THE CURSE OF RA FUN CLUB'S HISTORY
The very beginning.
In the Spring 1999 I got my first computer with access to the Internet. A new world revealed  itself to me. I surfed the net to see if I could find anything interesting. I had heard a lot about computer games, but most of the ones I found were about shooting and killing, which didn't interest me at all. Then I stumbled over an old, Chinese game called Mah Jongg, which I found was just the game for me. I started to download demos of all the games of this kind that I could find, tested them and bought those I liked best. One of those games was 'The Curse of Ra' (or 'Rahjongg'). After a few days I was addicted. I played the game day and night to get through the 50 levels.
And I can tell you it was not easy! By that time there were just a few hints to collect from the UsedStar site! When I got to level 15 I was completely stuck. I was desperate to continue the game, but had no chance to conquer this level. (The time limit for this level has since been increased to give people a better chance to solve it.) I wrote an email to Philippe Mussler and begged for help, and got it! From then I solved the rest of the levels one by one until I had finished them all. It was a very proud and happy moment for me, but what I didn't realize was that I soon was going to suffer from an abstinence syndrome. 
On UsedStar's site I found some levels made by Roberto Loewenberg from Brazil, who had used the Level Editor in the game to create his own levels. I downloaded his, and played them with joy, and soon after I started to make my own levels, and had some of them uploaded to UsedStar's site. 

A web site is born. 

At this time I was so occupied by all kinds of Mah Jongg games, that I  found it right to make my own Mah Jongg site. On this site all my favourite Mah Jong games were reviewed, among them 'The Curse of Ra'.
First the site was completely in Norwegian, but when it was added to the 'The World of Mahjong Ring', I found it right to also make an English version. This was in July 1999. (The site still exists, and if you like, you can visit it through this link. Go to the English version by clicking the 'English version'-button in the menu to the left on the site.)
At the end of July I uploaded my first levels to Philippe Mussler's Usedstar'-site, and somehow he got to know that I had made this web site (maybe I told him myself? I am not sure) and added a link to my site from his. Haveing seen that I offered people help on my web site if they got stuck in 'The Curse of Ra', he asked me if I'd be willing to write help files for the most difficult levels to be put on Usedstars web site. I agreed to this, and a long and warm  friendship began. 

Let's exchange levels!

Roberto (and his wife Ana) became my friends. I was very thrilled to suddenly have found someone who was just as addicted to Ra as I was 'on the other side of the world'. Roberto and I started to exchange levels every week. As time went by, some more people uploaded their own extra levels to Usedstar's site, we made contact, and soon we were three or four persons who exchanged levels like this.
We decided to make a club for people who had finished the game. 
As the game was sold in more and more countries, Philippe Mussler got a lot of emails asking for help. Some of them were forwarded to me, and thus I came in contact with a lot of people who were playing Ra. When they approched the final level in the game, I invited them to join our little private club. 'The Curse Of Ra Fun Club' was born. 
 
 

The Club Site

One of the first members in the club thought that the club should have it's own home on Internet. One day she had found MyFamily.com which offered families and organizations a meeting place on the Internet. They had a ready- built site with opportunities for members to upload files (levels) and where articles could be written directly on the site. Each family or organization had a completely private area which could only be accessed by the use of an ID and a password.  Just what we needed. The club site was born! 
 
 

The club grows.

For a long period the amount of members seemed not to increase, but after some months the club slowly became bigger. Each new month
supplied us with an average of 3-4 members, until we reached 35, which is the number of members today (late November 2000). The growing rate for the club seems to be 4 new members a month. 
The good thing, though, is that the members seem to be staying in the
club. Only 5 people have, during our first club year, applied for a
membership and never accessed the club site. In the same period we
have just lost contact with two members, who are no longer in the club. 
 
 

Club activities.

Most of the members visit the club site between 1 and 5 times a week.
The most eager ones visit up to several times a day, and some just once a week or more seldom. If you become a member, you must decide for yourself how often you go to the site, but my guess is that you will be there quite often to upload your own levels or to download levels made by other members. 

What else is there to do on the club site?

CHATS: About every fortnight (usually on Saturdays) we have a club group chat. The site has it's own private chat room for the club. This is a great opportunity to be better acquainted with your fellow members, to discuss how levels are made, get hints for levels you find difficult to solve, and (occasionally) meet Philippe Mussler who made the game and hear his plans for this game and other new games in the future. 

COMPETITIONS: We have three different competitions which
alternate in the club. (1) The Fixed Layout Competition is the most
popular one. One of the members makes a layout with walls and flowers (magnets), and the members compete to fill the layout with tiles of their own choice to make as fun to play or as difficult to solve as possible. (2) Theme Competition is also popular. Here you are given a theme to be the idea of your level. You must build the whole level yourself, and it must be shown in some way what the theme is. Transportation, the Sydney Olympics and Architecture have all been themes for former competitions. (3)Add 'n Play is the third variety of competition. Here a member makes a level layout and adds 10 - 20 tiles on the board. The level is then sent on to another member who adds 20 more tiles before he/she sends it on to the next person until the layout is filled with tiles. Every person must be sure that the level is solvable before it is sent on to the next person. 
There are no prizes for these competitions. But it is quite fun to
participate, and often the winner is given the right to start the next
competition. 

REVIEWS: Every time someone uploads a new level to the club site, people are eager to play it. Some of us think it is nice to give the
creator feedback on his work and write reviews, which are posted on
the club site. In this way every member gets to know what the others
think of their levels. Are they too easy? Are they too difficult? Does the layout look nice? And so on... It is a good way to get ideas to improve your level making. 

NEWS: Nearly every day one member or more writes an article in the club site's news section. It could be about problems they have
experienced when making levels, it could be the latest news about the
members' own sequel to The Curse of Ra, Ra's Revenge with 45 member levels(!), or it could be something quite different that you want to share with your fellow members. (Politics and religion are banned, except in general context.) 

POLLS: Now and then a member wants to know the club's opinion on
things going on in the club. He/She can then make a poll at the site
(ready to use feature) and get response from the members. 

Do you feel like becomming a member?

If you are one of the many thousands of people around the world who has bought this wonderful game, and think that it would be nice to be able to get new challenges now that you have played through the original game, there is an easy way to become a member. Just use the email link in the menu to the left. State your name (and if your name is an unusual one or one that may leave gender in question, please state which gender you are), which country you come from, your date of birth and the email address you want to use when in contact with the club.
Attach one level that you have made yourself using the Level Editor in the game. (This is to be sure that you are capable of making a level - it doesn't have to be difficult - after all we are a club for Level Makers.) 
If your level is working, in a short time you will receive the username and password you need to enter the club site! In other words: You are a member. And remember that all activities, including the membership, are free. 

Will we be seeing you in the club soon?

This level was made and animated by one of the club's members.