I started playing Hattrick in the summer of 2002 when a friend, who I played "Fantasy Wrestling" with online, told me about Hattrick. I made many mistakes in the beginning. At that time there was no such thing as mentors or beginners' guides. So my very first club was bankrupt after only a few weeks. Luckily, I was able to restart with a new club shortly after that and then I did a lot better.
I ended up playing Hattrick because I used to play some MMORPG in the past (like Dark Age of Camelot or Ultima Online) but they were totally absorbing and some of my friends described Hattrick as "easy and casual", and I believed it (lol). I couldn’t really guess, at that time, how much time and passion I would end up putting into this game.
Some of my Hattrick friends I've known for more than a decade now, which is longer than quite a few of my real-world friendships. You build up trusting relationships with them, and meet people you'd normally never meet. That's also what I really enjoy about the federations in Hattrick - some are really places where you can share your personal stories. A federation in Hattrick was one of the first places where I disclosed I was going to become a father!
The Hattrick community is colourful, it really helps expand the Hattrick world. You can find plenty of helpful managers that can help you with Hattrick and real life questions.
I started playing Hattrick because some of my co-workers absolutely wanted to introduce me to Hattrick. When I finally tried, it was the Valentine's Day of 2009 … and I am still here, ten years later!
The best moment for me is when a youth player finally has finished the training you envisioned. I still remember the key players from my time in Hattrick. Josip Dumont-Damien was one of the first ones, Luc de Romrée de Vichenet and Mamadou Toure are players I remember fondly from my last generation.