Hello everyone, my name is Hugo and I am an utterly hopeless UO addict.
I started playing UO when I was about 12 years old in about 2000. I didn't make much progress at first but I soon realized what drew me to the game, PVP. I must say that is basically the only facet of the game I have really ever explored (never had/trained a crafter of any kind to this day). That said UO's PVP has done me well and kept me subscribed for 10 years even through the numerous publishes and template nerfs that have kept us all adapting.
My first times ever PVPing were on Sonoma, where I played a parry swordsman and basically had no idea what to do other than chase people with my vanq katana and hope I didnt die. I remember those days how much adrenaline and excitement I got out of PVP. I loved the faction fights, the guild wars, the order/chaos....so much buzz and excitement. I still love these qualities in today's PVP...
After my initial few years on Sonoma I took a break and returned again in about 2003 on Napa Valley. It was on Napa Valley where my understanding of PVP really changed. By this time 5/6 casting and unlimited SDI was attainable for mages (as was unlimited HCI for dexxers).... It was here I decided to try to play a mage, and although I only had 2/4 casting and was an extremely sub-par caster, I held my own and had a great time. It was at this point that I became a PK and began learning the fundamentals behind skilled pvp (sync dumps, disruptions, fielding, etc..)
After a while I joined a guild on Napa and we eventally came back to Sonoma (by this time AOS and transfers were out). Our guild was called Fel and we fought against 3F (a very effective and notorious Japanese guild) and COP (an ancient Sonoma pvp guild). We had huge fights and lots of fun and this went on for a couple years. Sonoma went on to become ground zero for many of the West Coast's larger premier pvp guilds like FL, VVV, COW and eventually TBA, FOO, and R. After a few years, however in about 2007 the pvp on Sonoma had dwindled severely....
Around this time, when I went to college, I also made my way to other west coast shards (didnt play East coast till much later), I went to Pacific and played with G!B against FL and FOO.
SO after a while i quit again....AND then came back in the summer of 2010. AT this point factions were all the rage, everyone and their mother was playing factions, most of my chars were still on Sonoma. At first I was hesitant to play factions because of stat loss but then I realized that with the basically free items, i could play more chars on more servers with MORE PVP than Sonoma.....So I was hooked yet again!!
Since then I have built and transferred characters (nearly all factioned) to Origin, Lake Austin, Pacific, CHesapeake, Catskills, Legends, Atlantic, and Great Lakes!!!
I play a diverse set of templates from tamer mages, to deathstrikers, to throwers and archers, to scribe mages to mystics....I am proud of all my characters and try to keep them out of stat and restocked at all times to ensure that if I hear about a fight I can get there ASAP and help my guildmates and friends kick some ass!
I'm not the best PVPer out there (im sure many can attest) but I am an honest player and I'm not an ego-maniac or a board warrior. I like to win, but more importantly, I am just thankful for the opportunity to pvp in today's UO. Adapt or Quit and Have Fun is my motto! Thanks and I hope to see you on the field!
