First Memory of UO?

[Zodiac19]

As a newbee mage in Moonglow I went for a meander out in the wilderness had taken 3-4 steps out the west side gate and a little cute snake slithers up bites and poisons me. Well after a res at the healers hut I decide to wander out the east gate (realy did not want to mess with that killer snake) and this hideous flying mongbat creature thing started chasing me. Pitter patter back to the safety of town, meh the world is a dangerous place. I don't remember how long it took me to leave town again. And it was months before I even left Moonglow Isle.

 

[Desolation87]

Wow look at you vets posting - Heres one from a (relativly) new guy.

2006 (old) Haven. I remember going to the bank sitting crowd and asking what on earth was a rune path???? The beginners quest said follow a rune path. To which I had no idea what that was. To which the reply went - "Its that thing on the floor."

 

[Esmeralda]

Hmm not sure when I exactly started this game, 1997 or 1998.
My ex boyfriend had an account ( I think he played the beta too), and I was allowed to create one char. This day changed our relationship for ever!
My first char was named "Sir Gallahad" and my first target was that tiny sheep that watched over a treasure chest in the woods a bit north or britain.
I attacked it and wondered that nearly nothing happened to it, and then I noticed me running out of health = OooOoOOO!!
I didn´t know what to do the first moment I saw the world in grey. Then to my surprise I saw someone red named running to my corpse and looting it....
Ah well, when I was back to live I ran back to my body, frightened of the evil sheep hanging around there still.
I grabbed the things I had left and ran as fast as I could

 

[Esmeralda]

Hmm not sure when I exactly started this game, 1997 or 1998.
My ex boyfriend had an account ( I think he played the beta too), and I was allowed to create one char. This day changed our relationship for ever!
My first char was named "Sir Gallahad" and my first target was that tiny sheep that watched over a treasure chest in the woods a bit north or britain.
I attacked it and wondered that nearly nothing happened to it, and then I noticed me running out of health = OooOoOOO!!
I didn´t know what to do the first moment I saw the world in grey. Then to my surprise I saw someone red named running to my corpse and looting it....
Ah well, when I was back to live I ran back to my body, frightened of the evil sheep hanging around there still.
I grabbed the things I had left and ran as fast as I could

 

[Nenime]

Me stand at the bank and thinking: *Oh yes, now I'm part of the amazing online world! Play alongside with thousands of fellow players...*
Friendly Player: "Hi there. So you're a young player. May I help you?"
Me:
He:"Do you need anything?"
Me:
He:"No questions whatsoever?"
Me:
He:"Well then. Good bye"
Me:
Me:
Me:
Me:"akslsjsl"
Me:"Wait! I just found out the purpose of the "enter" key..."

 

[Saris]

Running out of town into the woods with 100s of wide eyed frist timers all ganking an ettin and then later on the way to the bank getting wacked by an archer that was shooting at me while running, his name was monkey butt or somesuch.

 

[sbom]

I started playing uo around 98, and at that point, of course there was no Trammel, but also, there was some kind of "invasion" going on between Britain and Trinsic, and a lot of Lizardmen were hanging around along the road...and I thought to myself "man, that game is really hard. Even close to the cities, and along the main road, it's crazy dangerous"...go try to kill lizardmen when you're newbie, with no skills, no gold...and when I finally managed to kill 2-3 of them and get gold to bring back to the bank, a PK would come around and make short work of me...I almost quit, until a random player (I wish I remember who) took me along to a hunting place of his, and shared some tips and gold with me!!

 

[altarego]

I have a whole slew of classic Pre-Tram memories:

- Starting off in moonglow as a mage and not being able to cast a single spell, dying to my first hind
- Camping out with other players desperate to beat on the lizard men in the swamp north of Trinsic (the spawn was soo slow)
- Being at West Britain Bank and watching every 30 sec when someone would wail, "Guards, thief!"
- Blackout times -> Server wars!
- Feeling my heart race as I handed over my silver maul of power to a relative unknown blacksmith for a repair

Later:
- Riding my first ostard, back when you didn't need taming to have a rideable beast
- Racing to pick cotton in Delucia and make massive gold
- Scouring all of the NPC vendors for matching sets of colored plate (before colored ingots
- Staring at UOTrace for hours whenever the servers went down abruptly

But I have to agree with one poster:
If you read through these responses, you begin to see a pattern. Everyone's fondest memories are of being pK'd or dying to some massively scary (or so it seemed) monster. It was a game with a lot of thrill that's just not there anymore. Now, there's an artificial division of experience. You can't *get* to the tough monsters or the risky quests or the crazy reds without first beefing yourself up in skills and stats...it all just feels so...optional.

