I was seaching the web and found some memeries there. I'm going to make a book telling about Safe Haven for our town banner.
I found some pieces, in the first one, I was lucky to find the story of Safe Haven, writing of the founder of the town.
I found the story here: https://shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/uo-siege-perilous-and-roleplayed-pvp.3239/
Safe Haven was started of Shaar Barista, here is his own words:
Fast forward to the opening of the Siege Perilous shard. I was excited that it would be a return to the "classic" UO...the one which Oasis had inspired me. I decided I wanted to really be on the forefront of a new player town on Siege. So I convinced a friend of mine to join me decided that we would claim the npc building (not that you could actually "claim" anything) at the crossroads out of town as our own and defend it as such and eventually build our homes. My character was Shaar Barista and the name I gave the town was: Safe Haven.
When creating Safe Haven, I and we gave it a few Roleplay rules to make it interesting for us all. Sorta like a gritty Wild West bar, Safe Haven would be friendly to all players regardless of the flagging as a good guy or bad guy. A "red" character who was clearly a murderer was welcome just as much as a "blue" character who was "good". In Safe Haven, only your actions within town mattered to us. No fighting was allowed. If you started a fight and killed someone then you would be on the "Kill on Sight" list no matter who you were.
With those roleplay rules in place, we took up shop at the crossroads and began telling all players who came by that this was Safe Haven and doing all we can to make them feel welcome. I posted on all the the UO forums at the time and began doing any kind of events we could dream up. For Siege Perilous, being that many players were banned from NPC towns, and could never participate in any events in those NPC towns...Safe Haven represented a place that they could.
In a short time, we had several houses placed around "town" and got some notoriety. Some players came out and joined us as citizens and others as "town guards". We formed a town government with a Mayor and Sherriff. We recruited players interested in trade to place vendors in Safe Haven tower for free while we made sure they knew it was risk vs reward. There were plenty of enemies of Safe Haven who would attack us and of course we would defend ourselves the best we could.
The defense we made for the town began to take notice from other players and guilds of the server. We engaged all that entered the town into these politics of defending the idea of SH. Eventually most major guilds on SP had pledge its support of Safe Haven. This didnt mean though that all was fine and peaceful. At one point, a major guild who you might of heard of...the Knights of Glory and Beer got themselves on the KOS list of Safe Haven for killing a "red" player in our town borders. Sure they made had killed a bad "PK", however they had broke the town laws. As so, whenever the KGB would enter town, we would either killl them or drive them off. We also engaged into the politics of that matter with KGB and its leaders. Eventually a cease-fire was declared and they were allowed into town again. This happened with all guilds of SP at one point or another.
As time went on, we held town elections that involved the entire shard/server, held major events and gave out countless prizes. Got the attention of the Seers who provided storylines for the town against evil Lizards nearby. Safe Haven also started a guild called NEW which was a recuitment tool for Siege Perilous, so that new players who wanted to try the server could get off the ground by providing gear and safe passage. We got most all the major guilds of Siege to not attack members of NEW as long as they didnt "farm" certain locations or engage in pvp while in the guild. Imagine that, a PvP enable area that was more eventful than anywhere else in game and was managed by player justice.
Why does all this matter though? This matters because it showed that you can Roleplay and give reason to PvP without out it being all negative. The excitement of living and playing in Safe Haven would not be possiblile without it being a "PvP enabled" area. At a glance, I was simply a bad "red" PK when I was really a color blind guardian who judged players on their actions in my town.
What is great about this story about Safe Haven, is that despite it being created in 1999, and years since i've even played UO....the area that I personally named Safe Haven is still regarded as so and even the NEW guild is still around. The ability to lay a mark in a MMO like that is truly awesome and sorta gives you immortality.
Now lets see if I find more useful in the next links I will find.
