Great Lakes is a very active shard with a lot of community spirit.
Not only do we have many guilds but many player run events also, much more than most other shards.
Of course there are those that say RP is dead on Great Lakes ( which is not true ), or complain about this or that. Even board warriors have their complaints. Though the Great Lakes boards are dominated by PvP posts that in itself has its appeal for many. Many players from other shards go to the Great Lakes boards just to read the PvP talk.

The Great Lakes News also is not just read by Great Lakes players.
Todays guest is a perfect example of that. I am happy to present Therin Telamon as my guest today.


Our paths crossed just last week. You claim and I quote, "I chose to play on GL because I heard about the sense of community there, and your questionnaires helped with that decision as well". Is this true and how so?
This is true. I have been away from OSI for a few years, and when I returned, I immediately chose GL as a new home. During my absence, I kept checking out Stratics to keep up to date about changes etc. I noticed that there always were lots of news and interesting reports, including your questionaires.
For about a year before returning, I read all of them, and I was intrigued by the different characters that were interviewed. Lots of variety.
Of course that is true for other shards as well, but for some reason, after reading all the GL news, I just felt that I wanted to be on that shard. ( Also, I remember other people mentioning quite a few times that Great Lakes has the best community and some very interesting places to visit )
So... I�d say you did a great job making the shard interesting, and I very much enjoyed reading those questionaires. To be featured in one today is the icing on the cake =)

Therin Telamon is the name of your character I saw in Yew last week. Tell us a little about how you came upon this name?
Actually, I wasn�t being very creative when I chose that name. It is one of the main characters in the "Wheel Of Time" book series by Robert E. Jordan. I heard many people mention those books, but I didn�t get the first one until earlier this year. Ever since, I am hooked and right now, they�re all I am reading.
So when I had to create a character name, it was an easy choice.
Also, I noticed that quite a few people on Great Lakes know the books as well, as I have been asked about the name, and had several conversations about the WOT books already. So it seems to be a good name to get in touch with people.

Your status was [young] but you know of the realm quit well, how is that?
As I said, I have been on OSI before. I started playing UO in 1998, and even though I took two breaks ( one lasted a bit less than a year, the other lasted 2 years... that�s the one that ended last week ) I kept myself up to date by reading stratics.
I also played a bit on some freeshards, and even operated one myself, so I was familiar with the SE expansion, Tokuno islands and many places I hadnt seen as a player even though I was away from OSI for a while.

What is the one thing you like about being in the land of Great Lakes so far?
Well, the people here are very friendly and helpful. I enjoyed seeing the "harvesting quest" going on even though I did not participate actively ( too busy gathering resources, training skills etc. ).
Also, seeing people or places I had read about on stratics is quite interesting. I.e. MOA... I read about their auction house, and the events going on there, and within the week and a half I am back, I participated in two of their game nights... the second time I even won 75 K in gold, which sure was helpful. =)
What can I say ? I guess my reasons for choosing Great Lakes might be based on a certain feeling that this would be the right place for me, and now that I am here, I definitely feel like it was a good choice.

Has there been any disappointments about Great Lakes and if so what are they?
No, not than I can think of. The only disadvantages I can think of ( which aren�t really that bad ) I was aware of before I started. The thing is, I am currently working and living in Europe ( I am originally from the States, and intend to return there in a little while ), so I knew that my times of playing wouldn�t exactly be the peak hours. My time here is GMT+1, so when some of the events on GL start at 8 or 9 PM EST, it�s the middle of the night for me.
But at the same time, it�s not always a bad thing to be hunting when it is not peak hour...



You mentioned another Therin character, an elf. I take it you are excited about this new expansion. So far what do you think of it?
I am quite excited about it. Last night, Therin Telamon the elf was born. So there now are two incarnations of him, one human and one elven.
I spent a lot of time last night in Heartwood, picking up some of the "welcome presents" there in those backpacks. The town looks beautiful in my opinion.
I haven�t had a chance to really compare the elven character to the human one, and I hope to get a spellweaving book soon.
But so far, the expansion looks very interesting, more so than Samurai Empire did in my opinion. I don�t even wanna get into the fact that elfs are such a classic fantasy character. I just think that this new race, the new spells etc definitely have the potential to add new aspects, storylines and possibilities to the game.
I didn�t exactly dislike SE, but then again, I wasn�t too crazy about it. There were some interesting additions, like the new landmass, but none of them were as interesting as the new race, new quest system, new spells etc.
I now have to manage splitting up the time available for playing between Therin the elf and Therin the human.
=)
So in a nutshell, I was excited during the preparation phase, I enjoyed waiting for it and so far, I am not disappointed, but instead excited about the new additions, and I am looking forward to seeing what will happen to the UO community now that Mondain�s Legacy is activated. I think it�ll take some time until we see how it all works out.



You are rather new to these lands. Do you own a house and if so where?
I actually do. The human Therin owns a small workshop on a little island. This was made possible by Arrow of the Yew Archers, the guild that Therin is in. He payed for the house and also found a location. The guild members have been extremely helpful and friendly so far, and since both Therins are archers, I guess it was a good choice to apply for the guild ( I learned about it through the Stratics message boards )
So far, my main focus is saving up money and building my skill. I remember how exciting my first night on OSI was, back in December 1998. Ever since, I usually played warrior-, mage- and paladin-characters, so training archery, hunting using the bow adds some excitement, as I never tried that before.

