Introducing the new Community Director

Heya folks!

My name is Jonathan Hanna (aka, Calandryll) and I am the Director of Community Relations for Turbine, Inc. Before I get into what that means, let me tell you a little about myself. I’ve been in the games industry for over 7 years now as a Community Relations representative and game designer for a variety of MMOGs. Before getting into games I was in Marketing for products such as blank audio tape and home alarm systems. But I left the “glamorous” life of selling 10-packs of audio tape and infra-red motion detectors behind when I took an opportunity to work in the marketing department for a start-up gaming company. Needless to say, I’ve never looked back.

I’ve been a gamer all my life, starting with pen-and-paper games and then moving to computer games when I got my first Commodore 64. I still joke with my dad who used to tell me to do my homework instead of play games all day. “You can’t get a job with the high score in Asteroids!” Of course, now he tells all of his friends how he’s the one who bought me my first computer and started me on my way in the gaming industry. Funny how that all worked out.

So what does a Director of Community Relations do? Basically it means I’m responsible for the Community Teams for all of Turbine’s games and will be helping to set policies and start initiatives that will make our communication with all of you even better. Much of my work will be behind the scenes (I get to go to lots and lots of meetings and read endless reports) although I do hope to post sometimes. Either way, I can promise you I do spend a lot of time reading the boards. Keep in mind that I am responsible for four MMOGs, so the Community Managers for each game will still be your main source of contact since they will always know the games (and all of you) better than I can.

I’ve been with Turbine for a week now so I am still getting up to speed. Plus, having lived in Texas for the past six years I have to get used to all of this white stuff falling from the sky. Thankfully I already have an amazing OCR team here and I’m very excited about the opportunity to work with all of you to continue to create the best MMOG communities on the internet! As we start working on new community initiatives (newsletters, fansite kits, etc.) I’ll probably post updates from time to time as well.

Oh, and for those of you still in school…do your homework.

__________________ -Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna Director of Community Relations Turbine, Inc.

The Stratics Network is excited to announce the Grand Opening of our newest site, TABULA RASA STRATICS! Dedicated to NCSoft/Destination Games’ Tabula Rasa, TR Stratics will feature the latest news, game information, screenshots, and more for the Tabula Rasa Community.

To prove it, we invite you all to read more about those behind the game in our Exclusive Interview with Paul Sage, TR Lead Designer, from May 2004, as well as an Original Video Interview with Richard Garriott (the “Lord British” of Ultima fame) talking about Tabula Rasa in its infancy over 2 years ago! Both of them share very unique perspectives on not only their game, but on the Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming industry as a whole.

Tabula Rasa is the latest massively multiplayer entertainment experience to come from the legendary creative mind of Richard Garriott and the all-star team of industry professionals at Destination Games. Developed from the ground up to be stable, fast and fun, Tabula Rasa™ represents a refreshing new approach to the design of multiplayer online games.

The character development process provides the novice player with an ability to explore and discover the game universe at their own pace without committing to a specific play style. Seasoned gamers will appreciate the challenging strategy and complex depth found in similar games.

In order to celebrate this new addition to the Stratics Network, we will not only hold one contest, but will in fact launch with TWO great contests! Read on for more:

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Tabula Rasa Stratics Wallpaper Contest

Consider yourself a graphic artist? Then this one is right up your alley! So what is the "Tabula Rasa Online Wallpaper Contest"? Basically, we are looking for Desktop Wallpapers that focus on the themes found in Tabula. Themes can range from the abstract to specific themes or anything else you feel is appropriate.

• Guidelines:
  
  
  • Wallpapers need to be created in either of two sizes - 800x600 or 1024x768 (or both).
    
    
  • It is VERY IMPORTANT that entries be created in BMP format (for people to use as a wallpaper), then e-mailed to Teich Dragon in a WinZip condensed file. If you do not have WinZip already, then please visit their site HERE for a free evaluation version. NOTE that any submissions not in this format will not be accepted.
    
  • No advertising (such as website links) in the artwork, please.
  
