Hail, Catskills. It is time for another 30 Minutes With... interview. Today you will find out more about Pitr, a man who says he is the guiding hand of the Gentle Rest Inn (GRI) Guild, one of the largest in Ultima Online. Knowing that the journey would take us to Felucca, I let my twin handle the interview. While my spells are effective against possible attackers, I must admit that my musical instruments have little effect at the Yew moongate on "the dark side."
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Pitr's answers to the standard 30 Minutes With... questions led me to believe that he was going to have a lot to say about Ultima and the many roles he's played over the past years. I was right.
What is your name?
Pitr,
father in sanskrit
or Pi times ray, half the circumference of the circle…
What is your profession?
TormTar, i guess…
How old are you?
Over 500 years old, and i talk like Yoda too…
Is there a place or city you call home?
vesper
Where do you spend the majority of your time?
Hard to say… depends on my mood… from New haven to Despise…
What do you do while you are there?
New Haven… train folk or gather with the circle for some event.
Despise… defend a spawn and fight some reds.
What skills do you have that make you good at what you do?
Hum, i’m just an average joe…
Has anyone helped you or influenced you along the way? How?
Dove… showed me there was room for Compassion in uo.
Seven of Nine… taught me to “always be there” for a guildmate.
Certyl… balanced my wild, hot planning with cold logic.
Celclydia… taught me to slow down so i can enjoy and savour uo.
And of course… the over 1900 players we tutored, each one was/is special.
Are you a member of a guild or other association? If so, please elaborate.
Shesh long list!
Member of House Rosmar,
Founder of GRI, 1998.
Paladin of P*V,
Paladin of EyE,
Paladin of L*V,
Keeper of K*J,
Field Trainer of GOL,
Field Trainer of LER,
Squire of PGoH,
Co-GM of GNK,
Founder of LAW,
Member of DOA,
Member of KX,
Member of DB4…
What is your greatest accomplishment?
On the short term, i won a minor victory… our paladins now use bandages for healing instead of just using chivalry! That was a tough battle…
Mid Term… looking back the last year i’m happy with the way GRI woke up…
Long Term… looking back the last ten years… i’m very happy that no player has nothing to point at me… never disrespected anyone, never pked, never did anything that would hurt GRI or my own honorability… not that i am perfect… just very aware of my flaws.
What do you enjoy doing the most?
Teach a new player while re-learning uo with him and sharing his fresh perspective…
Is there a Virtue (or Anti-Virtue) to which you strongly relate? Why?
Compassion less and less… Justice more and more… guess folk are used to manipulate the uo context… creating aware new players seems to be a thorn on their side… i wonder why.
What are your long-term goals for the future?
How can i have long-term goals if uo can become extinct in a flash?
Is there anything else the Catskills community should know about you?
GRI boards are public, my views are posted… we have no secrets…
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My 30 Minutes With Pitr began at the bank in Skara Brae. I was running a bit behind, but Pitr just smiled at me, with a slightly amused gleam in his eye. There were several destinations on our tour, and he opened a moongate to New Haven, our first stop. "I'll try to show you how I see UO," he said, as we walked through the gate.
Upon our arrival, Pitr and I made our way toward the bank. "We developed a system," he said, "called the Magik Academy, so any player becomes independent in the first minutes." He said that new players who arrive in New Haven are given 15,000 gold pieces for insurance money, full spell books, a lower-reagent cost suit of armor, and backup from GRI. "Many come here to give items," Pitr said, "and what I call 'indirect help.' We set a goal, to get it to all newcomers, friends, neutral, or foes."
This sounded generous to me, and I thought back to the first few hours I spent in Ultima Online, wandering around the Britain bank trying to figure out what was useful and what was garbage. Was that apple good for anything? The potion? The accurate sword of might? "I'm sure suits and spells can make a huge difference," I said. "Aye," Pitr agreed, "The insurance gold and the starting skills are also important, but above all, knowledge." Pitr's group suggests buying seven skills, doing the quests for them, and at 80 skill they believe you are ready to go explore. While GRI and Pitr will help nearly any new character who appears in New Haven, he says that they won't train characters "with racial names or leet dudes."