If you could own one item in the realm right now that you do not already have what would it be?
Well, would I get to pick more than one ?
As an elf, I would love to have a spell-weaving book so I could try out those spells. I think the fact that some of them are more effective if casted by a group of arcanists might result in more team work, which I think is a great idea. I always enjoyed team work, combining efforts to reach a goal, and combining different professions ( hunting with a warrior, a mage, a healer, a bard and an archer, for example ). So this expansion might encourage that, and I think that was one of the goals of the developers. And I talk wayyyy too much, don�t I ?
As an archer, I wouldn�t mind getting my hand onto Frostbringer, even though there are other amazing bows. Its just the UO-freak in me who thinks that having that particular artifact would be appropiate for an archer
I am currently saving up for a 100% LRC suit, so maybe one of the two Therins can also study the arcane arts of humankind again without having a fit about lackign reagents in the middle of a fight.

Anyway, I picked up a LOT of the new elven items last night, as many of them magically appeared in those backpacks in Heartwood. So I have decent armour and a huge collection of rather powerful elven bows, so for now I am fine.

Rumor has it you enjoy writing and have even done some press work in real life. Is this true?
Yes. I always was interested in doing that, and for a few years, I have written a lot of instructional articles ( music-related ) and have done quite a few interviews with musicians... some of them were childhood heroes of mine, so that was an amazing opportunity. I also have written some album reviews for different magazines, but my main focus was on instructional material, and just by coincidence, I got a chance to interview some people.
I enjoy journalistic work, and maybe that is another reason why I do like your questionaires... or maybe its a reason why I am talking wayyy too much ( didn�t I say that before ? )

What is your favorite color in the realm and in real life?
In the realm I stick to what I consider "hunter colors", green and brown. In real life, my favorite color probably is blue.

Who are your favorite writers?
Well, I do enjoy the heck out of reading the WOT series by Robert E. Jordan. I certainly like Tolkien�s work, and also liked Tad Williams� books, like that series of fantasy books he write, starting with the "Dragonbone Throne".
I also like the Hyperion / Empyrion series by Dan Simmons, that was some of the best SF I ever read.
My favorite writer probably is HP Lovecraft, who still is a big influence for many of todays top horror and fantasy writers. I think his skill in creating a suspenseful and scary atmosphere was amazing, and the whole "Great Old Ones" theme is extremely fascinating to me. I have read all of his stories, poems and books many times.
I also enjoy reading music biographies... the one on Jimi Hendrix by Charles Shaar Murray ( who used to write for the Rolling Stone magazine if I am not mistaken ) was very good.
And: Umberto Eco, John Irving, David Morrell, Dan Brown... the list goes on and on

Who is your favorite character in fiction?
Right now, that would be Lews Therin Telamon, both a very powerful and a very tragic character from the WOT series. ( Sorry I keep mentioning that, it�s just that I am reading that series right now and enjoy it lots ).
I also liked the character of William of Baskerville in "The Name Of The Rose" by Eco... a fascinating character from a fascinating book.
And certainly some characters from Lovecraft stories, even though there were many of those.
And I assume I am not one of your favorite characters since I do not seem to be capable of giving short answers or settle for one favorite character or item I�d like to have =)

When and where have you been the happiest?
In about 1998, living in the suburbs of Atlanta / GA. Had some wonderful things happening in my life, I enjoyed the area I lived in ( nature, weather, food... ), and it was just a time where I felt extremely happy, free and woke up with a smile every morning.
Set my alarm clock for about 6 AM, got up, made some coffee and sat in the driveway to watch the sun going up. Sounds sappy, huh ? It�s true though.

If you could change one thing about your physical appearance what would it be?
I am working on that... I cut back on exercising for a while, and now am doing a daily routine to build up more muscles again. Thats one thing I am working on. Also, I have dry skin ( illness I had as a kid ), so if that could be fixed permanently, I�d be happy

What do you admire most in a man?
Hmmm... credibility as a person, wisdom, a certain satisfaction with the state being instead of being TOO eager to get to "the next stage" if you know what I mean. Lots of people are too focussed on moving on without ever appreciating what they have. I think my favorite person was my late grandfather, who taught me a whole lot. He was a quiet person who had a lot of good advice, he didn�t talk too much but when he said something, it was exactly the right thing. He�s someone I am trying to live up to ( and I guess I suck at "not talking much", as this interview proves )

What do you admire most in a woman?
Self confidence. A good sense of humor. Patience with the stupid things males tend to do =). An ability to discuss things without actually having it turn into arguments.

What is your motto?
As a musician, most of the rules I go by have to do with practicing, as some of those can be applied to other aspects of life as well. Like "Even a small amount of time practicing will help me to improve" ( meaning that even if you can�t invest a lot of time into something, you can still make progress if you are consistent )
Also, I try to be credible and do my own thing without trying to make everyone like me by acting or adjusting to everyones preferences constantly.
And if you want a saying, my old math teacher used to say "If you fight, you may lose. If you choose not to fight, you already have lost"
That�s one I rolled my eyes about back then, but it seems to fit quite well occasionally.


Therin, it has been great having you as my guest today and I thank you kindly.

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