 

[Saris]

I can do without the fear lol I used to hate hunting for an hour to get 3k in a dungeon only to get pked by some ass who used the spawn to his advatage, it had thrills but I like to have armor lol.

For the first 4 months I never kept a set of armor more than one day.

 

[Sir_Bolo]

Uhmm... It was October 1998...
After many hours of patching on a 33.6k modem I managed to log in on some East Coast shard and created an archer in Yew. I attacked a great hart and after a few minutes of running finally managed to get myself killed...
Then I created a new character on another shard, which promptly god guardwhacked when my brother decided it would be fun to attack a dog in town.
Then my free month of play ran out and I couldn't renew the subscription because I didn't have a credit card yet, and Gametime codes in Italy were impossible to find.
My parents wouldn't use their credit cards to pay for a silly game, so I decided to apply for a credit card myself, and the first thing I did when I got it in January was to subscribe to UO and to order online The Second Age which had just been released.
In the meantime OSI had opened the two european shards, so I created Sir Bolo on Europa whom I have played ever since.
My first characters on the US shards were wiped out in some character purge years ago, so I don't even remember their name anymore rolleyes:

 

[RoseBlue]

BEST, BEST thread i've ever read !!!

I've laughed all the time !

I'll try to add my own first memories but not now


so :

in the beginning, i just understood nothing at all to this game except that i loved the graphics (anyway...) and i was walking around ppl at Haven bank (there were a lot of ppl there !) and i remember seeing a "Lady" on a unicorn (i thought it was just a sort of special white horse, didn't know about unicorns lol) and i said to her with true admiration :"your horse is lovely !" she looked down to me (i was on foot...) and said :"thanks". After that, trying to figure things out, i kept on picking every single thing i could find on the floor and put them into my backpack. Someone told me it was a silly thing to do...Anyway, i continued...till i found a skillet. Double-clicking it showed me a menu i could understand by myself. AND I FIRST STARTED PLAYING !
...making loaves of bread lol it was fun !!!

 

[SilentFoxXy]

Running round Old Haven totally clueless, and stopped by a shady looking character called Lord Paidric, (Who I now know to be member of HLP on Europa ), who took my hand, and led me to a smiths.

He proceeded to make a complete set of gold armor for me, and a sexy looking sword and bracer, then, as I donned my new shiney armor, he showed me to the bank, and bade me to bank everything I had.

Without this help I would not be the proud owner of 4 accounts, with 22 maxed characters, playing 14 hrs /7/365.

Thanks Lord Paidric...you rock

 

[Vertigo]

Started in 98' in Moonglow on the Europa server. A couple of mages were casting water elementals for other people to attack to gain skills. I joined in, then I must have clicked on somebody else, then oOOooOOOoo. I didn't even know I was attacking another player!

Being a warrior and running from Vesper bank to the graveyard by Cove and back and being robbed by a guy named Freddie Fingerss. I've never fogotten that name, lol.

The game meant alot more to me back then than it does now, sigh.

 

[Azureal]

A friend of mine used to own an ISP. Was in his office one day and he logged into UO and showed how he fished up MiBs. back then there were no serpents, the MiBs just camr up by themselves. On his wall in his office he had a map of the world, which also listed the five weapon magic types (force, power, vanq etc). So Im there watching him fish, and the whole time hes popping open chests and shouting out to one of the guys that worked for him what he found. I later found out that everyone that worked at the ISP played UO. About a week later I got him to order me a copy

Fondest memories:

TMap hunting with a guy called Mike Hunt and his brother Dr Kevorkian. Some of the most fun Ive ever had.

Running vendor shops. Order of the Rose on Oceania had a vendor shop on the river just outside of Vesper. Was awesome to roleplay back in those days.

Learning about, and later becoming a bard. Man was I ever excited when I realised I could make two monsters fight each other!

GM'ing fishing. Damn long and hard road. I didnt know about 8 x 8 back then, so I would just slow forward around the border lines of the map. Getting my arse kicked by water elementals and deep sea serpents wasnt fun, hehehe.