  
• Entry: No purchase necessary. Limit one entry per person. The contest begins July 9, 2004 and ends August 1, 2004. All entries must be received by 11:59 PM EST on August 1, 2004.
  
• Winner Selection: Winners will be selected by the TR Stratics staff. Each entry will be evaluated by the staff and after careful review, the top selections will be awarded. Winners will be notified via email and an announcement will also be made on the TR Stratics web site.
  
• Prizes: Official Tabula Rasa Posters (provided by NCSoft) for all Winners.
  
• Eligibility: This contest is open to all worldwide 18 and older. All Stratics Team Members and NCSoft not eligible. Void where prohibited by law.
  
• Conduct: By entering this Contest, you agree to be bound by these rules.
  
• Winners List: The name of the prize winners will be posted on the TR Stratics site.

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TR Stratics Fan Fiction Contest

TR Stratics is celebrating it's launch with another fun contest for the Tabula Rasa community. This time around we are focusing on the writers out there and asking for Player Written Stories. Do you enjoy writing fiction about the characters that you play? Do you find yourself telling stories more than actually adventuring in games? If you find that most of your friends would sooner call you a Scholar than a Warrior, then this is your chance to shine! Themes can range from anything we heard about Tabula Rasa so far. Basically, whatever you feel the other players of Tabula Rasa Stratics would enjoy reading. Here are the specifics of the contest. Make sure to read through it all carefully to ensure that your submission will qualify:

Guidelines:

• Fan Fiction needs to be submitted in either an MS Word document or a plain Text Document. Please NO pictures, screenshots or artwork.
  
• It is IMPORTANT that entries be e-mailed directly to Teich Dragon with "Fan Fiction Contest" in the Subject Field. It isn't necessary to condense the files since they will be text only, but if you do, please use WinZip.
  
• No advertising (such as website links) or Guild Recruitment in the story, please. Incidental mention of your guild is appropriate if it furthers the story though.
  
• All entries will be judged on a) Originality and b) Matching the atmosphere of Tabula Rasa from all we heard and have seen so far.
  
• Grammatical accuracy (spelling and editing) will be VERY important! If you want to have other players review your work before you submit it, then please post it to our fiction forum, The White Stag Inn, for discussion.


• Entry: No purchase necessary. Limit one entry per person. The contest begins July 9, 2004 and ends August 1, 2004. All entries must be received by 11:59 PM EST on August 1, 2004.
  
• Winner Selection: Winners will be selected by the TR Stratics staff. Each entry will be evaluated by the staff and after careful review, the top selections will be awarded. Award winners will be announced on August 8, 2004. Winners will be notified via email and an announcement will also be made on the TR Stratics web site.
  
• Prizes: 1st Place will receive either a) A copy of "Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicles" plus a 60 Day Game Card (see Lineage Stratics for more details of game) or a copy of "City of Heroes" plus a 60 Day Game Card (see CoH Stratics for details of game); 2nd and 3rd will receive either a) A copy of "Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicles" or a copy of "City of Heroes".
  
• Eligibility: This contest is open to all worldwide 18 and older. All Stratics Team Members and NCSoft employees not eligible. Void where prohibited by law.
  
• Conduct: By entering this Contest, you agree to be bound by these rules.
  
• Winners List: The name of the prize winners will be posted on the TR Stratics site.

=============

Disclaimer Legal Stuff: By placing material on or communicating with the Stratics bulletin boards, forums or submitting material for publication you hereby grant to Stratics and their affiliates and related entities the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, copy, modify, display, distribute and reproduce all such materials in any form, media, software or technology of any kind now existing or developed in the future. You also agree to indemnify, defend and hold Stratics harmless against any claims or costs, including attorneys' fees, arising from the use or distribution of those materials. You further grant Stratics the right to use your name in connection with the reproduction or distribution of such material.

SWG Stratics is pleased to announce this month's House of Commons chat with the Dev Team of Star Wars Galaxies! The Dev Team will be waiting on Stratics IRC Thursday, July 15th to answer your questions on live issues.

The time is 4 PM PST, 7 PM EST, 12 AM GMT.