In next link, I found a lot great Siege history, sadly many names and images are lost.
http://stratics.com/community/threads/history-of-siege.46815/
In next link, I again found a nice piece of Siege History, not Safe Haven but still east Brit
https://shroudoftheavatar.com/forum...thoughts-after-markeedragons-roundtable.9528/
When I joined the Ultima Online world, it was shortly before Trammel was
introduced. As a newbie in Felucca I was very timid about PK's. It was very
annoying to be with new friends, who were trying to show me around, having fun
and then just getting ganked by 6 naked mages blasting E-bolt. I also wanted a
house, so Trammel was enticing to me. But when it opened up, I enjoyed my new
log cabin and complete safety and lack of immersion for all of about 2 months. I
found myself on Siege Perilous after reading about the rules there.
Now I was in military barracks at the time and we had a really bad internet
provider with only dial up. Bad dial up. So I had a very hard time in PVP. But I
eventually learned to enjoy it. The reward of gameplay with everything being
harder, everything meaning more, and the community there really made it worth
the extra danger and struggles and set backs.
One point I'd like to make is that, on average, the player killers were more mature
there. And their motives were somewhat different. PVP'ers who came to Siege, were
making the decision to go to a "Veteran Server" where they couldn't prey on easy
targets. While there was some "red vs. blue" it was much less pronounced on Siege
and battles usually had more to do with politics or reputation or land disputes and
both sides would have a mix of red and blue. As you found your niche and gained
some notoriety based on who you ran with, you found random reds who don't
know you would leave you alone, or attempt to role play with you. And blue "good"
players would not attack a red player on sight if they had no reason. Especially if
there were guilds involved because you might be causing a political problem for
your guild.
I moved out to a small open house spot near Cove and after running into members
from the player town of House Lynn'Dannae a few times I began to learn I'd found
my new friends. Kira Lynn'Dannae, the High Lady was very nice, but sometimes I
would run into the evil (and red) drow who was very involved in town defense. She
would size me up, be rude and distant. But never killed me for no reason just to
take my stuff and taunt me. Eventually I joined the House Lynn'Dannae and those
are the best times I've ever had in an MMO. Battling the outcast orcs to the south
(players who had been outcast from Shadowclan for whatever reason), but also
making treaties to somewhat live in peace out of necessity. There were two anti-
social PK's that lived to the north that loved to come gank us with "less than legal
means" at times. Dang those guys were fast. But it was fun. I set up a supply house
in town with decent gear easy to grab for the whole guild. So we could jump right
back into battle if we died while defending. I often did due to my slow speed
connection but I could get back into battle and assist my guildmates who were on
faster connections much quicker by planning ahead and setting up that supply
house. I learned not to care so much about dying to a PK, because it was fun.
Sometimes when I was bored and none of my friends were on. I would travel out to
the Shadowclan orc fort by myself, knowing I was eventually going to die to their
numbers. But I was giving them something to do and they were giving me
something to do. They didn't ride horses, to role play orcs and make it more
realistic... knowing it made them much weaker in PVP. And I would go there alone
knowing I would have a disadvantage against there numbers. I would take down 1
or 2 or 3 (after some fun words with the grunting orcs) with the advantage of my
horse, and only loot their weapon. When they finally took me down, they'd only
loot my regeants (to neutralize me) and food and cut up my horse (because orcs
would do that). There was a reason for it all... Roleplay and fun. They'd leave me
some gate regeants usually and I'd be on my merry way and not mess with them
again for a few days.
It was just so much more rewarding than the red vs. blue gank fest with all the
trash talk that meant nothing. And it was a lot of fun.
But I had to get over my fear of losing stuff, or feeling bad because I was bested by
someone who might be a better player than me, or have more game skills, or even a
cheat hack.
Eventually I found more enjoyment than have had in a game before or since. But I
had to get out there and be a part of it.
There were times when it was frustrating, yes. I'd get ganked and lose a lot of stuff,
call for my guild and allies to try to get revenge and track the guy down.
Sometimes we were successful and sometimes not.
A lot of times when I was still on dial up I'd just think of my character as a better
opponent for other players than the NPC's. Even if I died I'm providing fun and
immersion for those other players.
And so when Richard Garriott mentioned that in Markee's round table it really
struck a cord with me. It's not so much up to him and the devs to figure out a way to
lure players into the full open world dangerous content beyond making the
mechanics and rewards/punishments most conducive for everyone. I think it comes
down to the players and how they view the game. How they think about their
character, for "carebears", PK's and Anti-pk's alike.
