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Is it "just a game"? How was your life changed by UO?

Giggles

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I'm just sitting here at 4:00am, thinking an interesting topic I wanted to post, along with a mini announcement I wanted to make =)
With all of the negativity we sometimes all get caught up in with this very old and very loved game, I thought it would be fun to have a little story time of all the lives completely and totally changed for the better by this "game".

It wouldn't be fair for me to ask such a loaded question without first sharing a little of my story (you have been warned, mini novel incoming). As some of you know, I am a pvper. I have sadly learned over the years that it can sometimes be best to keep your personal life personal, especially in the world of PvP. There are quite a few very interesting personalities that love to find more insult material other than the standard "you're fat" or "You live in your moms basement". So with that said, not too many people know of the cool little story I am about to share.

Once upon a time... about 13 years ago, I was the GM for a small guild on legends named Blunt Logic. I wasn't too big into the PvP crowd, but I did enjoy an occasional duel. A guild member of mine decided to recruit this "Super awesome PvM guy" who had recently transferred to legends. Within moments of him joining my guild, he began to ask for duels at Britain bank. I happily obliged, and swiftly obliterated him (he will deny this, but its all true =) ) This began the start of a really fun friendship where this "really awesome PvM guy" showed me a lot of the ropes for soloing stuff in the game. We spent many hours taking down the strongest things we could find, and began little competitions of who could kill stuff faster.

This friendship continued for the next 3 years, with times of being inactive in the game. He went off to the Navy for a while, and I got busy on and off with my own life. Then about 9 years ago, he informed me he would be moving to my state to help out his uncle for a while. We decided it would be fun to maybe meet up once and have some coffee. Well... it turns out he was (and still is) pretty hot, and I kinda sorta fell for him almost immediately. Our coffee turned into dinner, which turned into movie theaters, and next thing you know we are together!

The past 9 years have been the best years of my life. I am still madly in love with this "super awesome PvM guy", and as of two weeks ago, we welcomed a new addition into our family, a perfect addition to our family... a little poop machine who wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for Ultima Online.



So for my announcement...
I made dis!!


And this is why I am up at 4am! lol. I am madly in love with this little girl, and I just wonder where my life would be right now if I had never started playing this silly game. Now please.... who has the next story?
 

Liam167

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
by far the best UO story I have ever read! I am not into mushy stories for the most part but a child born because of a game? That is pretty dang cool. I am sure people can say that UO has created divorces throughout the years. I know I can! UO should make some sort of item bearing your names on it or something of the like. Thanks for sharing and congratulations!

I started playing UO back in 1999-2000. Some co-workers of mine had been playing the game and just couldn't stop talking about it, so I decided to pick it up and life hasn't been the same since. I played regularly on GL and got into the RP side of the game. I was even once the owner of the Sandlewood Box when it was dying out and they had a story competition to pick the new owner and I was lucky to win. I played up until the point of T2A then left. I returned to find GL to be lacking in people and moved to ATL where I currently reside. I was into collecting rares while on GL but made a decision not to worry about any of the pixel crack when I built the new house on ATL. I would love to get back into the RP community but I lack the amount of time needed to really get into it. So now I am the proud papa of a lovely 3 y/o girl and she takes up most of my time and energy and I am definitely ok with that and UO will just have to wait!
 

Eärendil

Legendary Mall Santa
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
First of all: Congratulations! This is the most consequential thing you can do in your whole life (I know what I am talking about). Say "Farewell" to UO for the next months/years *grins*

A VERY beautiful baby, by the way. Gorgeous!

Last time I gave out personal info I got harrassed on SP by a guild named HI-5 (Imposter, Nazi-/WWII-jokes) - so no info from my side... I am done with personal infos and gaming...
 

BeaIank

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Campaign Supporter
Congratulations on the wee lass spawn.
The idea of giving birth to one of these always terrified the heck out of me. :p

I sadly have no cool story to tell. I have been here only since 2011 and I live way too far away to meet any of the other players. :D
I have exchanged gifts with friends I know from other communities and games though, and met some from a webcomic I used to read back in 2008 when I went to GenCon, but that is it. :p
I am a boring old lady who is not made of wood.
 

