Copied from the UO Stratics - Baja Shard Subforums

Greetings Everyone!

Before I get to the main point of this thread, I would like to take a quick moment to introduce myself explain what it is I hope to do. My name is Donavan, although I have been known by a plethora of other fictional aliases throughout my years and many journeys through the lands of Sosaria – Malthonian, Kellindil, Kessell, Kain Stormraven, Lain Hammer, and most recently Vash the Harper. It was nearly six years ago now that I had the pleasure of stumbling upon this amazing game and eventually discovering just how simply awesome and truly immersive it was.

Like many of those who had come before me, Ultima Online was my first Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game, and needless to say I had very little idea of what to really expect when I first loaded it onto my computer and entered Britannia for the first time. I spent many of the first few days going through the usual humbling embarrassments – dying at the hands of an angry mongbat, getting whipped by a milk cow, and trying to differentiate between the players and the NPCs. I remember thinking I was hot stuff when I got my first full suit of armor and was able to take two skeletons on at once.

It was a fortunate mistake that would eventually lead me down the path that I would later grow to be somewhat obsessed with. I had managed to get lost in the forests north of Cove, and somehow wound up in Vesper for the first time, with no idea what I was doing or where I was. I had actually managed to run into a group of only slightly more experienced players who were also learning the ropes of Ultima Online. The difference was that they were part of something that I would never have dreamed existed in one of these games – they belonged to the Circle of the White Raven, an old semi-roleplaying guild based out of the player-run village of Ravenshire north of Vesper. Little did I know at that time, that through my interactions with them, their Lady Bronwyn, and their rival to the south Cymidei Fier, that I would eventually become one of them, and I have been a roleplayer ever since.

Through the years, I have had the pleasure of interacting with some of the best and most intelligent players that have ever graced the shard of Baja. I have been included in many great roleplaying guilds such as the Circle of the White Raven, The Shadow Imperium, The Kingdom of Dawn, and The Dark Tower, not to mention having the pleasure of being able to interact with guilds such as The Citizens of Avalon, The Rangers of the Realm, The Golden Knights of the Golden Brew, The Tiberian Temple, The Kingdom of Lumaria, The Pack of Wolf Woods, The Society of Archers, and many others which I am ashamed to say I cannot remember off the top of my head.

Yet, like many of you, I have also felt that occasional nagging temptation to see what is on the other side of the fence. Between the Samurai Empire and Mondains Legacy expansions, I spent a great deal of time trying out other games such as Warcraft and EverQuest 2, but each time I would always get bored and feel the nagging temptation to return to my beloved Ultima Online. Each time I would find my friends and fellow roleplayers slowly dwindling away, and then I would leave again.

I returned this summer, surprised to see that several roleplayers had in fact returned to Baja, several because of the excitement before Kingdom Reborn was finally released, and others because they had seen that these other roleplayers were returning and were hoping for some of the interaction and some of the general fun that we used to have. Unfortunately, it did not take long before many began to give up and leave. It was obvious that part of the problem was that they could not find each other, or had any way of communicating with one another. I still know of several roleplayers, scattered about the shard who have absolutely no knowledge of one another.

I then got to thinking, what is it that makes other servers like Catskills and Siege Perilous more successful than us? What do some of the most tight knit communities of Britannia have that Baja does not possess? What did Baja have at its proverbial roleplaying high point? I think that just might be a roleplaying alliance of sorts, just like CORE on Europa and the White Council on Siege Perilous. So I tore a page out of my old friend Legothir’s book, and decided that the best thing to do to unite the few remaining roleplayers we have left and promote events by creating one of our own.

Therefore I have created The Baja Roleplaying & Event Alliance, a utility stone in which to help facilitate interaction and communication between roleplayers, and event coordinators as well. My hope is that by facilitating such an alliance, it will help to promote and foster a new community of roleplayers and event coordinators, bring back some of the elders, encourage interaction between roleplaying and event-oriented guilds, fill in some of the gap left behind by the departure of the EM program, provide aid and advice to people who wish to start a player-run event, and help those who are interested in either roleplaying or creating player-run events find a way to do so. So I encourage anyone who fits this criteria, or any guilds who wish to become involved, to PM me and to get involved. In doing so, I hope that we can rebuild some of the community we once had and provide aid to event coordinators.

I also want to clarify to everyone, this is not some formal alliance in which there is some leader who is in control of the guilds within the alliance, nor is there some basic structure of commitments that anyone or any guild who gets involved must adhere to. Those types are nice and all, but I am attempting to create a Community, a Circle of Friends, not an Organization. I do not see myself as the leader in any way, just the facilitator, and all decisions will be decided upon by all guilds involved in such an alliance. Anyone is welcome to join and participate if they so wish, whether or not they or their guild is involved in roleplay – this alliance serves a dual purpose, both to promote roleplay and promote community events, whether they be in character or not. Everyone has an equal say and equal importance to the alliance. You are not even required to ally or become a member of the BRPA to be considered included into the alliance – I understand that many guilds have their own alliances and needs already set up. This, in itself, is simply a tool in which I hope to help bring the roleplayers and event-loving members of our small shard together. Those who cannot join for any reason can and will still be considered part of the Alliance. Most of all, anyone who does not include themselves in the alliance will not be excluded for doing so – this is an alliance of the players, for the players.

So I encourage any guild who wishes to become part of this project to sent me a private message, and if they so wish they may request that I send an alliance offering to their guild. If anyone who wishes to get involved in any way, just get ahold of me. If there are any roleplayers out their who are currently unguilded and are either searching for a guild, or wish to be part of the alliance without formally joining any guild allied with the BRPA, I welcome you to join the BRPA guildstone itself. Most of all, if you have any questions or need clarification on something, or just have some comment or advice you wish to give me, I am all ears I am taking a big plunge in doing this, I am definitely not experienced in doing these kind of things at all, so I am pretty nervous about it myself and could use all the advice and constructive criticism that I can get.

Anyways though, I apologize if this post was a bit long winded. I had a great deal I wished to say, and hopefully it was not too tedious getting to the point. Thank you for your time. *Bows*

Safe Travels and May the Virtues Light Your Path,
- Vash the Harper, Wandering Minstrel

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