Oct 11, 2009 0
Nostalgic Moments – MMO Memories
I’ve been an avid gamer since I was old enough to chunk a quarter into a video game machine at the local arcade. I remember games like Pong, Asteroids, and the like. I can go through in my mind and see the evolution of games in my head and remember fondly the hours I played them.
But it wasn’t until I was introduced to MMOs that gaming took on a different light for me. No longer was I the lone player, or stuck with just one other player (ala Super Contra/Super Mario Brothers). I had a community of players that I interacted with. It introduced a whole new concept to gaming for me. Inside the world of an MMO you had to decide how you were going to behave and interact with other players. You had to deal with the personalities and people behind the avatar instead of just mindlessly blowing away computer generated enemies.
My first foray into MMO’s was Ultima Online. Introduced by a co-worker who was playing the game. I was bored of the FPS I was playing at the time (Quake III, Unreal Tournament, Half Life/Counterstrike). He showed me this crazy top-down view game where his little avatar was riding on a Llama! I was given a rough over view of the game – skills, trade skills, lay of the land, housing, boats… etc. and I was hooked. I had to play this game. I was given a player code from him and I installed the client on my machine at home. “Stone Mathsonian” was born (lol geez so cheesy).
I started late in the UO world. “Age of Shadows” was recently released and it changed the world of UO as people had been living it since 1997. I started in the beginning quest area and started learning the game. By then UO was divided into two worlds – PVE Trammel and PvP Felucca. It was rough going at first because of the games limited user interface and the in game map was less than desirable for getting around in the game. I soon learned that their were third party tools to assist you with your game play – UO Map and UO Assist.
The game wasn’t the best graphics wise. But what it lacked in graphics it more than made up in game play. You had total freedom inside of Ultima Online. You weren’t stuck being led by your nose in current quest based MMOs. It was up to you to decide what you wanted to do inside the game. You could do everything from hanging out at the bank or inn talking to folks, decide to go raid dungeons, kill monsters, work on your trade/weapon skills… it was completely up to you! Also the game had personally housing which caused a “community within a community” of folks who loved customizing their personal realms of houses! UO is the only game I have ever played where you had this type of freedom.
And I did it all – I joined a guild (Defenders of Virtue on Pacific), fished the waters, skinned lizard men, ran the dungeons, tamed the wildlife (lol chicken fight!), customized houses, rode a llama, and build friendships in the game I won’t ever forget.
I played the game for approximately 3 years. I played up till the Age of Samurai expansion came out. By then the person who introduced me into the game was no longer my c0-worker but was working for the game! I felt that I was really and truly apart of the game. I had a close knit group of people that I called my friends. I had done just about everything the game had to offer.
Fond Memories of Ultima Online:
- Having to complete a quest to become a Knight of DoV – I had to explore the world and write about it in a journal book. In NPC cloth, going unarmed nor could I use magic! It was a lot of fun just exploring the world – with only my boat and my feet and writing about my adventures.
- My Guild Mates – From Alydar the GM, to Autenil my Knight, Chaldeus and the rest – you guys are awesome. I have many fond memories of the guild in Team Speak and the shenanigans we did!
- Chicken fights!
- Customized Housing – I miss moving tiles and items to create my own version of “home” in the game.
- Tormenting folks on UOStratics.com – sorry if I caused you any grief their Mr. Developer ;-p
- Knowing that I was able to be a part of (a very small part) of someone’s dream of becoming a game developer.
Alas, then World of Warcraft came out.
At first I was the “purist” who would never switch to World of Warcraft. It lacked too many things I loved about Ultima Online. Too many constraints, not enough features, and a lack of robust systems such as class/trade skills that were a turn off. I hated being led by my nose with the quest system.
But then… it is World of Warcraft. Once I looked past all of this and saw the game for what it is – I was sucked in. Alot of my old UO friends had started accounts and I quickly followed. I was enamored with the world that Blizzard built. From the simple UI, to the intuitive systems, to the 3d graphics, and the class I would enjoy playing my entire WoW career – I loved it all. Blizzard got it all right – and they did their homework.
I played the Rogue class – and continued playing it (and probably will again in the future) throughout the years while playing WoW. I started with Ghanima on Aggramar, moved to Azgalor and created Stonin, and ended (so far) with Hayt – finally moving to the horde after many years of being Alliance.
I started in Aggramar a PvE server with Ghanima – She grinded to level 49 and then when I moved to a PvP server I couldn’t take her with me. She is forever stuck in Gadgetzan never to be leveled (unless their is a server crash 
)
I played on the PvP server Azgalor for many years with Stonin – then finally moving him to his final destination Echo Isles. I played most of the end game content. I did all the quests – I got him to level 70 and then quit for 9 months. And now in Stormwind he sits at the Inn probably never to be played again.
I then moved to Echo Isles where I have Hayt – my 80 Rogue. Undergeared and struggling due to the fact I refuse to do end game or be in a raiding guild; now he currently resides in Dalanar up in Northrend. Will we quest again old friend? Who knows – maybe some day.
I love playing the rogue class. I have 4 Rogues – Ghanima (NE Alliance), Stonin (NE Alliance), Lilfugger (Gnome Alliance), and Hayt (Undead Horde). People always think I’m crazy because I love playing that class so much. I’m sad that Blizzard took away so much of what a Rogue was in the beginning in attempting to find class balance and gameplay. But all good things come to pass I guess
Fond Memories of WoW:
- Learning the rogue class with Ghanima. Playing with my brother online and trying to figure out all the quests and struggling.
- Creating Stonin and getting him to 60 with my old UO Friends. Being on a PvP server was frustrating but oh so much fun.
- The Lvl One Club!
- The Stealth Killer Crew – Chaldeus, Liquorbox, Pokerbum, and Stonin terrorizing the horde just for fun! (3 Rogues and a Druid caused a lot of trouble on Azgalor for awhile there)
- Being a part of Silvermoon Mafia during it’s heyday. Going through end-game like it was nothing and being on top of the DPS Meter was a ton of fun.
- Stealthing with my bro to Stormwind and ganking players late at night. Then riding the tram to Ironforge and causing more mayhem there.
- Arena’s with my bro and his buddy Mr. Roq
- Creating Despise – my 80 Death Knight and having the crazy versatility my Rogue never had.
I’m currently MMO free – I suppose that is why I’m writing this. I loved playing but at this time I need to focus on more important things currently. That and someone said it is OK to grow up. That might have more to do with it I think.