The great admiral from The Turbulent Waters was kind enough to answer our users questions.

1) What do you think could be added to the fishing experience to make it more interesting?

Quite frankly, a lot. Fishing has been developed by various members of the team over the years as both a resource-gathering and a treasure hunting skill. I think both aspects could be greatly expanded on. As Gem of the FCB has been requesting for years, it's time to change up the pre-chest shipwreck loot. It's been nine years since that stuff was introduced and it has become depressingly common. Other suggestions have come and gone over the years, including fishing up chests of resources instead of treasure (bulk resources are shipped, too, after all). Something needs to be done to give regular fishers something rare and valuable to sell - the fabled fishing nets Leurocian gave us a few years ago were a good start, as the high-end artifacts (ghost ship anchor, sea horse statuettes) that they lead to are still good and rare.

2) How do you feel about the treasure you receive after a long day of fishing? (Is it fair? Do we deserve more loot?)

Again, it's a very old system, and while it can add up to some profit for the persistant fisher, let's face it - what's in those chests is mostly smeltable junk. It's not fair or consistant with other ways to make gold in the game, and while I don't think fishers deserve more loot, I think they deserve more variety in the loot they get, so something really, truly, awesome comes up once in a great while (through the SOS chests, not just the fabled nets).

3) What type of fishing monsters would you like to see?

By fishing monsters, I assume you mean sea monsters? I've long been a proponent of that one. There have been over 200 new land and dungeon based monsters added to the game in the last 10 years, but only three for the sea - the deep sea serpent, the kraken, and the leviathan. What's been proposed over the years by myself and others include NPC pirate ships, NPC ghost pirate ships, sirens spawning on temporary islands that lure your tillerman off course, elder dolphins that cast powerful magic and spawn sometimes when you cast a net or fish, jellyfish (using the slime graphic), sea turtles (Hanse once pushed for them), seahorses (supposed to be a part of UO:Third Dawn), the three Tokuno sea monsters that got nixed during the development of the Samurai Empire expansion, and a sea-based champion spawn that occurs at random spots in the ocean. There's a lot of potential there for new sea monsters, we just need a dev team willing to create them.

4) What is your favorite fishing template?

My fisher is a chilvary-archer now. Started out as a fencer, though. Seemed more natural to spear the sea serpents.

5) During which expansion do you feel fishing was at its best?

Not during an expansion, but back in August and September of 2004, when Leurocian and Fertbert managed to get the Serpent Pillars fixed, add the Ancient SOS/Fabled Net/Leviathan system, add a weight and the fisher's name to the big fish, and make a few boat bug fixes. Oh, and one of the fabled fishing net artifacts was a red bottle of rum I'm quite fond of.

6) Do you talk like a pirate? Arggggh!

In game? Yes, with my pirate character. Most of the players he ran across at sea, though - the ones that were actually attended - responded with either "Kal Ort Por" or some rather colorful language that I won't repeat here.

7) How did get started in Ultima Online? And how long have you been playing?

I was an Ultima fan from my Commodore 64 days, where I played 1-5 (4 was my favorite). I didn't even have a PC when, in the summer of 1997, I read an article in Next Generation magazine about the impending release of UO. I began to work my finances from that point on just to get a PC (I was a console gamer most of the 1990s). I bought my PC in January of 1998, and UO a few days later. I've played on and off since then, having recently come back after an almost 2 year absence and deciding to stay for good this time.

8) Can you tell us about the Fishing Council of Britannia?

They've been my friends and allies for many years. They are a cross-shard fishing guild with chapters on almost every shard, I think. Like me, they promote changes to fishing and the seas. Check out their website at http://www.thefcb.com/ for more information on them. Tell them the Admiral sent you.

9) If EA tasked you with the job of creating a nautical expansion for UO... what would it be like and what would you include?

Wow, that's a big question.

Let's start with the basics - I've been told by various UO team members over the years that they'd love to do more with ships and sailing, but the way they move is a big issue. I'd start by fixing that - make ships move more naturally rather than "teleport" across the tiles.