Is it really so bad to die to "The Dread Captain Awesome" and lose some stuff if it
prompts you to seek out companions and work together? Or possibly to find a way
to negotiate with him? Amassing the most loot and the biggest house and all that is
fun and rewarding but there will always be someone who has more or is better than
you. I can still google "The White Council" or "LDH" and find references to my
character's name even though its been years. But there's no bank account total next
to it. Its memories of the things myself and those around me did. The most reward I
found is in the stories that emerge from social interactions and conflicts. And I'll
never regret the day I put down that bard/tamer in Trammel and joined the world
of Siege Perilous.
Rezulm, Apr 15, 2014
In next link, second year of Safe Haven, there are info about Safe Haven Mayors.
http://cruftbox.com/blog/archives/000071.html
RP on the "hard shard"
RP on the ‘hard shard’?
When Siege Perilous was started, many players stayed away. “It will all be PKs” is
what people said. The shard began and yes, the PKs showed up in full force. Anti-
PK teams were formed to combat them. Eventually the line between anti and PK
became blurred as former PKs joined the anti cause to fight blue members of PK
guilds. All the while, RP flourished with guilds of orcs, dwarves, undead of several
sorts, assorted empires, various religious orders, noble houses, and assassin guilds.
All of these guilds participated in the fighting. Alliances not based on anti or PK
were formed.
As time passed, the Renaissance changes occurred on the regular shards and the
Felucca facets seemed rather empty as PKs were confined and safety was
guaranteed in Trammel. On Siege, alliances rose and fell, guilds disappeared, red
or blue color no longer determined what kind of person a character was. Large scale
guild battles slowed in favor or more tactical ambushes and fast attacks. The town
of Safe Haven, founded in the shard’s earliest days, be came a hot point of battle
and conflict.
The town of Safe Haven was formed as a neutral ground for all players to meet and
buy good from a variety of vendors. The rule was no fighting in SH, everyone is
welcome. This broke down as determined grief players forced the formation of Safe
Haven defenses. Fighting occurs nightly between attackers and defenders.
Outside of Safe Haven, limited Faction fighting raged and guild wars continue
unabated. Numerous events occur from battles to control the Shadowclan’s Keep to
helping lost people with purple names find mysterious objects.
Currently, an election is taking place in Safe Haven for Mayor. The topic of mayor is
at the top of the discussion on the shard’s “war” messageboards at battlevortex.com.
Take a look at the candidates. BTW, the current mayor is Vaniir, a former PK and
member of GC, now leader Temple of the Ronin.
Debain Zataurous – former PK, advocates a strong defense with no mercy for SH
enemies
Kelly Kindred – advocate of relaxing the laws and for having tolerance on how
people play the game.
Gorg’da’guud – a partially deaf Shadowclan orc, advocates razing most Safe Haven
buildings and putting and end to the human’s practice of eating their children.
Ammar of NAO – member of an outlaw hillbilly guild that advocates reducing the
fighting and encouraging the vendors.
Glendor – leader of a anti-grief player guild, advocates the reduction of fighting
and the increase of shard wide events.
Of these candidates, most of them are red. All of them engage in roleplay and are
backed by groups in the various PvP alliances on the shard.
I submit to you that Siege Perilous, “the hard shard”, it actually the last bastion of
real roleplay in Ultima Online. Without the artificial restrictions of Trammel and
stat loss, the importance of guilds, alliances, and fights, takes on importance to
players in the game. Where else can groups claim and defend territory? Where else
are the top PvP guilds also strict roleplay guilds? Where else are players judged by
their actions and not their hue? Where else do the large guilds fund a guild run
specifically for the benefit of new players and PKs avoid attacking these new
players?
On Siege Perilous you find the player justice and real diplomacy that has been lost
in most online games. For the shard that was viewed as “PK heaven”, it has become
anything but.
Posted by michael at December 04, 2000 03:49 PM
The last link is not mush history yet, but may be. Enjoy
http://uothief.com/tales/ep0389.html
Freja
I found some pieces, in the first one, I was lucky to find the story of Safe Haven, writing of the founder of the town.
