2010-02-03: Farewell (from Draconi)

Farewell (from Draconi)

Posted Feb 3, 2010, 02:12 PM on Stratics.

Friends! Britannians! Countrymen!

After four amazing and truly unforgettable years I'm setting sail from EA and UO with the full wind at my back, a bright future ahead, and feeling nothing but gratitude and thanks for the thousands of players who rewarded me every day by playing in our world.

I cannot tell you, not so easily in words written like this, what it's meant to be a part of the greatest, longest continuously running MMORPG in world history! The happiness brought, the sadness wrought, the good times mixed so sweetly amidst the rough. All the memories rushed together in one great dance of experience and emotion.

All so worth it, so very worth it.

To be a player, from beta on

To be a designer, rising from the Abyss

To meet new friends, loved ones; some to stay, some come and gone

Some have wondered after me, worried as friends often do (and so many of you are my friends) that I cannot thank you enough for your kindness, your loyalty, and your passion for seeing the potential of UO as I do.

To you I say don't worry! All things have their time... besides, you know know I'm already up to no good – just follow the trail of fire!

I'll quote someone who I think managed to encapsulate exactly how I feel. Sorry to fans of Leno, but Conan O'Brien has it right:

"... All I ask is one thing, and I'm asking this particularly of young people that watch: Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism, for the record it's my least favorite quality. It doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

Amazing things have happened to me throughout my career, absolutely amazing, lucky, impossible things. And these last few months have been the most amazing yet. I have the greatest of hopes for things to come, and a happiness now I never knew I was missing. No, you'll never hear a disparaging word fall from these lips, not about EA, never about UO, not about life itself.

So live, Britannia, live! And, in doing so, bring our world to life around you!

Yours, gratefully,

Tim "Draconi" Cotten

Lead Designer, Ultima Online