Well, this has certainly been an interesting thread of conversation. Now, as to who the "redneck" is on that podcast, I suppose that would be me. *smirks* I guess living in the South my entire life hasn't helped my accent much, huh?
Now, for verification purposes, here is the timeline that our Facebook group (compromised of a rather diverse group of chat-based roleplayers) has been able to come up with thus far, and keep in mind this is still a work in progress:
1996
Blake Hardman creates "Rules for Combat" document for use on itopia chat and shares it with other players via e-mail and ICQ; it is the first comprehensive combat rules system designed specifically for chat-based roleplay. This style was based on speed, and will in subsequent years be named Type 2.
1997
Yahoo! Chat opens on Jan. 7, 1997
People begin to roleplay in the user-created rooms. The Teen section is the first to be heavily populated and possesses large numbers of roleplayers at any given time.
The "Rules for Combat" rule set is first introduced to the Teen section of Yahoo! Chat, though it is seldom used and generally not accepted by the regular players of the time; this style of combat will later be referred to as Type 2.
Blake Hardman creates the Parallel Magic system for the Teen Section of Yahoo! Chat roleplay; it is the first known original magic system designed specifically for chat-based roleplay.
1998
Matt Castleberry and Shannon Roberson create the first known webpage specifically designed for chat-based roleplay. The Deathmage of Hell webpage, as it was called, hosted the "official rules" of the Teen section of Yahoo! Chat roleplay and incorporated Blake Hardman's Rules for Combat as the default combat rules and listed Blake's Parallel Magic System as the preferred system of the realm.
The in-character name "Tenaria" is given to the Teen section of Yahoo! Chat by Blake Hardman in a document entitled, "The Rifting Crisis" which outlined the possible rules for an inter-realmic war, even naming the Yahoo! Chat Roleplay realms the "Yahen Dimension". The name Tenaria was a mash up of the words "Teen" and "Area". Jim Nusbaum (Guile the Fallen, Verbatim Delecose) popularizes this name, thus establishing Tenaria as the section's official monicker.
Many of the original players begin to leave the Teen section of Yahoo! Chat and begin to populate other sections, specifically the Arts & Entertainment, Romance, and Games sections.
1999
Kellindel John creates "Kellendil's Roleplay Site" for the Arts & Entertainment section of Yahoo! Chat. This site becomes the official site for what will later be referred to as "Ayenee".
Kellindel John with others create a comprehensive turn-based combat system, which they call "Type 1". They name the earlier speed-based combat system created by Blake Hardman "Type 2".
2000
Jim Nusbaum leaves Tenaria and establishes a new realm in the Games section of Yahoo! Chat. This realm is named Jacmus and eventually plays host to a number of former Tenaria and Ayenee players.
Yes, I can provide original documentation with time-stamped property values if necessary.
I hope this answers any questions you may have concerning the veracity of our statements.