Was there anyone that left a positive impact on you in UO?

Community Manager

Pawain

When T2A came out a player named Krom would be in Orc form. He hung out near the orcs outside Deluca, had red overhead speech and spoke in Orc. That son of a....  nevermind you said positive impact.

Lord_Nythrax

So twenty years ago I used to be in this guild on Great Lakes that was all about hardcore vampire roleplaying. Like with meetings and uniforms and no talking out of character in public, the whole nine yards. To the outside world we looked like the biggest bunch of uptight dorks taking the game too seriously, but on the inside it was the drunkest bunch of oddballs I've ever met in an online game.

I remember this one dude who was basically an American Indian version of Lebowski who loved asking me bizarre questions about science whenever he was high, which was pretty much all the time. (Dude what if you drilled a hole to the other side of the world and then jumped in?) Then there was this other dude whose name I forget who would sometimes have like pigs oinking and stuff in the background in Ventrilo because he owned a bunch of animals. We had this one girl who had been some kind of goth nightclub fetish model until she got knocked up, and her dad who used to write speeches for Dick Cheney back in the eighties.

We had the obligatory PVP champ who thought being rude counted as a personality, two hot girls who pretended to be friends but hated each other and caused infinite drama, the whole cavalcade of weird MMO people. We would have drunk nights where we would just go around causing trouble, I remember one time the girls took most of their armor off and we chased them around someone's dungeon and then out of the house and into town, another time we talked someone into friending us to their house and then locked down fish steaks on every single tile in the building. It was a big house, too. Good times.

Anyway the weirdest dude in the guild was the GM. He had some kind of weird love/hate thing with the knocked up fetish model chick that would only come out when he had been drinking, and all he would ever talk about is how much he loved Asian women. I remember he married a girl from somewhere over there and then as soon as she got her green card or whatever she split. Point is the dude was weird. I also remember he had a crush on my buddy's crafter mule until he found out she was played by a dude and then he was all offended. I'm like dude he made a point of not talking to you, you're the one who made it so weird he had to tell you who he was to get you off his back.

So anyway yeah this dude always wanted me to come down to Tampa and "hit the clubs" with him, which is completely just not the kind of thing I was into. We had this one kid in the guild, he was like crazy and his parents had lots of money and paid no attention to him, he loved to party and do tons of hard drugs and had done time in some kind of Costa Rican rehab boot camp for bad kids. Anyway he was friends with the GM outside of the game moreso than I was and forwarded me some pics from the dude's club adventures and the guy was way into glitter and warlock collars and let's just say it all seemed like not the kind of scene for me.

So yeah I never wanted to hit the club, but I did end up hanging out IRL with this other UO buddy of mine who wasn't in the guild. And oh boy when the GM found out he was annoyed. I think by that time we were mostly playing World of Warcraft because we had gotten sick of a bunch of the other backbiting drama queen roleplayers on GL and ganked them into oblivion one night, which is a giant story unto itself, but anyway I wasn't talking to the dude anymore so he started stalking my brother's Xbox group and making a pest of himself.

I told my brother to just tell him I died or something, and he was like nah that's too morbid, I'll just tell him you went to jail and you're never getting out. So I was like LOL sure whatever. So yeah he told my ex GM I was in prison and I would keep getting ICQ messages from the guy asking what had happened to me. But like I didn't bother keeping up the charade with anyone else. He would bother everyone else we knew and when they would message me asking if I was in jail I'd just tell them LOL no, I just wanted to brush the guy off. I guess none of them cared enough to clue him in because he kept messaging me and my buddy intermittently for like two years afterward.

Anyway, I'd call it a positive impact over all because the guild was SUPER SUPER FUN while it lasted. Seriously every other guild i've ever been in has been a tedious snoozefest compared to this one, and like it or not this guy and his weird personality were kind of the driving force behind it. Except for that period where me and one of the girls and her weird brother who was a PVP god who talked like Napoleon Dynamite in Ventrilo all the time usurped him and took over the guild, but only because he was being so drunk and weird and depressed in the throes of his bullcrap with fetish model girl that things were going into the toilet.

