The story of "Unit"

[[mXm] kotaco]

The story of how I came to be in mXm and my journey since, the good the bad and everything else. Warning short novel!

Beginnings








My adventures with SOCOM start at the beginning, I can't tell you exactly when, but my best estimate is late 2003 when I first got my hands on a copy of a game called SOCOM: US Navy SEALs. Alrhough I do remember playing some rounds, what I remember most vividly is 1 round of Rats Nest. But you see, I was never very good, and being the awkward 13 year old kid that I was with a high pitched voice, I stayed off the mic as much as possible out of fear of being ridiculed. But I played on, I got to learn the maps, I tried my best to stay alive and got into the habit of following the other players around and just attempting to do what I was told to assist, I sucked. But I enjoyed the game and put a lot of time into it.

What I remember the best about those days though, was choosing a name that would end up sticking with me for years to come, I remember it distinctly, sitting in my room in my parents house, the desktop at the metallic/chrome desk (because that was sweet) off to the right, a window off to the left, and in between me, sitting on the bed in front of what had to be no more than a 13 inch television. I was sitting at the initial sign on screen of what would become one of my favorite game franchises, and on the spot I had to think of a name, I sat there and thought, I wanted something cool, I wanted something that would impress, I wanted something mean, but I failed. I could not for the life of me think of anything, so I gave up and said screw it, and typed in "SOCOM Unit 1" as my gamertag, I could always try and make another account when I learned the ropes I told myself, and I ultimately did.

I formed my first clan called "Seal Squad 6" or [SS6] for short, soon after I switched to a new name "Silent~Sniper" because it seemed cooler. We consisted of about 4 or 5 members including myself and weren't very good, but I was enthusiastic. I ventured over to the Playstation.com forums to get an idea of how to start a clan website, and setup a crappy Geocities site with a Matrix-esque black & green theme that I thought was awesome. Getting into this design stuff I started hanging around the "Scratchpad" forums at Playstation.com and hoped to learn the ropes of Photoshop and design so I could do more cool stuff, like design sigs for myself, and eventually I started making some headway and meeting some people (like Andy19), this little forum would become very relevant later on.

The Merge



So my time with SS6 came and went rather quickly, SOCOM II came out and the clan didn't transfer over well, we tried at first but it ended up not working out and I was left with the Silent~Sniper screenname that I had brought over from the first game with terrible stats, I wanted a restart. Naturally I just went back to what I had though of in the first game, SOCOM Unit 1, because who cares I told myself? I was just going to mess around play a bit before making a new name again. Meanwhile I continued my adventures in graphic design, working my way into a site called Xplosive Designs that made forum sigs for people. This site would go on to try and start a design studio that would provide real services to people for cash, the name being "Omni-Tek" and they wanted to involve me with it, these folks also played SOCOM II and had a clan of the same name they wanted to invite me into, so I came along and did that because my own had failed so I was a free agent. The fate happened. Probably within 48 hours after joining the Omni-Tek clan, I received a message saying the roster had been disbanded and invite into a new clan called mXm, there had been a merger, so I accepted and went on to see what this was all about.

I hopped into my first room with some people I had never heard of on the roster I was just added to, I remember this part clearly, it was an mXm room and there were at least 2 mXmbers inside already, one of whom was a male voice I can't recall too well, I want to say it was Deliverance, but the other I could never forget. It through me off at first, being the first female voice I had heard in game, but it was none other than DevilzKandi, and she was questioning who the heck I was and what I was doing with the tag! I got nervous and didn't speak at all in that lobby, the two concluded I must have been part of the merger and the game started, and so began my adventures with mXm.

SOCOM Unit 1- An mXmber



Overtime I would meet and interact with all the legacy members we think of today, and I would also begin to impress with some skills I had picked up from my time in the scratchpad and at Xplozive Design. I can't recall what I did exactly, but I believe I took it upon myself to create some art like a banner for the forums, and suggested to the webmaster at the time ($N00P) some things he could do to make things really "cool". This caught the eye of $N00P and Juggy and somehow, by some really trusting decision made by one of those two, this 13 year old kid had admin status on the InvisionFree forums that mXm was operating at the time, from then on I went to become the main guy behind the forums design and function, way before I should have, but I loved it. I had a place and I was treated like an equal.

