About the site

Time-Lost Proto-Drake is a little web directory of neat things I find across the web, with a focus on fantasy and scifi media, various gaming and creative hobbies, and other interesting relics of the internet.

In an era where so much of the internet is dominated by social media, advertising, and AI-made "content", I want to help bring back some of the magic of the old web like so many others on Neocities are striving for. And with how bleak and chaotic the world is for some people, I think that magic is desperately needed in this day and age.

I link to a variety of sites here under different categories, as well as free and inexpensive programs (and even games!) vetted by myself. Whatever you find here, I hope it helps make your day a little brighter!

What is a "Time-Lost Proto-Drake"?

Called "TLPD" for short, the Time-Lost Proto-Drake is an infamously rare creature in World of Warcraft, notable for dropping the mount of the same name. Acquiring the reins of this prehistoric dragon is a testament of committment, patience, and/or luck; many players spend weeks, months, or even years camping out in the Storm Peaks of Northrend just trying to catch a sighting of it! Meanwhile, I was just lucky enough to snipe it down while I was trick-or-treating across Northrend in October 2021!

With the kind of stuff I want to showcase, it's only natural I'd pick a hard-to-find ancient dragon to act as the site's mascot!

You can read more about the Time-Lost Proto-Drake in WoW here: Warcraft wiki article, Wowhead guide, Warcraft Secrets guide.

What are those little wings?

Particularly notable links are marked with protodrake wings, lovingly pixeled by me! You can mouse over a wing for the alt text, but here's a list of what each wing color represents!

The wings of the bronze-scaled Time-Lost Proto-Drake signify some of the greatest treasures of the internet. Very much worth your time.
Possibly rarer than bronze proto-drakes, the wings of the Violet Proto-Drake mark my own personal recommendations! Though not exactly vital recs like bronze-winged links, maybe you'll get a kick out of stuff I just find neat!
Blue wings label sites and tools that work great on mobile phones! While TLPD is more geared towards pc-based browsing, these links will work fine on mobile-based browsers. Check Vyragosa's Perch for more Android resources!
Gone but not forgotten, the pale wings of risen proto-drakes indicate sites that have long been defunct or inactive, kept 'alive' through internet necromancy. Or, well, are still visitable through the Wayback Machine.
Freshly-hatched green wings mark new additions to the list! Keep an eye out for them whenever a category gets a major update!

While much of the software and games I link to are free, I also label links with coins if some things require a purchase or not. In the spirit of free and affordable fun, I do try to steer clear of things with ridiculous prices, subscription-based products, and "pay to win" microtransactions.

Gold coins indicate something that require an upfront purchase to use.
Silver coins are for free things with an option to upgrade to a paid version with more features (usually programs).
Copper coins mark sites and games that, while free, do have optional cosmetics or subscriptions, but aren't required for the "full experience".

Whether you're wanting to discover relics of net and computer history, looking for inspiration for your own creative works, or just burning time waiting for that dang protodrake to spawn, I hope you have a fun time exploring my silly little fantasy directory!

If you're looking for games to play, go check out our dedicated subsite Razorscale's Aerie!