UOAlive Meet the UOAlive Team

[tr1age]

Hello all, I am tr1age aka Tristan!

I have been an avid gamer since my father first got the Atari way back when. He always wanted me to play games so he had someone to play with and at first I was not interested at all, but then we went to arcades and Beast Master(LEVELLLL UPPPP) and TMNT(Donatello of course) were released... yeah I was hooked. When I got my first Nintendo I was pretty much glued to the screen when I visited my dad. Actually helped with the divorced parents, go visit dad jitters. Then Sega Channel was announced and I thought I was in heaven when my parents both said, Oh wow that is cool, of course you can have that. Mind you I spent 3 days figuring out how to sell it to them so they would say yes, and I didn't even have to argue for it haha. Then it was all downhill after I got my first PC which was an Apple. I played the Diablo and Warcraft games on 14k. It was amazing! Me and my neighbors would run all speed hacks just to play at normal speed. But all my friends had PC's and I was sad, because I kinda missed the Doom and Wolfenstein games. We tried "bootcamp" back then and yeah that never worked but it was fun times to spend with my dad trying to get it to work. It was OUR things to do. Mostly as I got older he was the guy who helped me clean the viruses off my PC because I was really bad at all of that.

So majority of the time gaming to me meant going to my friends house down the block, eating all their food, and sitting in the room kicking ass. Consoles were my life. Other than when the brother of my other best friend Chris would come in and say "Let's go spy on the neighbors", and of course I would go outside over games cause I enjoyed it better and secretly thought I was a spy.

Well my first PC machine was right at the time Ultima Online came out. And I will never forget having dual isdn and logging in saying "Hi are you real" to the first person and them sayin, YES! I was hooked to MMO's from that point on. Shit this is where I learned that school sucked and gaming worlds were better. I would day dream of the music, what I was gonna do when I got home, and I would rage quit hard when I died in that game. I was the only one in Social Studies that knew what a Scimitar was because of UO. I also was a pure newb for about 2 years. After that, I learned to fend for myself and I turned into a PvP addict. If it wasn't multiplayer I didn't want to play it. So much so that my Dad started to regret getting me into gaming so much because he no longer had the upper hand. Haha.

So why am I telling you this?

I want you to know ME as a person,(hyper, passionate, super excitable, talks a lot, invasive, sarcastic, and other dating site adjectives) not only as the "Admin". It is and always has been important that UOAlive be a place where everyone can come and get away from their everyday lives and be themselves. That applies to myself and all the other staff as well. We are here because we love gaming and don't mind the extra responsibility required to help things progress, expand, and get organized to play with one another.

I do freelance directing and photography as my career. I worked for Blizzard as a cinematic artist directing in game cinematics for 4 and a half years. Before that I directed theatre and acted. I love being in crowds, talking, being open, sharing, and helping to pull out the potential of those around me(although since 2020 not as much eeep). I am not here to dictate, nor am I here to have that "distanced" relationship that often comes with "being in charge". We put ourselves on the ground floor everyday. This is often contradictory to any leading strategy out there(and those I have had to use in all aspects of my jobs), but through transparency, honesty, and passion for the community and gaming, we have found it works great! We all treat each other as equals and therefore make decisions together.

Our personalities are all very different with the tying bond of passion for games and this community. There is a great equalization that comes with that, so our choices are often diverse and fitting to the whole, not just individual needs. We also understand individual needs and attend to those when brought to our attention.

That being said, I ask everyone and myself to write out something about themselves so when we are playing games, posting on the forums, or in Discord, or personally see me: High energy, talking like a 3 year old child who NEEDS you to see the cool thing "Mom Mom Mom Ma Ma Ma Mommy mommy!!", you don't get thrown.

We put in a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure it all works and feels right for those who reside here. As well we make sure WE are having fun too.

UOAlive is much more than just a server, it is a community, it is our home! It is where we, as we are getting older can still make lasting friendships! We innovate and evolve everyday. We "outlast" individual games because we are not afraid to say, "This actually sucks" and make changes. We always have each other, which I believe means a whole lot. We value relationships. So don't get too caught up on the "idea of a game" but the actual game in front of us, and the beautiful and exciting personalities all around.

So with that said, I hope you understand more about myself and the others, how we are part of the community as much as you, and we will never treat you all like subordinates, but friends and family.

 

[Schuyler Bain]

Ahoy shipmates!

