Coldren

Greetings, fellow Guardians! I was wondering - what members are still on active duty? I see we have a new Emperor and Empress since I last ventured in Sosaria, so undoubtedly, much has changed. I'll be returning, if only for a brief while, and I was curious to know if it would be possible to rejoin the ranks again? I'll have much to catch up on, and would like some friendly faces to to converse with and ask questions, if any of you are patient enough with an old man like myself! Much appreciated. Strength and Honor!

Thanks, guys. I'm always around and about. Don't post very often though. Hope all is well with you both. I appreciate the fact that Wolf plays a class in WoW that makes sheep.

Seems like only yesterday, there was only Ultima Online. There was no Trammel, no Felucca, no expansions.. Just an up and coming game in a new genre of video gaming which only sported one world and one community. Many played it for the novelty of it, mostly, it's genre and environment. Many more played old online BBS text games, and saw this as the next evolutionary step. Some played it, well.. for no reason at all except it was there, and it was entertaining. It was a time when having a 56k connection meant the world to your game and more importantly, to the people it allowed you to communicate with. It was in such a young and exciting environement that I was lucky enough to ecounter some of the most remarkable, intellegent, and kind-hearted individuals in my young life. They shared a passion and interest that extended beyond geographical bounds. Beyond the constrictive nature of our daily lives, beyond age, income, and our preconceptions of others. They cared for one another, both in the virtual world and the real one, without ever having seen the color of another's eyes, without even knowing their real names. They logged in for extended periods of time to play a game for fun, to chat with you on ICQ about your problems or to tell you a great joke they just heard, or to show off a new web page or image they had been working on. It was a life within a life, existing in a world that didn't exist. It was every bit real, without really being. I can say, without hesitation, that no other experience in my life has ever even approached the all-encompasing sense of community that I found in PGoH on Catskills. No where else have I ever seen so many good people, so well grounded, sharing the same interests while pursuing their own goals with such a strong sense of family that had no other basis then words that were carefully crafted in letters on a computer screen. I feel sorry for the newer generation (and I think to some extent, the newer members to this very community) in the sense that they will never really experience how it all began. No words ever printed could ever describe the commradary that was shared by the older members. We were all experincing a new genre, a new way to play and to communicate and live. We by and large made our own experience, and there was always something new and exciting happening just about every day. Maybe someone would get an ICQ from Borg about some new event, guild related issue, or plotline he had developed. Maybe Wolf, Baltazar, and Martok were organizing a party to go clear out Decit, or take down some PK'ers that had ganked someone else. Balandar working on his website, and had something new to show us. Arianna and Mallock were out and about. Fing got another awsome rare, and Brightblade was jealous! Prometheus and Koopsta were farming Judor's (sp) mobs in Trinsic. Arthil was telling yet another story. Everyone lining up at Trinsic bank roof, for no reason than to simply look organized, as some happless passer-by would ask "So who are you guys?" - Then we'd get to tell him/her "Why, only the oldest guild on Catskills.. And we have our own castle!" We didn't have Vent, or video of one another. ICQ was the only way to communicate outside of the game. Very few of us actually knew each other until Borg started taking his trips, and organizing real get-togethers. As a matter of fact, Stan was the first person I ever met through a video game in real life. (I hope you still have that scroll from Lord British himself!) It's easy to see how he molded this community the way he did. He was passionate, charismatic, and always attentive like I strongly suspect that many of the others whom I never got to meet were. But, time passes. Life goes on. The games change. Interests change. Some bonds break for no reason, others for good reasons, no matter how strong they ever where. So as the new year approaches the horizon, I would like to say to the members, both new and old: Thank You to all those who I have had the priviliage to know in the past who came to form the foundations of this very community. I may have forgotten the names, but I have never forgotten the people you are, nor will you ever be replaced. May we never forget where we came from, and what made us the family we were. May we always keep looking to find the sense of community I hope we all shared, even if it is never to be found again. May our relationshps with our virtual friends be as fullfilling and meaningful as anything to be found in reality. May our pockects and our lives never be so empty that we have none of either to share. And finally, to the new blood, what can I say? From a sentimental, wistful fool, I wish you the best in the years to come - I can only hope that your experiences with this community are as memmorable and irreplaceable as mine were. Happy Holidays. For Honor! Coldren Former Centurion of the Gladiator Cohort Nemisis of Sheep

Bah! How goes, Wolf? Yes, I'm not using the WoW forums as it seems to be titled: Guild - SoC: World of Warcraft, so I thought it would only be for SoC WoW material. If I can use it to spread Alliance dissemination, I'd be mroe then happy to.