 

[Ashyn]

My first memory was actually the intro launch and thinking how absolutely cool that was - I ran around for days saying "sooooosarrrrriiiaaaaa."

Beyond that - playing after everyone went to bed and screaming like an idiot when something killed me - waking my entire family up in a complete frenzy - and yes, they'd get out of bed to go get my stuff (which is probably their first memory).

-Ashyn

 

[Aibal]

My nephews got me to start playing the game a couple years ago. Went to eBay and bought a stripped older account (nephew one said I wanted this so i could have ethy's....wtf is an ethy hehe) with a decent bard, newb tamer, newb mage and newb archer. They then helped me get a 8X8 in Trinsic Fel, near their homes. I had no idea there was Trammel...I thought the game looked weak 'cause there were no leaves on the trees. My one nephew then took me to Despise with my bard and left me provoking ettins on to each other. Ten minutes passed and here comes a bunch of red player...hmm...that looks cool.

Me: Hello how are you all? Coming to kill ettins?
Them: Kal Vas Flam
Me: oooOOOooo...guess not.

LOL. I was actually glad they made me start there. They waited about a week or so before introducing me to Trammel, later telling me I needed the true feel of the game. It's all been good since then. I now have fully trained characters on two accounts. I still love Fel, and although my houses are in Tram, it's only a stopover until I can find a keep in Fel to replace one of them. I'll be in this game, in spite of the numerous warts, until they pull the plug on the servers.

 

[Anne]

There are so many funny memories from the first days.

My char started in Brit and I thought that was where you had to go to be ressd at the healer. So everytime I died, which was often, I ran all the way back to Brit.

I always ran away fast as I could from the Priests of Mondain because I thought they were the dreaded reds that everyone warned me about.

The first person I met ingame showed me how to use a dye tub and look good. Over 4 years later both she and I are still playing and she still looks better than I do.

After about a month of playing I thought I was pretty tough and went by myself to Titan Valley. OOooOOoo Now at this time there was no gate or way to leave when you were dead. I waited for what seemed to be forever until at last I saw another person just recalling out. I almost cried thinking that I'd be stuck there as a ghost forever. Fortunately he saw me as he recalled and came back and ressed me and became my knight in shining armor ... which led to a long and happy relationship.

I remember killing my first ogre lord with a friend. It must have taken us a half hour and many deaths but we danced around like fools celebrating how good we were.

My first house was a log cabin and I was as proud of it as I would have been with a castle.

I have many more great memories that I could fill a book with.

 

[Trebr Drab]

I remember the 1st time I logged into UO (Nov/Dec 1997) and was running around Empath Abbey. I created a warrior named Mrbogus and had swords and fishing. Well I decided to test out my combat skills so I equiped a dagger ..... not knowing that it was a fencing weapon not a swords weapon .... and attacked a Chicken. Well a short time later I was seeing black and white and never logged on that char again. Shortly there after I picked up a strategy guide and read up on all I needed to know to beat that damn chicken. 10 Years later ..... I still cringe at the sight of a chicken because it gives me flashbacks of being a newbie. Anyways just thought Id share that story and I hope others will share their memories too.

Hahaha. Chickens! I started on the first day of release. They had an animal AI that worked as a pack like instinct. But I didn't know this. So I was hunting with my archer, and saw about 8 chickens, and attacked one of them. They all surrounded me, and I couldn't get out due to blocking, and I couldn't kill even one chicken as they slowly pecked me to death.

I got in trouble when I told my wife "I couldn't get away from being hen pecked even in this new game, it must really be realistic!"

 

[Llewen]

i really hope Darkfall is as much like UO as i seem to think in my head, and is realeased soon!

I'm prepared to be disappointed, but I am very much looking forward to the release of Darkfall as well.

My first memory? I'm not sure, I have a jumble of first memories, but I think my very first memory is walking around Brit at night, Xmas 97, and listening to all the animals, and being simply amazed. I had never seen anything like it before. It was one of those seminal moments in gaming for me.