Once that was done, I'd add new ship designs, perhaps even house boats, large-scale ship combat with cannons, and piracy for Felucca, quests and NPC cargo missions for sailors on all facets, a new oceanic facet (oh, and I'd move Buccaneer's Den there and make it a sail-to-only island). There would also have to be some changes to ship ownership to prevent abuses like shoreline blocking. I'd add those monsters I mentioned in question # 3 above. I'd add whirlpools that teleport your ship to random places, and some rare and random things that would surprise sailors. Plus a whole lot more. It would be a blast, trust me.

10) What kind of enhancement would you like to see for our ships if you were a developer? Thank you for advocating the fishing skill for us landhaters!

You're welcome. I'd do a lot of things I mentioned above, again starting with fixing the way ships look and move. They would splash water when they are sailing and face eight directions instead of four.

11) Do you like pirate movies?

I'm a big fan of the Pirates of the Carribean movies, but sadly I haven't gotten around to seeing too many others.

12) About Middle-Aged Gamer. What prompted you to start blogging about UO and gaming in general? Do you have a schedule for articles, or do you post articles as ideas come? How do you decide what you are going to blog about? What is in the future for Middle-Aged Gamer?

That's four questions!

I missed having a website (the Turbulent Waters shut down in 2005) and wanted to keep my writing skills in practice. I'm one of those people who holds out hope that some game company somewhere will recruit him, so I figured I'd write about gaming from the prespective of someone my age (I'm 41 now). My generation has grown all the way up with games. I was there for Pong, Atari, Commodore 64, Nintendo, Playstation, and the birth of MMORPGs, the Wii, and it's been one helluva ride. I have friends and co-workers around my age, too, who still game. Some game with their kids, some alone, but it's still a part of their lives and probably will be into retirement. We may not be "hardcore" anymore, but we know how to have fun and play what we like. The blogging about UO on Middle-Aged gamer came about simply because I started playing UO again over the summer. And really enjoying it, too.

I don't have a schedule for articles, I just post what I want when I feel about it. I try to keep up with major UO news, though, as I find the development history of UO absolutely fascinating for some reason.

I mostly blog about games, but sometimes I write about other geeky things I find cool, like Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Cedar Point (see my archive).

The future of Middle-Aged Gamer? Hmm, more of the same. I'd like to do more YouTube movies (maybe some video blog stuff like Markee Dragon has done lately), and more stuff about the perspective of a gamer my age, though.

13) About Ultima Online. Do you have preference for 2D or KR? What do you think of the big KR performance patch recently released, and has it changed your opinion of KR & your usage of KR? What is your opinion of the recent Doom/Bag of Sending/Powder of Fortification/etc. changes implemented this last week?

Right now, 2D all the way. The recently released performance patch seemed to make no difference for me. With most of the patches for KR since it's release from beta, I patch it up, log in, and run around. If I don't like the look of it and still have performance issues, I log out until the next one.

A lot of people seem to think the onus is on us (did I just write that?) to make KR work by endlessly tinkering with options and settings and even our own computers. I'm too damn busy for that. Also, I'm not that big of a techie. I put it on them, the people we already pay a monthly subscription fee to, to make the game work good for me. If they do that, and I log in and move around like I do in 2D and like what I see, I might just switch. I love the UI stuff in KR. Right now, though, I can't stand the look and the lag. But I'm not closed minded, I'm willing to keep giving them a chance.

I haven't gone to Doom in years. And, this is embarassing, but since returning to the game over the summer, I for some reason thought that the Bag of Sending couldn't send gold anyway. Hey, UO has a lot of stuff to remember, you surely can't expect me to keep it all in my head after 2 years away. So neither of these changes effect me. Their reasoning seems solid, though. I say it's all good, especially if it revives Doom a little bit. I might have to return to that dungeon soon.