Jay here (A.K.A. Schuyler Bain, A.K.A The Captain). I have been playing Ultima Onilne in some form since it launched on September 24th 1997. I was in my mid-twenties, still single (but dating my future wife) and not yet a father. My kids were born a few years after UO launched, grew up watching me play and eventually joined when they were old enough. They still play with their “ol’ man” from time-to-time and both have accounts here on UOAlive.

I started out on Lake Superior and migrated to Catskills after about 8 years, but most of my playing time has been spent on “freeshards”. I was a member of the Order of the Silver Serpent [OSS] on Lake Superior and used to hang out at the YMCA on Sonoma back in the day. I am also a member of the United Pirates (UP) on Catskills, although I have not been active with them in years.

In real life I support my UO Addiction as head of a training and enablement department for a global I.T. support organization. I am a geek to the core and nerd out over most Sci-Fi and Fantasy i.e. Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, D&D, Doctor Who, etc.. I am also an AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego), I have built my own lightsabers and used to build my own PCs, but it has been a few years now. Also, Jarvey (First Mate of the Three Stone Tavern) is actually my real life ferret and is typically running around or sleeping next to me when I am playing.

I am sometimes asked about the name Schuyler and in voice chat it is often fun to hear people try to pronounce it, although it seems to be less of an issue these days with the popularity of the musical Hamilton and the "Schuyler Sisters". For those that are unsure Schuyler is pronounced like Skyler. I was in a history class while at university and Schuyler Colfax, the 17th vice president of the United States, came up in a lecture. He was rather unremarkable, but at the time I thought the spelling of the name was cool. I also used Gryphon Bain as a character name and on Stratics when I was a long-time user and part-time mod many years ago.

I have been a member of the UOAlive community since November 2020 and a volunteer New Player Companion since January 2022. Between all the content, the ability to play with all the aspects of UO I love (housing design, R.P., character design, template development, and general exploration) and most importantly the great community, I am privileged to call UOAlive my UO home.

*tips tricorne*

-The Captain

 

[Zara]

Greetings! I’m not used to writing about myself. I’m someone who often works to stay out of the spotlight to let others shine. So please excuse this attempt at an introduction.

I'm J&C on Discord and a New Player Companion. I was also one of the original Companions on OSI when that program existed.

My gaming experience is pretty wide, except with games that are 3D with cameras (motion sickness). Whether it’s arcade games from the days of Street Fighter 2 and Golden Axe, RPGs, Chess, Strategy games, MMOs, and many more, if I get really into it, I tend to become a top player.

The way I achieve that though is usually through unique ways. I don’t follow “metas” (though I do sometimes use them as part of my research/learning process)…rather, I create my own “metas” that can equal or exceed the ones everyone else follows. I don’t normally publish or advertise mine and instead, I try to encourage others to do the same and come up with their own builds – whether it’s a meta or just for fun. It’s a lot of fun to theorycraft. It might seem just a little overwhelming at first, but it can be quite rewarding and fun. The keyword in all this is fun, and I believe if you are having fun, well, then you’re doing it right.

I actually enjoy PvP a lot because humans in most cases (but not all!) tend to be the most challenging and offers the most strategy. It’s also a great way to improve my builds and my strategies when playing against other very skilled players who use the game’s “meta builds” or “meta strategies” (depending on the game). However, I also really dislike “trash talk”, egotistical, arrogant players, competitive immaturity, and toxic behavior in general. Sadly, all of that tends to come with PvP, so I usually go out of my way to avoid it.

I did do a lot of PvP in the early days of UO as a PK hunter. Not because I wanted to, quite the opposite, because I felt somebody had to stand up and help other players who were being harassment and trolled unfairly. I did also do UO PvP in guild environments with friends, and that I did enjoy. For a bit, when thieves were rampant and hurting players, I would play a thief who would steal from those thieves and give what was stolen to the original owners. Seeing their happiness was more a reward than any silly item in a game.

“In real life”, I tend to be pretty much the same in desiring to deeply excel in whatever I am doing and am interested in, including jobs and career. I also, like in MMOs like UO, love to help other people, to make them smile, and help them accomplish their own dreams. Nearly all of my jobs and careers have involved computers (in many capacities) and/or teaching (from elementary schools to college, as well as other avenues).

These last years, due to multiple health concerns, my gaming time and skill have become considerably less. Typing also tends to be problematic for me if I do it too often, so I don’t interact as much as I might otherwise. Still I love to help, when I can.