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As we made our way north through town, Pitr introduced me to Shinigami, a member of GRI. We exchanged pleasantries and a small joke or two. "Our next stop is the inn," said Pitr. "It was named The Lion's Rest," he said. "I 'prayed' for a sign that we would not be insane to try this... academy, and someone... it changed into our name on all shards." Sure enough, the name on the sign said Gentle Rest Inn. "Seriously?" asked Shinigami, "Was it really named after GRI?" "Not sure," said Pitr, looking at the sign. "Huge debate about this. Maybe the 'gods' are sneakier than me. Shall we go inside?"
He held the door open for Shinigami and me, and we entered the small, cozy inn. "This is the hardwood table I usually use," said Pitr, "and we have our monthly meetings here." Shinigami spoke up again, saying "I never had this tour. Franklin is lucky!" Pitr chuckled and told him, "No one did. I never stop to explain anything! I let you learn at your own pace." Shinigami obviously felt honored to be in the inn, spending time with Pitr.
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"Next," said Pitr, casting another Gate Travel spell, "our Heart." I emerged from the moongate by a large tower. From the surrounding landscape, I guessed I was far to the northeast of Yew. "The GRI home," said Shinigami. "The EyE of the Storm, HQ of the Paladins," said Pitr, "and our greatest secret. Mystwood. All the houses around us are GRI town number one. There are 27 houses. We'll see them after," he said. "This way please!"
I hurried after him, trying to notice as much detail as possible for my report. We made our way to the second floor. "We moved here when Trammel was created," Pitr said, remembering events from many years ago. "GRI started in 1998. I was with Dove and THR in 98 and all the roleplay community." He went on to tell me that his character was created the first week that Catskills was available as a brand new shard. "So I started here," he said, "and along the way I made many friends."
We toured different rooms of the tower, including one dedicated to GRI's crafters. Then we arrived at a room where I could feel the history seeping from the walls. "The Tormtar Hall," Pitr said. He told me that some players roleplay a guild of paladins of Torm, "all lonewolves questing, no pyramid style, and they report evil areas and necromancy, and," he added with another smile, "we have fun."
We climbed the stairs to the roof, where Pitr said, "This is our way... no leaders. A circle. And to make sure all is fair, behind me is the paladin path." I looked at the series of dye tubs and crystal balls. "Each month they get a new color, so we don't have favorites." He gestured toward the GRI guildstone, saying, "This is GRI's third incarnation. We have three rules. No foul language, no disrespect, and no killing others (blues)."
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I wanted to find out more about the paladin path, since there was obviously a lot of tradition and history there. I asked Pitr if he would explain it more to me. Shinigami was interested in hearing more as well. "We have two types of paladins," said Pitr, "One inside GRI, one in TORM guild. TORM roleplays, GRI paladins don't. When you start a Tormtar character, you are a cadet, first tub, red. After that you train. At 80 skill you become a faithblade, which means Torm gave you insight." I wrote this down as quickly as I could in my journal. "After that, you are challenged to do the eight virtue quests. While doing them, you become battle-hardened, a vigilant. Once they are done, you become a defender. The next quest is to take a hollow prism and go to Hythloth. You must find the blood pentagram, drop the hollow prism, destroy a balron, capture its essence and return.
"That is quite a test!" I exclaimed.
"Aye," Pitr agreed. "No magikal healing, so the Tormtars learn to cross-heal. Once you reach the paladin fortress, the essence of the balron is purified and instilled into the new enforcer, so each new enforcer is actually a... dead balron." I jotted this down, wondering if I should ask more about it, but there was no time. Pitr told me about a few other ways to advance, including joining and participating the several other guilds. "I joined several so I could learn," he said, "so my perspective would not be narrow. Most guilds see only themselves. I was insane and tried to embrace it all, from crafts to PvP." At this point, Shinigami told us it was time for dinner and bid us farewell.