I found the story here: https://shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/uo-siege-perilous-and-roleplayed-pvp.3239/
Safe Haven was started of Shaar Barista, here is his own words:
Fast forward to the opening of the Siege Perilous shard. I was excited that it would be a return to the "classic" UO...the one which Oasis had inspired me. I decided I wanted to really be on the forefront of a new player town on Siege. So I convinced a friend of mine to join me decided that we would claim the npc building (not that you could actually "claim" anything) at the crossroads out of town as our own and defend it as such and eventually build our homes. My character was Shaar Barista and the name I gave the town was: Safe Haven.
When creating Safe Haven, I and we gave it a few Roleplay rules to make it interesting for us all. Sorta like a gritty Wild West bar, Safe Haven would be friendly to all players regardless of the flagging as a good guy or bad guy. A "red" character who was clearly a murderer was welcome just as much as a "blue" character who was "good". In Safe Haven, only your actions within town mattered to us. No fighting was allowed. If you started a fight and killed someone then you would be on the "Kill on Sight" list no matter who you were.
With those roleplay rules in place, we took up shop at the crossroads and began telling all players who came by that this was Safe Haven and doing all we can to make them feel welcome. I posted on all the the UO forums at the time and began doing any kind of events we could dream up. For Siege Perilous, being that many players were banned from NPC towns, and could never participate in any events in those NPC towns...Safe Haven represented a place that they could.
In a short time, we had several houses placed around "town" and got some notoriety. Some players came out and joined us as citizens and others as "town guards". We formed a town government with a Mayor and Sherriff. We recruited players interested in trade to place vendors in Safe Haven tower for free while we made sure they knew it was risk vs reward. There were plenty of enemies of Safe Haven who would attack us and of course we would defend ourselves the best we could.
The defense we made for the town began to take notice from other players and guilds of the server. We engaged all that entered the town into these politics of defending the idea of SH. Eventually most major guilds on SP had pledge its support of Safe Haven. This didnt mean though that all was fine and peaceful. At one point, a major guild who you might of heard of...the Knights of Glory and Beer got themselves on the KOS list of Safe Haven for killing a "red" player in our town borders. Sure they made had killed a bad "PK", however they had broke the town laws. As so, whenever the KGB would enter town, we would either killl them or drive them off. We also engaged into the politics of that matter with KGB and its leaders. Eventually a cease-fire was declared and they were allowed into town again. This happened with all guilds of SP at one point or another.
As time went on, we held town elections that involved the entire shard/server, held major events and gave out countless prizes. Got the attention of the Seers who provided storylines for the town against evil Lizards nearby. Safe Haven also started a guild called NEW which was a recuitment tool for Siege Perilous, so that new players who wanted to try the server could get off the ground by providing gear and safe passage. We got most all the major guilds of Siege to not attack members of NEW as long as they didnt "farm" certain locations or engage in pvp while in the guild. Imagine that, a PvP enable area that was more eventful than anywhere else in game and was managed by player justice.
Why does all this matter though? This matters because it showed that you can Roleplay and give reason to PvP without out it being all negative. The excitement of living and playing in Safe Haven would not be possiblile without it being a "PvP enabled" area. At a glance, I was simply a bad "red" PK when I was really a color blind guardian who judged players on their actions in my town.
What is great about this story about Safe Haven, is that despite it being created in 1999, and years since i've even played UO....the area that I personally named Safe Haven is still regarded as so and even the NEW guild is still around. The ability to lay a mark in a MMO like that is truly awesome and sorta gives you immortality.
Now lets see if I find more useful in the next links I will find.
In next link, I found a lot great Siege history, sadly many names and images are lost.
http://stratics.com/community/threads/history-of-siege.46815/
In next link, I again found a nice piece of Siege History, not Safe Haven but still east Brit
https://shroudoftheavatar.com/forum...thoughts-after-markeedragons-roundtable.9528/
When I joined the Ultima Online world, it was shortly before Trammel was
introduced. As a newbie in Felucca I was very timid about PK's. It was very
annoying to be with new friends, who were trying to show me around, having fun
and then just getting ganked by 6 naked mages blasting E-bolt. I also wanted a
house, so Trammel was enticing to me. But when it opened up, I enjoyed my new
log cabin and complete safety and lack of immersion for all of about 2 months. I
found myself on Siege Perilous after reading about the rules there.
