What made you....

[War of the Roses]

Multi-part question

What made you create your very first char the way you did? When you first looked at that list of options, what went through your mind...perhaps you did as I did when I created my very first character.

~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~
*stares at the list*
Hmmm...magery...that is a definate option...
OHHH! I could be a good witch!
*looks at the list again*
Swordsmanship...that isnt very ladylike...but then again..there is always Xena as a fine female role model for would be warrior goddesses...
*tries in vain to figure out why herding is on the list*
Spirit Speak..sounds like a noble profession.
*scrolls through them one last time*
Ok...so I pick...hmmm...Hiding...I am sure I will have to hide alot...I wish that was an option on Diablo...I am most certainly intruiged by this spirit speak...perhaps I will give it a shot...Oh...I need some way to fight!
*scrolls though the list one last time*
Magery...yup thats the ticket...
*clicks the little button*
OHHH I can pick what I look like...how nifty!...hmmm Yellow hair, they say blondes have more fun, and hell this way I dont have to worry about messing up the dye job...purple...yes purple clothes...quite a stunning combination if I do say so myself...
*my son who is sitting beside me at the moment starts laughing, and in hindsight I know why..."Mom, you look like a dork"..kids say the darndest things*
Name...name...name...Ma...No...dont want to use my real name...How about...Ohhh I got it! My ad&d characters name.....Auburn Rose...

And so the creation of my very first char.

Part 2

What was you first reaction when you actually logged in?

*wanders aimlessly around Haven, neon purple clothes donned upon ghastly pale skin and hidiously yellow hair*

*walks to the edge of town*

You may want to train more before leaving the town.

YIKES *scurries back to town*

Hey...what is the blue glowing thing....

*steps jauntily through the throbbing blue light*

HOLY....*stares in awe and watches people talking, the (young) beside my name making it blatantly obvious that I am absolutely clueless at this point*

*I walk into what I now know as Moonglow, people gathered around the bank, words...yes WORDS! I can see them...but how do they work such magic??*

Hello *a gentleman who's name I have thankfully forgotten asks*

*I of course stare at him blankly, because quite frankly I haven't figured out how they are talking in the first place*

I see that you are young *well your a bright one aren't you...pointing to the blazing (young) beside my name*

*again I dont answer, flipping frantically through the book to discover how to talk*

All you have to do is type...*ok now I feel like a flaming idiot, who knew it was that easy*

Needless to say, this guy, who ended up not being very nice at all, talked me out of my newbie clothes and items, giving me what even then was a paltry sum of gold (200), I spent the rest of the day, dying and lossing everything, learning that spirit speak really does you no good when your the one dead and hiding isnt foolproof and magery well...not much you can do with an empty spellbook when you have used the 3 scrolls on a mongbat that has just taken a hefty bite out of your rear.

So share your experiences! What was your first day like?

 

[Guest]

I used one of the predefined templates... choosing warrior. Thinking I'll be hte noble paladin sorta guy.

Logged in... Did exactly what you did, went through the flashy blue thing. In Britain some kind soul shows me how to use my newbie ticket with this other young he had following him. Then he paid me the whopping sum of 5000 gold for my ranger tunic. Wow what a deal I'm so great!!!

Then i heard people talking of Earth Elementals and "Shame"... I watch them go through a gate but decide to er on the side of caution. I wander aimlessly around for a bit, and after killing a few cats (took me a while mind) I decide I'm ready to go to another town.

I thought the best way was to get one of those people with the spell books to open me a blue shiny thingy to get me to a town. I looked on my nice map and I see Trinsic, I thought yeah that'll be a laugh. I walk up to "The Sinister SeXy BiAtCh" and ask her fora gate to Trinsic. I see "np" and this blue shiny thingy appears. In I jump.....

It's all dark. I can't see anything. There are a few grey names on my screen, whats this? "a gargoyle" several times, and hmmmm, "Lord of the Abyss".

