14th of April 2005 marked the 15th anniversary of BatMUD. Not a small feat to a game that predates the Web and popularization of the Internet. To celebrate the occasion a grand fest was arranged at the historical Kaivohuone restaurant at the heart of Helsinki. In addition to mobilizing the Finnish mudders to flock to Helsinki the party also attracted guests from all over Europe and the United States.
A day before the main event at Kaivohuone, an unofficial warm up party was hosted by the Tuska+ sporting society of Bat that entertained the long distance guests with a friendly game of floorball. The game was a smashing success and was followed with an even more succesful excursion to the Erkin Pub, a fine example of a local Finnish watering hole.
The official birthday festivities at Saturday started with the gathering of the arches and wizards of Bat for a pleasant dinner that gave an opportunity to meet each other face to face before the larger crowds burst in. And of course the dinner gave an excellent and fruitful opportunity to talk shop. This was also a great occasion for lesser wizards to award Durand with an achievement award, which was suitably: a torch and ten gold coins.
As the dinner shifted to the desserts and coffee, the trickle of the party guests started to find their way to Kaivohuone and before long the party itself was at full swing. The sheer size of the gathering made it nearly impossible to meet everyone, but many new faces were met and old friendships rekindled. In the midst of the partying mudders a group of (judging from their attire) amazon barbarians questioned the party folk with difficult questions to find out their knowledge of the game. Those with knowledge were rewarded free drinks and the ones with most sage like knowledge with cool Bat paraphernalia.
The more official part of the party included a witty speech delivered by Gore that discussed the evolving of the game and included heart warming greetings from some of those unfortunate ones, that couldn't make to the party. The speech was followed by the official launch of the newly edited version of the classic Boatcon video by Kultamarja that documents the antics of mudders during one of the more rowdy cons.
The party continued late into the night and the dance floor was in (surprisingly) heavy use. The Karaoke corner proved to be a smashing success and the audience got to witness some terrific performances.
As the night grew older it was time for the Kaivohuone to send the
mudders into the warn spring night of Helsinki. The party had been a
great success and the various after parties that continued late into the
night undeniably testify to this. Happy Birthday BatMUD!
++Hablo
Photos from the party are available at the gallery page.