Archnight

Legendary Merchant & Rare Collector
Professional
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UNLEASHED
Once upon a time... about 13 years ago, I was the GM for a small guild on legends named Blunt Logic. I wasn't too big into the PvP crowd, but I did enjoy an occasional duel. A guild member of mine decided to recruit this "Super awesome PvM guy" who had recently transferred to legends. Within moments of him joining my guild, he began to ask for duels at Britain bank. I happily obliged, and swiftly obliterated him (he will deny this, but its all true =) ) This began the start of a really fun friendship where this "really awesome PvM guy" showed me a lot of the ropes for soloing stuff in the game. We spent many hours taking down the strongest things we could find, and began little competitions of who could kill stuff faster.

This friendship continued for the next 3 years, with times of being inactive in the game. He went off to the Navy for a while, and I got busy on and off with my own life. Then about 9 years ago, he informed me he would be moving to my state to help out his uncle for a while. We decided it would be fun to maybe meet up once and have some coffee. Well... it turns out he was (and still is) pretty hot, and I kinda sorta fell for him almost immediately. Our coffee turned into dinner, which turned into movie theaters, and next thing you know we are together!

The past 9 years have been the best years of my life. I am still madly in love with this "super awesome PvM guy", and as of two weeks ago, we welcomed a new addition into our family, a perfect addition to our family... a little poop machine who wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for Ultima Online.
Love this story, really happy for your guys and congrats again :)
 

Swordsman

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Wonderful, congratulations ! looking at her beautiful face, you will love her smile and angel's voice. I met a few UO friends in real life and enjoyed gathering, but, we don't have fantastic stories.

I think you won't be able to play UO like before. You may login randomly and play a few short solo PVM, but you got to logout suddenly and immediately whenever sweetheart wants you !
 

SugarMMM

Sage
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Congrats to the PvP and PvM parents on your beautiful little girl!

I sat back trying to think of a story influenced by me playing UO but I couldn't think of anything.

But I can tell you that i'm always thinking of UO while doing everyday in real life things. I am mostly a crafter in game so I think about it while cooking, baking, gardening, brewing beer, sewing, fishing, crabbing, woodworking and tons of other things.

Oh OK I got one! Long time ago I went to a player meet up here in Seattle and I offered a ride home to someone that needed it. On the way home on the freeway I pulled over and she asked what I was doing and I said, "you didn't see that dead bird on the side of the road? I'm going to grab its feathers!" We both cracked up and kept the UO references going on the whole ride home. For some reason that day there was a lot of roadkill about and it was hard to drive past all of that free leather and raw ribs! Hehe
 

lissa eldi

Visitor
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
What a beautiful daughter, makes me go all squishy just looking at that perfect face. :)
Congratulations!!

I would say I have gained in confidence, although not sure how much of that is UO and how much just time.
I've made many good friends, some that I meet with or talk to on a regular basis, many more that I have never met in person.
I am fortunate to have known some of them for over a decade and trust them absolutely, not just with pixels but with who I am.

Also have learned a lot about how people act in anonymity. I think people's true personality comes out. Sometimes that is good, others unfortunate.

Also I think running a gaming guild, whether casual or structured, was helpful to me in my real life work.
 

Larisa

Publishing Manager, Stratics Leadership
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I have actually had the privilege of meeting a few people that I played with WAY back in the day before I moved to Origin.

The Blacksmith that got me into crafting, Korick Stonedown of Napa Valley actually drove down to spend the day with me for my birthday one year and Chain Dog and Missy from SCC (Sin City Crusaders) Of Napa Valley I played with almost every day and the day before I left California to move back to Illinois me and my then boyfriend and our 2 kids met them and their 2 kids at Knott's Berry Farm and spent a nice family day together.

I have also had the privilege of meeting Lady Rachel of Rachel's Runes :) At the Meet and Greet that had in Chicago many years ago when I met Jeremy Dalhberg and Patrick (Leurocian) and his wife and Daughter who was still in a stroller..have them on facebook and oh my how she's grown, looks just like her dad!

And though I've never met the Famous Queen Mum, she lives only an hour away from me and I had the immense privilege of getting a cookie package from her for Christmas one year.

Through the years that I have been playing this wonderful game, I have met amazing people, and even though most of those people I no longer speak to, they were and always will be a part of my life.

The friends I play with now, and have been for the past few years, are the main reason I log in to play, and even though we've never met, and probably never will, I couldn't have these friends without UO. I am a single mom with two special needs kids so I don't get out much! So if it wasn't for this game, I would not have had the pleasure and privilege of having and playing with these amazing people.
 

