Fire Fox Interviewing Jasco

Fire Fox - Hail Jasco, would you mind doing a short interview that will be posted on Ianstorm's website
Jasco - Why, sure!
Fire Fox - Cool, and I do thank you!

Fire Fox - Ok, could you please share with us how long you have played Ultima Online?
Jasco - I started playing Sept 29 1997
Fire Fox - Wow, that’s a long time, what, five years?
Jasco - A little over five...
Jasco - 65 months by the strange account age math methods, soon to be 66
Fire Fox - That is awesome!
Jasco - Thanky, and I have enjoyed the ride

Fire Fox - Jasco, can I ask where you live in real life?
Jasco - I am a Texan, north of Austin
Fire Fox - Ahh, so your not too far from OSI headquarters?
Jasco - I live an hour away, and I do love being close!
Fire Fox - *drools* wish I lived that close, I think I would end up living right at OSI *grins*
Jasco - *chuckles*

Fire Fox - Can you tell me what sort of occupation/study you are involved with , outside the game?
Jasco - I work in wholesale sales
Jasco - Not exactly exciting or glamorous
Fire Fox - very cool

Fire Fox - Ok back to some game questions
Jasco: *nods*

Fire Fox - What shards to you play on?
Jasco - I started on Pacific, moved to Baja when that shard started and returned to Pacific in late November 1997. When I moved to Texas I started playing on Great Lakes, around November 1999.
Jasco - The 20 ms ping was enticing! That ping has long since gone, 50-60ms now.
Jasco - Eventually I stopped playing Pacific and now only have bank boxes full of old items from the past.

Fire Fox - What do you enjoy most about Ultima Online?
Jasco - I guess the best thing now is the diversity, but consistently it is the people I meet that make the game special
Fire Fox - *smiles*

Fire Fox - Jasco, How would you best describe your main character?
Jasco - Jasco is my main character, he is a mage-bard. He plays a good-neutral character type.
Fire Fox - Ok, can you elaborate on that please?
Jasco - The ideals I try to follow are embodied in the words of my profile.
Jasco - I try to see a situation from as many angles as possible, to try to see the right thing. I do not immediately assume a Red is evil, or bad. I listen before I act.
Jasco - When someone is accused, I try to see the other side before I accept truth.
Fire Fox - Sounds like a well, balance ideology?
Jasco - I feel it is *grins*
Fire Fox - *smiles*
Jasco - That is the whole Eternal Membrane idea
Fire Fox - Very interesting!
Jasco - The place between any two choices is where we call 'The Membrane'

Fire Fox - Jasco, can you tell us what type of skills your main character has?
Fire Fox - And what changes have you made over the course of time?
Jasco - Jasco is a mage-alchemist-bard. But Tull, my oldest character has undergone many.
Jasco - He has been an archer-mage-bard, but dropped the barding long ago. He is now trying to focus on magery, archery & healing.... but alas, Archers have been struggling lately.
Fire Fox - ahhh, all those changes, many folks have had to revamp their characters over time!
Jasco - Aye, true... and I am happy for the changes which made this necessary.
Fire Fox - *nods*
Jasco - After 5 years, I would have been bored long ago with the exact same template/skills/game mechanics
Fire Fox - *nods*

Fire Fox - What sort of in-game activities do you partake in?
Jasco - I most enjoy our little guild hunts.
Jasco - We are a guild of friends and enjoy our time together. I make sure I attend any shard-wide events as well. I try anyway!
Jasco - I like the Drake Tournament held by the Ranger's Council
Fire Fox - *smiles*
Fire Fox - That does sound interesting!
Jasco - And of course if a horde of OSI show up in Skara Brae, I make sure to be there too
Fire Fox - Ahh, the last event?
Jasco - Aye, that was truly different.... in fact it was like an in-game Austin UO Lunch!!!
Fire Fox - ohhh wow, you attend a lot of those?
Jasco - The Austin UO Lunches are almost identical, even with occasional spammers *gasp*
Fire Fox - *chuckles*
Jasco - I have attended the lunches since '99
Fire Fox - Ahh, so your an avid game player then!
Jasco - I take a look at other games, some are pretty good... but I mainly play UO.
Fire Fox - *nods*

Fire Fox - ok, well, the next question will be two fold
Jasco - *nods*

Fire Fox - What do you like the most about Utlima Online, and then what do you like the least about Ultima Online
Jasco - What I like most.... I like the immersive world, the feeling of reality & permanence created by the fact we own a little piece of the world, our houses!
Jasco - I like the way UO society has become established and is very similar to RL in many ways.
Jasco - As for the worst part, I think I can blame a few players for that aspect.
Jasco - I find a very few in game who are very unpleasant, unethical people. They can make myself, my friends and innocent strangers very unhappy.
Jasco - Just to satisfy a need to hurt people. I do not mean Pking, but the player who focuses on tormenting other players. The classic griefer types.
Fire Fox - *nods*
Jasco - Fortunately those people are very rare since the staff has brought most of this type of players into check.
Jasco - Also less than pleasant is the occasional lag. It is rare, but when it is bad, nothing is fun :(
Fire Fox - Oh yes, I can agree with that!
Jasco - There is very little left which leaves me angry when I play.
Jasco - The game has come a long way.
Jasco - Something I have enjoyed forever in game is helping new players.
Jasco - They keep the game fresh to me, and I prefer finding a courteous new player and giving just a little nudge in their chosen direction, with much advice and few items.
Jasco - I feel enabling their own success will bring them far more fun than soon-to-be-lost gold or items.
Fire Fox - *nods*

Fire Fox - Jasco, which facet do you call home to? Trammel or Felucca?
Jasco - I call Trammel home as a matter of choice. I have a log cabin in Felucca but since I prefer hunting in Trammel, I choose to live in Trammel out of convenience.
Jasco - The stamina walk through is why I prefer hunting in Trammel.
Fire Fox - I agree with you!