 

[Otis Firefly]

logged into vesper directly into a flame wall and seeing people yell welcome to uo! while they snagged your newb cash....i can honestly tell ya, i loved it ever since

 

[Revenant2]

Ive read quite a few posts of people starting after tram was created , I truely feel sorry for you because before tram UO was a totally diff. monster. There was this thing called risk , not many people know what that is anymore because the game has become WAY to easy. I thought it was funny the 1st week Tram was active I had this 15 year old little punk talking MAD trash to me calling me a newbie and stuff like that ..... but he refused to go to fel and see who the newbie was. Back in the day there was a little more respect knowing that if you stepped out of guard zone someone you pissed off just might kill you. You HAD to meet up with people to explore because there was more safety in numbers when a red tried to kill you. I still love this game ...... but sometimes I wish they just let things be and kept it the way it was.

I played back before Tram and I feel like the Trammel facet solved more problems than it created. But yes I empathize with you on the ******* with the big mouths who can fire those mouths off and find ways to grief people with no potential consequences. People like that should get a sudden teleportation to the middle of nowhere in Fel and have to walk past Yew Gate to get back to Tram.

 

[Revenant2]

It was 1998, Pacific shard, and I had RL friends who were playing the game and PVPing a bit on blues.

One of them showed me the profitable moneymaking deal where you kill birds and sell the feathers to the NPC bowyer in town (Britain). Then, later, how great money could be made by killing cows and deer and such in the woods near Britain and making Leather Bustiers and selling those to the tailor. It sucked how so many animals gave unusable "furs" instead of the hides that worked for tailoring! I threw lots of those things out and wished I'd never have to see them again! They were useless, and I needed stuff I could tailor to sell to the NPC (nobody would dream of really wearing leather armor).

It was fascinating that one could tame the animals and have them go places with you! After spending some time messing with that, the sad fact became clear: players with Taming as a developed skill were practically useless and wholly ineffective. So, I started working on a second char who would be a Swords Mage, as my first char's stats were so badly damaged by experimentation with skills such as Cooking that to fix it would have been misery. That first char ended up with high dex and int and like 35 str/hp, it was kinda ruined.

 

[Black Majick]

My first memory of UO was when my dad, my brother, my uncle, and I were at my uncles. He was showing my dad this "cool new game" that he had found. He was on Sonoma on his only char at the time. He attacked a dog he saw running around and died too it. Him and my dad sat there for a bit and goofed off playing. My brother and I both watched. Shortly after we got home from Vaction all of us had our own accounts. Been playing ever since (with my occasional monthly breaks).

 

[AdamD]

Travelling north of Britain and being killed by a giant spider, heh
Then later on, being killed by the feared orc mage

 

[EnigmaMaitreya]

I played back before Tram and I feel like the Trammel facet solved more problems than it created.
...

In my opinion, I agree The introduction of Trammel did solve more issues than it created and I will go one step further, Had Trammel NOT been created then, in my opinion, UO would not be a game to play today.

But yes, it is a shame that people can not experience the Bad Old Days, but even if a shard was exactly the same as any specific publish that any specific person loves, the memories could not be realized, the experience for a new player could not be realized, UNLESS that new player played that shard in a vacuum. There is simply to much information, here on stratics and elsewhere that simply perverts that kind of experience.

This kind of thread came up on the EQ forums periodically, and they are identical (not not literally).

One can not recreate the Bad Old Days, because the game(s) have been to well documented. BUT having said that one can recreate the environment and allow people play the game in the environment they like.

I made a proposal in a thread on the EQ forums, that they (SoE) should consider virtualizing the worlds as in Virtual Machines vs Virtual Storage on a Real Machine.

That they should create a vertical implementation of the EQ expansions, such that the bottom is the Original EQ, the next level up is the Original EQ+The next expansion, ... etc. That one can move up stream (release wise) by clicking a Book on a Pedastle (The EQ equivalent of Fixed Moongates) and choosing what (if there are multiple) world on that level to move to. That one can never move back down. The reason for this is the items gained in subsequent releases always trivialize the prior level of the game. So to preserve the experience for those on any given level, there can be no pollution's/trivialization of that level by artifacts, skills etc gained or introduced at a later time.

Being a Virtualized Machine, the World would NOT monopolize a Real Computer (Server Farm), it would just reside on disk.

UO could do this same thing, but the number of publish's could be a problem, meaning that some publish levels probably would need to be skipped.

 

[Nestorius]

Logging in for the first time, running through a weird tutorial with mongbats, then walking down the road away from Britian where a Companion came and asked me if I needed any help.

 

[Fink]

Fleeing from headless ones on dial-up and never quite getting away...

I had a browse through the sounds in the tool "Inside UO" recently, with a view to making a sound scheme for my computer.. found the old headless one idle/squeak noise and it made me shudder.

