Distant friends

Its funny the way some people impact your life. When I was at DEC we used to play a game called DECWeb all the time. The best PBEM games I've ever played. Spent countless hours (a week!) playing it. More than just a game, it was a community of people within DEC. I met people from all over the world (some actually in person). Not only were those game contacts, but they have resulted in jobs, knowledge, technical help on projects, etc. In other words, it wasn't just a game... it resulted in increased productivity for the company and lasting friendships.

Most of those people I'm no longer in contact with... but I still think of them from time to time. Yesterday I was reading an article, and it mentioned Francis J. Ricciardone. I immediately thought of Mark Riccardi. And it made me smile. Hmm... maybe that is really Mark... and maybe he's there to take over Iraq, the first of his conquests in ruling the world. :-)

Mark was an awesome DECweb player. A supreme diplomat. I'll never forget the time he talked me into jumping into his stargate ("It's safe, trust me"). When I got my turnsheet, there was a small probe sitting there with "Welcome to my nightmare" on the side of it, which was being destroyed by a mine left at the stargate, along with my entire fleet. Many people felt cheated by Mark, I just felt he was an awesome player. I played with him many times... sometimes with him and sometimes against. If he was your ally (really your ally - and that was the hard thing to know), he was as loyal as could be. If he was just pretending to be your ally, then watch out.

We spent a lot of time over the course of the games, talking, emailing, plotting.

I haven't heard from Mark in years. Asked Dave about him, and Dave said he tried contacting Mark, but never heard back. I've also tried to google him over the years and never found him.

Mark... wherever you are, hope things are going well for you and yours. You are someone I'll never forget.