The Will-o'-the-wisp like nostalgia is deep with this one.

I remember my parents bringing me along to a neighbours dinner party. The only other kids there were older and unrelatable, or so I thought...

They had computer games.

I found myself standing behind the eldest kid, asking every question imaginable as he played. Nexus was my first exposure to the MMO genre. It floored me to learn the characters on screen were other players. Until 1997, I didn't know this was possible, let alone free. I knew what free meant! We could afford free. I frothed at the mouth until I installed it at home.

I clearly remember being obsessed - hogging our dial-up internet connection. One day I was fighting yeti's in an ice cavern, levelling to 10 after a quest and receiving an ice sword as the reward! Ecstasy, until I was mercilessly brought back to earth by the mmo business model via level cap. I was locked from playing further until I paid money.

I didn't have money, so that was the last I played of Nexus. It would float in and out of my consciousness ever since. Years ago I dug back in to only find it riddled with bots, tedium and the haunting suspicion of possibly downloading malware.

Still, I remember it to be a mystical place that, until I take a closer look, dances in the winds of memory from time to time. Best to keep the memory as is.