I wonder, what could tha.......... "You are dead".

I wander for a bit. At least I can see now, OK it's in monochrome, but I can see. After about an hour of play and not being able to find my way out I log out.

Two days later I make a new char. My original character is deleted and consigned to be lost forever in the depths of Hythloth.

 

[Guest]

My first day was nervewracking to say the least (and mostly because of outside forces, not ingame ones)
tiny bit of background here - my friend icqs me telling me I MUST play UO and when I whine about the price he tells me he will give me one of his accounts and I can use it and he will continue paying for it but I MUST start playing, so he FedEx's me the game. Now for some reason we had to wait several days so another friend of mine ran out and bought UO too as she wanted to play. Anyways, long story short, I finally get the FedEx package after a nightmarish set of circumstances and I have something like 2 hours to play before work. My friend hasn't logged on hers yet either. While we painstakingly choose out our characters, my friend waits for us (I can't even remember what town) - it took us forever to decide what to have our characters be.

I had pondered the name forever before choosing Areana and my friend had told me make sure to pick fencing. So I looked over the list and there was fencing - okay, got that done, now what else can she do? and it was like, wow, look at all these wonderful things you can do! You can be a smith, a tailor, a carpenter, etc. I finally decide on tailoring and I think I chose something like smithing - whatever it was, I dropped it soon afterwards.

Then I had to chose looks - now there are not many pretty hairstyles out there IMO and so I had a choice of short hair, long hair, two ponytails, or one - I pondered this for a long time and finally chose one ponytail. Next was her color, which I decided to be a nice brown shade (but not icky). Then on to the clothes - by this time I'm positive my friend was about to kick me (and my other friend) for not hurrying up and getting ingame so he could start showing us around.

While I'm trying to make the last of my choices, being told to pick a city (still can't even remember which one) RL is intruding badly. My attention is being demanded and when igored, I got a very angry grumble. Meanwhile I have met my friend ingame (my other friend is stuck in haven - she can't find her way to whatever city she is at).

So what is the first thing he shows me? How to undress. (why do guys find that amusing? The whole game looked very freaky and very frightening. He leaves me to stand at some place while he goes and gets our mutually Haven stuck friend (had her denounce her new player status so she could get out - too bad that).
By then I'm getting dangerously close to time to go to work so my friend says okay, I'm gonna show you what to do when you die so if it happens when I'm not here you know what to do. SO he takes one us to a place (that I swear had railroad tracks - I can't begin to imagine now what the heck it was that I ws looking at at the time - perhaps one of the wrought iron fences? - in my ultimate newbieness I had no idea what I was looking at) - so then he says to attack a panther.

Did I mention he didn't send the book with the game? I had no idea how to attack a panther. I went up to it and stood there but it just wouldn't fight me. It finally wandered off much to my chagrin. Next he finds a bear and tells me to attack it. By now I must have either accidently turned on war mode or figured out how to do so (although I doubt it) and I double click the bear (just guessed on that one - I rememeber that) and needless to say the bear kicked my butt in short order (like a few seconds.

So now everything is monocrome and he's like oh good and I"m thinking oh bad...
Now he takes me to a healer and says get rezzed. Well that's good, but what is rezzing? He explains the healer will resurrect me and I'm like how? He says to just run past it. I do. I run past it again. I run past it again. Nothing is happening! I'm in tears, I'm being fussed at (RL) again, and I need to go to work. I don't want to log out dead! I keep asking him if I am going past the right person (because I had no idea how to tell what person was a healer (I thought they were all real people too

He finally decides that healer won't work so we find another - I get rezzed (thinking all the time I will never be able to get rezzed again so I must never die again!) After that I had to race off to work - it was so depressing.