Hey Martok! Good to see you too Yes, of course I'm going Paladin.. I think it's the shiney Platemail that always gets me. Speaking of all these nice, Orcish responses being posted about clomping me, will Alliance faction members be able to travel from Lordaeron (and neighboring contenents) to Kalimdor? Or will I never get the chance to purge the lands of the Horde infestation?

Hey Balandar! Long time no see! You know me, I'm a sucker for anything with a classic midevil theme.. So naturally I'm playing a Paladin..

Greets all! So I'm terribly interested in getting World of Warcraft... Is there anyone here who will be playing an Alliance character? I obviously won't be getting into beta, but I'd like to have somehwere to go and someone to talk to when it is finally released.

Yes. I however am close to the Canadian border, so I got power much faster.. Was only without power for about 5 hellish hours.. Good time to read.

Bah.. hell with all of ya! How did that sheep thing get started, anyway? I think that was Prom's fault. I think I had to kick him away from the sheep, then someone else (I think Wolf) came by and saw me by the sheep.. So DAMN YOU PROM!!! Happy Birthday! I see lots of people now with SWG chars.. How's that game working out for everyone?

Dude, I told you about that site over 2 years ago!! Let this be a lesson to all: Prom is an extreme slacker!

Balt, When did you get into Shadowbane Beta?

:: how jedi are you? :: What's my name? You daaaammn right..

Hey Vens! Good to hear from you! I'm not playing UO anymore, mostly DAoC, but I do check the boards regularly.. May join up on the Shadowbane venture, but I'll have to see how my finances are looking then.. As for the other old guys, I only see what I read

LOL! Great job posting..

Thanks! I already spoke with Adonys online and he's going to try to get me in on the next beta wave.. Thanks agin

Hehe.. None of the above It just so happens, I know one of the lead programmers for the game, Dan Antonescu. He used to play DAoC, and I happened to be the person who first showed him around the game. We spent a lot of time together, and he tells me he's working on RoT. Of course I didn't believe him at first, but he was a good guy and a good player, so we hung out a lot... We talked alot about the pros/cons of DaoC, the game dynamics, what would be a better game design, computer languages, and other various geeky topics. Then he sends me a link to the signup for the Alpha Testing... 2 weeks before it went public . Wow! I even have his personal email and i've tried to keep in touch with him. However, I just started my Master's studies, so I've been busy and haven't seen him in a while. I sent him an email and got a response today.. Sorry, I thought you got into beta Elathiel. I thought there was a post or something on one of the boards I missed that told alpha testers where to go for the beta stuff, but that's wrong it seems

Elathiel, Where do you go to d/l the files for beta? I was in it a while back and need to get them again after my format

*grumbles* How did that sheep thing get started anyway?? If that was Koop, post, so I can flame you with Napalm. Hehe.. anyway, nice to see you too Lan. So anyone have AoS yet? Still wondering if it's worth coming back to UO full time for.

[sigh] Why I come back for this I never know..hehe.. Good to see some old faces about, some maybe with new names.. And as far as shep, screw you Prom Sorry I am deathly busy lately.. I'm in graduate school now going for a masters in Information Technology So I'm pretty busy.. Anyway, how is PGoH holding up? Anyone got AoS yet? Worth buying?

[Looks about....] Umm.. ok.. so who's still alive out here?

Excellent post.. A woman after my own heart. :smilewinkgrin:

Aye Hothgorn, the Asian distribution company is NCSoft, the company that built Lineage. As far as Lord British goes, if he has anywhere near the foresight that he used to produce UO, a game that is still played today after 5+ years, and he has any say in the design of the game, I'm sure it's going to be fantastic. How it will work with the Unreal Engine, I don't know. I don't know how it supports a large number of simultanieous (sp) users. But I can tell you, from what I've seen of the previews where there are at least 30 people in clipping range, it still looks gorgeous. I'd say just as good as the Net Impulse (I think that's what it's called) engine used by Morrowind and the new DAoC expansion. It's all in how you code it.

