griefers.net

This is sad.

Adam did so much right when he was creating AI. He had a vision and didn't let any bitchy players fuck it up, no matter how much they whined and begged. Just stop for a moment, and think about how many multi-million dollar MMORPG operations and mothers-basement-based PRS operators failed to do that. In the end, though, we in the UO community failed him.

Drama and politics have always been a part of the UO culture, but on AI, it always seemed to turn toxic and just run people off the server without even providing a satisfactory resolution for those who "won". First, Adam tried to avoid the trap EA fell into by staying out of the drama and leaving the players alone to settle their own flamewars. We had our flamewars, some lost, some won, and the losers were mostly driven from the game. In response, Adam tried to appoint mediators and moderators. Crazy him, he figured that there might be some members of the UO community who weren't just self-serving pricks. Wrong. The duly appointed mediators and moderators abused their powers and drove even more people from the game. Adam trusted us, as a community, to regulate ourselves, and we couldn't do it.

AI isn't perfect, but it approaches perfect. More than that, in all my years gaming, I've never encountered a game operator (GM, dev or otherwise) with the vision and integrity of Adam Ant. His only flaw, if it is a flaw, is putting too much faith in the goodwill of the community. For now, however, AI is online and we've been told that if player numbers increase, it'll be kept alive. Regardless if you believe that or not, you owe it to yourself and every fond memory you've ever had about UO to reinstall your client and play on Angel Island. AI is the final large scale UO shard based on a pvp-centric ruleset, and when it goes offline, UO will be truly dead.

If we can't step up, now, then we've forever lost the right to complain when other games are lobotomized to make them "more appealing to mainstream gamers", because we'll know that, when push comes to shove, oldscool gamers are all selfish assholes who shit their own nests.

EDIT: I've set up an AI forum here on GNET for youse guise to post your drama or whatever.

I almost want to do that....

It's been a long time, but I'll log on and see who's still around.

damn i feel hella guilty for not loggin on to ai now

i dont feel guilt

i do and i dont, i think its because i played uo for 8 yrs or so.

I left because of faggot egos like Naysayer, but I enjoyed the shard regardless. I might go hang out again.

UO was the only mmog i enjoyed and actually played for an extended period of time.