 

[thenow]

Being lost in middle of no where[it turns on being brit swamp near crossroads] and seeing some one that must work for the game I thoguht because he was a different color then most ppl, the color being red. Until it dawned on me, for a second I thought it rude that a company employer was attcking me when i asked for directions

 

[SeaCaptain]

Oh boy my first day. Does that bring back some nightmares. Walking out of Brit and walking on the road and getting smoked by 4 mages and losing everything. And seeing "Hahaha another newbe bites the dust" Then going back to town and have a rez and then a Pose put together to go after the four mages. Go I love and miss them days.

 

[Llewen]

In my opinion, I agree The introduction of Trammel did solve more issues than it created and I will go one step further, Had Trammel NOT been created then, in my opinion, UO would not be a game to play today.

But yes, it is a shame that people can not experience the Bad Old Days, but even if a shard was exactly the same as any specific publish that any specific person loves, the memories could not be realized, the experience for a new player could not be realized, UNLESS that new player played that shard in a vacuum. There is simply to much information, here on stratics and elsewhere that simply perverts that kind of experience.

I think UO has evolved nicely, and is a much better game than it was back then, for a whole host of reasons (Anyone remember server crashes that lost you hours of effort, and if you were really lucky when you logged back in you were in the dark right next to a grumpy poison elemental?). I agree that if Trammel had not been created, the game would probably be dead by now, and probably the same thing for AoS, although that might be more debatable (the game has far more depth and variety to it now compared to it's beginnings, in large part due to expansions like AoS and Modain's Legacy).

HOWEVER, having said that, there was something special and wonderful about those days. No matter how frustrating they were, there was a wonder to it back then, and a real sense of accomplishment whenever you succeeded at anything, that we will never get back (even if a pre-Trammel shard was created, it would never be the same). I've said this before many times as well, this was our first graphical MMORPG back then, partly because it was the first true MMO ever released, and we will never experience anything like that again (although, maybe the first time I am able to put on a helmet, or some goggles with ear pieces, and walk into a virtual world it will be a similar experience - that day is coming ).

 

[Azureal]

How could I forget...being accepted as a Counsellor Gms were cool back then. Long before Necro we'd all gather in the jails and the GMs would turn us into any mob we wanted. Lich was always my fave. Hehehe. Nowadays I see people in Lich form and it brings back memories.

Can remember one time the GMs turning themselves into serpents and porting themselves into Brit moat. Fun times. Being at a call with a player about something not working, and a GM turns up and flamestrikes me.

R.I.P Counsellor Finnigan!

 

[EnigmaMaitreya]

The severe Rubber Banding while they tried to figure out were / how to place the shards. Originally the servers were place geographically and were shortly consolidated in Austin.

At one point it was so bad you would be being killed while nothing was around you (so you thought) then your rubber banded back to were you ran from and understand why your being killed.

Being a Ghost in a Dungeon and it being totaly 100% black unless you were near some external light source. yeah people got lost, turned around and couldn't find their way back out to get rez'd.

The putting on a Leather Cap (or was it a tunic) and being immune to fire.

 

[SAVATAGE]

Not my first memory of UO.. but one of my favorites... Was during the Grape festival on Napa valley in Oh............ 1998 i think. I dueled Gm Nissa and won... was fun stuff...

 

[Crow]

Around 98, played off and on...usually sat in Brit tailoring and talking to people cause I was tired of getting chased down by reds when I would try and take on lizard men just outside of town. Was out exploring and spent like a half hour killing an ettin...I was so proud of myself, shortly there after someone ran by, I was still glowing...

Me: "I just killed an ettin!!"

Them: "...So?"

Me: *hangs head in shame and didn't play again for almost 2 years*

 

[Calla Lily]

Spending hours on end picking up regs around Moonglow...back before there was housing in Tram.

 

[Nenime]

Everyone's fondest memories are of being pK'd

No, no, not for me. From the very beginning being pk'd became part of my daily routine. I can proudly claim that I foolishly ran to every possible ambush ever put up by anybody.
"Attack me, I'm just trying something out" *WHACK*
"Yes, the moongate is safe" *WHACK*
"Please help me. I was robbed. Over there..." *WHACK*
and and and...
ah yes, I remeber this naked guy just outside of Britain. As I came by he strongly insulted me, giving me all kind of names. "Wait. Now I whack YOU!" I ran after him, I punched him once, he: "Guards", me: *WHACK*

 

[Azureal]

Spending hours on end picking up regs around Moonglow...back before there was housing in Tram.

hahaha, I can remember doing that too! There looked to be thousands of regs just on the floor, after an hour or so picking them up you usually had about 20 of each, hehehe.

