The Inner Circle BBS

Goldman writes and operates an early bulletin-board community.

Goldman and Linden-Reed begin the collaboration

They explore a graphical online environment and games in which identity, place, and interaction are core.

Optigon and Maxis build the technical base

Optigon ports and develops Maxis simulation work while the online-service architecture matures.

Linden-Reed goes full-time

Her documented remit spans interface, art direction, game design, and management.

SimCity goes online

Optigon and Maxis announce the first online multiplayer version of SimCity. The 1994 TEN service combined games with email, chat, and community features.

TEN.NET is registered

The TEN.NET domain is registered for Optigon Interactive. Period coverage documents the national beta over Sprint’s X.25 network.

WizWar, Descent, and two-player games go online

The founding-team account places WizWar, Descent, and most two-player games on the Optigon-era TEN service during 1995. Goldman's later published recollection independently supports the two-player Descent capability.

Planet Optigon and Outland combine

Planet Optigon and Outland announce their transaction and the renamed T E Network, Inc. Contemporary materials call it a merger; later company material describes Optigon’s acquisition of Outland.

Kleiner Perkins makes the initial investment

TEN later identified June 1995 as the date of its initial Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers financing, supporting the service’s next scale-up.

More than $12 million for rollout

TEN announces a financing round of more than $12 million, led by Vertex Management, Goldman Sachs, and Ameritech, for the introduction and rollout of the service.

3D Realms commits its online titles to TEN

Apogee/3D Realms grants TEN exclusive worldwide online rights to its games for five years, including the forthcoming Duke Nukem 3D, replacing an August 1995 game-specific agreement.

Jack Heistand becomes president and CEO

Former Electronic Arts executive Jack Heistand joins as president and CEO. Goldman remains chairman and becomes editor-in-chief. The founders later said the appointment was intended to free Goldman to focus on product and judged it negatively.

Online-only games join the service

TEN announces exclusive rights to SSI’s Dark Sun: Crimson Sands and Domark’s Confirmed Kill, two games designed for online play.

Concentric targets the lag problem

TEN and Concentric announce a preferred-access alliance: local dial-up access, traffic prioritization, and network changes designed for low, consistent latency in nationwide multiplayer games.

Netscape Navigator is added to the client

TEN announces an agreement to integrate Netscape Navigator into its front-end software, beginning that summer.

Quake goes from license to platform

TEN integrates Quake in three weeks, then adds D.A.R.T. data reduction, rankings, Quake C mods, TENSkins, and weekly QuakeWars.

Team Fortress and the PGL expand competitive play

TEN packages Team Fortress for its Quake community, then builds a professionally refereed league around Quake and Red Alert with rankings, sponsors, broadcasts, and prizes.

The Khosla/Adult Content Fiasco

An archived Kleiner Perkins consumer-media portfolio page from May 1999 lists Total Entertainment Network among the firm’s investments but links its name to TEN.COM. A later archived TEN.COM capture documents the unrelated site’s adult-content business. The founding-team account says that TEN’s management had allowed the domain to lapse, that the mistaken KPCB link caused embarrassing brand confusion, and that it facilitated the company’s quick move to the Pogo.com name.

On September 1, TEN publicly became Pogo.com. On September 7, it announced that the pay-for-play offering would close on October 14 while the company shifted to free family games. The corporate entity continued as Pogo.com, Inc.

Electronic Arts acquires Pogo

With the acquisition by Electronic Arts and Optigon community pioneer Tahd Frentzel still leading community, Pogo is able to return to TEN’s roots as a community-centered service.