Joining is easy! Just connect through our handy Java client, which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this, which can be downloaded from the Java website. Or, if you prefer the old fashioned way to connect to Stratics IRC, please log onto to one of the following servers using your favourite IRC client:

• irc.stratics.com, port 6667 (connects to a random server on our network)
• stratics.frws.com, port 6667 (USA, Colorado)
• irc.epaxsys.net, ports 6667, 6668, 7000 (USA, Colorado)
• irc.glowfish.de, ports 6667, 6668, 7000 (EU, Germany)
• stratics.afraidyet.net, port 6667, 7000 (USA, Georgia)

Once you've logged on, type /join #StraticsHoC. In case of difficulties, please visit chat.stratics.com for more information on how to connect to the chat.

If you'd like to chat with other players before, during or after the SWG HoC, please visit our official SWGS chat channel, #starwars, which is open for discussion 24/7, 365.

As Jedi is a huge live issue currently, we've obtained some exclusive shots from the Dark Jedi Enclave. Be sure to check them out!

Stratics is now the exclusive destination to register for the beta of Meridian 59: Resurrection! This significant upgrade features a new interface, new graphics as well as a myriad of new game content. In addition to being one of the oldest retail MMOs in the world, Meridian 59 features a focus on Player vs. Player combat which remains unique to this day.

You can register for the beta here. You do *not* need to be an existing M59 subscriber to take advantage of this offer.

Greetings Ultima X: Odyssey Community,

I wanted to give you a status update on Ultima X: Odyssey.

We’ve decided that in order to focus more resources on upcoming Ultima Online projects, we will permanently suspend the development of Ultima X: Odyssey. We understand that you may be disappointed by this news, but let me assure you that this decision is in the best interest of the franchise.

Members of the UXO development team will be moved to other Ultima Online projects, including an upcoming expansion pack that is due out this winter, as well as another unannounced project.

The overwhelming response to our recently released 7th Anniversary Edition and upcoming expansion pack convinced us to focus more of our development efforts on the future of UO. There are some amazing things in store, and I have never been more excited about what I’m seeing in development for Ultima Online.

“I’d like to thank the fans for their support of Ultima X: Odyssey. It’s that kind of passion that has fueled Ultima Online’s success for seven years and will continue to drive it for years into the future,” said David Yee, Producer of Ultima X: Odyssey.

I have attached the post from David Yee (which will live here: http://www.eagames.com/redesign/games/pccd/uxo/home.jsp) for your review.

Thank you for your support.

I’ll see you in Britannia!

Chris “Binky” Launius
Online Community Manager
All Things Ultima

Stratics Server Relocation

Greetings!

With the merger between Caster’s Realm and Stratics moving full steam ahead, we will be experiencing some downtime as our primary web servers are being relocated to a new data center. This move is scheduled to begin mid-afternoon on Thursday, June 17th, 2004. The servers will be unplugged, boxed and then shipped to the new data center.

This means that all of our web sites and message forums will be offline during this time. So please note that our web sites and message forums will be unavailable starting on Thursday, June 17th, 2004 and back online sometime before Monday, June 21st, 2004. Our IRC network will remain online and it will be fully available during this move.

We regret the need for any down time but there was no way around it at this time. We appreciate your patience as we begin to consolidate our servers and services.

Regards,

Jhariden

ChumpMonkey posted this on the sticky exclusive screenshot thread, but since it's the first new stuff we've seen for a long time, I though it deserved it's own thread.

Liquid Development has posted over 20 MB's of renders of the many models and landscapes they've created for UXO.
On the creature side there isn't really anything we haven't seen before, but a lot of the landscape renders show locations we haven't seen much of before, like the Pixie village and a few other unknown locations.

Just a few examples:

Throne Room with Serpent Crests on the wall.
Pixie Village main street.
The Library.
Outside the Frost Giant Citadel?
A nice little stream.
A lecture hallor something.


I'm only posting the links because they're a bit big for a slow connection...

June 4th, 2004

Click here to download!