Now I was in military barracks at the time and we had a really bad internet
provider with only dial up. Bad dial up. So I had a very hard time in PVP. But I
eventually learned to enjoy it. The reward of gameplay with everything being
harder, everything meaning more, and the community there really made it worth
the extra danger and struggles and set backs.
One point I'd like to make is that, on average, the player killers were more mature
there. And their motives were somewhat different. PVP'ers who came to Siege, were
making the decision to go to a "Veteran Server" where they couldn't prey on easy
targets. While there was some "red vs. blue" it was much less pronounced on Siege
and battles usually had more to do with politics or reputation or land disputes and
both sides would have a mix of red and blue. As you found your niche and gained
some notoriety based on who you ran with, you found random reds who don't
know you would leave you alone, or attempt to role play with you. And blue "good"
players would not attack a red player on sight if they had no reason. Especially if
there were guilds involved because you might be causing a political problem for
your guild.
I moved out to a small open house spot near Cove and after running into members
from the player town of House Lynn'Dannae a few times I began to learn I'd found
my new friends. Kira Lynn'Dannae, the High Lady was very nice, but sometimes I
would run into the evil (and red) drow who was very involved in town defense. She
would size me up, be rude and distant. But never killed me for no reason just to
take my stuff and taunt me. Eventually I joined the House Lynn'Dannae and those
are the best times I've ever had in an MMO. Battling the outcast orcs to the south
(players who had been outcast from Shadowclan for whatever reason), but also
making treaties to somewhat live in peace out of necessity. There were two anti-
social PK's that lived to the north that loved to come gank us with "less than legal
means" at times. Dang those guys were fast. But it was fun. I set up a supply house
in town with decent gear easy to grab for the whole guild. So we could jump right
back into battle if we died while defending. I often did due to my slow speed
connection but I could get back into battle and assist my guildmates who were on
faster connections much quicker by planning ahead and setting up that supply
house. I learned not to care so much about dying to a PK, because it was fun.
Sometimes when I was bored and none of my friends were on. I would travel out to
the Shadowclan orc fort by myself, knowing I was eventually going to die to their
numbers. But I was giving them something to do and they were giving me
something to do. They didn't ride horses, to role play orcs and make it more
realistic... knowing it made them much weaker in PVP. And I would go there alone
knowing I would have a disadvantage against there numbers. I would take down 1
or 2 or 3 (after some fun words with the grunting orcs) with the advantage of my
horse, and only loot their weapon. When they finally took me down, they'd only
loot my regeants (to neutralize me) and food and cut up my horse (because orcs
would do that). There was a reason for it all... Roleplay and fun. They'd leave me
some gate regeants usually and I'd be on my merry way and not mess with them
again for a few days.
It was just so much more rewarding than the red vs. blue gank fest with all the
trash talk that meant nothing. And it was a lot of fun.
But I had to get over my fear of losing stuff, or feeling bad because I was bested by
someone who might be a better player than me, or have more game skills, or even a
cheat hack.
Eventually I found more enjoyment than have had in a game before or since. But I
had to get out there and be a part of it.
There were times when it was frustrating, yes. I'd get ganked and lose a lot of stuff,
call for my guild and allies to try to get revenge and track the guy down.
Sometimes we were successful and sometimes not.
A lot of times when I was still on dial up I'd just think of my character as a better
opponent for other players than the NPC's. Even if I died I'm providing fun and
immersion for those other players.
And so when Richard Garriott mentioned that in Markee's round table it really
struck a cord with me. It's not so much up to him and the devs to figure out a way to
lure players into the full open world dangerous content beyond making the
mechanics and rewards/punishments most conducive for everyone. I think it comes
down to the players and how they view the game. How they think about their
character, for "carebears", PK's and Anti-pk's alike.
