[Zen Jedi]

DRAYNOR.NET HISTORY

Rune-Town

When I first started learning all this web-development stuff, I was also playing RuneScape actively (and noobily) at the time. So obviously my website was going to be based on RuneScape. I didn't really know anything about creating websites, nor did I have ANY experience on Graphics, I was using Paintshop Pro :D

First I made a forum with InvisionFree, I think it grew to around 20 members, which after I wanted to go away from InvisionFree for some reason. So I bought IP.Board, I think it was at version 2.0 at the time. And also I got a domain.. 'Rune-Town.com', the reason behind the domain's dash was because someone already bought runetown.com :( I don't know why I didn't just think of a better name for it.

Rune-Town was ran by me and my friend ChainLink, some chick called Ally (not sure if it was even a chick, she ended up backstabbing me by pruning everything LOL). The website at the time was completely coded and designed by Woeferke, a web developer from netherlands who I met on Rune-Town, who was also playing RuneScape and wanted to help out.

During Rune-Town some hacker site also bruteforced my Cpanel password and made 10000 empty folders all over and kept doing it whenever I reset the password to something else. So at around 200 active members, I gave up on the site and went inactive.

---

Status: Away

When I closed down Rune-Town, I swore to never start a website again, since I had a hunch it would constantly keep getting hacked; due to me not exactly being the popular guy around the RuneScape communities, websites and whatnot. I randomly played RuneScape when I had time, I started playing basketball, soccer and Parkour and I had a feeling I would actually get a life this time.

I was away for around... 6-7 months in total (yeah, that long. ) until I took myself by the neck and started thinking about learning web development, get better at graphics and making a small fortune on web applications or something like that. I started studying PHP, but every time I trailed off to RuneScape subjects and I knew it was inevitable, I was starting a new website.

---

Draynor.net

This time I was armed, I was almost fluent in PHP, I had a good taste of design and I actually was decent on graphics (still am) so I hoped things would go better this time, and the site would be a blast. I actually started thinking of Dynamic Signatures already on Rune-Town, but never had the motivation to start learning a programming language, I thought it would be really hard. XD (It's not.)

So I started out on that, I made some basic designs on dynamic signatures, which maybe some of you might remember, ripped borders and a Runescape Bank style background.. anyway. It did ok, people liked the style because it was original, and I thought I'd make a better one, just I had no ideas for any, so I asked my friend Oliver to create me a base background for my upcoming dynamic signatures (the base style of the background Oliver created is currently the default background still. ;)), and I loved the result, it was easy to read and simple to read, the skill icons he said to have shaded himself to make it even more sleek.

Then I made the goal signatures, currently the closest you'll get to seeing my old goal signature designs is taking a look at another RuneScape site that copied my design during my absense, thinking they'd be as good. :) The goal signatures were really popular, so I made more background colors, mixing regular colors with the base tan background I managed to create Runescape armor material style background colors, giving the signatures a nice touch of customization.

I remember one month getting a total of 50-70 million signature views (yes, one month.), and would have gotten a lot more if it wasn't for a few months later Draynor.net going down due to my financial problems and moving plans. (Shame.) Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself, Draynor.net started out with some of the simpliest OSWD designs, but this time I started out straight off with Invision Power Board, I asked some of the people I knew to be part of the staff and we held an opening party (Didn't we?) which didn't help much, all the traffic that came to the website was either from the signatures or from the link I managed to get on SwiftSwitch by asking Strider3282 nicely. :P

4000 Members, 8000 Signature Users, what could go wrong? I was making nice money from the website each month until the bad stuff started to happen, arguments with staff, staff leaving, Leetscape copying my signature designs. (Pathetic IMO.) Then the final straw that broke the camel's back, we were moving, I was left without my computer/internet connection for around 5 months and the only way I was keeping draynor up was from the library and my friend's internet.. but that didn't help either, Draynor.net was closed down for over 2 months due to the hosting bill being late. Everything died, it's like history was repeating itself, I was again left without a website and yet to fix everything and get stuff up and running, but could I do it still? Well I don't know, but I did.

After those 2 months, I quietly re-opened Draynor.net, but I lost all my files, here came the rewriting of the dynamic signatures, re-design on some of the parts and a new website layout, forum layout and new members, new staff. Everything was new!

Draynor.net 2010

Insert Master Elf and Nateisonfire here. The adventure begins.

More to come...

[Woody]

Sick guy

[Eissoj]

:o thats long story, I dont like reading but this motivied me reading it :P

[cky`]

The old forums were definately better, we got like 2k users in like 3 months.

[Karll]

Vaguely remember the old forums ... think I was member 9,000 something.

[Aaron]

A good read, I read it last night from IRC. :o I was around on Draynor since January this year, so I never knew much about Rune-Town.

[Kinny]

I miss the old Draynor. Buuuuuut it's not coming back so no use dwelling on it.

[Chris]

Interesting stuff :). For some reason the name Rune-Town rings a bell, I'm not sure why though. Anyway, an interesting read, and imo the website is even better than before.

[Zen Jedi]

Our invisionfree board still exists it seems:

http://s4.invisionfree.com/RTown haha. :D

[Skiller]

Interesting Clooth, I didn't realise the you made Rune-Town.

[Liquid Swords]

Cky, on Dec 19 2007, 11:43 AM, said:

The old forums were definately better, we got like 2k users in like 3 months.

Agreed.

I miss the old forums :(.

Clooth, on Dec 20 2007, 06:55 AM, said:

Our invisionfree board still exists it seems:

http://s4.invisionfree.com/RTown haha. :D

Ha, you should close it and put Draynor.net on the Closing part :P.

[Hc]

Very intresting..

Ive been around since draynor.net closed :)

[Svpernaut]

Man thats a long story yeah I know a lil about websites have my own

[Alec]

Did you get good at parkour? I saw a video of that on Youtube and it was sick.

[Romano]

Ah, I still miss the old Draynor.net - a shame that IPB closed it. I sure do hope that this Draynor.net will be as sucsessfull as the old one (many members didn't come back).

By the way how many hits on signatures do you get a month now (average)?

[Zen Jedi]

Alec, on Jan 1 2008, 03:40 AM, said:

Did you get good at parkour? I saw a video of that on Youtube and it was sick.

Not really. I didn't want to break limbs.

Romano, on Jan 1 2008, 03:52 PM, said:

Ah, I still miss the old Draynor.net - a shame that IPB closed it. I sure do hope that this Draynor.net will be as sucsessfull as the old one (many members didn't come back).

By the way how many hits on signatures do you get a month now (average)?

IPB Didn't close it, I did. :/

Averaging 25,000,000-30,000,000.

[Ajgr]

:o

[dev]

Romano, on Jan 1 2008, 08:52 AM, said:

Ah, I still miss the old Draynor.net - a shame that IPB closed it. I sure do hope that this Draynor.net will be as sucsessfull as the old one (many members didn't come back).

By the way how many hits on signatures do you get a month now (average)?

IPB didn't close it. Where'd you get that?