HellRazor: First of all, why not tell me a little about about your history in UO and what prompted you to start holding events for other players?

Unknown Player: *smiles* *thinking* Well, it started about 6 months ago. I had been playing for about a year and 6 months, I went and bought the game the first day it shipped...I unfortunately missed the beta :).The game was getting stale and old. I had decided before this to take a break, so I canceled my account for about 2 months and later decided to come back at the request of many of my friends.

One of my friends told me about Avalon and the Contest of Champions. It sounded like fun, people going and fighting for prizes, how original! So I went and watched. It *was* fun. So I decided to run my own event.

My friend had kept up my houses and cash reserves, so I had about 500k plus about a half a million GP in items. So, I thought, why not? And I set up my first event in the Jhelom dueling pits as a "last man standing" event.

HellRazor: How many attended the event?

Unknown Player: About 75 I think. 4 seers, 3 counselors, and 1 GM also showed up.

HellRazor: Thats a pretty good turn out for a first time event. :)

Unknown Player: But, my God, the chaos...everyone fighting each other, people running out getting rezed and coming back...! It was like a server war! After that I was quite...discouraged.

HellRazor: Why? Because of all the carnage and chaos?

Unknown Player: Well, I couldn't award a winner because it went on for like an hour and a half. No one went grey, and many went murderer. One of the Seers (Spirit, I believe) told me that she liked it, and to try again, but on a smaller scale.

HellRazor: How long was it before the next event?

Unknown Player: About a week or two.

HellRazor: Same location?

Unknown Player: Yep, I held my first 2-3 events in the pits.

HellRazor: Did they get better as time went on and as you gained more experience? And were you still receiving similar Seer/GM support?

Unknown Player: My events did get better over time. You could say I was a newbie at them and became more experienced over time. At the start I received no support from GM's. Seers were nice to me, which helped. It was nice to ask questions from people who had done this sort of thing before on a larger scale.

HellRazor: So what made you decide to relocate your events from Jhelom, and why did you shift to more of a tournament type of event rather than a free-for-all?

Unknown Player: Well, it was the 2nd or 3rd event, and I had decided to make a large ring with the boxes and such, but people kept stealing them and after awhile I ran out. So Paco, who used to be with Avalon, offered the use of the arena there. I accepted and we moved the events there. As for changing the events, free for alls were fun, but very hard to keep organized. One on one and team events were easier for me.

HellRazor: How did things go for you in Avalon?

Unknown Player: Well, at first they were great...but after a few events, the Avalon council and the people in charge of the arena didn't feel the need to continue the events. They started placing unrealistic expectations on my events, i.e. that I submit all events a month in advance, and that my events could be canceled at any time for any reason. So I was sorta stuck with the choice to go back to the pits or stay in Avalon. I chose to stop running events for a couple weeks.

At that time it looked like it was going to be the end of my events. But Seer Spirit saw my problem and proposed an idea to me...that I buy a tower deed and she would place it. Things worked out rather well after that...

HellRazor: How many events total were held in Avalon before the move? And did Seer Spirit actually place the tower? I'm curious, because it looks like its sitting on top of some trees. :)

Unknown Player: Well, I believe we had about 4 or 5 events in Avalon. And yes, Seer Spirit placed the tower before my eyes. :) And, yes, its sitting on 2 trees. If I'm not mistaken, I believe you can even chop wood from inside the tower. :P

HellRazor: I heard that Seer Spirit may have had a falling out with OSI over that?

Unknown Player: Well, only rumors. I asked her if she would get in trouble for helping me, and she said it didn't matter. I only saw her twice after that actually.

HellRazor: So I take it she is gone?

Unknown Player: Well, I haven't seen her in about 4 months, so I assume that she is gone...I would like to mention that she was the only Seer that would even talk to me. Seer Irien openly admitted she didn't like me, and Seer Hawk didn't really talk to me at all. So I would like to give a heartfelt thank you to Seer Spirit for her help, wherever she is. :)

HellRazor: It sounds then that after the Baja Events Tower went up that some of your finest tourneys occured there.

Unknown Player: In my opinion, yes, the tower was a great place for the events. It was nice to not have to worry about people not allowing me to run my events how I chose. Also, it's nice to work from week to week on events and not have to have schedules. If I had a thought on an event, I could try it with out worrying.

HellRazor: Its too bad if some of the Seers were judgemental, considering you were taking the initiative to provide entertainment for other people.