The Craftsman

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Cute story and a beautiful little girl. Congratulations to you both.

The effect UO has had on a large portion of the remaining UO playerbase however is to turn them into pixel addicts who will become basket cases the day UO shuts down. Not quite so cute.
 

Alira Drakrul

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
I met my current husband in UO. Were online friends for years and then he sprung the something more on me at a seattle uo get-together with friends. I told him I didn't do the long distance thing. Been there. Been burned. He said he couldn't live with the "what if" and moved to California within a month of that meet-up. We've been together twelve years now. *smiles*
 

S_S

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
I will make my story short and sweet. Met a guy in UO 14+ yrs ago, we stayed logged in playing for hours on end just talking and playing the game together. Fast forward three years and I moved 900+ miles to be with him. We have been engaged IRL not quite 2 years and we are still as happy together today as we were that first night we started talking in game. :)

Another part of my UO history centers on two players who I'd talk to often in Moonglow. One day we got on to the subject of where we live IRL and came to find out we lived 30-45mins from each other! Met up for food and been RL friends ever since.
 
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Dorset

Journeyman
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Great read, congratulations!

It's stories like this that make UO so unique for me.

I started playing UO with a group of school friends in 98/99 in not so sunny England. Majority of us are tradesmen or in the construction industry to some extent. I'm a RL carpenter by trade and had a call a few years back from an old friend who is an QS wanting a job done, I answered the message with "ah your after a Grandmaster Carpenter then". Phone rang straight away, sniggering away to ourselves talking about this game and how if I remember I ripped him off selling rare "kindling wood" before he realised how to get it. Couldn't have been me ........... :)

I now live in New Zealand, still keep in touch with a couple of friends through this game, although its a lot harder to catch up with the time zones these days!!
 

Giggles

Wielder of Ebil Cookies
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Thank you all for the congrats =) I am just beaming with pride over this little girl!

In the spirit of gaming, her name is "Poop Machine". So in another 15 years or so, watch out for that name lurking local champ spawns near you with mommy Giggles lol.
Yes, sadly my UO game time has been almost non existent already. I try to pop in a couple of times a week to harass my friends, but several spawns throughout the lands have been liberated from my ebil stalking ;). For now I will enjoy the quiet moments of playing the game with a baby in my lap, until that fades with the demands of keeping up with a lunatic mobile two year old =)

Thank you everyone else who has shared a story, I hope to see more :heart:. But cool story or not, we all have a deep love for this game in common, and have at the very least made some awesome friends here. So my vote is no... this is not just a game, this is a family.
 

Riyana

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Thank you all for the congrats =) I am just beaming with pride over this little girl!

In the spirit of gaming, her name is "Poop Machine". So in another 15 years or so, watch out for that name lurking local champ spawns near you with mommy Giggles lol.
Yes, sadly my UO game time has been almost non existent already. I try to pop in a couple of times a week to harass my friends, but several spawns throughout the lands have been liberated from my ebil stalking ;). For now I will enjoy the quiet moments of playing the game with a baby in my lap, until that fades with the demands of keeping up with a lunatic mobile two year old =)

Thank you everyone else who has shared a story, I hope to see more :heart:. But cool story or not, we all have a deep love for this game in common, and have at the very least made some awesome friends here. So my vote is no... this is not just a game, this is a family.
She'll be painting Felucca red from atop her rainbow unicorn before you know it!
 

Parthis

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
UO - has been a stable in my life for a long time. I highly doubt I'd be in New Zealand currently if a friend of mine in this game didn't suggest I travelled for a bit. Then we went travelling in NZ together for a while too! The relationships you build through games are incredible.

I know numerous people I have played with have gone through some really bad stuff and used the game and their friends as a coping mechanism.
 

Lord Nabin

High Council Sage - Greater Sosaria
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Glorious Lord
Giggles Well Done and Congrats.

*takes out a Botle of Good Old Moonglow Red and with a swish of his fingers the date appears on the bottle.*

I'll drop this by to you on my next trip around and leave it in your mailbox. You can open it when the wee one turns 18.
 

Nexus

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Thank you all for the congrats =) I am just beaming with pride over this little girl!