"All in UO is about perspective," Pitr said after Shinigami had disappeared. "That is what we try to create, very aware players. Aware of scams, hacks, everything. And we create a shell, called fellowship, where they can grow. That is GRI." I knew whatever community GRI had created had worked well for them, as I see their members everywhere, from Luna to Heartwood to deep in the dungeons of the land.
"We have a very simple structure," said Pitr. "Earthdragons, our artisans; Tormtars, our paladins; Dragonlords, our tamers; Manticores, our archers; Griffons, our mages; The Ancient Secret, our peerless hunters; Abyss Crusaders, our Doom hunters; Golden Team, our champ spawners; Isto Faer, our drow; The Blackguards, our evil warriors; and Shadow Griffons, our necromancers. Each member can create their own guild inside or outside of GRI and expect full backup." This was a lot to take in, but it sounded very organized and thought-out. "GRI structure is simple," Pitr continued as I made more notes, "All equals. All GMs, even ronins, even folk that are just added, they all have the same status."
Pitr told me of a journal he keeps to track the guild's progress. "We have trained 2017 players, we gave them homes, and we kept the runes so we would know where they are." I was astonished. "Is that on Catskills, I asked?" "Since May until today," Pitr replied. "Amazing," I said.
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Pitr then took me on a tour of several houses in the area, each with its own design and purpose. We visited a rune library, a storage house, a diplomat's home, a popular vendor, and other GRI buildings.
Pitr told me, "At the end of every month, we check with our cadets and we give them this." He pointed to a small tower. "Small towers to start playing UO. Sometimes they stay, sometimes they vanish. Just gold." He shrugged and we continued on through one of several GRI warehouses.
"Please make recipes stackable," he said, and I smiled, knowing the space that they take up in my brother's house. Keeping them available for new players must take a lot of lockdowns. "That's quite a lot of gear," I said, seeing the boxes and boxes of inventory waiting to be handed out to needy new characters. "Aye," Pitr agreed, "Folk are great. They keep us stocked."
We stopped and chatted for a few minutes about past friends and people and events in the world that had changed since the start of Ultima Online. We both have quite a few people we miss that have left the realm.
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Moving along with the interview, Pitr opened a red gate to Felucca. Several ghosts of murderers were "haunting" the nearby Moongate, and a mini-battle was taking place between Lord Scorpion and InToXiCaTed. "After the hunting and the teamwork, our members have done it all," said Pitr. "So, they come here to train and fight reds. This is basic training... and fun." My brother has asked me to try very hard to stay out of fights lest I be accused of taking one side over another, so I simply had my imps take a picture of the action.
"It is cat and mouse," said Pitr, between casting Explosion spells, "'til someone makes a mistake. To leave, he must die or we must die."
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A man named Drakkar arrived on the scene, and Pitr greeted him. "Drakkar was in PKT, the first guild we fought. Respect is mutual, so a friendship grew. There is an old GRI motto, respect everyone, even foes, and in time even Master Drakkar joined us." The battle was left behind us for the time being, and Pitr ushered me to a house near the Moongate. The house had a convenient ledge for archers. "Shooting practice," he said, as the three of us balanced on the balcony. "After our members train, then we go for the last stage, field PvP, champion spawns, and the harrower."
Pitr opened a moongate to take us to Luna, where the 10th anniversary fireworks display was in full swing. It made it nearly impossible to talk, but Pitr did leave me with a few more words. "This is OUR game," he said. "We need the developers, and they need a community. It is that simple." Making one last note in my journal, I asked Pitr if he had anything else he wanted to add.
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"Have fun," he said.
With that, I went off to enjoy the fireworks with a lovely lass I saw standing all alone by the stables.
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You may have noticed that the interviews in this series are getting longer as time goes on. The name is becoming increasingly inaccurate, as Pitr and I spent several hours together over the course of two nights. If
you'd like to be the subject of an interview but you're thinking you wouldn't be able to tell your story in 30 minutes, please don't hesitate to contact me anyway. We ought to be able to work something out.
Peaceful Journeys,
Lord Franklin
