Todays guest is none other than Spudtrina.





The Academy Of Arts Guild recently had a get together in real life.
Several other Great Lakes Guilds, like Black Company have annual
picnics and other real life events. Is this the first real life get together for AoA?
This August was the first ever AOA RL event where we were able to bring people from Massachusetts, Texas, and Ohio together for a week. With the great time we had on this first meeting, we are now talking about getting together next year for another event.

How many members attended this rl event and where did it take
place?
This event consisted of 10 people and we met in Hamilton Ohio.

Do many of the AoA members live in the Ohio area?
Seven of the people actually lived within 20 mins of Hamilton, Ohio and the other 3 people drove 900+ miles to attend this get together. Along the way, as a group we went through 1 set of brakes, 1 set of rear rotors, 1 set of rear C-V joints and 1 fuel pump.

How many members does AoA have at this time?
Currently we have 48 members.

Recently I saw AoA members Rori and Arwin at an MOA event. Did they attend the real life get together?
Rori and Arwin are two people who are related in RL and did attend the various dinners and cookouts.

Do you feel meeting guild members in real life changes the way you inneract with them in the realm?
Meeting the other guild members in real life makes playing the game so much more enjoyable. It�s amazing how the people in person directly reflect how they play the game.

What does Lady Spudtrina like most about AoA?
Lady Spudtrina likes how most of the people in the game are very
helpful to newbies and yet consist of several players who have played since day 1.
Spudtrina also likes how we are not selfish and try to help out
everyone� even if they�re not in the guild.

On the subject of Spudtrina...why that name and what does it mean?
It was rather funny how I came up with the name Spudtrina. Way back
when, I used to play text based games MUDS (multi-user domains) on a 14.4 modem and went by the name of spud. Due to the popularity of the name, I was unable to use that name Spud when playing Diablo 2. So I spent about 20 minutes plugging in different variations of �Spud� and ended up with Spudtrina. Due to the uniqueness of the name, I am now able to use this in all of the online games I play.

Are any of the AoA members artistic or creative in real life?
In Real Life, Thebe works at a college and deals with graphic design
and Arwin spends her spare time making stained glass pieces for friends and family.

What was the most surprising thing you learned about another
member while seeing them in real life?
The most surprising thing was seeing the diversity of the group in our actual ages. Although most of us were between 32- 45, there were a few members who were as young as 10.

Which member was the most outgoing and whom was the most shy at
this get together?
One of the most outgoing people in the game is Rori and yet she was
rather shy in person. Once she felt comfortable with us, she was more like her UO self.

What % of the time did you all talk about UO as opposed to non UO
topics?
During the week, we spent about 75% of the time talking about RL and 25% about the game. Although I do have to say that everyone of us spent at least 20 � 60 mins daily to check on their characters in the game.

Spud, thank you for taking the time to be my guest today and sharing with our readers a little about the AoA event.

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