In the spirit of gaming, her name is "Poop Machine". So in another 15 years or so, watch out for that name lurking local champ spawns near you with mommy Giggles lol.
Yes, sadly my UO game time has been almost non existent already. I try to pop in a couple of times a week to harass my friends, but several spawns throughout the lands have been liberated from my ebil stalking ;). For now I will enjoy the quiet moments of playing the game with a baby in my lap, until that fades with the demands of keeping up with a lunatic mobile two year old =)

Thank you everyone else who has shared a story, I hope to see more :heart:. But cool story or not, we all have a deep love for this game in common, and have at the very least made some awesome friends here. So my vote is no... this is not just a game, this is a family.
Poop Machine.... you can call her the "Fecalator" as a nickname then...
 

NuSair

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I'm just sitting here at 4:00am, thinking an interesting topic I wanted to post, along with a mini announcement I wanted to make =)
With all of the negativity we sometimes all get caught up in with this very old and very loved game, I thought it would be fun to have a little story time of all the lives completely and totally changed for the better by this "game".
First off- congratulations on your bundle of joy, your story is amazing and an inspiration. My story is similar.

I started playing UO in beta. Through playing I came across a small vendor house in Orc Valley and met a lovely lady. I just happened to stop and she was there.... and we spent the next 6 hours chatting in game. This went on for the next several years. And while we never met and had only talked on the phone for many hours, I felt a strong attraction to her. As luck would have it, there was also someone else she had been talking with and becoming close too. Also during this time, her marriage finally fell apart (not because of UO or people she was talking too- it was something unrelated to gaming)- and myself and the other gentleman offered her a chance to come live with us. Well, she chose the other guy. That kind of killed my interest in UO, and I moved on to Everquest and then WoW for the next 5 years (2000-2005).

All during this time, I kept ICQ loaded and running on my computer just incase she ever happened to message me. June 2005 I get a message through ICQ--- "Remember me? :)". And it was her. We talked for hours again, like we used to (we stopped because the other guy she chose over me was a little jealous). I found out that she had an 18 month old son with the guy and unfortunately he had fallen to the evils of cancer just after Christmas that year. We arranged to meet up and see how things went..... we've been together ever since. And I love the young man like he was my own. He deserves no less.
 

Eärendil

Legendary Mall Santa
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Congratulations on the wee lass spawn.
The idea of giving birth to one of these always terrified the heck out of me. :p

I sadly have no cool story to tell. I have been here only since 2011 and I live way too far away to meet any of the other players. :D
I have exchanged gifts with friends I know from other communities and games though, and met some from a webcomic I used to read back in 2008 when I went to GenCon, but that is it. :p
I am a boring old lady who is not made of wood.
I like your new hat! :) But I also liked the alcolhol in your hand. Can you change your avatar to "Lady with hat AND drink"?
 

BeaIank

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I like your new hat! :) But I also liked the alcolhol in your hand. Can you change your avatar to "Lady with hat AND drink"?
You mean, Carmen Sandiego (not that I am Carmen Sandiego. We just share the same birthday date, the same blood type, almost the same hobbies...) with a glass of wine?
Sure, I can arrange that during the weekend. It has been a while since I last had wine too! :p
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
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Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Not fair to ask such a controversional question only to follow up with that adorable baby pic. Congrats on your little "poop machine" :D I will refrain from following up on the question in the title for once.
 

MalagAste

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Well eventually his actions will lead to the inevitable banning he's cruising for... no worries there... He simply has to accumulate the points.

Now back on subject. What a beautiful baby... I do adore them. *(hate that my job forces me to torment them)... But I do love them *(On the bright side my job allows me to see so many newborns!)... UO ... I found it on a shelf in Wal-Mart. Read the back and went "WHOOA! A game you can play with other people set in a medieval style sort of D&D like world where I can OWN a castle!!!!" And I had to have it. So I bought it (UO:R) off the shelf and took it home waiting on my very first ever PC to arrive... *(ordered from Staples built to what I could afford and what was "best" at the time)... I installed UO:R shortly after getting the PC though at the time I didn't yet have internet... so got rather hooked playing The Sims.... So when I did get internet I was still rather into that but eventually got around to finishing the UO instillation and setting up my payments etc... At this time I was a single parent raising my own two children alone.