That's all for now. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Don't ever say nobody ever gave an in-depth response to any of these community fluff threads.

Kyronix

Lord_Nythrax said:

So twenty years ago I used to be in this guild on Great Lakes that was all about hardcore vampire roleplaying. Like with meetings and uniforms and no talking out of character in public, the whole nine yards. To the outside world we looked like the biggest bunch of uptight dorks taking the game too seriously, but on the inside it was the drunkest bunch of oddballs I've ever met in an online game.

I remember this one dude who was basically an American Indian version of Lebowski who loved asking me bizarre questions about science whenever he was high, which was pretty much all the time. (Dude what if you drilled a hole to the other side of the world and then jumped in?) Then there was this other dude whose name I forget who would sometimes have like pigs oinking and stuff in the background in Ventrilo because he owned a bunch of animals. We had this one girl who had been some kind of goth nightclub fetish model until she got knocked up, and her dad who used to write speeches for Dick Cheney back in the eighties.

We had the obligatory PVP champ who thought being rude counted as a personality, two hot girls who pretended to be friends but hated each other and caused infinite drama, the whole cavalcade of weird MMO people. We would have drunk nights where we would just go around causing trouble, I remember one time the girls took most of their armor off and we chased them around someone's dungeon and then out of the house and into town, another time we talked someone into friending us to their house and then locked down fish steaks on every single tile in the building. It was a big house, too. Good times.

Anyway the weirdest dude in the guild was the GM. He had some kind of weird love/hate thing with the knocked up fetish model chick that would only come out when he had been drinking, and all he would ever talk about is how much he loved Asian women. I remember he married a girl from somewhere over there and then as soon as she got her green card or whatever she split. Point is the dude was weird. I also remember he had a crush on my buddy's crafter mule until he found out she was played by a dude and then he was all offended. I'm like dude he made a point of not talking to you, you're the one who made it so weird he had to tell you who he was to get you off his back.

So anyway yeah this dude always wanted me to come down to Tampa and "hit the clubs" with him, which is completely just not the kind of thing I was into. We had this one kid in the guild, he was like crazy and his parents had lots of money and paid no attention to him, he loved to party and do tons of hard drugs and had done time in some kind of Costa Rican rehab boot camp for bad kids. Anyway he was friends with the GM outside of the game moreso than I was and forwarded me some pics from the dude's club adventures and the guy was way into glitter and warlock collars and let's just say it all seemed like not the kind of scene for me.

So yeah I never wanted to hit the club, but I did end up hanging out IRL with this other UO buddy of mine who wasn't in the guild. And oh boy when the GM found out he was annoyed. I think by that time we were mostly playing World of Warcraft because we had gotten sick of a bunch of the other backbiting drama queen roleplayers on GL and ganked them into oblivion one night, which is a giant story unto itself, but anyway I wasn't talking to the dude anymore so he started stalking my brother's Xbox group and making a pest of himself.

I told my brother to just tell him I died or something, and he was like nah that's too morbid, I'll just tell him you went to jail and you're never getting out. So I was like LOL sure whatever. So yeah he told my ex GM I was in prison and I would keep getting ICQ messages from the guy asking what had happened to me. But like I didn't bother keeping up the charade with anyone else. He would bother everyone else we knew and when they would message me asking if I was in jail I'd just tell them LOL no, I just wanted to brush the guy off. I guess none of them cared enough to clue him in because he kept messaging me and my buddy intermittently for like two years afterward.

Anyway, I'd call it a positive impact over all because the guild was SUPER SUPER FUN while it lasted. Seriously every other guild i've ever been in has been a tedious snoozefest compared to this one, and like it or not this guy and his weird personality were kind of the driving force behind it. Except for that period where me and one of the girls and her weird brother who was a PVP god who talked like Napoleon Dynamite in Ventrilo all the time usurped him and took over the guild, but only because he was being so drunk and weird and depressed in the throes of his bullcrap with fetish model girl that things were going into the toilet.