Unknown Player: Well, yes, there will always be a few naysayers.

HellRazor: How many events were held at the Events Tower?

Unknown Player: Hmmm...I think between 12-15...not sure on that number tho :)

HellRazor: Wow. How many events total would you estimate you have held, and how much gold value awarded?

Unknown Player: Well, I kept track of the gold after I quit, it was around 2.1 million in gold alone. The total number of events is a harder one. I would have to say about 25 or so.

HellRazor: Was that all your own gold?

Unknown Player: Yep, basically me mining. The only other player who ever helped me out was Luke Skywalker. He gave me a castle deed way back when they were worth about nothing :) I was able to sell it and buy the tower deed.

HellRazor: So what made you decide to quit UO?

Unknown Player: Well, it was a few things. One, I didn't have the time to continue raising enough money for the events. I had asked OSI for assistance, but was ignored. Also, the fact that if there wasn't a big money prize, people wouldn't fight because of the recent MAJOR loss to fame and karma when you die...people weren't interested in losing the karma and fame. There were a few diehards, but most wouldnt do it.

HellRazor: Did you ever receive any response at all in your efforts to get help from OSI?

Unknown Player: Well, 2 days after I announced my retirement, I got a letter from OSI saying that I had been given an award for "Achievement in Community Event Coordination" to be signed by Lord British.

HellRazor: Of course, that's more "recognition" than "assistance"...

Unknown Player: True. Don't look at that in the wrong way tho. It was nice to be acknowledged for my work, but I had hoped it would of been more of an ability to continue my events. I had hoped that if things worked out that I could move to other shards and run events on them as well...basically go where I was needed...

HellRazor: The only other one I know of who has received that award is the leader of United Blacksmiths of Britannia. :)

Unknown Player: Yes, the UBB is a great guild and a driving force for change.

HellRazor: If you could change one thing in UO, what would it be?

Unknown Player: *smiles* A very hard question...I would have to say the extreme lack of role playing and events on all of the shards would need to be fixed. On baja alone there has been no storyline (excluding web fiction, which is worthless in my opinion) for over 3 months now. People go for months without seeing Seers. I really think they need to improve the access to Seer's and IGM's so that the general public like myself can submit story ideas. As of the time I left the ONLY RPing that was happening was being done by the AOV (Alliance of Virtue) led by Rookerith.

HellRazor: Well, of course, we must also remember that most of the roleplaying guilds and towns are members of AoV so thats quite a big umbrella. But I get your meaning. :)

Unknown Player: Yes, the AOV is one of the biggest RPing collection of guilds that I have seen. But they seem to get the smallest amount of help from OSI. I find that strange.

HellRazor: Especially now since we cannot gate monsters, etc...we are now totally dependent on Seers for such things, and they are so hard to find on Baja at times...there seems to be a tremendous turnover of Seers on Baja as well...

Unknown Player: Yes, it is VERY hard to run a quest. Thats one of those things that I always wanted to do, but didn't have the resources for. I have submitted many story lines to OSI, but all were ignored or refused.

HellRazor: Tis a shame. :( Such a wealth of potential free support people available to OSI, and yet they seem to be oblivious to it. Well, I think I am speaking for many when I say that you will be missed, we need more organizers of events and quests like yourself. Do you have any parting words for the good citizens of Baja?

Unknown Player: I was once told a simple thing, and I shall repeat it, as it still holds true...OSI will never be around when you need them, but when you don't, they will pound down your door with offers. I think if you ask anyone who has had contact with GM's, Seer's, and IGM's, they will most likly agree. Make no mistake, I still love the game and miss all the people, but I felt that it was enough. There is only so long that a person can spend making money for events alone. Tho I wished to continue my events, I wasn't realistically able to. Many people have asked me, "why spend the 400k on one event...why not do small 50k pots or something like that", but I would only have been extending the inevitable. Perhaps I could of lasted for another month or 2, but what then? I preferred to go out with a bang, the same way I started.

HellRazor: That you did, UP. Thanks for everything you have done for the shard, and best of luck in your future travels...should our readers watch for you in Everquest perhaps? ;>

Unknown Player: Aye...unfortunately, I couldn't use the same name as I do in UO, the EQ name server didn't like Unknown Player :) But rest assured within a couple of months I should start running some events there.

HellRazor: I'm sure the EQ'ers will be looking forward to it. Thanks, UP!

Unknown Player: NP.