Wasn't long after the hard drive on that PC was killed in the middle of me playing Baulders Gate. And it took some time to "fix" it... (back then had to drive it 50 miles away to a service center and all)... eventually (nearly 3 months later) I got the thing back and not wanting to start all over in Baulders Gate I decided to give UO it's true try ... (I had played like 1 hour previously making a character and all and was pretty confused) This time I decided read the book that came with the game first. (which pretty much said, talk to no-one, trust no-one, take nothing from anyone, as everyone is out to do you in)... armed with the new knowledge I began life in UO... 2 hours in... I saw a thing about no longer having youthful status or some such meant nothing to me... till I died to something I never saw (Gargoyle)... anyway it was a love that would last and those that met quickly became my "friends"... As a single parent I never had time to go anywhere and socialize, I had kids to take care of... If I wasn't at work I was at home... with them. UO became my "escape" from the riggers of parenting 24/7... I was still "home" still there for my kids (played UO right there in the livingroom with my kids while helping them with homework or whatever they needed)... but when they didn't need me or were in bed I was Willa of the Yew-wood... Mayor of Yew (eventually that's another story)... but it was my joy.

I ended up opening my home to 3 different families, at least 2 dozen (bonus) kids... raising both my children and about a dozen kids that weren't mine... (because their parents failed and threw them away)... and all the while I had UO... It was my crutch during the pain of finding out my Mother had terminal Ovarian Cancer... kept me sane IMO... without that escape and the friendships from UO I would certainly have crumbled. Helped me again when I found out my Father had Pancreatic Cancer (terminal of course)...

Now I'm an orphan... and UO is still here. This is where my "family" is however disfunctional they are... (my real children are grown, my bonus children are grown, and it's just me and work and the 3 "kids" who are adults who live with me... though they don't play UO)... My son used to play back in the beginning... he played on Pacific while I remained on GLs. But eventually Final Fantasy won him away from UO... He still tries to tempt me to play it but I refuse. UO is where my home is, it's where my family is... and it's my home. Try as I might to find a new one.
 

Aran

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I started playing UO at 13 when I was already relatively introverted, and it led to my near-complete withdrawal from anything social for the next five formative school years, left me completely unprepared for being hundreds of miles away from home for college, and essentially ruined my ability to relate to normal people and go outside.


Thanks UO!
 

Capt. Lucky

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
First awesome beautiful baby! My story? First it was the all night sessions, then the alcohol, then came the job loss and homelessness.... just kidding :p We had 2 computers in the living room back when computers were really expensive lol. I would have the uber one and my son played on the not so uber but perfectly fine one. We would play UO together for hours. Had some great times. We still talk about the adventures we had with PVPs and the Trinsic invasion etc. It was a magically time when the internet was new and exciting. UO really brought us together with something we both loved. Well that and TMNT.
 

cazador

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I started playing UO at 13 when I was already relatively introverted, and it led to my near-complete withdrawal from anything social for the next five formative school years, left me completely unprepared for being hundreds of miles away from home for college, and essentially ruined my ability to relate to normal people and go outside.


Thanks UO!
You are such a troll..lol I love it! Why aren't we friends?!

Btw giggles congrats on the bay bay..such a cutie! Mini Unicorn Puppy?


....
 

outcry

Slightly Crazed
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
While many know you and I are mostly always at odds with one another , I want to put that aside and wish both of you congratulations, I want to wish you both the best in health, happiness and joy on this path of becoming parents. Your daily lives will change and evolve, everything is so new, but the joys of parenthood are before you, a long journey full of learning, patience, support and laughter, the ingredients every family needs sprinkled with lots of love! Treasure and save every moment with this baby, as time flies so fast and soon you will find yourself wondering how it became they are entering college .
 

Yadd of Legends

Babbling Loonie
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Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
I started playing UO at 13 when I was already relatively introverted, and it led to my near-complete withdrawal from anything social for the next five formative school years, left me completely unprepared for being hundreds of miles away from home for college, and essentially ruined my ability to relate to normal people and go outside.


Thanks UO!
OK, 20 years later, have you gained any more ability to relate to normal people and go outside? :just wondering:
 

Fridgster

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
I started playing UO at 13 when I was already relatively introverted, and it led to my near-complete withdrawal from anything social for the next five formative school years, left me completely unprepared for being hundreds of miles away from home for college, and essentially ruined my ability to relate to normal people and go outside.


Thanks UO!
OK, 20 years later, have you gained any more ability to relate to normal people and go outside? :just wondering:
Normal and people very rarely go together. Personally I don't feel that is a bad thing. Normal is so boring.
 
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