That's all for now. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Don't ever say nobody ever gave an in-depth response to any of these community fluff threads.

This was special.  Thanks for sharing!

Lord_Nythrax

Kyronix said:

This was special.  Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, glad you liked it! It really was the best guild I've ever been in, everyone in it would qualify as "that one crazy guy/girl" in any normal one.

AtomicBetty

It looks like me and the majority of posters here have not met any players that have left a positive impact on us.

Maybe the game should revert to Felucca ruleset on all facets now.

Petra_Fyde

I have been playing a very long time, consequently there have been a number of people who have had a positive impact. My first good friend, sadly now gone both from game and life, Barian, then the whole of a very fun guild, I-C. We had such interesting times around the shop my husband and I had near their homes in Fel, Europa. I spent some time and made friends on Siege, and more recently, an ongoing positive impact, the people in the alliance I currently play with, most especially Mim Foxglove who invited me to join them some years ago. It's good to remember who had a positive impact years ago, but who is continuing to have an impact now?

Victim_Of_Siege

Too many to count really, But I will call out @Petra_Fyde who has been one of my Favorite people. She has put up with my shenanigans through the years, in-game and on the boards (especially when i was a reporter on her former boards.) We have helped each other a lot over the years and She always had time for me. The next one is @kelmo, he was always good for fun and games on Siege, he was very community oriented and showed me that Siege was a family, not a shard. I could go on and talk about Parium And Arrr!, Gilfane, Freja (Really miss playing with her and Mish O Sha) and many more, but the fields and yards don't clear themselves and I don't want to make a post that would make Popps jealous either. Great people in this game over the years and I'll miss the ones that left us too soon. @kelmo "Geroff Ma Lawn!!"  *Goes and changes his password again*

Community Manager

These are amazing stories! Thank you all for sharing!

AmberWitch

This one has required a lot of reflection of the years past. Decades really.

It is really hard to nail specific individuals because most interactions tend to be in groups and it’s that shard dynamic that creates the experience.

After years of running Macy’s of Moonglow in Fel on Great Lakes I burned out on the vendoring thing so it felt like there wasn’t anything for me in game as I couldn’t find people to play with. In 2007 I finally decided that I was quitting.  I started inventorying what I had on each shard and when I got to Baja I found a character named Bucko. I don’t ever remember making a character with that name… Bucko….. just not me. So when I logged him in I did my usual general chat ‘hello’ and people responded. I don’t know why but he ended up being treated nicely so I made him a kid. Bucko the kid… For some reason people really responded to that. I played around a bit on the shard and the warm welcome, general openness, acceptance and helpfulness of many players made me decide to move most of my stuff to Baja instead of quitting. For me it isn’t just particular people, it’s the group dynamic of the shard, a shard where the players are open and accepting of all the players.

With that said for me there were/are 2 incredible role players that have made some serious impacts on my game world.

The first one I can think of is The Town Guard on Baja. This was his larger-than-life character that opened up the shard to anyone being accepted into the Baja Roleplaying world. I first knew him as the Inn keeper at the Sandalwood Inn on Great Lakes of long ago. I shan’t name his other characters as he didn’t claim them as his but they were very different and had a lot of impact as well. His mind was so imaginative and he created such fun events that everyone wanted to participate and they were welcome. On Baja, EM Seppo supported the Guards and carried forth the Town Guards into his arcs. People created bad characters to playfully harass the Town Guards, meek people would wander the streets needing help, street sweepers, goblins, old ladies, zombies, Mesanna, orcs and heros came out to engage in what ever manner felt best to each player.  In my estimation he brought a healthy and open role play environment to the shard. He hasn’t been on Baja for about a decade but for me his legacy still lives. I hope he is well.

