The Sun Sets on Red Bull’s Time in Home
by Terra_Cide, HSM Editor
They were here, are gone.
And the gone, growing in number.
In this forlorn world,
I wonder how long,
Sighing, I will go on.
-Ono no Komachi, (834?-?),
Heian era, near the end of her days
On Monday, Home Community Management announced that all Red Bull spaces, and personal items available for purchase will be removed as of April 11, 2012. All content that has been purchased, such as the Red Bull House of Skate, and all personal items, including game rewards, that have already been acquired will not be affected by this removal.
This comes as a bit of a surprise, as just earlier this year, both the Red Bull Air Race and Red Bull Flugtag spaces received revisions to their respective games. However, as it is with all businesses, contracts come and contracts go, and in the current economic climate, a business has to think about what the most effective use of their advertising dollars is.
All logic aside though, this rather unexpected loss will undoubtedly reverberate through Home. Red Bull has been a part of Home since the first day of open beta, and as such, been a mainstay of the community. It’s always a heart-felt loss when a well-loved space in Home is slated for removal; just look at the outpouring over the loss of Irem last year. Memories have been made in these spaces, friendships gained (or lost), triumphs celebrated – even glitches learned. As it is with all losses in life, we go through our patterns and rituals of mourning.
It’s as if in losing these places, we’re also losing a part of ourselves as well. The same is true in our real lives. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, but when the original Yankee Stadium was closed and later demolished a few years back, that’s a visceral loss to the baseball community as a whole. The sheer history of the place, the memories, the legends, the ghosts that permeated that space are no more, except in the memories of those who witnessed these happenings and are still alive to talk about them. Can you imagine what the loss would be like for Boston if Fenway met a similar fate? Or Chicago and Wrigley Field?
These places of play, just like our own virtual places of play, are like time capsules of mnemonic ether, and in them the distilled experiences of generations. This is what communities are made of, it’s not just a group of people who occupy a given time and space together; it’s what we share as experiences as a community that define us as such. We may tell ourselves pragmatically that these connections with places – be they virtual or real – ought not have such a hold upon us.
And yet they do.
Home may not be so old as of yet to be endeared to generations of individuals (although many generations can be found in Home), but there are other places out there on the Internet that are getting close. I was once a regular member of one of those sites – a kind of proto-wiki, if you will – and while I no longer contribute to it, I do enjoy every now and then stopping by to see what’s going on; who’s still there, what new names are taking up the community mantle and running with it. This community too has seen its shares of joy and tragedy. Like we see in Home now, people met there who had shared interests later ended up getting married, and are still married over a decade later.
We also lost two of our earliest members long before we were ready to say goodbye. One, who went by the rather appropriate username “sensei” (and who translated the poem in the epigraph of this article), was simply due to old age. The other, a deeply troubled young man who was so driven to make us all understand what the concept of community was in the virtual world that he wrote of nothing but in his final days, took his own life the day before 9/11. The legacy of these two individuals – and indeed, even the legacy of the site itself – is so deeply ingrained into the community there that even users who didn’t join the site until years later know of them and the impact they had.
Although the time is certainly more truncated when compared to a Fenway Park, it could be argued that, for the people who occupied Home in the early open beta days, the same could be said of Red Bull’s Air Race, and that their revamp revived their enjoyment for both new and old users alike.
To many in those early days, myself included, the Air Race was the first game that brought them to Home and kept them there. In reality, aside from Saucer Pop, it was the only game in town, as it were. But it’s not just about the games at the Red Bull spaces that will be missed. If Home were just about its games, then it would be a barren place. What these spaces provided were the elements that made any Home space successful – atmosphere.
The Red Bull spaces had tremendous atmosphere. They embodied the warmth of a tropical island at sunset, a place few people get the chance to experience in real life. Then there was the music. We just recorded an episode of The Upload where the Red Bull spaces were referenced, and Jersquall remarked that it was at Red Bull Beach where for the first time, he actually turned the volume on his television up while he was in Home. These two elements alone provide the key ingredients to a perfect gathering place.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was disappointed to discover that the music that once was a part of the flugtag beach, but once it was discovered that the air race was now the place to dance, the disappointment was no more. Even the track listing had been changed, and for the better, too.
How many of you reading this have either held or participated in a party at Red Bull Beach before that change? Name a group in Home, any of them, and more than likely they have had some sort of gathering there. It was just one one of those types of spaces that’s conducive to a party. I mean, come on, who doesn’t want to party on a beach?
