Veritas Aequitas
Lets start with the name of the guild. Veritas Aequitas.
What does it mean, and how did it come to be your guild name?
Veritas Aequitas is Latin for truth and justice. The name was suggested by a friend of mine, we were the original two members. We left a guild after a long string of drama and mismanagement made it no longer fun to be a member. I originally started this guild with the goal of "a tight, small group of friends, working for one objective all at once". Doesn't matter whether that objective is PVP or PVM, I think we've done a fair job of sticking to that goal. Our stance on drama is "get over it, bury it or get out". I try to be involved with all my members very closely and know how they feel about what's going on. Knowing about their personal lives is important too. If I'm gonna spend 4-6 hours a day with these people, they are as much my friends as face to face friends. I'm pretty much available for my guild to contact by ICQ/text/phone any time I'm not sleeping.
*VA seems to enjoy UO on quite a large scope, what are all of the activities you all enjoy in UO. Which one do you enjoy the most and why?
We like working fel champ spawns. I think that's what we do best. Sometimes we do peerlesses, but they get boring quick. Sometimes we just like to PVP, or pop a harrower at the weirdest times to see who shows up. During the crystalline blackrock golem invasion we decided it was lame, so we popped a harrower which immediately was called out in general chat by a spy. Turned into an epic 6 hour battle, which we didn't win. But we did get a +25 and some lesser scrolls so it was worth the single skull of enlightenment I dropped to summon. I'm willing to impromptu ally with most guilds to run a harrower any time if they seem honorable. It's a good way to quickly evaluate another guild's potential for future activities.
*VA has a total of 88 members right now. How long has the guild been around? Have you, Nemesis, always been the GM? and how did all of these 88 characters come to find *VA as their home?
I've always been the GM and started it in March 2010, but I encourage everyone to lead too. Most of them are friends of mine from hunting, previous guilds, or just people we meet. I don't aggressively recruit and I'm picky about who we bring in, and more picky about who we keep. I don't really care if somebody is the best player if they are a good person and function well with the guild, and don't whine when they die. We have a lot of emissaries that are free to recruit people they feel would be a good match. Not many people join us and leave after, but it happens with a few. We ideally want players that are active prime timers, meaning 8pm-midnight EST on weekdays. We take in 2-4 new members per week, mostly picked up by me, approved by me, or evaluated by accompanying us during hunts until we know them well. Sometimes I pick up members via e-mail or ICQ, usually returning veterans looking to join a guild like ours. I always welcome returning veterans that seem cool. You will never see us aggressively recruiting like UWF or LLTS. Size isn't our priority, and I predict in 6 more months we'll be in the top 10 guilds by member number anyway, barring unforeseen tragic stuff. Setbacks can happen sometimes, we roll with the punches.
*VA tends to play UO in the more social areas (Felucca). Do you see the need to develop allies and friends in this day in age. Tell of of some of the friends and foes you have met in your travles and adventures.
Allies and friends in Felucca come and go. Our guild is honorable. If we say somebody can work a spawn with us we don't gank them after. If my people start betraying other people it's a serious issue. I try to be social with everyone, even the people who raid us. We have non-aggression agreements with many guilds, and just an understood friendship with some players in guilds that we don't have agreements with but they run with us because their guild is slow, dead, or just not the type of play focus they want.
I talk to the more mature guildmasters of some guilds via ICQ and always welcome more friends, even if we're fighting against them, it's nice to be able to say "hey nice raid" or "heh missed our scroll carrier tonight sucka!". All in good fun. It's also good to know if my members do something noteworthy, good or bad, to another guild. I think that should be a goal for all guildmasters. I have a lot of respect for ZOG, MAN^, EMP, TDT, MM... these are guilds that are honorable and won't lie to backstab us later. HOT/HEAT tends to be honorable with us as well, and sometimes we work spawns with small groups of them and they won't call in a raid on us.
There are just some guilds you can't trust, and a few we don't attempt to be cordial with anymore, like HH!, Black Tower and Ni. These are a result of severe past betrayals. As a guild we don't generally hold grudges, and I'm always willing to forgive and forget if there is a chance of improving the experience for everyone.
Why do you play Ultima Online? What got you started here?
I am 27 years old and played all the Ultima games when I was a child. I started UO in beta on Pacific and helped lead a PVP guild with 400 members, played Atlantic around 2000-2003, then left for 5 years for real life and sold or gave away all but my weakest account. I came back in 2008 on Atlantic with one mil to my name, a ton of no longer necessary reagents in the bank, and 5 characters that had outdated templates. I realized a few years ago that I'm too old and slow to rock these teenage kids anymore, now I have to use my wits, and not be sensitive about my ego.
Is there anything you want to say to other Ultima Online players?
If you're still nerdraging you are the best pvper in UO but died because you got ganked 7v1, you might need a more interesting girlfriend. Try to respect the other players in the game, even the annoying ones. These MMOs run by subscriptions and if everyone is a jerk the game will die. I think UO has existed for so long because they've revitalized PVM as well as PVP, so people can play nice, or mean, or both. Trash talking is best dealt with by the use of the ignore button in the game, or just knowing the guy going off on the other side of the keyboard is 40 years old still living in his parents' basement and getting emotional over a video game.
Oh yeah, and some people should turn off the cheatengine and stumphack. It's so obvious, they're lucky the GMs don't watch closer.