Aloue… He appeared shortly after the Town Guard arrived. In my estimation the best role player ever. He comes, he goes, he comes, he goes. When he comes, currently as Ifan, he opens up the imagination into crazy and bizarre spaces where you have no idea where it’s going to lead. It always ends up with people twisting and turning it. A fire starter. A fire starter that has had no trained skills, ever.

In addition:

I have to agree with Vic on Petra. Her dedication to UO over the decades is unmatched.

Hoffs of Gilfane on Siege was the best Guild Leader. People respected her and she was an honorable leader. How she conducted the Historic Void Pool Event is legendary.

Mama Faith… If anyone needs anything she’ll be the one to give the shirt off her back. She has been such a wench over the years. She trades barbs and insults with the best. She’ll go into battle and take out the craziest creatures and be laughing herself silly all the while wise cracking and joking and be an example of how to not take one’s self so seriously. I was blessed to finally meet her at the 20th.

And of course Des Lem whom through the game our relationship grew into marriage. He followed me to Baja, no questions asked. He saw how happy I was. That was enough.  How many times did(does) he hear me curse and from the other room gently ask ‘Where are you’?  His quiet, in the background, generosity has helped many players.  That's what it's about. Helping others.

Jepeth

In the distant past SortsAngel/Angelstorm on Chesapeake as the leader of my first guild and mayor of Corwyn made this virtual world come alive for me. Those players from CBR/Corwyn are all long gone but I think about them often.

In years since I returned I think Violet and Khyro who have done more for this game and my time in it than I could recount.

Pawain

That's what it's about. Helping others.

I agree. 

Too many names for me to write them all. 
There would be a name or more associated with each of these.  Some have quit or passed, but someone takes over and continues.

The players that make armor for new and returning players. 
Players who have a public chest that has armor and weapons.
Players who have public repair benches and Davey Jones Lockers.
Players who placed all the houses I live in right now.  I sux at placing. 
Players who have run our community hunts each week. O
Players who have given me all the Cus I have. My tamer is human.  
Players who get the items required for peerless hunts and invite everyone.
Players who get nets for Scalis and invite everyone to join.
Players who help others in chat.
Players who spend time in Haven and look for players to help.
Players who have public teleporters and other clickies.
Players who organize weekend events like Zippy.
Players who help train your pets.
Players who help others do quests even tho they already have that quest.
Players that will go on an adventure if you ask them.
Players who will help decorate your house.
Players who have fun in general chat.
Players who give away deco items to any who ask.
Players who provide bulk amounts of items for events like when we needed caddellite infused items or sand.
Players who craft items for others.
Players who are guild leaders.

Skett

@Mariah for sure

to many to remember and list here tyvm to all those good friends and great memory's

Community Manager

Well said @Pawain! 

Such wonderful stories! Thank you again for sharing!

Onixia

I use to play from 1998 to 2008 on Atlantic mostly when I was still single and really enjoyed the game and the group of friends I made with our guild at the time.  I left the game for the next 12 years because of real life, marriage, work, school etc.  When my husband passed away unexpectedly a few years ago, I found myself one day wondering what ever became of Ultima Online. I was surprised that it was still going strong and reactivated my one and only account at the height of Covid in 2020.  So many changes.  It was exciting to rediscover this game again.  I rejoined UWF and entered the fantasy world I remembered fondly.  I made friends again and we hung out in this new chat program called Discord.  A far cry from the days of icq, teamspeak and irc.  Eventually, my new ultima group of friends immigrated to the Origin shard where we created the new guild NPH.  We became a close-knit family.  We met some wonderful Origin residents who welcomed us and eventually joined our guild.  We got busy doing events for the shard when we could.  Running an auction house.  Becoming Governors.  Putting up a Haunted Halloween House for everyone to enjoy.  A North Pole Meet Santa Claus Winter Wonderland.  We designed embroidered outfits for the 25th Anniversary Faire.  Then we placed a Tiki Hut Souvenir Shop at the Summer Solstice Event that Mesanna loved so much she moved the entire house closer to all the action so everyone could see it and shop.  I now run 3 accounts and play everyday with my guildmates.  They helped me heal from my loss and I laugh more now.  I am excited about decorating, collecting, hunting, creating events.  All this is because of my UO family NPH.  

