

Around 750 points, and 550 spearfighters (this was back in February, when 550 was "soft" and not entirely "pathetic"), I had my first coloship built. I was so excited. Hell, I had a fiercesome 8 LWS! But everyone in DIGG was telling me to get the real estate while it was available.

14:20:16 spawned. I was ecstatic. So I launched 8 LWS, along with 10 or so SWS, and some 50 odd spearfighters, with the colonyship. COLONIZATION SUCCESSFUL.

I was obviously thrilled. I now had two islands - even though everyone around me had 5-10, I was rolling! I finally figured out what the "list" button was good for! Names like vadar007, telache, Aspen, naciremaak, Lokim all surrounded me... several of their islands now carry my flag, and the rest is history, as they say.

In hindsight, I colonized way too soon, but who isn't eager and excited for their very first one?

I'm curious to hear some more stories on this front - I know Calamity has a great one!

[McGoogus]

I can't remember how big my transport fleet was, or if it was successful the first time, but I do remember being excited that I could finally use the list link. Actually now that I think of it, my fleet was probably 10lws with 50 spears. I used this site for tips and I clearly remember thinking that the 50 spears I sent with the colo fleet would stay on that island to, you know -- colonize it. .


(yayy 200th post)

[digital]

My first coloship and first colony are two very different things.

I'd finally managed to save up enough for a coloship so I built one. Luckily when I started out O5 was relatively empty (I invited the old Haymaker and Eproxy over and look what happened . I sent it off hoping for a nice new island. The colo landed and was destroyed, it turned out that you need to send an escort fleet to make sure that it doesn't sink. I was most upset. After making this mistake I learnt pretty quickly, my second attempt was a success and I've wanted more ever since.

[Warliter]

My first colony hmm that takes me back all of 8 months, I started in O6 where there was land a plenty, bulding up my first isle.

I wanted to be sure that I didn't get colo'd as soon as I got my shiny new isle so I waited until I had 800 SP, and 200 ST's before I launched for the isle next door with 5 LWS .

I was overjoyed when I received the COLONISATION SUCCESSFUL message. It was only then that it dawned on me that I was very alone in the middle of O6 with a 50 hr one way trip for backup if it all went wrong....

[captiancadaver]

Ahhh, my 1st coloship.... So long ago in a ocean far far away. I was one of the first 500 people in the game, so when I started there was isle's throughout o1. I remember my 1st coloship, it was a nice vessel, 2000 hands long by 1000 hands wide. (oh the new boat smell still lingers) I was the first person on my ocean group, which allowed me a great oppertunity. After ammassing a great fleet of 30lws and 100 spears I built my first baby. Set her afloat off the north side of the isle and sent her straight towards the isle in the distance. The seas were rough, the pirates were great but the odds were on the side "Colonization Ship" and the crew aboard. After a heroic fight were many fell the isle was mine.

[Gornall]

My first colo memory was tainted by the fact that I got overcoloed and so began my first ever dispute

Ahh the memories.

[calamity77]

My first colony ship ever occurred during the Phoenix war. DIGG had a large campaign going against Dyersgoodness, who at one point was a stronghold in my ocean (o33). After some other folks attempted to go for the island, and had a few failed colo attempts, I was given the green light to go ahead and try to take it. This was less than two months ago, and at the time I had amassed an impressive 34 lws...All were sent at the island. However, through the four or five folks that had looked at the island, no one remembered to mention that it had a level 20 wall. I was at work, and someone let Clause know about the wall, I called him on my way home and he told me what he found out, so said not to get too excited, because the chances were tiny that I would succeed against the 20 wall.

When I finally got home to look, I saw the telling green type before I read the words, "Colonization Successful." I lost 17 of my 34 lws, which I was told is as close as it can be without losing the ship also, but captured a 600 point island that was pretty well built up, with a few hundred stonies already in queue. So it definitely compensated for my loss. However, I still felt badly about taking an island off of an active player, seems like a waste of all of their months of hard work.

[AeroS]

I can't recall my first but I'm sure I screwed it up.

[englishcheese]

I started the game in 2:92:9 and decided at that point that i wanted to own that square. It was a pitty that at the time Pegasus (now Arachnoid) started their too. When I was in Phoenix i planned to take that isle, but i never did. I remember asking everyone around me for resources as everyone was friendly in the beginning days. Everyone wanted to help each other
I believe 2:92:16 or 2:92:17 were my first colos. Ah the days when you didnt have to log in every 5 mins but every 12 hours.

[Natmus]

The painful truth about my first colony on this server was that I didn't actually launch the colony fleet myself. I had my colony ship completed in the early hours one morning, and just wanted to colonise the closest isle to my main, meaning a very short trip. I got out of bed, turned on the computer, launched the fleet the second the colony ship was done, went to bed and slept on for 15 minutes, stood up to see the attempt fail, slept for 15 minutes, stood up to relaunch, slept for 15 minutes, watched the attempt fail, yada yada yada. Long list of failed attempts.