Lets start with the name of the guild. Veritas Aequitas.
What does it mean, and how did it come to be your guild name?
Veritas Aequitas is Latin for truth and justice. The name was suggested by a friend of mine, we were the original two members. We left a guild after a long string of drama and mismanagement made it no longer fun to be a member. I originally started this guild with the goal of "a tight, small group of friends, working for one objective all at once". Doesn't matter whether that objective is PVP or PVM, I think we've done a fair job of sticking to that goal. Our stance on drama is "get over it, bury it or get out". I try to be involved with all my members very closely and know how they feel about what's going on. Knowing about their personal lives is important too. If I'm gonna spend 4-6 hours a day with these people, they are as much my friends as face to face friends. I'm pretty much available for my guild to contact by ICQ/text/phone any time I'm not sleeping.
*VA seems to enjoy UO on quite a large scope, what are all of the activities you all enjoy in UO. Which one do you enjoy the most and why?
We like working fel champ spawns. I think that's what we do best. Sometimes we do peerlesses, but they get boring quick. Sometimes we just like to PVP, or pop a harrower at the weirdest times to see who shows up. During the crystalline blackrock golem invasion we decided it was lame, so we popped a harrower which immediately was called out in general chat by a spy. Turned into an epic 6 hour battle, which we didn't win. But we did get a +25 and some lesser scrolls so it was worth the single skull of enlightenment I dropped to summon. I'm willing to impromptu ally with most guilds to run a harrower any time if they seem honorable. It's a good way to quickly evaluate another guild's potential for future activities.
*VA has a total of 88 members right now. How long has the guild been around? Have you, Nemesis, always been the GM? and how did all of these 88 characters come to find *VA as their home?
I've always been the GM and started it in March 2010, but I encourage everyone to lead too. Most of them are friends of mine from hunting, previous guilds, or just people we meet. I don't aggressively recruit and I'm picky about who we bring in, and more picky about who we keep. I don't really care if somebody is the best player if they are a good person and function well with the guild, and don't whine when they die. We have a lot of emissaries that are free to recruit people they feel would be a good match. Not many people join us and leave after, but it happens with a few. We ideally want players that are active prime timers, meaning 8pm-midnight EST on weekdays. We take in 2-4 new members per week, mostly picked up by me, approved by me, or evaluated by accompanying us during hunts until we know them well. Sometimes I pick up members via e-mail or ICQ, usually returning veterans looking to join a guild like ours. I always welcome returning veterans that seem cool. You will never see us aggressively recruiting like UWF or LLTS. Size isn't our priority, and I predict in 6 more months we'll be in the top 10 guilds by member number anyway, barring unforeseen tragic stuff. Setbacks can happen sometimes, we roll with the punches.
*VA tends to play UO in the more social areas (Felucca). Do you see the need to develop allies and friends in this day in age. Tell of of some of the friends and foes you have met in your travles and adventures.
Allies and friends in Felucca come and go. Our guild is honorable. If we say somebody can work a spawn with us we don't gank them after. If my people start betraying other people it's a serious issue. I try to be social with everyone, even the people who raid us. We have non-aggression agreements with many guilds, and just an understood friendship with some players in guilds that we don't have agreements with but they run with us because their guild is slow, dead, or just not the type of play focus they want.
I talk to the more mature guildmasters of some guilds via ICQ and always welcome more friends, even if we're fighting against them, it's nice to be able to say "hey nice raid" or "heh missed our scroll carrier tonight sucka!". All in good fun. It's also good to know if my members do something noteworthy, good or bad, to another guild. I think that should be a goal for all guildmasters. I have a lot of respect for ZOG, MAN^, EMP, TDT, MM... these are guilds that are honorable and won't lie to backstab us later. HOT/HEAT tends to be honorable with us as well, and sometimes we work spawns with small groups of them and they won't call in a raid on us.
There are just some guilds you can't trust, and a few we don't attempt to be cordial with anymore, like HH!, Black Tower and Ni. These are a result of severe past betrayals. As a guild we don't generally hold grudges, and I'm always willing to forgive and forget if there is a chance of improving the experience for everyone.
Why do you play Ultima Online? What got you started here?
I am 27 years old and played all the Ultima games when I was a child. I started UO in beta on Pacific and helped lead a PVP guild with 400 members, played Atlantic around 2000-2003, then left for 5 years for real life and sold or gave away all but my weakest account. I came back in 2008 on Atlantic with one mil to my name, a ton of no longer necessary reagents in the bank, and 5 characters that had outdated templates. I realized a few years ago that I'm too old and slow to rock these teenage kids anymore, now I have to use my wits, and not be sensitive about my ego.
Is there anything you want to say to other Ultima Online players?
If you're still nerdraging you are the best pvper in UO but died because you got ganked 7v1, you might need a more interesting girlfriend. Try to respect the other players in the game, even the annoying ones. These MMOs run by subscriptions and if everyone is a jerk the game will die. I think UO has existed for so long because they've revitalized PVM as well as PVP, so people can play nice, or mean, or both. Trash talking is best dealt with by the use of the ignore button in the game, or just knowing the guy going off on the other side of the keyboard is 40 years old still living in his parents' basement and getting emotional over a video game.
Oh yeah, and some people should turn off the cheatengine and stumphack. It's so obvious, they're lucky the GMs don't watch closer.