Then next day I came back and my friend and I explored what must have been trinsic or britain - I know sometime we ended up in britain but we might have run there - she liked to explore (I didn't). Our experienced friend pretty much left us alone (which was a good thing as we learned how to do stuff on our own)

I remember we wandered into every shop in the town and picked up all the really cool stuff that people threw down. There was some of the niftyest stuff - things like easels and I'm quite sure I had several crystal balls. I also had a bunch of hides (it took 2 or 3 days to discover that cutting them up made them leather)

I also know that Areana has tried every skill out there (almost without exception) before she ended up being the tailor she is now (and fencer as well). I never did delete her. My friend that started the same day as me went through about 4 characters before settling on the one she has now.

 

[evilmoocowgod]

Well... my first character Kertz started out as a miner/smith... Gotta make weapons ya know... I stayed in Haven until my young status went away...
Mining was fairly easy to get used to but I didnt have a clue on blacksmithing...
I didnt know about the bank then either, so I would put my stuff in boxes and hid 'em in the woods... I, of course, never saw that stuff again... I picked the newbied sextant on my New Player Ticket, which I later threw away.... Trying to talk to NPCs didnt help much either....

When I lost my young status I chose to go to Minoc, thinking I could get some good ore... well, this happened to be around the time of the orc invasions and I was killed many times by orc scouts.... so I ended up dropping smithing and mining and made Kertz into a warrior....

Those days where I would just wander around aimlessly, running from Trolls (thinking they were extremely strong due to the size of em)....
I miss those days... UO was alot more fun when I didnt have a clue....
*sigh*

 

[Guest]

Hehe that's funny!! You knew that a miner/smith was a good starting char... you knew that going to Minoc was good for ore (I didn't even know that you get ore before I started playing), yet you chose the newbied sexant!! *Smiles*

Oh to be a newb again....

(Bring on SWG then I'll enjoy being a noob again)

 

[Lady Vixen]

My first Char was on LS and she was a Battlefield Mage, yep I used the OSI template, she is still there but has since drop mace for scribe and has taken up a bow in defend as well.

I to wonder aimless around Haven, learn of the newbie ticket from another young, I was lucky as I got more for my ranger gorget later, so was able to buy reg's. I was glad later I did not spend the gold on training right away. For being Young was the only thing I think saved me from the evils of Felucca.

I had heard so many war stories about Felucca and I did not know what it was or where it was, well one day while at Moonglow getting reg's off the ground I saw this band of warriors make a strange gate well I was interested in it and wonder to close and before you know it I am in Felucca, when I saw the trees and remeber all the bad things I had been told I was scared to death that I was going to die. The gate was gone so I could not go back, Later I learned that the stones were one way.
I had no idea how to get back to Trammel, *well before the moongates were linked* and I ICQ the only person in the game that I knew and ask for help, well Dean *Vincent is his in game name* being a noble warrior came to this Young's rescue in Felucca, he had to kill some liz's to get a trammel stone to take me home to Trammel.

But I spent almost 3 hrs game time running like a rabbit, using the moongates looking for help in Felucca, before he came on line. Since that day I tell many Young do not walk thru any moongates you not sure of.

 

[Cymeraen]

I started shortly after last Christmas... I had been putting off firing up UO because I knew it would prove to be habit forming... but finally had to give in, it was a gift after all, hehe.

I had played a lot of Ultima years earlier, and always favored Rangers, so I picked the template, went on to pick some drab clothing and name my character Mandarin, a name I used to great effect in other games. Now Mandarin's first mistake was he came to be in Pacific, which always had a cold disposition about it. Mandarin explored the cities, spending a great deal of time in Skara Brae and Moonglow, both close to moongates. He eventually struck out on a few forays along the roads between Britian and Skara. After some close calls with a variety of critters, mediocre luck with taming, and no great success as an archer, I switched to sword and axe, and began working the Moonglow Cemetery. I eventually got guilded, Ran off to Magincia in my zeal, and died repetedly in the jungle. I became dispondant and did not play for several weeks.

