The History of AetharNet

Hi, I'm wowi. I'm the main developer behind AetharNet, an up-and-coming group that has now found its place in the world! Whether developing mods for charming farming games, or reviving modding communities for early access games, we have fun and smile all the while. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows to get here, though, so join me in revisiting the past of this wacky group.

Throughout the years, I've experimented with branching out from my own self, creating new groups or identities. The main three were: Magnufactured, Philharmonia, and ProGraMa.

• Magnufactured (2016) developed three KoGaMa-related projects: RequestBuddy, a friend request manager; GameBuddy, an extension that allowed the user to customize the game page; and SpinBot, an automatic XP collector. The first two were scrapped in favor of KoGaMa Buddy, which released under ProGraMa. The last never saw the light of day due to community concerns.
• Philharmonia Studios (2016 to 2020) focused on Discord bots, creating: OctaviaBot, a bot with KoGaMa integration and features, used in several KoGaMa-oriented communities; Stream Manager, a bot for the Official KoGaMa Discord Server that enforced certain rules in regards to voice channels and streaming; and NCF (New Clear Future), a bot that allowed moderators of the Philharmonia Studios Discord server to manage my KoGaMa wall. OctaviaBot failed to keep up with Discord updates, Stream Manager was never deployed, and NCF fulfilled its purpose.
• ProGraMa Studios (2017 to 2024) was founded by James Lee (jom3es12) and I, as a collaboration to learn the KoGaMa API and develop utilities for players to use. Unfortunately, a year after founding the group, James passed away, unexpectedly. Shaken but undeterred, the group grew, bringing in new members and leaders. That same year, its first project was released: KoGaMa RPC, developed by Grens. A couple of months later, in early 2019, KoGaMa Buddy went live. Several other projects were started, though none saw the light of day. Though the name ProGraMa had spread, it ultimately didn't amount to anything.

I learned a lot from my time spent with these groups. I grew, matured, and socialized. I wrote code to help all I could. And now, I needed some rest.

In early 2019, the label "AetharNet" was born. It was a silly play-on-words, combing Aethar Sky--a character I was developing for a story--and ethernet. No, Aethar does not sound like "ether" or "aether".

AetharNet started off as a simple site, where I could experiment with backend development. Up until that point, I had mostly been a frontend developer, learning new libraries in the ecosystem and native features of the JavaScript language. With an entirely new area of expertise to tackle, I was able to learn more concepts that before, and quickly found an affinity for logic, not design.

Unfortunately, a year later--one day before my birthday, in fact--the server hosting my projects was wiped. I had been careless. I attempted a system upgrade, and though I did create a backup, I failed to verify that it actually worked. Projects I had spent years on were now gone. I did not have an up-to-date repository. Many of those projects didn't have one to begin with, as they were small and miscellaneous. My motivation plummeted. AetharNet was dead.

The following year and a half, I wallowed in depression. Whereas previously, I would code every single day, rarely playing video games or watching anime, my days were now filled with distractions. My projects were gone, as was my motivation to start anew. A toxic relationship was killing me from the inside out. Insecurities and doubts about my own identity were plaguing my mind. The joyful girl who always joked around and helped everyone.. was alone. I grew bitter and resentful. There was no sparkle in my eyes. All I wished for.. was to be understood. To understand myself.

Towards the end of 2021, I had started to socialize. I was no longer alone, and though I carried all that ailed me, I was able to move forward. I even made a simple mod for Staxel, a game that helped me during those hard times. Things were looking up for me. My motivation may not have been even a fraction of what I had, previously, but it was a start.

Throughout the following year, 2022, I attempted to get back into coding, making small mods for Staxel, published under the AetharNet name. Two of them did quite well, receiving 120 and 470 downloads, respectively. Even now, as of the date of publication, three of my submissions are on the Most Popular section of the Staxel Workshop.
I was now on anti-depressants, and had a wonderful, loving partner. I occasionally worked on projects, and shared them with the world. AetharNet was slowly being revived.

2023 was a quiet year, for the most part. I was learning to live and love life, undoing all the toxic traits I had picked up before. Everything was so much brighter. Oh, and I did manage to release a few projects towards the end of the year! Not only that, but some of those projects now had a co-author: my precious and perfect partner.
I stopped to think about the wild journey I had been on, to reflect on where I've been and where I was going. I realized that if I was going anywhere, I wanted my partner beside me, in all endeavors.

The year is now 2024, and I am pleased to announce that AetharNet is back! It's no longer a label for just me and my projects. It's a label that I now share with my partner in crime, Alice. Together, we're going to develop some of the silliest things you've ever imagined! Just you wait.

As of today, I am shuttering ProGraMa Studios and moving KoGaMa Buddy under AetharNet. This label isn't going anywhere. I'm sticking with it, through and through.
What kind of projects will we create? Heck if I know, haha. We're just winging it. If a project succeeds, it'll be our victory. If it fails, it'll be our lesson. I'm no longer alone, and depression cannot take a hold of me. You wanna try? Bring it.