Community Manager

Onixia said:

I use to play from 1998 to 2008 on Atlantic mostly when I was still single and really enjoyed the game and the group of friends I made with our guild at the time.  I left the game for the next 12 years because of real life, marriage, work, school etc.  When my husband passed away unexpectedly a few years ago, I found myself one day wondering what ever became of Ultima Online. I was surprised that it was still going strong and reactivated my one and only account at the height of Covid in 2020.  So many changes.  It was exciting to rediscover this game again.  I rejoined UWF and entered the fantasy world I remembered fondly.  I made friends again and we hung out in this new chat program called Discord.  A far cry from the days of icq, teamspeak and irc.  Eventually, my new ultima group of friends immigrated to the Origin shard where we created the new guild NPH.  We became a close-knit family.  We met some wonderful Origin residents who welcomed us and eventually joined our guild.  We got busy doing events for the shard when we could.  Running an auction house.  Becoming Governors.  Putting up a Haunted Halloween House for everyone to enjoy.  A North Pole Meet Santa Claus Winter Wonderland.  We designed embroidered outfits for the 25th Anniversary Faire.  Then we placed a Tiki Hut Souvenir Shop at the Summer Solstice Event that Mesanna loved so much she moved the entire house closer to all the action so everyone could see it and shop.  I now run 3 accounts and play everyday with my guildmates.  They helped me heal from my loss and I laugh more now.  I am excited about decorating, collecting, hunting, creating events.  All this is because of my UO family NPH.  

Such a wonderful story. Many apologies for your loss. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

Ben

There were a lot of people that left an impact on me, many who are now gone, and even some on this forum. I have a lot of good memories playing this game.

Venom

For the last year, I've been going through what I can only describe as the most difficult period of my life. I don't mean that lightly, as I was medically retired from the USMC after being wounded multiple times on my last combat deployment -- what I'm experiencing currently makes those war experiences pale in comparison.

With that said, I think people like Bytor on Catskills have had a positive impact to me. He sponsors a net toss every week, allowing anyone to come. He doesn't ask for anything in return. Ultima Online has been one of the few places for me to "escape" to during this ordeal.

PlayerskillFTW has also been someone who, on the boards, goes out of his way to explain things to help others.

While they may not realize it, and certainly don't ask for any recognition, but they've helped me quite a bit. Is it possible for people like those two to be recognized for what they've contributed to the community? 

Theo

When the Tsunami hit in Indoneasia in late 2004 and hundreds of thousands were killed there was an effort by a UO player to donate.  People donated items and gold to him in game. He sold it for RL $$ and donated to the cause.  He raised over $10,000 in the next 10 months.  It really gave everyone a community feel.  It was amazing for the community to come together for a common goal and i've never felt more apart of something in game.    

What is interesting is he collected over 1 billion gold (1 plat now) which doesn't seem like a lot but back then 1m sold for like $10.  

Crazy Joe was the guy.  (Joe Harden)

http://www.gamerscharity.com/about/

Minerva_Foxglove

Ive played for nearly 25 years now and been in the same guild on Europa since AoS.  I have met and been friend with soo many lovely people on Europa. As I was New player helper for 15 + years, I knew alot of people. .. The one that stand out extra is Petra Fyde . Lured her in to our guild was the thing im most proud of in my UO life.  Shes the most trustworthy ,engaged, generous, knowing player I met. 

PlayerSkillFTW

Lord_Nythrax said:

So twenty years ago I used to be in this guild on Great Lakes that was all about hardcore vampire roleplaying. Like with meetings and uniforms and no talking out of character in public, the whole nine yards. To the outside world we looked like the biggest bunch of uptight dorks taking the game too seriously, but on the inside it was the drunkest bunch of oddballs I've ever met in an online game.