Another memory...back before rune books, I used to sell individual runes. I sold them out of my bankbox in Moonglow mainly. Id load my pack up, and head down to the graveyard spamming RUNES FOR SALE! Funny thing was, I never got pkd once down there.

 

[Sneaky]

But I have to agree with one poster:
If you read through these responses, you begin to see a pattern. Everyone's fondest memories are of being pK'd or dying to some massively scary (or so it seemed) monster. It was a game with a lot of thrill that's just not there anymore. Now, there's an artificial division of experience. You can't *get* to the tough monsters or the risky quests or the crazy reds without first beefing yourself up in skills and stats...it all just feels so...optional.

QFT

It started with Trammel.

 

[Sneaky]

First thing I can remember of UO (sirca '98) was me running round the xroads area and hearing the shrill howl of a Ghoul... I was 12 at the time and it scared the **** out of me!! It didn't take our undead friend long to send me to grayscale hehe.

I also remember the pure adrenaline rush of being PKed, or trying to run away from PKs. When it was over you would take a step back and realize how fast your heart was racing. It was then I knew I would be playing UO for a looong time.

No other game has ever done it the way UO did, and still does, but sadly not to the same extent since... well, since, oh nevermind :/

 

[Ancient Sosarian]

Hiyas Folks,

I clicked the Gem on the Magical Chest...the intro movie played...that voice, those images...I was Hooked right there and then.

However, the rest is thankfully but a blurred forgotten memory until Lord British ordered the casting of the spell which Formed Trammel for me. I had bent his ear for month's...and filled his tankard with spiced ale for even longer...oer my Beloved Trammel was formed.

The rest...as they say...is HISTORY!

An SoS

 

[Frarc]

I was killed by a pig.

Attacked one and then noticed i was getting beaten. So i panicked and logged out and thought i dissapeared from the world. Then logged back in after a minute and find myself death!

 

[Ancient Sosarian]

Hail Folks,

I have read all the posts thus far and wish to comment on those refering to "pre-Tram" days.

I began playing Ultima Online shortly after its public release in September of 1997...and have played ever since.

Originally the only facet known to exist is what is now called Felucca. Some remember those days fondly...for a variety of reasons. Others hated those days...also for a variety of reasons. Player-Killers (P'kers) were initially small in number and many of this small number of folks were actually instruments of Justice...punishing those who misbehaved or were unable or unwilling to allow others to enjoy our world "their own way." However, over time increasingly P'Kers grew in numbers, banded together and developed state-of-the-art communications giving up any semblance of playing the game to become pure anti-social griefers.

Many factors including the situation I have just described was causing tens of thousands of subscribers to leave UO, most cancelling their subscriptions. In an attempt to "save the game (my characterization)," the existing facet was given the name Felucca, and it's close opposite was named Trammel & created.

Richard Garriott, both as UO's creator and as Lord British, has stated on numerous occassions that he NEVER intended for P'kers and griefers to overrun Britannia. It was an unintended consequence, though not totally unpredictable given our declining society and the game mechanics.

In an effort at "full disclosure & truth in re-telling the past," I declare openly I was no fan of Felucca by the time Trammel was formed. Few fans of UO have even been more fond of this world than I, yet even I was near calling it quits when Lord British intervened.

Others may share their versions and perspectives on the "pre-Tram" days. Mine is that IF upon log in, each character had to choose either non-consensual" or "consensual only" player v player combat, Trammel would NEVER have been necessary. Absent such an option, it was either Trammel or "turn off the servers."

Well, enough of this walk down memory lane.

Uo has ALWAYS been an awesome virtual world, deep & immersive, with vast choices, and remains so to the present day.

Today AND Tomorrow may be UO's finest ...if we players will but realize it and make it so.

An SoS

 

[Norrar]

crafting wooden shields under the trinsic gate watching the reds and blues fight each other.

 

[EnigmaMaitreya]

...
Mine is that IF upon log in, each character had to choose either non-consensual" or "consensual only" player v player combat, Trammel would NEVER have been necessary. Absent such an option, it was either Trammel or "turn off the servers."
...

