The AtomicBadLands is the long time home of Clan Atomic. Originally founded as Anti-Clan in 2000 by Gacy (aka WAR), Bomb, Nugg and Pill. Anti-Clan was reborn as Atomic Clan. Its’ way to honor our Anti-Clan/AC roots. In fact you’ll notice some members still capitalize the A and C in AtomiC as a way to honor our Anti-Clan roots. However we quickly started using Clan Atomic as a way to differentiate ourselves from the many other clans of the day. Most clans had their name preceding clan as did Clan Atomic when we first started as Anti-Clan. So in typical atomic fashion we choose to stand out from the crowd and began using Clan Atomic in official settings like webpages or on our server messages. Though most folks know us by the Clan Atomic name today we welcome members to choose which form of Atomic they prefer addressing themselves and each other with…Clan Atomic, Atomic Clan or simply Atomic, at the end of the day they all represent the fact you belong to one of the best gaming clans around!
Two months after we rebranded we also finished our transition from a console only clan on Sega Dreamcast, to a multi-platform clan with the inclusion of PC. After several late nights of online sleuthing a copy of the hacked Dreamcast maps for PC were found as they had not been released by Sega and ID software at that time. With our acquisition of the fabled hacked map packs for Quake 3 Arena, our clan was able to host it’s own game servers for the very first time starting a new chapter in Clan Atomic’s existence.
Clan Atomic took the PC/DC Q3A community by storm shortly after our servers went live. With a reputation for having some of the best Quake 3 Arena players around that also happened to be kind, patient and helpful, we treated each other like we were family. Clan Atomic’s numbers swelled with this family like clan setting to over a 150 members before settling down to a more modest 80+ players with nearly a dozen servers for the PC/DC Quake 3 Arena community alone to enjoy. Clan Atomic was also one of only two DC/PC Quake 3 clans to have an exclusive server side mod. While Atomic had the extremely popular Shottie mod, Smoking Guns (SG) was the other clan with an exclusive, Extreme. Initially these mods could only be played on our respective servers until we choose to release them publicly several months after their introduction do to the extreme enthusiasm of the Quake 3 community.
It was in the Quake 3 arena servers where the AtomicBadLands was born. AtomicWAR started calling his various servers The AtomicBadLands as the server name while advertising ClanAtomic.com in the message of the day. Other atomics liked the name and quickly followed suit on their servers as well and that was how things remained for a little over a year. Then when a billing issue popped up on our original domain renewal, ClanAtomic.com, we were separated from our domain literally overnight by a squatter.
Clan Atomic has never backed down from a challenge and this would be no different. Atomics always embrace adversity at every corner so with a clan wide vote AtomicBadLands.com became our new digital home and remains as such to this very day. We did get our hands back on ClanAtomic.com many years later and it can be used once again to direct you to our AtomicBadLands website.
With the launch of the original Xbox, Microsoft took what the Sega Dreamcast started with online gaming and expanded on it. Clan Atomic knew this would happen long before launch and had plans in place to expand our reach to the Xbox as Sony had no clear online plans at that time. Shortly thereafter but prior to the actual launch of the Xbox, Sega announced their exit from the console wars. Atomic kept many of their PC/Dreamcast servers online for years after that dire revelation. We did so believing it would help prolong Quake 3 Arena’s Dreamcast life cycle. Running both standard DM and server side mods…we watched, played and mourned the Dreamcast as long as we could. Sadly we shut our servers down about six months after Sega and Id software took down the main server the Dreamcast’s pinged to see who was online. For that time we players were required to know our various IP addresses of our servers and they needed to know how to connect to the server of their choice directly using console commands. While it was a painful loss, times were changing and Clan Atomic was changing with them!
Clan Atomic took their membership to a whole new level with the Xbox becoming our 3rd supported platform and with am every growing games library in our collective player-ship for our members to participate in. While late to the game Sony’s PlayStation 2 joined the Atomic party as the 4th platform, followed by the Nintendo Wii and then Android as mobile phones burst onto the gaming scene. Clan Atomic clearly had the gaming communities pulse and we began to hope beyond hopes, Atomic might never die.
With the exponential growth we had achieved, Clan Atomic voted to split the clan leadership from one ruling structure to one where each platform would have it’s own leadership, recruiters and more. Despite being a democracy, do to Clan Atomic’s shear size we found some issues were either typically to large or conversely to personal to have a proper clan vote on. Because of this we introduced idea of and later voted on what would become known as the Council of the Elders or more frequently referenced as The Elders. These were clan members known to by all to be wise, fair, discrete and forward minded. To be chosen as an elder was and is a great responsibility. A position granted for life unless voted out unanimously by the rest of elder council. An Elder’s job was to act like a supreme court justice for the clan when voting on issues the clan deemed to difficult to vote on, to personal/private (sextortion for example) or on the possibility that any one branch of the clan’s administration got out of control doing something like violating our democracy or violating our codes. Ultimately we wanted to ensure we could take care of our player base properly, remain democratic and retain a warm family setting we had become known for. The Elders allowed us to protect our Clan’s beliefs and longevity while honoring our democratic structure.
Clan Atomic must have done something right because twenty years later, we now actively encompass almost every major gaming platform out there. We are on PC (MS and Linux), Xbox (OG, 360, One and soon Series X), PlayStation (2, 3, 4 & soon the PS5), Nintendo (Wii, Wii U & Switch) and Android. Clan Atomic supports countless games for you to play with your friends and clan mates, such as Quake 3 Arena (PC, XB360), Quake Live (PC), COD series (PC, XB360/1, PS3/4), Borderlands Series (PC, XB360, PS4), Elder Scrolls Online (PC, XB1 and PS4), Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 1, 2 & Neighborville (PC, XB360/1), Titanfall 1 & 2 (PC, XB360/1), Modern Combat series (Android), Nova (Android), Gun Bros (Android)…plus many many more.
Into the Future…
An ever evolving industry, video games always find new ways for us to interact with our screens and each other. Clan Atomic is committed in bringing it’s members a premium online experience that best represents that evolution. From video game advice, tech tips to game streaming, you can expect see more Atomic than ever before. The next generation consoles are on the horizon ready to change the gaming landscape once again. Clan Atomic is ready and we only plan on gaining more steam in the the years ahead. Stay tuned for the exciting times to come!!