Click here for more info and screen shots!

Post!
Hype!
Create!
Do your part today!

The Epic Journey Part 1 Wallpaper
by ConerVallore

1280x960
1152x864
1024x768
800x600

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The Guardian Visits
by Derrin

That night, when the others fell asleep, Kojak took the first watch. All the hill giants slept with no watch. They had no enemies here. About halfway through Kojaks shift he heard something. He stood up and walked to the gate of the fort. That is when he saw it.

A creature in torn worn clothing, red skin and horns on its head. He knew it was the Guardian. Kojak strengthened his grip on his axe and walked forward.

Tell me why I should not kill you right here and save a lot of people the trouble of having you around? Kojak said.

Click here to read the rest!

======================

Power of the Magi
by gweizangguinivere

It would appear that everyone in Alucinor understood the powers of the Magi. Strong, powerful, and either a good friend or a deadly enemy. These powers are understood by those who hold the knowledge to do so. Although some believe so, there have been tales by the elders of such beings using the powers of Magi along with other great skills. Some say the foreign Barbarians hold powers of some Magi, or even the dark Necromancers, who roam the lands, feasting on as much power as they can; what does all this mean? Well, lets take a look into it and see what happened.

Click here to read the rest!

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The Madness of King Dagor Lhach Part 2
by Blond Knight

Snowstorm or not, reaching the Frost Giant Citadel was imperative. I stretched my naked body one last time and bundled up. I was determined to ward off tension and muscle strain. The last of the wolf meat was rationed and dried out. I let out a heavy sigh and began the ascent. Rowena flew right beside me. The whistle of the wind provided a lovely rhythm. Only a handful of beings have ever reached the Citadel and lived to tell their tale. The only known route was straight up!

Click here to read the rest!

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Community News!

The Silence Continues!
Not much happened this week in the land of UXO. The devs are still not updating the UXO web site and have not posted in over 3 weeks. The word right now is that the devs are working on a major revision of the game right now and do not want anyone talking about the game until the revision is finalized. At this time we do not know what specifically they are working on however the have said it will look ‘bad at first… but it will really be good’.

April Says Farwell
In other UXO new, April of UXO Vault gave up her position of site manager earlier in the week. She said it has nothing to do with the current state of the game and that she is leaving for personal reasons. She will be missed within the community. There is still no word on who will be replacing her in the weeks to come. Keep an eye out for updates!

Hot Community Topics:

Why can't we have this? Binky this one's all yours? – Stratics
Click here

So what if they nixed the UXO license and changed it? – Stratics
Click here

QotD – Avoiding another UO? – Stratics
Click here

QotD – The Good, The Bad and the Ugly – Stratics
Click here

Dear Friends of UXO General I Bid Thee Farewell – Vault
http://vnboards.ign.com/UXO_General/b22443/69811410

Top Ten Ways To Get EA To Talk About UXO (05/29 - 06/05) – Vault
http://vnboards.ign.com/UXO_General/b22443/69589766

New Poll Up & Comment Thread – Vault
http://vnboards.ign.com/UXO_General/b22443/69590136

Ultima X is still going on! – Ogamin
http://ultimax.ogaming.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1710&hl=

That’s it for this week. Keep an eye out for next weeks ‘UXO Weekly Fan Update!’

Tabula Rasa, the latest game in development by the legendary Richard "Lord British" Garriott of Ultima fame, is an MOG set in a science fiction world. As described on the official Tabula Rasa Website, Tabula Rasa is...

"A third person future-fantasy war adventure, Tabula Rasa is the latest massively multiplayer entertainment experience to come from the legendary creative mind of Richard Garriott (aka Lord British) and the all-star team of industry professionals at Destination Games. Developed from the ground up to be stable, fast and fun, Tabula Rasa represents a refreshing new approach to the design of multiplayer online games. Immerse yourself within a richly-detailed game world featuring beautifully rendered 3-D environments, unique alien creatures and characters, and imaginative technorganic fashion and architecture.

Currently, there is no support for voice chat. We are not using that version of Unreal.