From here on out I was loyal mXm, I spammed up the Playstation.com forums, I did every little thing I could to keep our forums the best they could be and I spent every minute I could playing games with the people who became my friends. I hated my name still, but I was building a rep, playing with these guys I was learning, my stats were improving and I even had been given nicknames. These guys and girls called me "Unit" and "SU1" and I didn't mind, I enjoyed the nicknames, the conversation and the sense of comradery I had with these folks. So life went on.

The Webmaster



Our InvisionFree forums that I put a lot of time into would ending up going down marking my next phase of life in mXm. We suspected it was because our "rivals" over at PK-Nation reported our "Adults Only" section that was full of smut and other unsavory things, which happened to violate the TOS for those forums. So the decision was made that we would open our own hosted site, and the task fell to me to make it happen with the financial backing from Balz and the clan officers, and I did. I went with ArteryPlanet hosting, the same people used by Xplosive Designs and that cost us about $130 per year, far more than what we should have been paying, but hey what did I know? I was 14 at this time, they were the crazy ones for trusting me with all this stuff. But nevertheless mXmbers.com came online and the forums were back up, smut and all, including Balz's super huge upload of the Paris Hilton sex tape.

Revelations

Fast forward to early 2005, Juggy was leaving mXm, he was going to be a Sea Sniper, I loved the Sea Snipers, I often told myself I would be one some day too when I met the age requirement, so I was happy for him but sad to see him go. His second in command, Balz, was super busy with work at the time but took on the leadership role, and all seemed well considering.

Now you remember when I said I did everything I could for the forums? Well that included installing just about every modification I could find, things like; the mXm Army an RPG forum based game, the Arcade, the shop which award points for posting, the prison that we could send banned members too, the affiliate scroller, etc, etc. Point being that one of these mods allowed you to peek in on the Private Messages sent between members for whatever reason, and I was a nosy kid so I grabbed that one too.

Around this time the forums were super active, they had hundreds of members and a ton of daily visitors shooting messages back and forth that reading them all wasn't feasible. But by chance one day I did stumbled upon an interesting PM title which I don't recall now. I clicked to investigate and found there was as subtle plot by a few members to overthrow Balz and put his second in command in place as the new leader. I had developed a friendship with Balz and felt extremely loyal to him, I wasn't sure what to do because the people involved were also guys I looked up to as well. In the end I confronted these other members first, they asked me not to get involved, that it was the best thing for the clan. Balz wasn't around during this time so my attempts to contact him went with no response for what seemed like a long time, but ended up only being like a week. Eventually I provided him with transcripts of everything I had uncovered and his was pissed, probably more hurt than angry, but things got ugly. Looking back everything could have been handled better on all sides, there should have been more honesty, there should have been open communication, I shouldn't have been so invasive into stuff I didn't belong into, reactions should have been less hasty, etc etc. But what happened next changed the clan.

People I really admired would split off into a new clan, I became outcast and my friendships with them were instantly severed, I saw others become sad at the split and leave the clan entirely for a 3rd party, and we were left to pick up the pieces. I remember in the aftermath of the dramatic mess I was partially (probably more so) responsible for causing, that Balz had made the decision to put Gordy in place as his number one, I remember I felt a little hurt that he wouldn't pick me after all I did for him, a silly feeling, but I was a 15 year old with way to much invested in the clan at that time haha. So life went on, we continued to play awhile and made our way to SOCOM 3 for a short while.

Then the PS3 came and I believe this is what cast the nearly finishing blow to the clan. Some members didn't buy it, some members went for the 360 instead and those who did buy it were lacking a game like SOCOM to connect on, activity dropped to near nothing. Around the same time my family also made a big move from the suburbs to a rural town and my life changed in many ways in the regard as well, I was finally made his XO, and it was an honor, but I had to admit mXm started to drift to the back of my mind and my life. Then 2008 came.

Rebirthing

SOCOM: Confrontation, it became a saving grace, it brought us back, Those of us who were still around got back into it, I whipped up the best site I could to give us a fresh image, and we were off. We would be very fortunate, our values remained unchanged, our returning members worked well together and we attracted great people. We had a blast, we met awesome people like Deuce & weathermatt, (who only enlisted to shut up decoy), and deuce even did some recruiting of his own and brought us srans, and life was good. The site wasn't very active, but we ere in game and we did some damage. Eventually Balz would go on to tell me how he had recognized what I had done for mXm over the years, and that he valued that and made me a Co-leader, both of us having equal share in command and decision making, and at 18 or 19 years old, it had only taken me 5 or 6 years to work my way to the top! It was a good day.

