Ultimate Online Forums

**Silverfoot** · 14th October 2007, 12:28 PM

Kelmo has been playoing UO for a long time and has been involved with a few community projects within UO. I thought he'd be an excellent interview candidate. SO here goes:

Behind the character:

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

The only game I have played in the last six years has been Ultima Online. I may be looking into other games in the very near future.
What was the very first computer game you played?
Does Pong count? I remember when my father ordered that game and brought it home. *chuckles* Hours of fun. I grew up with the home electronics and entertainment revolution. From three channels on black and white to what we have at disposal now. There have been so many games through out my life, from pencil, paper and dice to the world of Ultima.

Which is your favorite season and why?

I like the Fall. The cooler weather, the cloths, and the colors. Spring is over rated.

What is your favorite color?

Today, black like my mood.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Heh, five Ultima accounts. That's pretty extravagant.
What is your current state of mind?
Is that a trick question? Pretty gloomy right now. More about that later.

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

I would quit smoking. If only I could.
What is your most treasured possession?
My n52 game pad? I would have go with the tried but true answer and say the many friends I have, some of which I have never met.

Who is your favorite hero in fiction?

Batman. The Dark Knight Gothic fellow. Yeah.

What is your greatest fear?

Heights and bridges. Flying is becoming more difficult as I get older as well. Irrational, I know. Crowded places bother me. And bees.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

I can't really think of any of the top of my head.

What is your motto?

You know, I really need one of those. I will work on it.

UO Bio:

How long have you been playing UO?

Almost seven years now.

What shards have you played on?

I started on Hukotu of all places. My family had a guild there. I thought playing together would keep us closer. Heh, but my loner nature kept that from happening. I made millions on Hukotu as a miner. This was before I even knew what UOAssist was. I made those millions one click at a time. I had surprisingly little trouble communicating with folks.
Remember these were the days when sometimes you could not even log into a server because it was full. Really, it used to happen.
One day, I was reading the UO forums, when UO ran their own. I came across an interesting thread. I do not even remember how it started. I was more of a lurker back in those days, but this one caught my eye. Well the thread bought a bunch of together that had not done much if any PvP together on Catskills. We created a guild of PvP noobs Called the Punk Rock PKers, or some such.
We all had to name our characters after 80's rock or pop stars. *laughs* Yeah, I was Meatloaf. We created quite a stir for a while as we gathered nightly at Vesper bank and worked skills up. There were sometimes twenty or more pop stars there whacking away at each other. Good times.
The guild lasted for some time, but it was just not in my nature to be a killer. That and I was still a loner by nature. I drifted away from the guild, but not before one of the members who remembered me, his name was Quiet Riot. Heh. Well, this fellow had tired of the game and he gave me my first house.
Back in those days, a house was something. There were no spaces, none. You had to buy, inherit, or get really lucky and find a spot. My small tower in Felucca, man! I was thrilled. I stayed mostly in Fel. I tried to hunt down the evil reds,*rolls eyes* and I gathered resources. That was what I did daily. *yawns*
It was not to long until EA announced it was dropping it's public forums. Man, those were odd times. I remember that last day, it was crazy. I wound up as a member of the Ianstorm forums. Stratics did not seem friendly at the time and many of their long time members resented the influx of refugee form the EA forum. I liked Ianstorm, small and friendly.
We got to know one another through the forums, and started creating characters on other shards to play with each other. We had some really good times doing this. One day we decided to create new characters on Siege, no one really had characters there. so we would start of on an even setting.

Which do you consider home?

Siege is my home, I have played there for over four some odd years now. Maybe five, I forget. From the humble beginnings of four or five of us struggling to get by on Siege a mighty town was built. I dare say it was one of the largest communities during it's heydays. Well, maybe not, but I like to think so. The town was not just our guild, which we eventually built up to second largest guild at one time, I believe. It was an open town that any who came in peace. *chuckles* There were many that did not come in peace.
Trust me, when word spread that a bunch of newbies had set up home on Siege the wolves came howling. Many just for targets. Some actually to try and run us off. We kinda ruined their concept that Siege was a PvP only shard. We persevered. We stayed and prospered. Good times again.
It was during this time that I lost my loner ways and became a team player. You have to on Siege. For many reasons. Primarily because you only get one character per account. We had to have diversity. We counted on each other for their special skills. Some were gatherers, some were crafters and some were warriors. We needed each other.
As time goes by, people change. The group I started with on Siege was no different. Personal differences and changing desires for what the game had to offer eventually took its toll. Iantown still exists and has some influence still, I will never forget those days.
I wanted something different. I wanted a chance to do things I had never really attempted. I did not feel my new direction would be good for the community that I had been a part of so long. I left the friendly confines of Iantown and started over again. This time with a small group of folk determined to make a different sort of mark. I believe we have. This group, TnT, has evolved into something quite special. The Circle of Flame alliance has several guilds involved in it, two of which are in factions.
Never believe that Siege is a PvP only shard. That is a perception shared by many, including some of the long time residents of Siege. It is simply not true and limits any that believe this fallacy. Yeah, Siege is home and the last place on UO that I will play.

DO you consider yourself a PvPer or crafter?

Both and neither. I have finnaly achieved some success in both. That could only really happen for me on the shard "where every body knows your name".

Do you have multiple accounts?

Yes, but not because I want to be self sufficient. There is just so much to do and I needed different characters to do different things. I do have a crafter, but I rarely make anything for myself. I would rather buy it from some one that enjoys making things.

Have you been to a Town Hall or other RL UO get together? More than one?

Yes, I went to Washington D.C. a couple of years ago, and most recently the one in Austin, TX. Both were fun. I left Austin rather jazzed about the direction the game has taken. That did not last long though.

Are you a "As long as the UO servers have power I'm playing type of person?

Had I answered these questions last week, I would have said most definatly.yes. I am just not so sure any more. I just had an epiphany (I just wanted to use that word at least once). I am tired of pounding my head on a brick wall. For the past several years I have tried to work on at least one pet project. First it was the disparity created by personal bless deeds. Then it was making crafting meaningful. More recently the abuse of free trial accounts has been my "windmill". I have recently grown weary of swinging at these windmills. No matter how much I try, Siege will just be what it is. A niche shard that is a hassle to deal with from the developers point of view. There is nothing I can do to change that.Nothing. I am tired.

Do you run any UO "establishments"?

I did at one time. I was Mayor of Iantown, and ran the pub there. Many player run events were centered in and around Iantown and the pub. I enjoyed that immensely. These days I am just a player. Maybe a behind the scenes guy. Maybe. My guild mistress is pretty sharp and rarely needs any advice from an old has been like me.

Are you involved in any UO endeavors outside the game (IE: Forum Mod, site owner, programmer (Think Kurgans "House Builder"?

I am a Mod for the Siege Shard Forums on Stratics. Almost three years now. Interesting at times, trust me. I also assist on our alliance forum. I really do not do much there, Stratics has kept me pretty busy as our Shard Forum almost rivals U Hall as to how many are viewing and posting at any given time.
Thank you, Sillyfoot, for allowing me to share some of my thoughts on this delightful Forum, Thank you Adam and UOForums

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And a big Thank you , Kelmo, appreciate you taking the time to open up about your UO experience.