Fire Fox - What sort of home do you own, if any?
Jasco - I have been very fortunate here. I have a small marble outside Destard which was given to me by a very dear friend.
Jasco - I actually live in a villa far west of Trinsic. I am looking forward to re-designing the two of them when AoS arrives *rubs hands*
Fire Fox - *smiles*
Fire Fox - I am waiting that with anticipation as well
Jasco - The changes in the game the last two years have been stunning. Nobody can now be an expert at everything anymore!
Fire Fox - aye

Fire Fox - Jasco, which city have you chosen to take up as your hometown?
Jasco - I have most frequently considered Skara Brae as home.
Jasco - When I want time alone to do banking, I usually go to Magincia.
Fire Fox - *smiles*
Jasco - When it is time to people-watch, I head for the mob - Britain!
Fire Fox - I am kind of fond of Skara Brae as well.

Fire Fox - What is your earliest memory of playing Ultima Online?
Jasco - I remember not having a clue how to do things and the only way I thought I might get gold was by stealing things from town buildings
Jasco - I was guard killed within 5 minutes of my first login.
Fire Fox - Ouch!
Jasco - That char was deleted and I made a mighty merchant.... useful skills such as cartography to help me know where the cities were, and item ID so I wouldn’t be ignorant of the goods I was selling.
Jasco - Well, the game started me off that way!
Fire Fox - heh, sounds like you learned things the hard way!
Jasco - I eventually was able to make 300 gp in an hour and was smugly pleased.
Jasco - Nobody really has a clue then. People running around saying "What do I do"?
Jasco - The game was brand new, and it was a novel format. Nothing to 'win'.
Fire Fox - heh
Jasco - The earliest player trade business was in dyeing clothes... 5gp per item.
Jasco - Lots of players set up outside buildings and hawked the fact they could dye your clothes!
Fire Fox - Wow so little?
Fire Fox - But then I am sure back then it was a lot?
Jasco - People saved for weeks just to buy a horse. The horse was the first really coveted item in game.
Jasco - Back then nobody had a clue how to make gold. You died killing monsters.
Jasco - Really low strength was common. I don’t recall seeing an Orc helm for a month, and
Jasco - when the first players showed up with Orc helms, they were STUDS!
Jasco - Same with bone a while later.
Jasco - I remember people getting 100+ gp for an Orc helm, which was outrageous!
Fire Fox - *chuckles*
Jasco - I also remember when the first player-cast gates appeared.... what an amazing thing to do! *was astonished*
Fire Fox - Heh, sounds like you had tons of fun though!
Jasco - Yes, the time was very magical. I remember meeting one player early on...
Jasco - He was very strange, his skin was multi-colored. He was also very good, could even beat Ettins with magery!
Jasco - Anyway, he assisted my warrior and I was able to finally come out on top against the Jasco: monsters... we strictly roleplayed... I have never seen him since and wonder who he really was....
Jasco - With multi-colored skin I fear he was an early hacker
Fire Fox - *chuckles*

Fire Fox - Just a few more questions if ye don't mind Jasco?
Jasco - Sure, ask away m'lady
Fire Fox - ok *smiles*

Fire Fox - Would you consider yourself a PvP, PvM, or Role Playing person?
Jasco - I would have to say PvM
Fire Fox - *nods*
Jasco - I enjoy roleplay, but I am not involved with any deep roleplay guilds.
Jasco - I have considered involving myself with that type of group, but my time has become scarce lately
Fire Fox - ahh limited playing time?
Jasco - Aye, I have less time, and since I have guild and vendor mall obligations, they come first.
Fire Fox - ahhhh

Fire Fox - Ok, Jasco, what would be your ultimate goal in Ultima Online?
Jasco - *ponders*
Jasco - Well, I really have no deep goal.
Jasco - I just live my Sosarian life seeking new adventures, friendships and world changes.
Fire Fox - Very cool!
Jasco - I do not seek great wealth, fame or possessions.
Jasco - The greatest wealth in game is the people you meet, so to speak *grin*

Fire Fox - Jasco, what is your proudest moment or event during your time in Ultima Online?
Jasco - Proudest....
Jasco - I would have to say when I was robed as a Counselor. One of the happiest events was when a dear friend asked me to marry her while we were on a Counselor help call.
Jasco - Sadly the marriage never occurred, but we have been strong friends through the years.
Fire Fox - In real life? or in-game?
Jasco - In game, I do little or no counseling out of game *chuckles*
Fire Fox - *chuckles*
Fire Fox - That is a very nice memory!
Jasco - Indeed.

Fire Fox - Ok Jasco, is there anything else you wish to add?
Jasco - *again ponders*
Jasco - I guess I could say the future looks really bright for our game. It is not perfect, but I feel it is improving with each change. Some changes are not so good, but they don’t last if players raise their objections in a constructive manner.
Jasco - The interactive player+OSI development method UO has evolved with makes me feel like Ultima Online is my game too!

Fire Fox - Jasco, I would like to thank you very much for taking the time to answer my many questions.
Fire Fox - You really did an awesome job here, telling of your experiences with Ultima Online.