A story of BattleDawn.
Let’s take a journey to the past. Back to when BattleDawn had thousands of dedicated players, an active and fun community, and wars on a scale that would engulf the entire map in chaos.
There was a kid that loved flash games. He would haunt Armor games and Newgrounds and Kongregate for hours on end, playing all the best games and having the time of his life. One day, after finishing a session of Raze on armor games, he noticed an advertisement for a game. A game called… Battledawn.
He was intrigued, and upon creating an account, he joined the first server he saw, Earth 1, unknowingly marking the start of an adventure that he’d never forget. He planted his colony in his home country of Canada and looked in awe at the awesome looking hive of the mighty ICE alliance right beside him. Over the next few weeks, he did a lot of things. He found the nearest alliance that wasn’t full and begged to join. The alliance leader was chill and let the newbie in. He taught the newbie how to play and even sent him some resources. The newbie upgraded his colony and built a little nest of outposts around it. A training base. A missile silo. A radar. Whenever he would log into battle dawn, he would feel safe and proud of his own little kingdom. He once attacked a camp belonging to ICE, not understanding that the camp did indeed, belong to them. Instead of crushing the newbie, they taught him more about the game, and one kind-hearted member even sent him 100 reds.
I still remember the very first battle I was in. Some guy from a big alliance saw a little colony with an unclaimed crystal and sent 8 squads of vehicles to crush me. I prepared, boosting with the few blue tokens that I had. My alliance leader sent over as many squads of tanks as he could spare on short notice, and we hunkered down, waiting in anticipation. I snuck onto a school computer as the squads finally arrived. I had won. I and my ally had defeated the army, and I was still a free colony. The sense of pure euphoria that I felt in that moment has stayed with me for nine years after.
I don’t remember how that era ended, nor do I remember the next dozen eras beyond vague recollections. However, I do remember the feeling of finishing school for the day and rushing to the computer, excited to check on my own little colony/castle/space station.
I am not the most OG battle dawn player, nor the most active, nor the best. But this game has impacted my life in a way that few pieces of media ever have. It may not have changed my life, but it sure as hell changed my sleep schedule for the better part of a year, and that’s saying something (I love my sleep).
Finally, I’ll end with my favourite set of memories. Being part of the NGR (New Galactic Republic) on the battle galaxy. Being part of such a massive alliance was awesome. Being part of fleets of hundreds of squads sent from two dozen players deploying to capture relics and destroy enemies evoked a feeling of camaraderie and a sense of belonging I never have, and likely never will find in another video game. Even as the NGR fell, thousands of enemy troops sweeping over the hive as myself and another member tried to defend with a paltry combined total of 46 squads, I felt like I had been a part of something special, and I was content with losing the war but keeping my memories.
Nowadays, I have a job, I’m an athlete, and I’ll be returning to University soon, with little time to play games anymore. I’ve started up in 1 tickers again, so hopefully, I can play a little bit here and there and maybe relive a little bit of the magic of the glory days.
Thank you to the developers, all the different admins and staff members over the years, and the awesome players whose names I have forgotten but actions I have not.
- BioHazard/Galaxy out.