I would like to have everyone’s attention for a few moments, to pay tribute to a fansite that I have held in high regard ever since I joined the Sonic Online Community in 1999. People tend to ask me whether I had any inspirations when I made TSS, or what gave me the drive to start something like this website? First I tell them not to stalk me like I’m a celebrity, because that’s not where I’m at. I’ll sign breasts though. Secondly, I always have the same answer; a little website that I joined in ’99 called The Moogle Cavern.
The MC, like The Sonic Foundation before it, was the major inspiration for me to carry off my own Sonic site, but the Moogle Cavern has the sole distinction of being the website that truly rekindled my fandom of Sonic – a feeling I have always wanted to create in people who stumble to TSS – and made me take my first steps in the Internet Community.
At the time I didn’t know what I was doing with myself. I had literally burst onto the scene after realising that there were people who were fans of Sonic just like me, on this great thing called the Internet. What blew my mind was that on my school computers I could see all these pieces of art, and discussion and music from the Sonic series. The Moogle Cavern had quite a bit of content back in those days, serving Final Fantasy as well as Sonic and few other factions of cult gaming. It was the Sonic hoaxes I always went back to though – the concept of emulation was alien to me, and it was hilarious seeing edits of screenshots being submitted by like-minded folk all around the world. I think I was the only one in my school group who really understood what was going on – my friends all thought they were meant to be real screens of Sonic 3&K with Eggman in a tutu. Nice.
Soon enough, I visited the forums and became a regular at the Moogle MB. Yes, Dreadknux was a resident of somewhere other than the SSMB, you can stop looking so shocked. I made friends with the coolest bunch of people there – Kulock, who was such an approachable admin (something I aspired to be when I created my own forums a year or so later), H Hog, Andrusi, Joshu (who’s still around here somewhere, eating the dirty peanuts in the corner of the TSS IRC Chatroom like the monkey that he is! >:O Do some work!), Gold Sonic and more. I’ll never forget the fun times I had there, especially the nutty RP’s we used to do.
Unfortunately, as SSMB got off the ground my focus was needed elsewhere and so I said a farewell to my chums. I always tried to return properly, and did so every now and then, but it was all so short-lived due to work, uni and the ballooning of TSS amongst a few things. In fact, from what I hear (I’ve actually been away the last few days) there were some nostalgic moments upon the final few days of the Cavern being active. Had I known about such an unfortunate turn of events for the website, I’d have been at the forums like a shot to say one last goodbye to everyone. Alas, I never turned up, and it really bums me out to not give a website that has inspired me so much a great goodbye, so I’m doing it right here.
The Moogle Cavern, despite its run-ins with other sites and all the other drama surrounding it over the years, has always been one of the main talking points of the Sonic Community. During its peak it was a healthy website with a booming community, over time the website became lost but the community really grew to be one of the go-to places for Sonic discussion. I wish all the old members of the MC, and Kulock, all the best. The Moogle Cavern and the Moogle MB means an awful lot to me, but in its closing I think we should be thinking about its relevance in the entire Sonic Community and how much it has done for all aspiring webmasters and Sonic fans that walked through it’s virtual doors.
Here’s to the Moogle Cavern, 1997-2008. Another Golden Oldie respectfully closes. Kulock, it’s been an awesome run, dude.