During my down time I started researching Shards. I had noticed that Pacific was a miserable place, and felt I could do better. All of the events seemed geared for seasoned players, and all the seasoned players were aloof. My studies led me to Stratics, and i noticed here that Sonoma had a great deal of activity that was not oriented exclusively towards the UO vets.

So with a feeling of great joy, I began creating Cymeraen, the Sonoman. I felt giddy, as if it where my very first character. Cym started out as a battle mage (?) starting with Mace, Healing and Magery. Hindsight would have picked a different template, but it sufficed, and has lead to a great deal of fun. Cym has become a great student of death under the tutilage of the master, DeathRage (who's NUB guild was one of the selling points for Sonoma, in my mind). I no longer become dispondant when dying, though I still get irritated over the loss of fame... for I have so little to lose!

 

[DemanKnght]

*begins laughing hysterically*, you, you bbbunch of Haven NooBZ... *Wipes the tears from his EYES* chuckles as he writes this... Just teasing with you folks.. hehe I start a few monthes before they started tram. Didnt have haven didnt really have much. I GOT SUCKERED into playing by Ning, the goof bought a copy and for one reason or another the stupid key code didnt work, and well it being 8 pm he figured it was just easier to go back to Walmart and get another copy. So the next day when OSI support gave him a new account key he just handed my the second age disc with the new key code and I figured it wouldnt hurt to give it a try. Well bing in Wisconsin duh playing on Great lakes was a given. NO!!.... for some ungodly reason we are to play on the west coast.. oh well. hehe well I finally install the game get through the mirade of patches and start building my char. Well following the instruction book(Which after endless hour of playing RTS games I should have known not to) I figured I would make a swordsman. Using the same DemanKnght name that I had used when me and Ning played Daiblo and away I went. Well I stumble around moonglow in great lakes for an hour, got my consuoler help and was yippy skippy. Well Ning tells me I have to move to sonoma and to start in trinsic. Just like him. Well woulnt you know this is right in the middle of the trinisic invasion, Yeah I am dating myself now. Well I get slapped to moonglow. and started there.

My first impression when I logged in. HOW DO YOU SHUT OFF THE DAMN MUSIC??????? that was my only beef. Everything else was more a learn as you go ordeal. Like learning to say bank to open my bank box. I lucked out by the fact that Ning got me in with HOG right away and they were really good group. Always willing to help and everything else. The game itself wasnt that great. I mean come on lag just sucks, but the friends I made and the socail outings were a blast.

 

[Krowe]

My first character was a warrior (swords/parry). I had no intentions of ever starting UO, for I knew it would suck me in and I would never want to stop. And I was right. But a good friend of mine allowed me to play around on one of his accounts one night just to see how I liked it. He had a macer, which I ran around and killed ettins with. Damn was this fun I thought. So the next day I started my own character. I had no second thoughts about what I wanted in a character. I wanted to kill things, and hunt. And I am a real life lover of swords, so making a warrior seemed only "natural".

 

[EMH of borg]

Well one of the kids in my class played uo and was telling me all year about some invasion of trinisc and saying he was helping somehow*grins* well i said i would try it.... i lied, later about a year latter i pick up his manual and read it while hanging out in anothor friends room im ecstatic im like "RIGHT THERE IS I HAD A TOWER I COULD BUILD A FLEET AND BE A PIRATE!!!!" hes like yeah maby i should bring my computer here and start playing again (his phone was turned off) so i forget about it again a month later i see uo in office max and i have 25 bucks so im like "should i get nox or uo hmm 2 for 1 sale, goodie" and well i buy it i then bring it home and read the new manual i get more exstatic i talk to them about it day in and day out (for a week) he then brings his comp to my other friends house and starts playing. i show a different friend the game and we are like lets make bucaneers be pirates (ive loved them sence i was a small kid) his birthday comes up and i still havent goten internet access again (damn cable bill) so i give him the game thinking i just need the access code for install he starts a char on pasific he invites me to make a char i make a template ranger named harold im walking around in haven and i meet anothor young char he says hes buying wizards hats because they are cheaper here and hes going to sell thme in trinsic to make a profit i ask if i could have one hes give me one im so happy i go running around trying to attack a creature i kill a few rats before i log out *never to log in again*

