An employee of mine brought it into work to show me the Original BZ. I'm thinking that was in 1999 or so. It was so cool I got online and ordered a copy for myself. Then later when BZII came out I bought 4 copies so we could all load it up in the office and play against each other.
I was the owner of a Computer Sales and Service company at the time and my office was about 500 sq ft in size with 5 desks and a work bench. It was a cozy place and they were happy times. We would frequently end the day with a quick game of BZ..
In 2002 I sold the business after 13 years and moved to a different state. I've lost touch with everyone except the one guy who brought the first BZ game in to me. He and I live nearly 2000 miles apart now, but we still play a game of BZ once in a while online.
I've been playing online for a long time, but over the past several years I've almost always done a password protected game. Just too many jerks. Once in a while I'll open the door and when I find some good joiners I'll give them the password I usually use so they can join in the next time if they are around.
I have no problem playing with newbies and I imagine most seasoned players think my game play is boring cuz I always play MPI and I go slow.

It's not all about the win, I enjoy the game play, the graphics, the physics, the gathering of assets. I like to try building my base in different ways to see what works best for making a base that is impregnable. Then it's all about building a big attack force and kicking some computer butt. lol..
Squirrelof9 will tell you. Years ago he was on a Satellite system for his internet and he was so laggy no one would let him join. I was one of the few game hosters that didn't have a problem with it. After all, it wasn't his fault, he just wanted to play.
The idea of a 3rd version of BZ makes me happy. I'll be able to play well into my 60s perhaps.. hahahaha.
-=[ Gamer1]=-
http://www.bzfiend.com