A Wicked UO Weekend
As soon as I saw the Chicago Town Hall meeting posted on the UO Herald was getting closer to the date, I called my best friend Ellen and said, “let’s make a weekend out of it.” Ellen has played UO for exactly one day. The day we had an in game memorial for a friend I made online, never met and grieved for, she logged into an account I bought for her. She wanted to be a part of it then and decided to be a part of it this time too. It’s always fun explaining to an “outsider” the community of players that get together not just in game but at conventions and smaller venues like Dave & Busters. So plans set and getting over the fact that I am a goddess only in a game, the real me hopped on the train Chicago bound.
Arriving at Dave & Busters I was excited to meet everyone including Jeremy Dalberg and Patrick “Leurocian” Malott. Leurocian was standing outside the room and though I so desperately wanted to go tackle him, he was busy talking to someone and I decided I could pounce later. I exchanged a friendly smile and we made our way in to sign up and receive a free UO T-shirt. The food looked great by buffet standards and I nervously looked around the room for someone to look familiar but alas no one in leather armor with names dangling over their head could be found.
Getting started:
Whispering Rose Radio was set up and ready to go, making a few adjustments here and there. Remembering what it’s like to sit in game and wait for the meet up to start while sitting at the D&B on Lake Superior shard, I was suddenly more grateful for all the hard work the staff at WRR put into this for us. Never again will I curse the static or feedback while I sit in the comfort of my own home listening.
WRR:
Jeremy got us started with what to expect with publish 56 and some Five on Saturday notes to make up for the lost FoF a day earlier that caused a posting frenzy. The Five on Saturday included the 11th Anniversary Promotion leaked from Japan, notes on Magincia, Halloween and Gardening to name a few.
Leurocian took over to discuss the SA expansion dealing with Mysticism and what to expect with the skill title Mystic as a new school of magic, the spells, enchanting, and specials associated with it. Imbuing is a big part of SA as a boost for crafters to take part in a new magical crafting skill. We all listened intently and I could imagine the questions forming in our heads immediately on what could go wrong as dedicated UO players often do. It felt like much of this was already anticipated with balancing skills for SA which is a good feeling. Beta will be a fun one for sure.
Notes on Mysticism:
Opening up to questions and discussion, you should be aware the room was not filled nor was it empty and I think we made up a good percentage of most skills and play styles. The players sitting in on Lake Superior added much to discussion too. The “PvP” table from Great Lakes, as I affectionately called them knew the finer points of problems beyond the red gate. There was a lot of discussion on the expansion, crafting, problems that could arise exclusive to Siege/Mugen, and many of the old standby questions on things like the virtue system and other skills getting some love.
QA in Chicago:
and in game:
At one point during the Q/A part of the meet up, Jeremy and Leurocian were presented with a gift box as an 11th Anniversary present “created” by Tancred RedStar. Inside was not an IOU cake, but a cake with cherry topping and stamped with an Exceptional 1 Stone weight Happy Anniversary message. It was a very nice touch and creatively done!
Gift box presented:
After bringing the meeting to a close with a few last questions, we were able to get some pictures and have more one on one discussions with Jeremy and Leurocian. When I asked Leurocian what his inspiration behind developing mysticism was he reflectively said ultimately it was lore. Looking back to the lore of UO but also to the present with our current gaming and how it influences skills. It looks to be a good marriage of the two with a lot of thought and hard work put into it. Maintaining a balance towards PvP and PvM has always been a challenge but with his reputation for working with the players and relying on feedback, I am confidant in his ability to lead the way on this and excited to test him and the dev team to the limits.
As someone who loves my UO community, it was a great pleasure to meet Jeremy and give her a hug of well wishes as our liaison and board warrior. Her comment to me that she enjoys meet ups because it’s a good reminder that there are these real people who love this game makes it worth the effort they all put into it. I like that meeting someone face to face makes it personal, there is no reason to be rude or abrasive in getting your opinion across on the forums any more than standing right in front of her. She is just a girl, who loves a game asking us not necessarily to love her but love UO and keep it going. (Ok that totally plagiarized off Notting Hill but whatever.)
To “Oddjob” and “Sheba” of LS, it was so fun to meet you outside or our shard Monday night meet ups and to the ladies of Chessy, it was a treat to get to talk to you afterwards and find we have mutual friends!
I finished off my weekend with Ellen, who was very impressed with her 2nd interaction with UO players, doing what she enjoys and went to see the play Wicked at the Oriental Theatre the next day. We slept in our UO t-shirts when we stayed at the Rafaello on E. Lake and Delaware that allowed for an early Sunday morning walk along the Michigan Lake shoreline. I won’t go into details of the trouble we got into Saturday night after the meet up because as my designated chaperone for the weekend she failed miserably much to my enjoyment! So that is my Wicked UO weekend and now I look forward to going out and buying me some elf ears and trekking er tracking down future meet ups for Ultima Online.
Airmid and Leurocian:
UOD/TDR of Great Lakes:
Leurocian and Mike *hopes Mike is correct after meeting so many*
*sucks it up and posts the "eye blink" to get Oddjobs (Ramses) and Sheba of LS in here*:
Leurocian and Jeremy:
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