The 5th time I stood up to relaunch the fleet, it had already sailed again. Strange. What was up? Anyway, this time it succeeded. Later Marc (Ashimar) messaged me, telling me it was him that had logged on and relaunched the fleet, apparently because it had been home in port for over 30 seconds since the last attempt, clear proof of overlong inactivity on my part, so he gave me a hand.
I repaid him the favour late that same day by phoning him about a little detail in IK, but that's another story ;D

[Freiegeister]

natmus said:

I repaid him the favour late that same day by phoning him about a little detail in IK, but that's another story ;D

Now that is a story worth retelling...

My first colo journey really started back on .co.uk
I started in ocean 1, 6 months into the game and deep in Wraith territory. After a long wait an inactive island 5 minutes from my island became available. Took it and hapily built it up over a month before losing it to a bigger player. Same happened with my second colony. My third was the best: a level 19 statue monster I stole off Freedom and held for a few days.

In that same period I was levelled about 5 times before finally suiciding my last fleets on Stomer and moving on.

[Natmus]

freiegeister said:

natmus said:

I repaid him the favour late that same day by phoning him about a little detail in IK, but that's another story ;D

Now that is a story worth retelling...

Yes, but Marc isn't following this thread, so i'll just copy it from his thread in the Morkin section:

ashimar said:

After being first in getting all infrastructural and technological requirements for a colonyship together, it flunked on my bad economy.

Then, thanks to much economical support, I could theoretically have been second with a colony, at least I would have had 2 shots at it before Grover got his on the first attempt, had I not had this huge blackout which caused me to pick from my list of free isles the closest one without registering at all that that particular was -in fact- a forlorn but technically still owned island. Enfin, 5 frustrating attemps later and close to 6 hours later the telephone rings, but then the telephone (my mobile) had been ringing the whole evening to warn me it was time to send out or check that darn colonyship, so I thought "Oh, the alarm" and as it turned out put Mads straight into "on hold", for half a minute, after which time I had discovered there was something funny about that alarm but never the less severed the connection. The coin was still falling while I wondered about that +45...... number in my phone's display and then, also thanks to my wife, I got it, got curious and dialed that number from a fixed line.

Mike: "Hi, have you tried to call me "

Mads: "Yes I have"

Mike: "Err..who are you "

Mads: "I'm Mads..."

Mike: "Ooooooh, right. Hi. Erm...why "

Mads: "And you're Marc ?"

Mike: "Euhm...?!...Yes, yes, yes"

Mads:"We reckoned you weren't reading the forums, and the thing is you're trying to colonize someone's main island which will never work...So before you spend the entire night trying to colonize it...Better pick another one."

Mike: "....Oh damn...tjongejongejonge....<moans>"

Mads: "Best laugh I had in a long time, you know, hehehe!"

Mike: "...<moans>..."

Okay, so after waiting 40 minutes for my colonyship to return from it's 5th attempt at 2:72:12, I launched at 2:71:10 which was succesful right away.

Roaring Thirties 2:71:10 has opened the ballroom annex bar.

[Cesium]

My first colonization was rather uneventful to be honest. I was hyperactive and a fairly effective farmer, so I had 25 LWS and a very good merchant fleet for the time. (I was amazed at the nearsightedness of some players who got lots of warships but had too few merchants to make their early raids profitable.) I had about 300-400 spears on my isle, which was good defense at the time. (imagine!) Their was a bit of a race between a few people in our alliance to see who could get the first colony. I got my coloship build after horrid days of waiting and raiding. I set my sight on the nearest isle at the time, 11:82:22. To make a long story short, after frantic and perfect timing of the resending of my fleet (I had 4 failed attempts) I got my isle, only to be beat out by blazed. Unfortunately for alot of my alliance, they got their mains stolen by people like tyrant and Harvmeister. But there were really no big powerhouses in my corner of ocean 11, so I grew quietly and happily.

[eproxy]

I remember in the few weeks after the server opened all the Resource Structure builders were shooting ahead of the Farmers (especially with people not understanding how unprofitable the latter was at first). There were a few Morkin members up near the number one spot and of course myself, although I never actually landed on it, the closest I got was joint first with another guy who had a lower ID (so he took the actual #1 spot and I idled in #2).

Anyway.... I realised that saving for a coloship would take several days; the only way I could imagine that would make this more bearable would be to build my, then not level 20, Harbour and Storehouse up as well. Sufficed to say that I work out how fast I could build the two and efficiently finish up with 35k gold and 30k lumber afterwards. Unfortunately in the end it seems I was a little too hasty and had to wait for my 32k gold and 28k lumber to grow; bearing in mind that by this time about 20-30 people had isles. This may seem quite late considering my high rank and obvious Mines but I'd been a little paranoid about getting my main stolen so had built up a force of ~70 lws on my isle prior to considering a colonyship (a quite large fleet for back, fairly useless against some of the higher Stonewalls emerging though).

Anyway I then colonised {1:14:12} which even today houses my biggest fleet. Probably a bit more background here than you really wanted to know but tough luck! Just be glad I didn't include my first IKUK isle which I colonised almost two years ago (with an even longer back-story).