M2H

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How Did you find Syrnia?
I didn’t just find Syrnia — I built it! Back in 2005 I was experimenting with PHP and MySQL, and figured out I could make a login system… which quickly became a whole online game. Inspired by RuneScape, Syrnia was my first real attempt at creating a living multiplayer world.

Can you give us a few of your fondest memories while playing Syrnia?
What always stuck with me were the stories that went far beyond the game itself: players meeting in chat, forming real friendships, even marriages and moving internationally. Just recently I discovered at least four couples who met in Syrnia, got married, and now have families. On the flip side, seeing the In Memoriam page on the forum was a bit emotional, remembering players who passed away, also showed me how much of a real community Syrnia became. Purely in-game, I loved the adrenaline of releasing features live; to see the excitement and it was especially fun when I let the players work together to unlock a new area.

What's your favorite skill, and why?
Smithing, I think it's cool to be able to make the weapons/armour yourselves. Especially early game when there's no stock of the high level gear yet.

What's Your least favorite skill, and why?
Thieving, because I’m always getting robbed blind when players see me in-game, leaving me with no gold (and nowadays no tools to cheat gold/items).

Do you have a favorite Syrnia Holiday?
The Syrnia birthday. Loved doing random drops. Even during my absence I've always remember the Syrnia birthday date. A little festive spirit in a simple text-based game can surprisingly go a long way.

In your opinion who do you think the coolest player or clan is in the game?
I’ll cheat here and say: the coolest thing is the community as a whole. It still amazes me that after 20 years, people are logging in, chatting, and keeping Syrnia alive.

If you could change 1 thing about the game what would it be?
Back then I coded everything very passionately but with nowhere near as much experience — if I could change one thing, it would be rebuilding the backend with all the experience I have now. But at the same time, I think part of Syrnia’s charm is that it’s still that scrappy old code running along. One thing that recently did stood out to me was some missing polish, for example the forums showing "last reply" in 46544 hours, instead of switching to more relevant days/weeks/months etc.

What are your goals for the future here?
For Syrnia itself: I won't intervene and let the game keep running as-is, so the community can continue to enjoy it. For me: to take the inspiration of Syrnia and put it into a new modern multiplayer game, while still keeping Syrnia alive in its original form.

Can you share some details about your life outside of syrnia?
I live in the Netherlands with my partner and our young daughter (and another baby on the way). I’ve kept making games ever since Syrnia, from silly racing games like Crash Drive to serious shooters like Verdun. Outside of gamedev, I like gardening, boating and of course some gaming.

What do you think about TLgrounds?
I think it’s awesome that fan sites like TLgrounds exist. Syrnia wouldn’t still be here without the players who care enough to create things around it, whether it’s tools, wikis, or communities like TLgrounds. It shows just how much life there is outside of the game itself.

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