Remember that old guy, Richard Garriott, that long, long ago created the game called Ultima Online? In case you don't know the story, here's a crude, brief summary... ================================================ Richard Garriott (A.K.A, Lord British), founder of a company called Origin Systems, is the creator of the entire Ultima series. When he released Ultima Online, it became a huge success and the first successful MMORPG in the US(Meridian 59 was also out, but it wasn't very popular). Others, noticing the money to be made in online gaming soon joined the bandwagon, most notable of which was Everqrack. Ultima Online was run very well back in the days of Richard's command. To some of the youngin's who dont' remember, there was a time you could place a house ANYWHERE there wasn't a rock or a tree.. Right next to each other with no space between, on any #### flower or hill you watned, or even on top of a tower!!! Tank mages were common, as well as "uber" as precasting ran rampant. Skills weren't impossible to GM, although some more difficult then others. They even had a good economy for crafters, with resources cheap and crafters aplenty. (Granted, the duping fiasco way back when threw all that out the window.. and there was only Iron Ore, but dammit, it was good enough for me then, it's good enough for me now ^_^) Yes people still complained, but by and large, people were happy with it. Well, needless to say, the game grew and grew in subscribers, and Origin did it's best to survive. But for some reason, they decided it would be in the best interest of the company to become part of a larger corporation: Electronic Arts. Once Origin fell beneathe the umbrella of EA, every patch since then just made the game steadly worse then what people remembered as being the "Golden Years" of the game. Granted, there were a few nice things, like new ores, etc., but on the whole, people started giving up on the game and pursuing other interests or games in droves. And thus Richard Spoketh: Richard: "We're loosing players to pretty graphics, and our game system needs to be revamped.. Lets make UO2! (Later known as simply Origin)." EA Guy: "Sure, run with it! More money is always good!" ***1 year passes. The game is litteraly weeks away from a public beta, and everyone is psyched for the game because of great fiction, great graphics and trailers, great music, great skill system, and 2 new races: Fans litteraly drool in anticipation*** EA Guy: "Well, sorry guys, but UO2 is no more. Shelf it. We have The Sims Online to do!" Richard: "Are you SERIOUS??!! It's basically DONE! All of the UO fanbase is waiting for 3D, and great new stuff!!!" EA Guy: "[insert 1 hour of dialogue that basically surmounts to business man BS] and that's why we're shelfing it. While we're at it, destroy the work you've done, take down the website with all the cool stuff that proved it existed, and make UO3D...." [in case you don't know it, orginally the Juka, Meer, and new Lord Blackthron were all rendered in DAoC quality 3D, and you could PLAY as the Juka or the Meer as well as Brittainian in a beautful new landscape, with a great new skill system and stunning motion captured 3D combat.. in UO2....] Needless to say, I'm sure Richard as well as every UO player would have wished Terrorists would have hit the EA headquarters at that point... But Richard felt like letting EA know how much he protested their decision. Many a website told of how exactly Richard destroyed their work.. He had a copy of every single document printed, CD's of all the Code, and all the stuf in the office that related to UO2 brought to his house, where he promoptly invited all the developers who worked on it to come set it on fire and get wasted... They really had a mound of stuff..the pics of it were fantastic. Soon after, half of the orginal Origin System Staff was fired... Richard "The Man" Garriott realized his mistakes, but because of contracts and liscencing could not redo Ultima Online the way it should have done. He left EA, took all of his old buddies from Origin that got fired, as well as some who didn't, and founded a company called Destination Games, and soon entered a partnership with a Korean company called NCSoft. ============================================ Ok, not so brief, but it could have been much longer... Anyway, you may wonder what Richard and his new found company have been up to, or why he went there in the first place? NCSoft makes a game callled Lineage. The game, by current standards, is hideous.. Slow, bad graphics (worse then UO!!), and limited character development plague it. HOWEVER, it is played by MILLIONS OF PEOPLE in Southeast Asia, and all over the world! That's right folks... Millions... EQ can't hold a candle to it in terms of player base.. Well, thanks to Richard's efforts to bring this widely known game to the Americas, you can now buy a copy at EB.. and, since NCSoft and Richard both realized the potential of American/European gamers, they've been working in their secert labs. testing and formulating a masterpiece... Move over EQ2, you've got competition... Asherons Call 2? You stole your #### Vassel system from us... DAoC? Just put the nail in your coffin now... Ladies and Gentlemen, brothers and sister, friends and foes, I'm pleased to be the first to mention, and link to you on these boards so that you may weep in joy and revel in anticipation, Richard Garriott and NCSoft's next creation..... Lineage 2: The Chaotic Cronicle Download trailers and teasers, read the faqs of Lineage 1 and 2, and rejoice! Mediocraty in MMORPG's is coming to an end... Thats right my friends.. The MAN is back.. and he's ready to kick some @$$....

Very nice Wolf! Love the purple (I think that's what it is) streak!

The contest is off? Phooy.. and I had worked hard to decipher the scroll delivered by Doctor Codene...