| Tonto Clan |
| No, this is not an outside link. It once was, but that place and
the Clan that made it are now gone.
So this is my tribute, in a small way, to an Age of Kings Clan that once was, and to a time when I was Tonto_Marius, and my Elite Throwing Axemen were the sometime scourge of many a random Zoner. I was once, and am still, a Third Wave Tonto. I joined on 9/12/00, the last of the Third Wave. Once I was Baron of the Other Games fief, Minister of Gaming, and Viceroy of the Empire. More importantly, I was a valued and respected member of the society we built. I could say more, but instead I shall post Tonto_Regina's Eulogy to Tonto Clan, posted on the last day of the Clan in December of 2005. Once a Tonto, always a Tonto, and don't forget the alien.
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| An Eulogy For Tonto |
| Dear Friends: What follows are some reflections on Tonto. I wish they did not also have to be the official closing of the clan. However, it seems that I am currently the highest-ranking active member, and thus it falls to me to complete a task I never dreamed would have landed on my shoulders. I joined Tonto on January 6, 2002. I had been in search of a clan which would give me some support in my (admittedly awful) Age of Kings playing. Although I looked at several clans, I was attracted to the one I found in Tonto_Simfish's signature on Heavengames. "Tonto is about PEOPLE!" this site proclaimed, and indeed, Tonto seemed to have a much friendlier and less intense atmosphere than many other clans. After a few days of thought, I signed up. Even though I am now one of the oldest current members of the clan, in 2002 I was counted in the "7th wave" of recruits, and could only gaze at awe in the distinction of "Original Tonto Empire Builder" some others received. (There are many older Tontos whom I ought to recognize and remember here, but I know that if I attempted to make such a list, it would be woefully incomplete. I earnestly hope that your memories are better than mine, and that you all can acknowledge the fantastic jobs done by the OTEBs better than I can.) I had no idea of the depth of the friendships I would find at Tonto. I soon discovered that though the clan was ostensibly centered around Age of Kings, in actuality the game served merely as a common theme to bring us all together, often for discussion of totally unrelated subjects. I played a few games of Age of Kings with other Tonterians, but spent much more time on the boards, in the Merry-Go-Round forum, the Social Sciences forum, the History forum, the "Dealing With Life’s Challenges" Forum. Others were frequent posters to other areas: the Scribes Fief, the AI Fief, or the Other Games Forum. And speaking of frequent posting, how could we forget the infamous +1--1000 posts thread, which I believe reached over 5,000 posts of complete spam? Tonto’s history has not always been pleasant. There have been fights and even a full clan war; there have been angry discussions and even a split in 2003. Yet the clan has survived skirmishes, schisms, and goodness knows how many forum moves since its founding on March 13, 2000. Never would I have imagined, when I first joined, that I would remain such good friends as I have with Tonterians. I have had extensive IMs with them, hours-long phone calls, fights, reconciliations, and even a visit. I joined Tonto in middle school; those I met in the clan are some of the oldest friends I have, and have stayed steadfast long after other friendships have faded. The same sentiment, I believe, holds true for each of you. It is my duty, I suppose, to hereby declare Tonto finished. But I am not convinced that this would be entirely accurate. We will no longer have a forum home, but who is to say that Tontos will scatter? Tonto never has been about the game: rather, as that wonderful banner at the top of the tan forums proclaimed, "Tonto is about PEOPLE!" The ending of the clan does not, I hope, mean that the bonds we have made over the past nearly 6 years will be broken. Tontos, ex-Tontos, friends and allies, I hereby give to each and every one of you a TRIPLE BIG WARM TONTO HUG for helping to create and sustain such a marvelous community. And lastly, I bid you, wherever you go in life, follow the guiding spirit of the Tonto Clan, as declared by our co-founder, tonto_real: "Keep it simple, stupid!" Signed, Tonto_Regina Secretary of State of the Tonto Clan. |