While we are using the Unreal engine, the server back-end has had to change to prevent a lot of the hacking that goes on when you run server and client on the same machine.

As for player generated content, while it would be possible for Unreal experienced people to create, there are other issues to consider - Like serving the content across all of our players, checking and approving the content, and other content development issues. The volunteer programs that run events and change day-to-day content has never had to deal with adding large patches to getting their work into the game.

-InQWis

Hail and well met,

I wanted to take a few minutes to stop by and introduce myself. My name is Binky, and I’m the new online community manager for all things Ultima, a job I’ve been working toward for the last eight years. I worked on the launch Ultima Online and every expansion, doing everything from QA to web art to marketing to PR. I even have the Ultima Online logo tattooed on my right arm!

In the coming months you’ll start seeing some changes with the community side of things. It is my goal to make your experience with UO and UXO fun, to keep you informed, and to work with the dev team to incorporate your feedback into the game. I will be visiting all of the forums to answer questions, get feedback on new and existing game designs, run surveys and polls, and sometimes just chat.

You are the most important part of the development process, and I will do my best to keep you informed and involved in the future of all things Ultima. Keep your eyes open for some exciting news in the near future!

Fare thee well,

- Binky

Here is a little story about my beginning in Ultima Online…

About 8 years ago I was sitting in my cube back at OSI at 3:30 in the morning, I had only been at Origin for about 3 months but I was lucky enough to be able to test\play UO after I finished my daily customer support duties. This was way back in early Beta and a lot of things were different then.

GoatBoy and I used to run around Britannia helping new players out, giving away our loot, and running small quests for those adventurers willing enough to trust us with their safety. On this particular night I was out adventuring by myself in the woods to the North-East of Yew, one of my favorite cities in the game, and I ran into a group of players role-playing Orcs. Wow, I thought, people using the resources in the game (Orc helm, ring mail, and an axe) to act out a new race, this was very cool.

I sat and chatted with them for about an hour then continued my foraging and exploring. By this time it was almost 5AM and I was a little groggy as you can imagine. I was heading back to Yew after a quick jaunt in the catacombs when I ran into one of the guys role-playing an Orc. We talked for a few more minutes, and we bid each other good night. He had to log out, and I had to go to the restroom.

I returned to my cube and the seductive glow of Ultima Online to find the Orc guy is walking towards me again.

“Hey” I said, “couldn’t log out either, huh?”.

He kept coming towards me, and all of a sudden the combat music starts playing. I freaked out!

“What are you doing? STOP!” I shouted and tried to run away. Eventually, I ran off all my stamina, so I could only walk. He kept coming towards me and attacking me. I was getting so mad at him. I had just given him 3,000 gold and several items and this is how he repays me? I was so furious.

I was yelling at my monitor and at that moment it happened, the screen faded to black and white and I was a ghost. I was mad and disappointed that I panicked and didn’t beat that guy and defend my honor, especially after being so cool to him. After calming down a bit I logged back in with my main character, I was going to show him who the boss was!

I got to Yew as fast as I could and headed towards the giant Yew tree.

“THERE HE IS!” I shouted.

I ran up to him as fast as I could and attacked him, eventually destroying him!

“What are you gonna do now?” I shouted.

“To live in shame is to die in shame. Not so tough now, are you?” I typed.

Then I decided I wanted my items back and double-clicked on his corpse. A blush of shame and embarrassment rushed through my body. I knew now that I needed to log out and get some sleep. That evil PKer was no more than an actual in-game Orc doing his job. Man, did I feel dumb. I reluctantly told that story to some of the developers the following Monday. They got a good laugh at my expense.

And that’s how it all began.

Khaleel Nitefoot
-=Defender of Justice=-

E3 stands for Electronic Entertainment Expo, the greatest gathering of game products of the year. There is no other show quite like it. This will be my first time attending, but I can already smell the industries anticipation for tomorrow, the first day where conferences and other activities start. Returning for its tenth anniversary, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) promises a sneak-peak at all of the coolest new gadgets and games poised to take the interactive entertainment industry—and the general public—by storm. From May 11 through 14, the Los Angeles Convention Center will be awash in over 1,000 product debuts from over 425 vendors offering wares such as entertainment and edutainment software; game consoles; Internet products, services and content; and special-interest software.