I remember this one dude who was basically an American Indian version of Lebowski who loved asking me bizarre questions about science whenever he was high, which was pretty much all the time. (Dude what if you drilled a hole to the other side of the world and then jumped in?) Then there was this other dude whose name I forget who would sometimes have like pigs oinking and stuff in the background in Ventrilo because he owned a bunch of animals. We had this one girl who had been some kind of goth nightclub fetish model until she got knocked up, and her dad who used to write speeches for Dick Cheney back in the eighties.

We had the obligatory PVP champ who thought being rude counted as a personality, two hot girls who pretended to be friends but hated each other and caused infinite drama, the whole cavalcade of weird MMO people. We would have drunk nights where we would just go around causing trouble, I remember one time the girls took most of their armor off and we chased them around someone's dungeon and then out of the house and into town, another time we talked someone into friending us to their house and then locked down fish steaks on every single tile in the building. It was a big house, too. Good times.

Anyway the weirdest dude in the guild was the GM. He had some kind of weird love/hate thing with the knocked up fetish model chick that would only come out when he had been drinking, and all he would ever talk about is how much he loved Asian women. I remember he married a girl from somewhere over there and then as soon as she got her green card or whatever she split. Point is the dude was weird. I also remember he had a crush on my buddy's crafter mule until he found out she was played by a dude and then he was all offended. I'm like dude he made a point of not talking to you, you're the one who made it so weird he had to tell you who he was to get you off his back.

So anyway yeah this dude always wanted me to come down to Tampa and "hit the clubs" with him, which is completely just not the kind of thing I was into. We had this one kid in the guild, he was like crazy and his parents had lots of money and paid no attention to him, he loved to party and do tons of hard drugs and had done time in some kind of Costa Rican rehab boot camp for bad kids. Anyway he was friends with the GM outside of the game moreso than I was and forwarded me some pics from the dude's club adventures and the guy was way into glitter and warlock collars and let's just say it all seemed like not the kind of scene for me.

So yeah I never wanted to hit the club, but I did end up hanging out IRL with this other UO buddy of mine who wasn't in the guild. And oh boy when the GM found out he was annoyed. I think by that time we were mostly playing World of Warcraft because we had gotten sick of a bunch of the other backbiting drama queen roleplayers on GL and ganked them into oblivion one night, which is a giant story unto itself, but anyway I wasn't talking to the dude anymore so he started stalking my brother's Xbox group and making a pest of himself.

I told my brother to just tell him I died or something, and he was like nah that's too morbid, I'll just tell him you went to jail and you're never getting out. So I was like LOL sure whatever. So yeah he told my ex GM I was in prison and I would keep getting ICQ messages from the guy asking what had happened to me. But like I didn't bother keeping up the charade with anyone else. He would bother everyone else we knew and when they would message me asking if I was in jail I'd just tell them LOL no, I just wanted to brush the guy off. I guess none of them cared enough to clue him in because he kept messaging me and my buddy intermittently for like two years afterward.

Anyway, I'd call it a positive impact over all because the guild was SUPER SUPER FUN while it lasted. Seriously every other guild i've ever been in has been a tedious snoozefest compared to this one, and like it or not this guy and his weird personality were kind of the driving force behind it. Except for that period where me and one of the girls and her weird brother who was a PVP god who talked like Napoleon Dynamite in Ventrilo all the time usurped him and took over the guild, but only because he was being so drunk and weird and depressed in the throes of his bullcrap with fetish model girl that things were going into the toilet.

That's all for now. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Don't ever say nobody ever gave an in-depth response to any of these community fluff threads.

ROFL! Was it "Vampires of Carafax", with Baron Scotia? V*C was originally on Napa Valley in the early 2000s (but eventually transferred to another shard), and they were a RPvP guild with rival RPvP guilds like the Cult of the Midnight Wraiths, etc. I was a member of V*C. We had a ton of crazy people and romance drama in the guild.