then the next day after having so much fun i pull out a old 56k and spend 2 days trying to get compuserve to work (renember i had cabel a few months before) im like happy as a clam when it works so then for 2 days im trying to get uo to patch right then on the way home im talking with my friend about a name i was like what about my diablo name relena we were like nah then a whole buch of wack names finaly i say STARCRAFT!!!! and hes looks at me like im crazy then i say raynar thats a dope name hes like heres your bus man cya later and later i get on and log in i say hmm ill die if i dont eat ill get cooking and if i have carpentry i can build and sell things and i loved being a ranger ill get archery i also put alot of integence up because i wana be smart not dumb. then i wander around haven till i go to britain i meet a nice guy there barberous he help me firends me to his house give me a orc mask and skull mask and a sword tell me to attack a bear he heals me then he kills the bear and say "outa aids folow me to bank" on teh way there a group of PK's!!!!!!!! comes *npcs murders lol* i die because i try to help him and he dies (a noob himself) i didnt see him again for a few months then on the phone the friend that played uo the longest says go to yew i ask how do i know im there he says dose it have dirst raods i say yeah thinking the britain roads are enought dirt (not being soild stone and all) he then asks where i am and i i say the wonder magic shop and then the unicorn inn hes like where is that then he asks my account name and pass word to get me there i give ti to him i log in again in fel yew he attaks me and says damn young then he says to say i renounce my young status then he kills me , then after a while hte ohter firend logs in and give me some stuff that the one who killed me gave him then i loged out my first real uo day and back history ohh yeah i killed and cooked alot of small game (so i wouldnt die ofcourse)

 

[Beregon]

Hmm... my first day and first character...

First thing that went through my mind was "Hm, I want to create a swordsman." so I select Swordmanship, Tactics, Parrying. Then I thought, male, or female? Male, Female, Male, Female, and ended up making a female character named Shadow, for the advantage of female armor (how long did I go keeping people convinced I was female?)

So, I appear in Haven, and am offered the tutorial. Poof, into the odd little half-dungeon I go. I run through it, and come out into Haven, and begin my journey. I spent countless hours running around escorting NPCs and finally left Haven. And there was an RL friend waiting for me. First thing he did was give me 10k and tell me to buy all the leather armor I can carry, and sell it in Haven. Not long after that, I was quite well off, and somewhat skilled... A good start to a 20 month addiction.


My first month was a breeze, I had alot of fun, but the most exciting day of UO wasn't my first day, but the first day I met Halbarad.

 

[Maness]

Heh weeks and week before i first played UO, a kid moved by me and we became friends and all that then he told me of UO and he showed me his pages from stratics and we read over them and stuff(he didn't have it yet either, but had played it) and were both excited then i finally get it. My first char was on Europa heh(British/Brittiania/city of Britian=England=Europe=Europa) so thats where I start. My char had like 50 swords, 40 magery and embarrased to say, like 10 taming. Or was that my otehr char... well anyways before that i made like a warrior who i named Maness W(so i knew he was the warrior) then like Maness the mage or whatever heh. But i stuck with just plain 'Maness' who on his first dday or so was just jumping around looking in shops and such when i get asked by some guy if i wanna join a guild blah blah takes me to the guildhouse(the guild was 'the Knight Templars, KT' for any of you who like Paladin's/Clerics it's a great Europa guild) and the GM's name was Prince Orlando i was like wow. is your Dady King British or whatever heh. thought anyone who spoke like Hi >?> Are >?> Well >?> was an NPC before they told me over ICQ to turn the damn translator off. It was a great life.
Ah yes but i had wanted my char to be a battlemage, i had like the thought of a sword in one hand throwing a fireball with the other.