2002-04-24: A Few Words About GM Dengar
A Few Words About GM Dengar
Apr 24 2002 3:29PM
This was originally posted to Player Relations at uo.com.[1]
Who would have thought that all those years playing games would have paid off? Those countless screams of “Those games aren’t going to get you anywhere!” now make me laugh with delight. My name is Dengar, and I am a Game Master here to help players with whatever they may need (within reason, of course).
Coming from a background of video games and laser tag in Tampa, Florida, I made my move to Austin, Texas in Feb. ‘01, and my life has changed ever since. It is very easy to look at the screen of the game you are playing and see it from a one-sided perspective, but when you are behind the glass you really see how games tick and it becomes a two-way street. I now look at all games in a different light, and it helps me appreciate the games out there for what they are: works of art with a ton of time and effort put into them.
I started playing Ultima Online back in ’97, and I fell in love with the game and the fact that I could do just about anything and adventure with my friends in a style that D&D couldn’t accommodate. I went crazy over this great dynamic world and couldn’t put it down. There’s something about UO that will just keep you coming back for more, and when I am here working and I see all of the players having a great time adventuring, selling items, or just talking with each other, I am reminded of that feeling. That feeling is what has kept us going all this time, and keeps us going.
I remember playing my old thief character back in the old days and stealing everything that wasn’t bolted down in a player’s pack. It was a lot of fun at the time, but then I got tired of that life and all of the deaths. So, I switched to another shard and another style of play; this is when I made a bard character and hunted the lands using its creatures against one another -- that was great fun, and I haven’t been able to recreate this feeling in any other title yet.
Some people tend to look at GMs unfavorably because times arise when they need our assistance, but, for some reason or another, we cannot help them with exactly what they want. This makes me feel pretty bad at times, due to the fact that we are prohibited from doing certain things in game. I would like players to know that these policies are not in place to hurt any of you in any way, but they have been created for very good reasons. If there is something we will not do for you, then there is a valid reason behind it. I would like the players to take a step back when asking a Game Master to make an item for them, or to take their murder counts away, and think about why the GM will not do this for you. It is not because he/she dislikes you and wants to punish you, it’s because GMs are unable to do these things due to the policies we have in place against such actions.
Take the time to look over http://www.uo.com on a daily basis and review all the updates on the page. Also, check out some of the threads at http://boards.uo.com, where you can find so much information on new in-game issues and how to deal with them, as well as information about our policies and the reasons behind them. Some players even go as far as to offer assistance to problems that can be solved without GM intervention, which allows us to get to other players faster.
See you in game. And remember, you can never have too much information.
Dengar
Player Relations
Ea.com
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