In line with the writing contest and the Memorable Moments Bonnie gave us at the beginning of this week, we asked Richard Garriot to shared some of his memories with us. He was kind enough to come up with two stories:
The Thief
One day, early in the life of UO, I was participating as a GM and going to the aid of people who requested it. A note flashed across my screen from a woman, who said something like “Today is my first day trying to play UO, and every time I try to leave town a thief steals all my stuff, so I have to restart, and he does the same. If this continues I will quit and never come back to this game.” So I arrived in her presence as Lord British, not that she cared, she did not know or care who I was, and only wanted her problem fixed. I felt I was up to the seemingly simple task. I told her to come with me, and I would escort her out of town. As we left town, suddenly *ZIP* a thief flew across the screen at speeds I could hardly understand, and stole her gear and disappeared! I told her to wait here, as I teleported to try and get in advance of the speedy ruffian. When I finally froze him with a GM command, I revealed myself as Lord British, and told him to leave this poor woman alone, that this would drive away potential new players which we could not allow. Stop or else I would ban him from the game! He begged for forgiveness, and pledged to never do it to her again.
Satisfied, I returned the stolen items to the woman and told her, she should be safe now for at least a while, when *ZIP* the same thief came by again and stole all her items and disappeared. So, I chased him down a second time, and told him, hey, you had been warned, now I am going to ban you. He pleaded and pleaded and exclaimed how exuberance had overtaken him, and that he swore this time he would never do it again! Reluctantly, I believed him, and took the belongings back to the woman, again.
But then, for a third time, the same thief *ZIPPED* by… I froze him to the ground and told him, I was about to ban him! Then for the first time… he broke character, and refered to me out of character as well… “Look Richard Garriott”, he said, “You guys made the rules to this game, the rules include the role of thief, I am playing just as the role would be intended to be played. If the King tells a thief not to steal, of course he will beg for mercy and swear he won’t again. But what do you expect of me… I am a thief!”
After some thought… I agreed with him. So instead of banning him, I teleported him to the far side of the world. Then I gave the items back to the woman who could finally go about her business. After that, I began to think more carefully about the rules we ourselves put in the game, and the inevitable play styles that would come of it.
The Fisherman
One day, I was walking along the banks of a small river. I was doing so *invisible* so that I would just wander and observe the world we had created. Along the bank, I saw a man dressed clearly as a fisherman, repeatedly casting into the water and setting his catch in tidy rows along the bank. I was struck by how much fun he was having in spite of the thin fishing simulation, which was merely 50% catch a fish each cast.
After a few minutes a warrior walked by wearing plate armor and caring large weapons. When he saw the poor fisherman, he strutted over, and said something like: “Poor fisherman, I see you are without weapons and armor. I am a great warrior and have just returned from the dungeons with great bounty, I would gladly share it with you to help you up from your station.” With that he began to lay out valuables along the bank, as gifts for the poor fisherman.
The fisherman replied: “Warrior, take back your implements of violence! I am a fisherman! What need have I of swords and armor. You call me poor, but every day I sit by a beautiful riverbank, watching the world and catching my fish. Every evening I take my catch to town and sell it, then retire into the pub to share drinks and stories with my friends. I live a rich life! Be gone ruffian!” And with that the warrior huffed and went on his way.
This was the day, where I knew we were creating something of more transcendent power than I had expected before.
– Richard
Richard also mentioned the death of Lord British but he was sure that everyone has heard that story. We have and we made it part of the art work. In honor of that moment we give you another puzzle piece – to complete the burning Lord.
