Viceroy's Farewell Speech

"To the Communities of Ultima Online and UORadio, I would like to start off by saying its been a great honor and a pleasure to have gotten to know many of you as well as work with some of you over these past 5 years and while there were highs and lows during UORadio's tenure, I must say that I have never felt so honored to have worked and served with such a great community as you guys.

During the course of these last 5 years, I have personally endured and been tested on so many different levels for my age that it wasn't always easy. Some areas I did really well at, and some areas I did miserably at. I never for a moment, did I picture that someday I would have interviewed over 20 + guilds across many different shards, several game developers, several notable Ultima Online Community Leaders and Richard "Lord British" Garriott himself! In addition to this, some 40 + Talk Shows relating to Ultima Online. It was a great and exciting experience for me.

Given my age, the circumstances, and what all I've had to work with, I think I did a pretty remarkable job. I can only hope that just like Fear of BattleVortex.com inspired me, that my work and others who worked at UORadio will inspire others to pick up the reigns and continue this legacy. Fear, should you someday read this, I salute you for your contributions you've made and you will always be missed.

I must say that I feel as if I had completed the Ultima Online quest both in-game and out-of-game. In case you do not understand what I mean, I have played Ultima Online since December 2nd of 1997 which puts me exactly at my 10 year mark at the time of this writing. When it comes to my quest out-of-game, I have had the pleasure of meeting a lot of great people in person in 2007. First, in January of 2007 I had the pleasure of meeting Marcus "Markee Dragon" Eikenberry of MarkeeDragon.com, his dad Bruce, and two of his most devoted volunteers in person here in Dallas, Texas. Marcus, I consider you to be a good friend of mine and want to thank you for the invitation to come out and join you guys that night for dinner.

In September of 2007, I had the great pleasure of having been able to meet and spend several days with a person by the name of Michael "Deadeye" Perry in person for the very first time who had been the man running UORadio every since mid-2005. He is a very talkative person and a very loyal friend to have in your corner. I can't thank you enough for all that you've done for both me personally and the Ultima Online / UORadio community. You were the driving force behind UORadio and I think you and I both know that.

In addition to having met Deadeye in person, I had the pleasure with meeting two Stratics staff members in person such as Kelmo and Angelica, at first they seemed very hostile towards me given my reputation and all but I think once they spent several days around me they got to see me for what kinda person I really am offline and I am glad people at the event in September of 2007 got to see the other side of me.

Last but not least, in addition to have met many of the wonderful players of the Ultima Online communtiy such as Governor Winfield of Paxlair and Mayor Ga'kuk of Paxlair, I also had the pleasure of meeting many of the present and former Ultima Online developers such as Chris "Binky" Launius (who I never had expected to see there). I just wish I had the chance to speak with him for more then a minute or two. Other developers who I was privilaged and honored to have had the chance to shake hands with, spend time and speak with were Patrick "Leurocian" Malott, Tim "Draconi" Cotten, Jeremy Dalberg, and Richard "Lord British" Garriott.

Oh man, I can't tell you how my heart jumped in great excitement at the sight of Richard Garriott, it was like finding the holy grail or something, I cannot even begin to put into words how excited I was to see him there and how emotionally moved I was at the Austin UO Town Hall meeting in September of 2007. As hard as it may seem to some, I almost broke down crying and had to fight back tears while watching Governor's Winfields presentation as Lord British and Draconi watched. Having experienced that event first-hand I can't express how much of an eye-opener it was to me in so many ways that its hard to put into words.

It is because of me having had the opportunity to interview Leurocian and Lord British, that makes me feel as if I had completed my out-of-game quest.

In the end, I had given back to the Ultima Online community through music, interviews, talk shows, and made some personal sacrifices and had paid my homage to Ultima Online on its 10th anniversary in Austin, Texas where it all started. With that said, I must say I feel complete and feel that I have done everything there is to do possible regarding Ultima Online. I hope that makes sense to many of you here and I want to thank you all for taking the time to read my long and lengthy speech and want to thank you all for that you guys have done. It truly has been a humbling experience."

Your humble servant,
Jonathan "Viceroy" Trimble
viceroy@mmogmedia.com

Retiring from Ultima Online after a long and great 10 years! Long live Ultima Online!

Signed and dated on : Monday, December 3rd, 2007