Re characterized a bit, your option, in the Great PvP debate thread on CoB was referred to as a "PvP Switch". To which the immortal quote by DD (and I am sure he cringes now when he is reminded of it) "There will NOT be a PvP switch in UO. Only over my Dead Body will there be a PvP switch".

While he was still with OSI when Trammel went live, he was gone shortly there after to the SoE team to work on SoE's Star Wars, bringing the PvP knowledge with him. SWG is arguably a failure .....

The problem was not directly the PKr, the problem was DD embraced the Hacker, the Cheater, the Exploiter as components to the Evil that the PKr was supposed to be. He implicitly (who knows maybe explicitly) embraced the griefing nature of that kind of mind set. DD honestly thought he could "Control" them. DD and I did agree that for a community to self activate, become a real community, there needed/needs to be a sense of Evil. We, strongly disagreed on what could constitute the make up of that Evil presence. I suspect he has eventually come to the point of agreeing with me.

Nothing would revitalize UO today as effectively as a well played (AS IN ROLE PLAYED EVIL) PKr presence. The single greatest issue is how does one keep the Hacker, the Cheater, the Exploiter etc out of the game, leaving that role to people that can actually Role Play Evil and understand and accept when their presence is genuinely, seriously not wanted and simply leave the individual(s) alone.

In that same Great Debate, one of the proposals I made was a setting the player could set for each character.

1) Attack me and your character will be permanently deleted (AKA leave me alone)

2) Attack me and if I deem it was NOT entertaining or well Role Played your character will be permanently deleted (AKA Ok, I am open to PvP but only if it is entertaining / well Role Played)

3) Attack me, I will under no circumstance delete your character (AKA I am fair game, bring it on)

I still think the above would work wonders in any MMORPG.

Perhaps if OSI / EAM were to implement such a thing, but give the Role Played Evil a free account (or greatly reduced subscription rate) and a mechanism for the victim to remove them (aka invalidate the account) then maybe the Best of the PvP world could be re-vitalized in UO. The Role Played Evil would have incentive to be ... Socially aware / responsible and the player base would not feel ... powerless.

 

[dielock]

I remember my first day as if it was my first day.
I made my character and not knowing anything at all I walked out of town. I was instantly attacked and killed. I died about 10 times that day and ended up having nothing. Hehe what an idiot I was. If only I had read up on the game, I would have only died 5 times.

 

[Ken of Napa]

My first memories of UO are of exploring an amazing world, both confusing and exciting.

I remember traveling through the land and seeing a strange red man appear on screen, I stopped (puzzled) as he ran by, he then stopped and began running towards me. I'm still not sure why, but I decided that if he was running toward me I should run the opposite direction. After a couple minutes he gave up and I continued my journey.

However, my most embarrassing moment came when I entered a small houst just North of the Brit Graveyard. Upon entering I saw people lining the entire wall facing the enterior room. I was sure that I had inturupted some ultra secret (no-one said anything to me) and ultra important meeting. I stammerd my apologies and left, never understanding about vendors.

 

[Nenime]

I remember my first day as if it was my first day.

A statement of stunning logic.

 

[Azazel of LA]

I remember my first day as if it was my first day.

A statement of stunning logic.

that one got me too

 

[Calla Lily]

If only I had read up on the game, I would have only died 5 times.

hehe

My introduction to the game was by a friend who had already been playing in Fel, but I started playing in Tram and didn't understand the difference in the rulesets. Every time a tamer would walk by with a pet dragon in tow, I'd run the other direction (they were scary!) I was paranoid at the bank that if someone stood close to me, they could steal my stuff. When Trammel was going to get housing (which kept getting pushed back), I didn't understand that we could only place houses in empty places. I was talking to a friend about this when a vet interrupted and told me I'd have to chop trees down to make an open spot to place a house in...and I spent a very frustrating half hour trying to do just that, but the trees never disappeared! I was a total doofus

 

[Nenime]

Anyone remember "ImaNewbie"? His adventures were so hilariously funny ...and took a lot of frustration from me. At last someone struggling against the same unfavourabilities rolleyes:

http://www.imanewbie.com/loband/lo-ima-frameset.shtml -> the Toons

The introduction on http://www.imanewbie.com/loband/lo-idx-frameset.shtml is exactly the topic we are talking about.