"It just bugs me..."

As more and more of the story is revealed I felt there is a need for a thread to discuss small, almost irrelevant things that just bug you about it. And I had a need for the thread myself as I will describe below.


It has been shown that the Avatar can enter through moongates with technology intact. The story is that we, the players, arrive from our world of Earth. And everyone these days is carrying at least their phones. Yes, can't make calls without towers and the batteries will run out eventually. But shouldn't common items like these still arrive with you? And if clothes change upon arrive, could it be that these items change upon entrance as well? I feel it to be a bit odd that something this commonly carried would just vanish.

And think of the heck of a fun time some electronics engineer would spend trying to figure out how to recharge the battery using the local science and magic to get the just right voltage in. \o/

 

I like this thought about what happens to the items that are on us when we come through the moongate into New Britannia.

 

Cool idea. I'm pretty sure the 'Time Lord' blocks all anachronisms at the rift, so to speak. But you're right.. perhaps we should ask Richard how he recommends this be handled so we have some consistency with the introduction stories he's encouraging us to write?

 

Well, we did see a Tesla Tower in one video perhaps these would provide power, maybe we'll use cell phones in a different manner, or perhaps this could be the "explanation" for the chat box, friends list..(things of this nature).

 

As I remember it, when you go through a moongate you show up in full medieval garb all items from earth lost. I always assumed your earthly body either never left earth or passed into a nether region and your consciousness passed into an empty shell in the world of Britannia.

I know the Avatars in game never actually looked like me. In fact, I sometimes switch genders.

Since it has been said it will be best to hide your origin, so I think have earthly tech might be a bad idea.

 

Presumably, we would ditch all of the trappings of modern society (i.e., electronic devices and modern clothing, etc.) as soon as we arrived in order to blend in with the inhabitants of New Britannia. We certainly wouldn't want to be lynched by angry mobs for being "witches" or "demons"! If it wasn't immediately apparent to us to do this upon our arrival in New Britannia, I'm sure that Lord British's guards and soldiers (who would undoubtedly be informed by Lord British to be on the lookout for strangers arriving via the moongates), would tell us to do so and provide us with a suitable change of clothes. This seems to make a lot more sense than having all of our modern items "magically disappear" once we stepped through the moongate.

Of course, your character could already be attired in medieval garb upon your arrival in New Britannia for some plausible reason. (That's why I made my character in Return of the Avatar an active member of The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).)

As far as the Tesla towers go, I'm sure that there must have been either a) some reverse engineering done by New Britannia's scientists or b) the advanced technology was given to them by "the Gods".

 

Where did you hear this part of the story?
Yea there are many chats I still need to listened to.
The most I heard was that we were some kind of deity or alien coming to this planet and the NPC's might think it strange when we die and resurrect and things.

 

Read Timeline from Michael Crichton ( r.i.p) and you will find an awsome solution for your it' s bugs me problem.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

@jondavis --
Okay, so in this livestream,... [4/30/2013]
at about 43:44 into the video, RG is talking about a thing for his core talented supporters to write. Gina had asked for a participant, "How do we wind up in the New World?"
RG answers, "We haven't really written that piece. We'll write one or maybe many. Probably for Episode 1 there will be a single opportunity of how you discover the rift." [He explains that a lunar rift/portal opens up in his worlds to get you in. He explains that you and LB are from earth, and for you to remember that he is LB and is 51, and has been in all the Ultimas and UO, and Tabula Rasa as 'General British' and now is in New Britannia. He reminds you that even if your arrival in any Ultima world made you change gender, you are still 'you'.]

Then he said this: (!!!) "By the way, that would be some great story fragments to write. 'How you discovered your way, your path, the portal that took you to New Britannia.' " He said he'd be open to all kinds of ways. He said, "Maybe if one of you writes a really brilliant story about that, that would be great for us to then create the intro sequence around one of those great stories."

at about 47:52 into the video, RG says he wants the participants' stories to play more than a minor role in New Britannia.

at about 53:20 into the video, Tracy Hickman talks about toolsets, quests and writing, 'as the ability for you, as a creator, to structure quests of your own and create a story of your own for other people'
Just fyi @jondavis
You're not a deity. You're you.

 

Thanks for reply.
Not sure how you get thousands of players through a portal with LB.
Some alien finds some Ultima lore floating in space and decides to port LB and other people from earth (using a lunar rift) to a new planet mixed in with some of the things or powers he found reading about the lore?

I think he called us a deity because we would be working in magic, resurrecting, and other things most normal people are not able to do.
I'll have to find the video again.

 

It looks like I did watch the video about coming from earth.
I guess all I heard was the deity part - http://tinyurl.com/my9qkhh
Which was more about us being immortal.

And the next question was about death.
Which sounds something like this.
http://tinyurl.com/lg5xcqw

 

In Ultima V it actually shows you grabbing your stuff from your chest in your house on earth before heading to the moon gate.

Ultima VI clearly shows you on the Gargoyle's altar in the same clothes you were wearing on earth.

I want to say Ultima V also had you bring a pocket watch with.

Ultima IV wasn't very clear, but since you were headed towards a ren fair it's possible you were already dressed for the occasion.

I've paid way to much attention to this game.

 

I think he meant we might seem like a deity or a demon if the populace saw us die one day and walking around the next. I remember hearing something like that.

As for how thousands of people get through. First off, it sounds like LB is already there for years before the game starts and the new avatars start appearing. Second, who says we all showed up in droves. Moon rifts don't have to be like a door, and most likely our arrival will be sprinkled throughout the land. Unlike the dramatic entrance the singular Avatar usually made in the prior Ultimas.

 

Yea after watching that video the portal does not have to port everyone at the same time.
LB did mention lunar rift so that is why I inserted that on my earlier post.
I guess there still needs to be a reason why we are being ported to this other planet and why we become immortal.

 

I am hoping for clues in Tracy's prequel. Somehow I think RG is not going to give us anything for a while.

 

Basically what I did in The Estradi's Return, only he had the same clothes and weapon he was carrying when he left Britannia. And remember that we'd be bringing not just technology but also the language of our time. Just like Bill and Ted, we'd probably confuse a few (hundred) people with our dialects and phrases.. or if you want an example from a BAD movie, A Knight in King Arthur's Court.




...I'm going to hell for referencing that..

 

Just as I won't look as I do in real life...or have the skills that I have in real life...or the income, or the wife or kids, or any other assortment of things that I have in real life - I won't have a cell phone.

I'm going to quote Mel Gibson (of all people) here, speaking in reference to people that were upset about the cartoon movie Pocahontas. I'll paraphrase: "If you want realism, don't come to a movie where the racoons sing and dance."

 

Who are you calling a raccoon!?

 

As long as we won't show up like Arnold in Terminator, I think it is a step up. Who wants to see the new guy/gal naked when they enter New Britannia??

 

That's another good point. I don't know why new characters or newly resurrected characters have to be naked. This seems like an easy area the devs could do a little brainstorming around.