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- OriginalCheezIt
GTPlanet has been a staple of the Gran Turismo community for 14 years. On the Internet, that is an eternity. So I figured I would do a little research project, and hop in the Wayback Machine (seriously, that is what it is called) and find the history of GTPlanet. If any older members would like to contribute, please do. This is a community project, so let's have some fun learning the history of our crazy, wonderfully accepting people.
Enjoy.
This, my friends, is where we all come from. The earliest capture of the earliest iteration of GTP. Created by our magnanimous and graceful overlord Jordan Greer (ahem, Jo®dan) on January 12, 2000, this is the first Gran Turismo based site to be created after the devastating events of Y2K. Our community still stands today as a monument to those who lost their Gran Turismo 2 save files in the disaster... May their Escudos rest in peace...
Ok, so what if I made up the part about Y2K actually happening? It makes the story more dramatic. Creative liberty, mmmmmk?
After a year online, the Gran Turismo 2 community, as GTP was known by at the time, became the top community in the "Video Games" Category of MSN.
Yet our MSN origins were rather short lived, as there was a new beginning on the horizon...
I wish I was joking when I said that, but alas, I am not. Here is the the top of the MSN homepage on May 14, 2001, the same day that gtplanet.net was founded:
And you thought I was gonna make a crack at Bill Gates, didn't you? Pfffft, n00bs. (Surely that joke won't become dated, will it?)
So here was what Jordan cooked up to launch us away from the clutches of early 2000's Microsoft:
BY THE POWER OF JORDAN, I DECLARE THIS SITE OPEN!!!
So you know how I called Jordan "magnanimous and graceful"? Well, that may only be partially true. Magnanimous he may be, graceful he is not. Here's why:
Yep, what you just saw was the first ever thread on GTPlanet. Although hilariously underwhelming for the debut of a site the magnitude of GTP, it is quite informative. For example, I did not know that html was off for the forum. Good to know. I also didn't know that ikoncode was on for the forum. Although it would seem that it isn't on anymore... ya know, being able to see the actual code and all...
OK, OK, I'll stop being a smartalec... although I am interested in that video of the Ferrari blowing up...
And the award for most pointless member to have actual significance to the history of the site is...
Now, on the flip side, I want to take the time to honor our oldest active moderator, who joined on 7/20/2001, who I just found while looking through the staff member list, @Pako! *claps*
*Cracks knuckles* Been a while...
Here's some stats from the Wayback Machine editions of GTP:
All that in ~14 months? Blasphemy.
Here's an infographic posted by Jordan in this news article commemorating the 10,000,000th post on GTP:
Enjoy.
Chapter One: The Birth of a Planet
This, my friends, is where we all come from. The earliest capture of the earliest iteration of GTP. Created by our magnanimous and graceful overlord Jordan Greer (ahem, Jo®dan) on January 12, 2000, this is the first Gran Turismo based site to be created after the devastating events of Y2K. Our community still stands today as a monument to those who lost their Gran Turismo 2 save files in the disaster... May their Escudos rest in peace...
Ok, so what if I made up the part about Y2K actually happening? It makes the story more dramatic. Creative liberty, mmmmmk?
After a year online, the Gran Turismo 2 community, as GTP was known by at the time, became the top community in the "Video Games" Category of MSN.
Yet our MSN origins were rather short lived, as there was a new beginning on the horizon...
Chapter Two: Exiting the MSN Solar System
If we are a planet, MSN would have been our solar system. And you know what was at the center of the MSN solar system during 2001?
And you thought I was gonna make a crack at Bill Gates, didn't you? Pfffft, n00bs. (Surely that joke won't become dated, will it?)
So here was what Jordan cooked up to launch us away from the clutches of early 2000's Microsoft:
So you know how I called Jordan "magnanimous and graceful"? Well, that may only be partially true. Magnanimous he may be, graceful he is not. Here's why:
Yep, what you just saw was the first ever thread on GTPlanet. Although hilariously underwhelming for the debut of a site the magnitude of GTP, it is quite informative. For example, I did not know that html was off for the forum. Good to know. I also didn't know that ikoncode was on for the forum. Although it would seem that it isn't on anymore... ya know, being able to see the actual code and all...
OK, OK, I'll stop being a smartalec... although I am interested in that video of the Ferrari blowing up...
So now that all that boring webmaster-y stuff is done, it's time for some members, am I right? Well, Jordan didn't have to wait too long for someone to join him:
Now, on the flip side, I want to take the time to honor our oldest active moderator, who joined on 7/20/2001, who I just found while looking through the staff member list, @Pako! *claps*
*Cracks knuckles* Been a while...
Chapter 3: HOLY ****, YOU SEE THAT? A FREAKIN' METEOR!!!
Yeah. THAT meteor.
And my oh my, did it hit HARD.Yeah. THAT meteor.
Here's some stats from the Wayback Machine editions of GTP:
August 1, 2001 (12 days after EU release of GT3):
September 22, 2002 (429 days after EU release of GT3)
Membership octupled, thread count (not talkin' 'bout blankies, sucka) quattuordecupled, and the number of posts nearly quinquagupled! Have no idea what that means? Let's keep it that way September 22, 2002 (429 days after EU release of GT3)
All that in ~14 months? Blasphemy.
Here's an infographic posted by Jordan in this news article commemorating the 10,000,000th post on GTP:
EDIT: Chapter 1 updated/rewritten with additional information and also correct Date of Creation (yes, I am always going to capitalize that) and Chapter 2 is added
PLEASE REREAD THE WHOLE THING. I worked very hard on that humor, and I'm not gonna let it go to waste!
EDIT EDIT: Well that was quick... had to add in that little part where JORDAN ACTUALLY MAKES THE FREAKING SITE! smh...
EDIT EDIT EDIT: Changed title. Because 2014.
EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: Created change log 👍
EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: Chapter 3 started
EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: Added infographic and changed the change log from quote to spoiler
PLEASE REREAD THE WHOLE THING. I worked very hard on that humor, and I'm not gonna let it go to waste!
EDIT EDIT: Well that was quick... had to add in that little part where JORDAN ACTUALLY MAKES THE FREAKING SITE! smh...
EDIT EDIT EDIT: Changed title. Because 2014.
EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: Created change log 👍
EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: Chapter 3 started
EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: Added infographic and changed the change log from quote to spoiler
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