I still remember the time that Baron Scotia was inducting a new member into the "family" (he'd use a specific dagger to kill the person, then resurrect them and have them emote drinking his blood to embrace them, and add them to the guild), and just before he could kill the person, a thief from a rival RP guild popped up, disarmed the dagger from his hands, stole it from his pack, and ran off. This triggered the "War of the Ritual Athame" where V*C members and the rival guild were killing each other in the streets, and a RP Orc guild joined in on it, and V*C was enticing "mortals" (non RPers) to join in on the search for the Athame. Eventually the thief was found in Skara Brae, and the Athame retrieved. That was the absolute best RPvP i had ever seen in any MMO, beats the hell out of "RPers" in modern MMOs who just stand out emoting all day.

Eventually Baron Scotia moved on to WoW, and convinced me to join him starting with the Burning Crusade expansion for it. We caused a lot of havoc in that game too (especially in World PvP), but the RP potential of that game was nowhere close to UO. I'm still good friends with Scotia to this day.

Venom said:

PlayerskillFTW has also been someone who, on the boards, goes out of his way to explain things to help others.

While they may not realize it, and certainly don't ask for any recognition, but they've helped me quite a bit. Is it possible for people like those two to be recognized for what they've contributed to the community? 

Thanks. I've always enjoyed learning, and sharing my knowledge and experience.

Benelli

Crimson_AR on LS when I started playing when I was 13 I could only play at a public library cause I never owned a computer till I was 19 and never had a Credit Card till 15 so for first 2 years every other month I'd buy a new copy of the game and start from scratch. Each time I'd find her and she would set me up with gear, gave me money for a house and always willing to help with tramy stuff. 100% wouldnt of ended up playing the game for 10 years of she dint help me. I kinda stopped playing out of the blue and when I came back I could never find her. Wish I could of said goodbye and thank her for every thing. 

Ben

Lord_Nythrax said:

So twenty years ago I used to be in this guild on Great Lakes that was all about hardcore vampire roleplaying. Like with meetings and uniforms and no talking out of character in public, the whole nine yards. To the outside world we looked like the biggest bunch of uptight dorks taking the game too seriously, but on the inside it was the drunkest bunch of oddballs I've ever met in an online game.

I remember this one dude who was basically an American Indian version of Lebowski who loved asking me bizarre questions about science whenever he was high, which was pretty much all the time. (Dude what if you drilled a hole to the other side of the world and then jumped in?) Then there was this other dude whose name I forget who would sometimes have like pigs oinking and stuff in the background in Ventrilo because he owned a bunch of animals. We had this one girl who had been some kind of goth nightclub fetish model until she got knocked up, and her dad who used to write speeches for Dick Cheney back in the eighties.

We had the obligatory PVP champ who thought being rude counted as a personality, two hot girls who pretended to be friends but hated each other and caused infinite drama, the whole cavalcade of weird MMO people. We would have drunk nights where we would just go around causing trouble, I remember one time the girls took most of their armor off and we chased them around someone's dungeon and then out of the house and into town, another time we talked someone into friending us to their house and then locked down fish steaks on every single tile in the building. It was a big house, too. Good times.

Anyway the weirdest dude in the guild was the GM. He had some kind of weird love/hate thing with the knocked up fetish model chick that would only come out when he had been drinking, and all he would ever talk about is how much he loved Asian women. I remember he married a girl from somewhere over there and then as soon as she got her green card or whatever she split. Point is the dude was weird. I also remember he had a crush on my buddy's crafter mule until he found out she was played by a dude and then he was all offended. I'm like dude he made a point of not talking to you, you're the one who made it so weird he had to tell you who he was to get you off his back.

So anyway yeah this dude always wanted me to come down to Tampa and "hit the clubs" with him, which is completely just not the kind of thing I was into. We had this one kid in the guild, he was like crazy and his parents had lots of money and paid no attention to him, he loved to party and do tons of hard drugs and had done time in some kind of Costa Rican rehab boot camp for bad kids. Anyway he was friends with the GM outside of the game moreso than I was and forwarded me some pics from the dude's club adventures and the guy was way into glitter and warlock collars and let's just say it all seemed like not the kind of scene for me.