Stratics will cover for you the numerous MMOGs as well as other games and products that will be displayed. Several of the immediate MMOGs that will be shown are:

Dark Age of Camelot Expansion

EverQuest II

Guild Wars

Ryzom

Vanguard

Wish

I could go on and on about the dozens, hundreds of other products and games. There will be so many companies who have created classics such as Total Annihilation, Heroes III, and Doom, that it will be hard to restrain myself from creating a thirty page article to cover everything.

For those who have been keeping an eye out for Ultima X: Odyssey Online, they will not be showing anything official this year. With the recent move to Redwood Shores and the staff reassignments, it will be awhile yet before they get everything back on their feet. On behalf of UXO Stratics, I will make a gallant effort to seek out those who are part of the team, and pumping them for any information I can get.

What is E3 exactly? Besides games, games, and more games, what else can we expect out of the dozens of articles to hit the internet in the next week? Below is a brief FAQ for those who would like a refresher.

Electronic Entertainment Expo… ok. Now, what exactly is it?

E3 is the single largest trade show devoted to video and PC gaming. While there are other trade shows like the ECTS in Europe and the Tokyo Game Show in Japan that are also held during the year, E3 is without a doubt the most important for publishers in this industry. Over 75,000 attendees typically attend the event every year to see what video and PC game publishers plan to release within the next 12 to 18 months.

Where and when is E3?

The bulk of E3 activities will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from May 11-14. (The actual exhibit hall where most of the activities take place opens on May 12.) However, there are some events that are connected to E3 that are held away from the main convention floor. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo typically hold their E3 press conferences a day or two before the exhibit hall opens at locations in downtown Los Angeles. Also, there are plenty of parties and after dinner events that several of the companies host.

Who runs E3?

E3 is run by the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), the game industry's official trade organization. E3 began in 1994 and this year marks their tenth anniversary!

Who is invited to E3?

The general public is not invited to E3. However, since this is held in Los Angeles, a number of celebrities as well as invited guests and of course the media and developers will be attending. This is a trade show and by definition is required that you have a pass from the industry.

So what can we expect out the tenth anniversary show?

You can visit www.e3expo.com for a detailed summary of all the great games and products that will be shown. Events, parties, and other activities are displayed as well. This is a great time to see what is new in the industry. We also have been hearing rumors from several companies, particularly Sega, of some amazing new “treats”. We will be sure to cover it for you with pictures, descriptions, and maybe, just maybe, a voice recording or two!

See you tomorrow for our trip to LA and our first hand impressions of the area!

Discuss E3 2004 and your expectations in our forums!

"I used to be a pretty good programmer." Garriott laughed as we sat in a conference room in NCSoft's Austin headquarters. In fact, Garriott programmed his first few games himself, teaching himself the craft in order to create the games that he wanted to play. "The first few Ultimas were all pretty generic when it comes to storyline and the world in which the games were set." In fact, as Garriott himself admits, both Akallabeth (unofficially referred to by fans as Ultima 0) and the first three games in the Ultima series all had the same "kill the Ultimate Bad Guy" plot that still the hoariest cliché in the RPG developers' arsenal. What I wasn't expecting, though, was the confession that followed. "In fact, if you look at those early games, most of the elements in them are pretty much stolen from whatever was popular at the time."

Here is what InQWis had to say about avatar status, and moongate fees.

1. Once a character attains Avatar status will there be anyway to distinguish them from other players, i.e. title, armor (such as a special symbol, crest, etc) or both?

2. Will the use of moongates require paying some sort of fee?

1. We want players to be able to distinguish themselves visually to other players on more than just being an avatar, but yes, if you're an avatar, we want you to able to show it off without having to talk about it.

2. Using moongates as an economy drain is certainly an option. However, we want players to be able to get to their friends and places that they want to be at quickly. So, while it could happen. It's personally not my first choice.

