Even though the game is quite dilapidated, I can never seem to tear free from it's hold. I've been playing Ultima Online for about 7 years now and it never gets tiring. Sure, certain aspects of it get old (like the people who do nothing but trash-talk about peoples' PVP skills), but I don't think I will ever get tired of the game. I played on OSI paid-servers for about a year and a half. Then I found the wonder of free shards. All the fun, and more, of a paid OSI account without having to pay? You bet I'm on top of that!

I started with one shard right after leaving OSI. It was called Icrontic back then (it went from Icrontic.. to Icronticshard.. to Ikrontik) and it was my life. I spent about the first year of my free-shard career on Icrontic before I decided to strike out, see if there was something better. In these last few years I've probably tried out around 50 other free-shards, but I have yet to find one that compares to Icrontic.

After about 3 years of being with Icrontic (off and on.. and dealing with Icrontic changing hosting and ownership and downtimes as a result) I applied for a staff position. I was initially turned down due to circumstances regarding my roommate. But I stayed vigilant and continued to help out the shard in any way that I could, being a player. Within 2 months I was accepted to the ranks of staff as a Trainee Counselor.

That's where my whole UO mess started. Staffing wasn't what I had expected. I went from Trainee Counselor to Full Counselor in about 3 days and then I zipped straight to the near-top as a GM (Game Master). All the stories I had heard about being a GM gave me nightmares. People told me I would have a never-ending flow of stupid questions, constant accusations of being a cheater or showing favortism, and various other horror stories. But honestly, I loved it. It was a fairly busy job, but it wasn't bad. So, I persevered as a GM for almost a year. Then, the time came for me to step up into the ranks of Administrator, which puts me where I am now.

I am currently developing the Ikrontik Shard Network (spelling changed to Ikrontik about two years ago). Rather than just having 1 server under the wing of the Ikrontik name, we will have several. Currently, we have 1 POL server ready to launch today and a RunUO server that will be launced before Valentines Day. We will expand into more POL and RunUO servers and possibly even into Sphere servers. My job in all of this: get the ball rolling (and graphics design). I, and 1 other, are the head Administrators of the project. I've received nothing but naysaying from other Admins.
"Oh you won't be able to handle it. One shard is hard enough for anyone."
But, these are also the same people that said I wouldn't be able to handle being a GM =).

Anyway, that's my story with Ultima Online. Please share your experiences if you have them. If you're interested in Ultima Online, but want to know more, feel free to ask me. It's a great game and, contrary to popular belief, it's simplicity makes it one of the best.

I was just browsing around and your mention of Icrontic happened to catch my eye. I've been playing UO on and off for about 8 years now, and Icrontic was the very first shard I've ever played on. There's only been maybe 6 other shards I've tried, and Icrontic is still the top of the list for me...there hasn't been another quite like it.

I think it's awesome that you're going to revive it. I'm definitely going to come check it out once you're up and running. So keep me posted would ya? Yay, Icrontic will live on!!

i loved Ultima One oF MY Favorite Series!

Wow, that sounds awesome, but where may I ask did you get the Icrontic files? I have been searching everywhere!

Yeah that is quite a story haha. The game is quite old but I hear that a lot of peopel still play it. I actually got a free version of the game which I thought was pretty neat, but I never really got into it. What really got me even thinking about it was the fact that you could make your own house and such. But after a while I just figured it was like any other RPG. I don't know, maybe I just have to get a little going first before I can judge the game . But now that you reminded me about it i think I might try to get into it and se what happens!

-Jester

Cheebu The Exile
Any Ultima Online Players?

Started playing UOwhen I was about 13 I'm 16 now and the game doesent get old I play on the abyss shard, my acount got erased so I started a new one. On the side I'm trying to create my own shard. I'm trying to take the best things from the abyss that once were and put them on my server.

I'm sort of looking for help with the server but if some decent shard promotes me to be a gm or one of the lower administration people I would gladly acept. Ive been working on Sphere server 55r 99f,you some other versions cant quite remember of the top of my head but the sphere ive assembled now is 55i version. I think its prety funn to create a server that brings out the best qualities in some ov the srvers ive played on so that more people are inspired to play ultima still even after 2010. Because I fear that all of them will leave this great game behind after 2010 and no one will play! wee need to create a dazeling experience for new comers so that they feel welcomed into the game and play it for as long as we have and pass it on to their friends and relatives.

Sorry for bad english

-reply by Exiled