This is not to say that the spaces couldn’t be enjoyed in small groups, couples, or even by oneself. Think back to those early times in Home. Think back to your own first moments in Home. When your choices for activity were as limited as they were in those early days on Home, coupled with the initial limited means to communicate with other people, the air races were a welcoming space to be.
It didn’t matter if you were alone or not, the Red Bull spaces were warm and welcoming, they were familiar. And in it contained memories of a time when Home was a far simpler place.
Soon, those places where our memories reside will be gone. Only what we ourselves will be able to recall will remain. And as a community, we will go on.
April 5th, 2012 by Terra_Cide | 15 comments
Terra _Cide is the former Community Manager for Lockwood Publishing and Editor Emeritus for HomeStation Magazine.
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Good bye Red Bull, You will be missed by many. You hit it on the head, Most of us back when Home opened played the air race. I can remember flying for countless hours, trying to beat times of my then limited friends list. I still pop in there at times to take the wings to flight, for old times sake.
When red Bull beach came out, it was the only true tropical space. I can remember before I was a HCV. Two years ago, They hosted a Mardi gras flash mob, the beach space was frequented many times. As well as having a lil dance party afterwords there. Gosh I met so many new people then.
At least the rewards and the House of skate, are going to stay, to keep the memories alive.
Good bye Red Bull
OCR
What home really needs is a true flight simulator in which you can build your own planes, wacky races style and go head to head with a friend to get the best time around a circuit.
That would be tons of fun!
What I’ve always wanted to see in a disk-based game is a flight simulator on par with what Polyphony delivers to driving simulators in the Gran Turismo series.
Bravo Terra_Cide, I love that idea! Good thought, I do believe though that gamepaly would be real hard seeing the detail that PD puts towards concepts like camber, weight distribution, spring rates, gear ratios, etc. etc. I am a level 40 in Gran Turismo, and that was a task, can’t imagine doing that in the air.
I thought Microsoft’s Flight Simulator series was the Gran Turismo of flight? Unfortunately, people would rather have air combat over flight simulators, and the series ended for good just a few years ago. That’s if memory serves.
I never understood that. It’s the same criticism i hear about Home. It seems like unless you kill something it isn’t a game to the masses. Why does something need to be blown up or destroyed in order to be entertaining?
Young people who are too young to know the glory and popularity of Tetris.
I was never a big fan of Red Bull’s beach but I do feel bad for all those who loved the place and have fond memories. I was a lover of the Irem Square and when that left, I was saddened that I wouldn’t have my favorite hangout anymore. I truly do miss that place. I think it is very interseting that though these places are virtual, we can indeed get so attached, and even mourn their closing. Sorry to those who liked this place, hope you find a new place again soon
One last thought before I totally plug up this page with ‘me’. I would like to see more sites that are going to close, make some sort of announcement regarding their leaving. At least here and now prior to closing, Red Bull fans can buy up anything and everything they like, take pictures, do movies or try what ever they can to make memories there. Just a thought.
Good idea. I read somewhere that the Journey space will be going on April 11th. It’s barely been a month, so I hope everyone got their cloth companion and that massive statue from it already.
Also, the PSVita Lounge seems to be gone from my favourites. Yet another short-lived space.
I never really cared for the Red Bull space, probably because I completely sucked at the air races. I was barely able to get the trophy for the first course, and the second just seemed impossible. So, no great loss for me, but I sympathize with those for whom it held a special meaning.
Great article Terra! Yes, it will be sad to see this space go. We have seen the removal of several spaces and we all have had our fair share of memories at each of them and the Red Bull Beach is no exception. I remember the HSM 6 month anniversary party we had there. The space was packed! The space has great areas for avatar photo shoots and fun glitches too such as the one to get into the water. It will definitely be missed by all.
There will be a farewell party this Saturday at 9pm EST hosted by Julie_Love, Y2David, and StephieRawks for any of you that are interested in coming out and saying goodbye together.
Again, great article Terra. As always, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I would be interested in that tbaby.
Sure your definitely welcome to come! This has been rescheduled to Tuesday at 10pm PST, 2 hours before the weekly maintenance starts when it will be removed.
Red bull has one of the loveliest spaces. It will be a loss to Home. I enjoy trying to fly my homemade gliders there and trying to make all the rings in the air races (trying) lol. Sorry to see it go.
Aww man, not another cool beach deleted! how very sad