So yeah I never wanted to hit the club, but I did end up hanging out IRL with this other UO buddy of mine who wasn't in the guild. And oh boy when the GM found out he was annoyed. I think by that time we were mostly playing World of Warcraft because we had gotten sick of a bunch of the other backbiting drama queen roleplayers on GL and ganked them into oblivion one night, which is a giant story unto itself, but anyway I wasn't talking to the dude anymore so he started stalking my brother's Xbox group and making a pest of himself.

I told my brother to just tell him I died or something, and he was like nah that's too morbid, I'll just tell him you went to jail and you're never getting out. So I was like LOL sure whatever. So yeah he told my ex GM I was in prison and I would keep getting ICQ messages from the guy asking what had happened to me. But like I didn't bother keeping up the charade with anyone else. He would bother everyone else we knew and when they would message me asking if I was in jail I'd just tell them LOL no, I just wanted to brush the guy off. I guess none of them cared enough to clue him in because he kept messaging me and my buddy intermittently for like two years afterward.

Anyway, I'd call it a positive impact over all because the guild was SUPER SUPER FUN while it lasted. Seriously every other guild i've ever been in has been a tedious snoozefest compared to this one, and like it or not this guy and his weird personality were kind of the driving force behind it. Except for that period where me and one of the girls and her weird brother who was a PVP god who talked like Napoleon Dynamite in Ventrilo all the time usurped him and took over the guild, but only because he was being so drunk and weird and depressed in the throes of his bullcrap with fetish model girl that things were going into the toilet.

That's all for now. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Don't ever say nobody ever gave an in-depth response to any of these community fluff threads.

Reading this made my day. 

MacroPlanet

I've been playing Ultima Online off and on (mostly on) since 1999, so there are countless moments and people that come to mind. However, if I had to pinpoint the most influential person, one stands out clearly.

I started playing Ultima Online on my own account in the summer of 2000. Before that, my friends and I shared an account—we were just kids. In 2000, Renaissance had just been released, and we were able to purchase The Second Age at a discount. Without Renaissance, we had no access to Trammel, only Felucca.

One day, I was at Minoc bank, organizing my items and ore, when I struck up a conversation with another player. We were discussing various game features; I was still learning the ropes. Eventually, we talked about housing. Back then, finding a plot of land to place a house was nearly impossible. This player suggested we visit the local Minoc carpenter's shop. When we got there, he asked me what type of house I wanted. I had no idea about the options, so I hesitated. He then asked, "What do you think of a marble house?" I thought that sounded awesome.

To my astonishment, he handed me a deed for a marble house. I was ecstatic! Those deeds cost around 50-60k gold, and as a newbie, I was nowhere near that amount. He then said we should find a spot to place it. We walked north of Minoc, past the stables and into the forest. He mentioned that housing spots were hard to come by. We eventually reached a large clearing north of Minoc. There was a spot next to a couple of small homes, behind a single tree, where he suggested we try.

With patience and some luck, I managed to place my small marble workshop. I remember feeling a sense of amazement at that moment. It was when Ultima Online truly clicked for me. This was one of my first interactions in the game (apart from being PK'd a few times), and it was incredibly positive. I had no idea how impactful this moment would be for me. It became one of my earliest and fondest online gaming memories. This random person went out of their way to help a newbie.

I don't remember who this person was or how long they played Ultima Online, but they left a lasting impact on me. It was Napa Valley in the year 2000, at Felucca Minoc bank. Whenever I see a new player in Ultima Online (or any online game), I try to think back to that moment and help out in any way I can.

I absolutely loved that house; I remember calling my friend when my family was leaving for a vacation to see if he would be able to get on and refresh my house for me (don't recall how long the timer was back then, maybe 14 days?). My brother and I were eventually kicked off of UO when my parents decided it was tiring up the phone line too much and eventually the house fell victim to a collapse with all of my items as well. 

-Slim Shady of Napa Valley 2000

Ben

What a great story.