14) If John Riccitiello, EA's CEO, gave you the chance to come into his office and pitch him on the reasoning for a nautical expansion and revitalizing UO... what would you say and present to him in that discussion?

I'd start with a history lesson, about how previous expansions have added really just more of the same land and dungeon monster-bashing. I'd point out in UO's history how popular nautical additions have been (fishing up SoS bottles in 1999, nets in 2000, big fish, and so on). I'd show many examples of how the players always eagerly embrace new and interesting play systems introduced over the years (from plants to new skills to custom housing and so on).

My observation of the UO playerbase is that once they have their characters, their equipment, and their homes, they are hungry for something new and interesting to do with them. UO's greatest strength in the MMORPG marketplace is that it isn't just a character-development engine game (aka levelling treadmill), it's a virtual world. By offering all the aspects of a living world to the players, and adding more of those aspects, UO could maintain its current playerbase and expand on it greatly.

I'd also cite examples of how popular the pirate-themed idea for a game has become, pointing to the upcoming release of Pirates of the Burning Sea as an example of amazing potential. And I'd get the support from those developers I know are enthusiastic about the seas, such as Leurocian.

Surely this barrage would convince him that a nautical-themed expansion to UO is the right idea. Maybe.

15) Do you play any computer games at this time and if so which ones?

Not really. I messed around with Guild Wars over the summer a little bit, but couldn't get into it. I've been also playing Sword of Fargoal some.

16) What was the very first computer game you played?

Adventure, the old classic text adventure, on an Apple 2 at my high school.

17) Which is your favorite season and why?

Spring. I live in Ohio, so we only get a few weeks in the spring and fall where the temperature is normal and not exceedingly hot or bitterly cold.

18) What is your favorite color?

Blue.

19) What is your greatest extravagance?

My upcoming wedding, but it's worth it all.

20) What is your current state of mind?

Very happy, but likewise concerned about the future of the USA and the world we live in.

21) If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?

My career. I wish I'd had stayed in college, gotten my degree, and gotten into game design. Someday, I hope to be able to go back and finish college anyway.

22) What is your most treasured possession?

Wow, that's a tough one. I've got two Vectrex units that I'm pretty fond of. I've got all sorts of other trinkets from my childhood that I've held onto as well.

23) Who is your favorite hero in fiction?

Captain America

24) What is your greatest fear?

Losing my memory of all that I've seen and done.

25) Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

I've been using the phrase "Like a glove" a lot lately. It's from Ace Ventura Pet Detective and he said it "Liiiiiike a galoooove", I think. While parking his car. I've been using it at work when something fits really tightly. It's bugging everyone, myself included, but I just can't stop.

26) What is your motto?

I don't think I really have one, sorry.

27) Favorite Hobby?

Videogaming.

28) Favorite Movie?

Star Wars Episode IV : A New Hope

29) Favorite treat?

Little Debbie Nutty Bars. And Patron Silver. Not together, though.

30) What is your favorite 'outdoor' thing to do. ?

Walking.

31) Would you/Have you ever thought of designing your own game ?

Yes, since I was a teenager. I actually made a game on the Apple 2 back in high school.

32) What time line do you prefer in a game,present,future,medievil?

I don't have a preference. As long as the game is good and can draw me into it, I'm open to any era.

Late question, 33) Admiral Ruffie in your latest blog entry, Ultima Online - Who's Making The Move?, you posted a YouTube video from the UO Team's last meeting in Redwood Shores, CA... before the move to Fairfax, VA. What were your feelings & thoughts while watching the video?

It's really an amazing insight into the spirit and cameraderie of the team. Bittersweet, as another page in UO's history is turned, but glorious, to see them all singing along and laughing together.

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There you go, Adam. Keep up the good work with UO Forums.

Admiral Ruffie Windjammer

Great interview. Nice he has a sense of humour and I agree totally with number 28

What an enjoyable read just like your blog!!

*Thumbs up for Captain America!!!

Thank you for taking the time to open the book and share a few chapters about yourself Admiral

Great interview Admiral Ruffie and Adam!