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So a while ago, maybe 7 or 8 months, I was playing Ultima Online on a free shard. I was doing this because I was tired of sc2 already, and it sounded like a good way to waste my time away. I did have a bit of fun, largely because I met this guy that made my time there a lot easier.
For those who don't know, Ultima Online is like WoW but more hardcore. You don't need to raid so you can take it at your own pace - but to actually accomplish stuff it does tend to take more time than WoW, and the game is more unforgiving. It is much easier to waste time, die and lose what you worked for, and it's possible to even lose your items or mount that you spent your entire time on the shard working for.
I am pretty hardcore when it comes to being good at games so my immediate goal was to be pretty badass on the shard. Anyways this guy I met helped me every step, and I became pretty good friends with him over the next 2-3 months. He spent so much time helping me, and I saw him help other players, he was truly selfless. And he was selfless in a game where almost all players are extremely selfish.
After getting to know more about him I found out some sad info about him. He was pretty down on himself, a couple years ago he had done something very bad. He didn't really go indepth and I mostly solved it because I am a good detective but he admitted I was on the right track. He was on probation because when he was younger he had drank and drove and hit someone - I believe a kid - possibly killing the kid.
I could tell he was kind of depressed by this. And I know a lot of you, a lot of people in general would hate on this guy hard - there is no way he should ever be forgiven. But I take this to be a lesson in being understanding of others. I can read people well enough, even in games, to tell that this was a really really nice guy. I felt pretty bad for him that he had made this mistake in his past, a mistake that was obviously going to be haunting him forever.
Anyways we played for a few more weeks until one day I get online and he suddenly messages me "come to my house". His house in the game of course, I didn't know him in person. So I go to his house, and he proceeds to give me the house (worth a lot in the game), and give me all his stuff. Perhaps a thousand hours of work, he had been playing a lot longer than me. He tells me he can't go on UO anymore and has 5 minutes to get out of the game.
Apparently the judge he regularly sees about his probation ruled he can't use any online "chat programs", and games are considered chat programs. He then logs off and is gone.
Anyways I was pretty bummed about this, I really liked this guy. I made a post on the forum for the shard giving him my email address, since I didn't think to do it beforehand. But I doubted he would ever read it, even if he could. And he didn't, I never heard from him. This was maybe 6-7 months ago.
Then last night I check my email and what's this: I got an email from my UO buddy. He said he was bored and decided to type his old username into google, and the first thing that came up was my post to him on the forums.
We caught up a bit, he is doing alright. He has to wear a bracelet on his ankle and he works at a gas station but he seems to be hanging in there. Anyways I thought it was cool to catch up with him and I like the guy enough I will probably keep in touch with him regularly.
So yeah, that's the end of my story.
Oh, and random TL related fact: the shard I played UO on wasn't all that big, but there was another TLer there! TL ownz the universe.
 
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This is a touching story.
I do feel bad for the guy. Despite not disagreeing with the majority of the ruling.
It would be nice if there was a probation type of account where chat was disabled that people were allowed to use or something ;p
It makes me sad that he can't do something that he enjoyed and in turn made other peoples experience more enjoyable when he is already beating himself up so much.
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Blazinghand
United States25563 Posts
That's a touching story. I don't really know what to say... but it's a touching story. 5/5 for good guys trying to be good in a tough world.
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Great stories make us take a step back and look at our lives from a 3rd person's point of view. This did just that, and made me feel a little better on something I have been thinking too much about. 
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It's things like this that make one realize that the world is never as black and white as people make it seem. Touching story
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Wow it must've been really nice hearing from him again after such a while. Ahh imagine not talking with him when he had to go? Would've really sucked to not know what happened and him leaving just out of the blue. I'm glad you got to talk to an old friend again!! :D:D
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sad story, stuff like that is enough for someone to contemplate suicide, without a videogame or something to drown yourself in there isn't much else to do (besides move on, but let's be realistic...)
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Props to the guy for keeping his head up and his path steady when others are trying to slam him down. Not a lot of people can say that.
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Nice story, but I don't see why he wouldn't be allowed to use online chat programs if his offense was vehicular manslaughter.
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On August 26 2011 07:28 whatthefat wrote:
Nice story, but I don't see why he wouldn't be allowed to use online chat programs if his offense was vehicular manslaughter.
I think the judge wants him to be productive, and doesn't want him to have too much fun. That is my suspicion.
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I hope his days are haunted by guilt and his nights ravaged by nightmares.
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Interesting blog and a good read. I hope things work out for this guy in the future.
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Thanks for sharing travis, a bit of a sad tale indeed. I can acknowledge that he made a bug mistake, but I'm glad he recognized his mistake and didn't just continue down the path of destruction. Remorse is a good thing..
We have young people here who thinks it's cool to "Wack some C***" out on a Saturday night. Then proceed to king-hit strangers and walk away laughing. The sad thing is, they wake up the next morning not even remembering the incident..
Great to see you guys got back in touch, I've lost contact with most of my good US friends from WoW days.
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This is the tragedy of violence...
Nobody wins. Why people celebrate violent culture is beyond me. It just ruins lives. Poor guy, at least he is making something of his life. Given the kind of guilt of must follow him around, giving up gaming probably isn't that much of a deal. The lack of companionship however must suck ass.
Then of course their is the family that was torn apart by his act. A single moment of recklessness with outrageous consequences.
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hey, happy birthday! good story and i'm glad you shared. from time to time i think of my old online buddies and wonder how they're doing these days.
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EPT
