Difference between revisions of "Rat.org"
From Sonic Retro
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'''Rat.org''' is one of the original Sonic the Hedgehog communities, and is credited by many with creating the entire notion of a [[Sonic scene|Sonic Internet scene]] in the first place. Founded by [[Ratman]], Rat.org was originally meant to house whatever interested Ratman at the time, covering such topics as Mortal Kombat, Gargoyles, and furry art. However, the scope of those sections paled in comparison to the "Sonic Resource Page", an attempt to catalogue everything that had to deal with Sonic. Perhaps too ambitious for the Internet of 1995, nevertheless it became the original meeting place for many Sonic fans, who kept in touch through the original [[Sonic Mailing List (mv)|Sonic mailing list]]. | '''Rat.org''' is one of the original Sonic the Hedgehog communities, and is credited by many with creating the entire notion of a [[Sonic scene|Sonic Internet scene]] in the first place. Founded by [[Ratman]], Rat.org was originally meant to house whatever interested Ratman at the time, covering such topics as Mortal Kombat, Gargoyles, and furry art. However, the scope of those sections paled in comparison to the "Sonic Resource Page", an attempt to catalogue everything that had to deal with Sonic. Perhaps too ambitious for the Internet of 1995, nevertheless it became the original meeting place for many Sonic fans, who kept in touch through the original [[Sonic Mailing List (mv)|Sonic mailing list]]. | ||
| − | While the front page of Rat.org stated the focus of the resource was on the fandom and not the games[http://web.archive.org/web/19970415045031/http://rat.org/], the archive featured a variety of audio, video, and text files | + | While the front page of Rat.org stated the focus of the resource was on the fandom and not the games[http://web.archive.org/web/19970415045031/http://rat.org/], the archive featured a variety of audio, video, and text files relating to Sonic the Hedgehog in his many incarnations, including the earliest scans of the [[Sonic the Comic|Fleetway series]], which many American fans heard about but had yet to see. |
| − | Eventually, becoming sick of the drama that was growing in the community he helped create, Ratman took down the entire collection with little warning. | + | Eventually, becoming sick of the drama that was growing in the community he helped create, Ratman took down the entire collection with little warning. While many of its users attempted to back up the whole of the page, [[David Gonterman]] was the first to mirror it in its entirety. For a time it was considered the ultimate in Sonic the Hedgehog knowledge, but through the years other sites went far beyond anything Rat.org did, and the legendary status of the archive faded. |
| − | In 1998, the rest of Rat.org was removed, Ratman instead focusing on Yerf.com, an expansion of his furry art archive. "Got Rats?" was all that greeted visitors until the year 2000[http://web.archive.org/web/19990429175106/www.rat.org/], when the site vanished. Although it | + | In 1998, the rest of Rat.org was removed, Ratman instead focusing on Yerf.com, an expansion of his furry art archive. "Got Rats?" was all that greeted visitors until the year 2000[http://web.archive.org/web/19990429175106/www.rat.org/], when the site vanished. Although the domain remained in Ratman's possession, he left it dormant until 2006, when he left a simple message saying who he was, and how to contact him. |
| + | |||
| + | While the front page has remained virtually unchanged since, in July of 2009 Ratman reuploaded the Sonic resource page as it was in 1997, choosing not to update it any further. His site is now a historical document into the Sonic scene as it once was, and a testament of how much it has (and hasn't) changed since its humble beginnings. | ||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
| − | * [http://www.rat.org Rat.org] | + | * [http://www.rat.org The front page of Rat.org] |
| − | * [http://www.doorsclosing.com/lursk/ | + | * [http://www.doorsclosing.com/lursk/rat.html Rat.org Archive] - An independent archive of the Sonic resource page and related sites. |
[[Category:Sites]] | [[Category:Sites]] | ||
Revision as of 21:37, 13 December 2009
Rat.org is one of the original Sonic the Hedgehog communities, and is credited by many with creating the entire notion of a Sonic Internet scene in the first place. Founded by Ratman, Rat.org was originally meant to house whatever interested Ratman at the time, covering such topics as Mortal Kombat, Gargoyles, and furry art. However, the scope of those sections paled in comparison to the "Sonic Resource Page", an attempt to catalogue everything that had to deal with Sonic. Perhaps too ambitious for the Internet of 1995, nevertheless it became the original meeting place for many Sonic fans, who kept in touch through the original Sonic mailing list.
While the front page of Rat.org stated the focus of the resource was on the fandom and not the games[1], the archive featured a variety of audio, video, and text files relating to Sonic the Hedgehog in his many incarnations, including the earliest scans of the Fleetway series, which many American fans heard about but had yet to see.
Eventually, becoming sick of the drama that was growing in the community he helped create, Ratman took down the entire collection with little warning. While many of its users attempted to back up the whole of the page, David Gonterman was the first to mirror it in its entirety. For a time it was considered the ultimate in Sonic the Hedgehog knowledge, but through the years other sites went far beyond anything Rat.org did, and the legendary status of the archive faded.
In 1998, the rest of Rat.org was removed, Ratman instead focusing on Yerf.com, an expansion of his furry art archive. "Got Rats?" was all that greeted visitors until the year 2000[2], when the site vanished. Although the domain remained in Ratman's possession, he left it dormant until 2006, when he left a simple message saying who he was, and how to contact him.
While the front page has remained virtually unchanged since, in July of 2009 Ratman reuploaded the Sonic resource page as it was in 1997, choosing not to update it any further. His site is now a historical document into the Sonic scene as it once was, and a testament of how much it has (and hasn't) changed since its humble beginnings.
External Links
- The front page of Rat.org
- Rat.org Archive - An independent archive of the Sonic resource page and related sites.