For the past 3 years I continued to do what I have always, manage the site, handle the design work and try and be as active as possible in game. I've also started reflecting on my time with the clan over the past 9 years and digging back into the history that I had experienced, things I could have done differently, things that made me laugh, and people that I really had formed a connection with. I wanted to document this stuff and so the first stages of the archive project were born. So the rest of my history is what you see before you, these forums, the clans current state, and me. I'm 23 now, I've grown into an adult wearing the mXm tag and I believe my experience with the clan has taught me lessons and had lasting influences on my life for sure. I know that everything that has happened the past 9 years had come to make me, and the clan exist as we do today and we're stronger for it.

Fin

[[mXm] BalzOnYer4Head]

That was a great read! Got me a little misty eyed! This will also answer the questions of those who wonder why I call you Unit from time to time. Its just the name that stuck in my head for you, and now, I use it as a reference to your long standing position with the clan.

There isnt a single dooubt in my mind that had you gone your separate way, this clan would of perished like many others. You are, and always will be, our friend, and a cornerstone of this community.

Thanks for all you have done, Unit.

[[mXm] andy19]

[quote name='BalzOnYer4Head' timestamp='1375361012' post='2991']
That was a great read! Got me a little misty eyed! This will also answer the questions of those who wonder why I call you Unit from time to time. Its just the name that stuck in my head for you, and now, I use it as a reference to your long standing position with the clan.

There isnt a single dooubt in my mind that had you gone your separate way, this clan would of perished like many others. You are, and always will be, our friend, and a cornerstone of this community.

Thanks for all you have done, Unit.

Very well said Balz. I also always think in my head that 'Unit' is the name that should be used. Any time I say kotaco (probably mispronouncing it every time) it just doesn't feel right.

Also, I'd like to point out a slight incorrect statement.

When the two new consoles were announced, it was decided on that we would jump ship to Xbox. I spent an entire paycheque getting a used Xbox 360 so I could play with my beloved mXm, and get into some serious online racing with Balz on Forza.

THEN we jumped ship again :handjob: to PS3 and I had to sell my Xbox 360 to buy a used PS3 so I could once again be with my beloved mXm on SOCOM: Confrontation.

Needless to say I'm pretty glad we're fairly set on which next-gen console we're decided on. :rocker: :headbang: :intoit:

Then the PS3 came and I believe this is what cast the nearly finishing blow to the clan. Some members didn't buy it, some members went for the 360 instead and those who did buy it were lacking a game like SOCOM to connect on, activity dropped to near nothing.

[[mXm] kotaco]

[quote name='andy19' timestamp='1375363459' post='2992']
Very well said Balz. I also always think in my head that 'Unit' is the name that should be used. Any time I say kotaco (probably mispronouncing it every time) it just doesn't feel right.

Also, I'd like to point out a slight incorrect statement.

When the two new consoles were announced, it was decided on that we would jump ship to Xbox. I spent an entire paycheque getting a used Xbox 360 so I could play with my beloved mXm, and get into some serious online racing with Balz on Forza.

THEN we jumped ship again :handjob: to PS3 and I had to sell my Xbox 360 to buy a used PS3 so I could once again be with my beloved mXm on SOCOM: Confrontation.

Needless to say I'm pretty glad we're fairly set on which next-gen console we're decided on. :rocker: :headbang: :intoit:


Hmm, I never was going to get an Xbox so I don't recall that. I believe you though, I do remember being super ambitious and wanting to setup 2 divisions of mXm with an independent site for each which crash and burned as it rightfully should have :P

[[mXm] andy19]

[quote name='kotaco' timestamp='1375364661' post='2993']
Hmm, I never was going to get an Xbox so I don't recall that. I believe you though, I do remember being super ambitious and wanting to setup 2 divisions of mXm with an independent site for each which crash and burned as it rightfully should have :P

In the end I'm glad we went with PS. It really is the better platform, and it makes it a much easier transition to PS4, which is already looking to be the better platform, and will have H-Hour :sniper: :andy19: and Drive Club

[[mXm] 404 Not Found]

Never have, and never will own an XBOX... Always Sony... since SOCOM1.