Is it really so bad to die to "The Dread Captain Awesome" and lose some stuff if it
prompts you to seek out companions and work together? Or possibly to find a way
to negotiate with him? Amassing the most loot and the biggest house and all that is
fun and rewarding but there will always be someone who has more or is better than
you. I can still google "The White Council" or "LDH" and find references to my
character's name even though its been years. But there's no bank account total next
to it. Its memories of the things myself and those around me did. The most reward I
found is in the stories that emerge from social interactions and conflicts. And I'll
never regret the day I put down that bard/tamer in Trammel and joined the world
of Siege Perilous.
Rezulm, Apr 15, 2014
In next link, second year of Safe Haven, there are info about Safe Haven Mayors.
http://cruftbox.com/blog/archives/000071.html
RP on the "hard shard"
RP on the ‘hard shard’?
When Siege Perilous was started, many players stayed away. “It will all be PKs” is
what people said. The shard began and yes, the PKs showed up in full force. Anti-
PK teams were formed to combat them. Eventually the line between anti and PK
became blurred as former PKs joined the anti cause to fight blue members of PK
guilds. All the while, RP flourished with guilds of orcs, dwarves, undead of several
sorts, assorted empires, various religious orders, noble houses, and assassin guilds.
All of these guilds participated in the fighting. Alliances not based on anti or PK
were formed.
As time passed, the Renaissance changes occurred on the regular shards and the
Felucca facets seemed rather empty as PKs were confined and safety was
guaranteed in Trammel. On Siege, alliances rose and fell, guilds disappeared, red
or blue color no longer determined what kind of person a character was. Large scale
guild battles slowed in favor or more tactical ambushes and fast attacks. The town
of Safe Haven, founded in the shard’s earliest days, be came a hot point of battle
and conflict.
The town of Safe Haven was formed as a neutral ground for all players to meet and
buy good from a variety of vendors. The rule was no fighting in SH, everyone is
welcome. This broke down as determined grief players forced the formation of Safe
Haven defenses. Fighting occurs nightly between attackers and defenders.
Outside of Safe Haven, limited Faction fighting raged and guild wars continue
unabated. Numerous events occur from battles to control the Shadowclan’s Keep to
helping lost people with purple names find mysterious objects.
Currently, an election is taking place in Safe Haven for Mayor. The topic of mayor is
at the top of the discussion on the shard’s “war” messageboards at battlevortex.com.
Take a look at the candidates. BTW, the current mayor is Vaniir, a former PK and
member of GC, now leader Temple of the Ronin.
Debain Zataurous – former PK, advocates a strong defense with no mercy for SH
enemies
Kelly Kindred – advocate of relaxing the laws and for having tolerance on how
people play the game.
Gorg’da’guud – a partially deaf Shadowclan orc, advocates razing most Safe Haven
buildings and putting and end to the human’s practice of eating their children.
Ammar of NAO – member of an outlaw hillbilly guild that advocates reducing the
fighting and encouraging the vendors.
Glendor – leader of a anti-grief player guild, advocates the reduction of fighting
and the increase of shard wide events.
Of these candidates, most of them are red. All of them engage in roleplay and are
backed by groups in the various PvP alliances on the shard.
I submit to you that Siege Perilous, “the hard shard”, it actually the last bastion of
real roleplay in Ultima Online. Without the artificial restrictions of Trammel and
stat loss, the importance of guilds, alliances, and fights, takes on importance to
players in the game. Where else can groups claim and defend territory? Where else
are the top PvP guilds also strict roleplay guilds? Where else are players judged by
their actions and not their hue? Where else do the large guilds fund a guild run
specifically for the benefit of new players and PKs avoid attacking these new
players?
On Siege Perilous you find the player justice and real diplomacy that has been lost
in most online games. For the shard that was viewed as “PK heaven”, it has become
anything but.
Posted by michael at December 04, 2000 03:49 PM
The last link is not mush history yet, but may be. Enjoy
http://uothief.com/tales/ep0389.html
Freja
Last edited:
I'm glad he did like all my cats and their meow, when he moved around in my Castle.
