Yes, people, the rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated. It's more like I slipped into a toonless 'RL' coma since the heydays of ImaNewbie and his band of inept but well-meaning cohorts. For those of you who don't have a clue about what I am talking about, welcome to www.ImaNewbie.com, a website I started must be like eight to ten years ago ... hard to believe! Ultima Online was the first true MMORPG, and those of you who were there when it started will know what I mean when I say, UO blew our collective minds. Imagine, a virtual world where people could take on the role of warrior or wizard, or for those less violent, become a master blacksmith or carpenter and step into a great adventure with thousands of other brave souls.

I still remember those amazing early days when you never knew whether you would log in to a two week revert, or your precious house and all its belongings had mysteriously disappeared. Houses with no door locks, uncontrolled pvp and thievery, lag and crashes, griefers by the horde and yet fun, amazing, adventures into a whole new universe. It was from this chaos that a fellow appeared who seemed able to withstand the worst it could offer and yet still press on undaunted, greeting his fellow UO'er with a hearty 'Hail and Well Met'. Of course I am speaking of ImaNewbie. No matter what life dealt him, endlessly being killed by just about everything he encountered, constantly being robbed, verbally abused, ripped off, and griefed ... nothing could break his spirit or his nobility. Over the years ImaNewbie, with his jester's cap and armed with his "9 Iron of Vanquishing", became one of the most reconizable figures in Britannia. Even though his fighting skills were questionable and his dress sense even more so, he became sort of a superhero for the downtrodden, a man known not by the 'cut of his cloth but by the content of his character' (apologies to Martin Luther King's memory for misquoting of his famous line but it just seemed to fit).

So anyway, before I dissolve into a deep puddle of "back in the day" references, I invite you in to revisit, or visit for the first time, ImaNewbie. Enjoy your stay and feel free to email. The email links still work. but don't bother with the guestbook, I'm not sure it even works anymore and I have to pull it. One day I will have to buy the latest update to UO and venture in and see what's happened since I left. As I remember the last time I logged ImaNewbie was a ghost in need of a wandering healer by a big pile of houses somewhere west of Britannia.

later...Tryon