Ultima and Knee Trauma
A few weeks ago I asked people about their favorite "old school" computer or console RPG, and why. The point about calling it "old school" was to try and weed out differences in technology, and focus in on the game itself. I've really enjoyed the thoughts shared there, and I hope you have, too.

So here's my own story.

My own favorite RPG has been - with only a little bit of contention for the spot, Ultima VII: The Black Gate. Yeah, something like seventeen years running. That's scary. But while I think the game was a solid, wonderful game, I think the reason it has maintained such a fond place in my mind has less to do with the game's quality itself, and more upon my life circumstances. After reading through the stories of some folk's favorites, I find I'm not alone.

I think games stories are like a lot of other things: You get out of 'em what you put into 'em. It's about how much of yourself you invest into it.

I was a poor, starving, newly-married college student, and had to borrow the game from a friend at the time (I later picked up the complete Ultima VII set of games and expansions on CD-ROM). I was hooked almost immediately. The opening sequence, the murder mystery - all extremely cool stuff. I played it for about three weeks off and on, and I had a great time with it. It was definitely a favorite of mine at the time. But it wasn't the game itself, exactly --- but it was particular moments or subquests. But the whole overarching plot with the Guardian and the mysterious religious cult, the Fellowship, had me intrigued.

But as often happens with RPGs, there came a time when I got lost, bored, and mired in some aspect of the game. I'd play for an hour and feel like I'd made no progress and only wandered about in circles talking to the same people with no new information. And so playing became intermittent. Several weeks went by. It looked like it would be another game that would never be finished. And today I'd be talking about how Baldur's Gate II or something else was the Best RPG Evar.

But one week I got to puttering around in it after about a three week hiatus, and made a little bit of progress. Not enough to get me fully re-invested. But that night I had a little medievalist practice with the group we'd cobbled together called (at the time) Battleguard, using the Dagorhir rules. The group met (and still meets) in the park right across the street from our dinky one-bedroom apartment in Provo, Utah. That's right - when I wasn't playing a swordsman in the computerized virtual world, I was running around playing a swordsman in the real world, too.

The night started as it usually did, with twenty or so of us squaring off into two teams and having at it with padded sticks that resembled medieval weaponry. I was kicking butt as usual. :) Then I found myself running towards one of the better players, arriving too late to save a teammate he'd just dispatched. Then I caught another of his teammates - also a skilled player, coming at me from behind. The two of them charged at me.

I realized I couldn't take on both of them at the same time. But if I acted quickly, I might be able to kill one of my opponents quickly before the other could come to his aid. So I stopped and spun in place, trying to get a cheap shot in on the guy behind me (who might not be expecting it). I wasn't so lucky. He parried, and it was clear I was going to be in for a long fight with him. So I made another quick attack and prepared to run.

His partner came up from behind just before I took off running and hit my extended left leg with his sword. I felt my kneecap pop out of position and roll on over to the side. And then the pain hit.

Let me tell you - I have never felt greater pain in my life. I may have been in pain for much longer, but that brief second or three before my kneecap snapped back into position was about the most intense agony I've ever experienced before or since. Fortunately, one of the Battleguard players was an EMT. He rushed over to check me out, figured out what had happened, made sure I was in no immediate need of medical help, and told me what I needed to know. By that time I was only feeling the aftershocks of the pain, plus the endorphin rush that usually accompanies a major stretch or workout.

The two guys involved in the accident supported me and helped me hobble across the street and up the stairs into my apartment. In spite of it not being their fault at all, they were feeling horribly guilty about it. And they were good friends (they were instrumental in helping us move a few months later, too...)

The next day, Friday, my leg was still pretty much useless. I skipped all my classes. Getting from the bedroom to the living room - where we had the computer - was about the best I could do. So except for a trip to the doctor (who confirmed exactly what the EMT had said, after being astonished when I told him it had happened by getting hit with a sword), I was stuck at home with nothing to do all day...

Except play Ultima VII.

Interestingly enough, I only had about eight or ten hours left to finish the game. I have never really spent that much time in one sitting playing a computer game. Britannia was my escape from the real world, where - with some help from some ibuprofen - I could forget about the pain for a while.

And it was awesome. Hunting down Elizabeth and Abraham ("EA" - get it?), unraveling the mystery of the Fellowship and discovering Batlin's hidden agenda, and the final cut-scene where the Guardian's gateway portal is shattered just before he enters the world - his threat to the planet Earth at the end... It was all awesome.

I'm really not hoping for some new trauma to force me to discover a new favorite RPG, though I'm certain I've got several candidates that could fill the bill. I'm happy leaving Ultima VII as the reigning champion for life if that's what it would take to replace it.

Labels: retro, Roleplaying Games

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 6:10 AM (Permalink)