-InQWis

Thanks to April from VN for reminding me about the original link! All future Epitome's will have their original location so you can check out what others in that forum are saying in response to the Epitome.

UXO is aggressively hiring right now for key positions.

Our top priorities are people with Unreal Experience, from an engineering side and also from a level design side.

We'd love to bring in people that are passionate about the product.

-InQWis

One last goodbye from the Creators of Worlds...

"Tastrick Dragon gazes around The Origin Museum..."

Origin Systems in Austin, Texas is no more. As news and rumors of the company's closing leaked out on the internet in drips, Paula and I were devastated. The long, illustrious history of a company that we've followed for so many years, was being merged into Electronic Arts completely. We all knew that it was going to happen eventually, and most of these talented folks would still create those worlds in California, but we had to admit that it was sad to see the end of an era. Under the EA flag, would any new material still be under the Origin logo? Only time would tell... We sent a few emails to some of our Origin contacts, wishing them good luck, and reminding them to keep in touch.

I had to go out of town for work at the beginning of March. On March 2nd, Paula recieved a phone call from Chris 'Binky' Launius, marketing specialist from Origin Systems. After a friendly hello, Binky says," I'm sure you know by now that Origin is closing it's doors in Austin. I have been asked to give you a call to let you know that we appreciate all the Museum's work in preserving Origin's history. As the company prepares to move to the Electronic Arts offices in California, we obviously are packing up all of the items in our offices, and have come across some items that we feel need to be preserved. I've spoken to Deby Sue Wolfcale, and she agrees with me that The Origin Museum is the best place for these things to be. I won't tell you what we're sending, but I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised." Paula thanked him immensely, and then called me to tell me the good news. "What is he sending? Is he taking the new job? What about the other staff?", I asked. "He really didn't know a lot of the details, but I think that it was incredibly nice of him to think of us, with all that was going on", Paula replied. I agreed--even through the most difficult time in their careers, our friends from Austin still care about their fans enough to share their time with us.

Three weeks pass. Our anticipation of this mysterious package is almost unbearable, and we haven't heard anything. As luck would have it, I had the flu at the end of March. While I was in bed, the phone rings. "I won't answer.." I thought to myself. I don't feel like getting up." I let the machine get it. "Hi guys, it's Binky, from Origin!" I raced to the phone, as fast as an ill mans legs can carry him!--"Hello--Hello?" Binky says that the package is being mailed out today, but still won't tell me what's in it. When I press for a hint, he simply states,"Well, just understand that these are things we feel should be ARCHIVED...get it?--ARCHIVED. We know that you guys will take good care of them." This 'clue' leaves me even more confused than before, but we're forced to be patient, and wait for a few more days.

Two days later, and I'm at work. The phone rings--it's Paula. "The package arrived", She said. I try to remain calm. "Well--Did you open it?" "No", she replies, "I'll wait till you get home, and we'll open it together...By the way, it's HUGE! The UPS man had to help me get it in the door!"

The work clock ticks more slowly than ever, but at quitting time, I race home, wondering what final magic Origin has bestowed upon us...

Below are two more Mosaics for this week.

Mosaic 5 - Full Image
Mosaic 5 - Thumbnail Image
Mosaic 6 - Full Image
Mosaic 6 - Thumbnail Image

You can also view the EQII Stratics Mosaic section here! After you've seen these, why don't you stop in our forums and discuss them. Perhaps there is a particular screenshot you would like made into a Mosaic?

The Stratics Network and Guild Wars Stratics are proud to announce that the Guild Wars E3 Demo is now available for download at Guild Wars Stratics. What exactly is the Guild Wars E3 Demo you ask? ArenaNet, the developers of Guild Wars, want YOU to play Guild Wars during E3 (May 12 - May 14) for their E3 For Everyone event!

So if you want to play Guild Wars before it hits beta than head over to Guild Wars Stratics and download the Guild Wars E3 Demo now!

To find out more about Guild Wars, the game without a monthly fee, check out Guild Wars Stratics.