Zythrix

Hi. My name is Dustin. I just registered here at Xisto and I gotta say, I like what I'm seeing so far. Looks to be some pretty good people. Anyway, my hobbies are playing games like Ultima Online, doing webdesign/graphics design, auto mechanics and reading as many fantasy novels as possible. I tend to have a sarcastic edge to myself, but don't take it the wrong way! I'm a pretty nice guy.. I just like to make jokes =)

I'm all for the shopping cheap. I never understood people who looked down on things like coupons and such. Like they're too good to use a coupon. I say, if you can get it for cheaper.. WHY NOT? If anything, they should want to use coupons more because that's more money they have and the better they look. I dunno.. I once watched a co-worker of mine (I worked at a grocery store) purchase $380 in groceries with a $20 bill and a stack of coupons. I mean, ya just cant beat that.

I've spent my fair share of time cheating at games, and honestly, it's not that great. Cheating yourself out of an experience in a single player game is one thing, but ruining the gaming experience of several people in an online game is just heinous. Slap yourself man! Get some skill.

This is by far MY day. Ever since I knew how to prank, I've never let a year go by without the obligatory pranks. I have no lines as to who I will or will not prank. I'd prank the pope, my grandma, a high school principal.. ANYONE. =) Anybody got any good prank stories?

Ah.. those rules. I have to say, those rules are crap. I follow only a portion of them and my girlfriend adores me. There is more to being a good boyfriend than giving in to every whim a woman wants. I tell my girlfriend when she's wrong, I tell her when a pair of pants makes her butt look big, I ASK for head and PMS is a scientifically proven joke. You don't NEED to be drama queens, you just do it for the attention. Those are the rules for the typical women.. women that could stand to take some lessons from a REAL woman like mine. =)

Actually, I would suggest to you (for PC) Ultima Online [mmorpg] and the 2 Knights of the Old Republic games. For consoles, definitely the new Need For Speed Games (NFS:Underground, NFS:Underground 2 & NFS:Most Wanted (Black Edition)). Those have been my favorites as of late.

I've never had more problems in my life than the ones that center around money. It starts when you're young. If you don't have the money to get the nice clothing then you're shunned. If you don't have the money to get a car and a license as soon as you're 16 then you're shunned. But that's all just social status and be overlooked in your adolescent years. There's still ways to have fun and be liked without having money as a youth, it's just more difficult. Then you reach adulthood. This is when it stops mattering whether you're a good person or how funny you are or how cool you are. The only grade of an adult is their wealth. But not only that, it seems sometimes that if you didn't come into money early (ie: rich parents, inheritance, etc) then you never will. Sure, some people can make something of nothing and get set up for life.. but those opportunities are few and far between (even non-existant for some). Every bad argument I've had with a friend, family member or my girlfriend has been about money. Doesn't that say something? How happier would everyone be if there was no money and people just bartered for things? Let's hear your views on it.

My first system, was a 486 (I dont remember the brand or anything) running Windows 3.11 (Windows for Workgroups). I had a 400mb hard drive a 1,400 baud modem, a keyboard that barely worked, no mouse and only the PC speaker for sound. But man, it played DOS games like nobody's business. It crapped out on me at 12am January 1st 2000 haha.

I side 100% with advocates of free servers for pay-to-play games. If you're paying, you should be able to have a say in how it's ran (which is the case with most free-servers.. especially for Ultima Online). Most of these companies say they accept ideas from people, but they don't really. They toss it out the window like a McDonalds job application from a monkey. They just expect to you keep on paying (generally too much money) for a game that you have no say in. I don't agree with that at all. Especially after having been staff on a free server for a game. I'd much rather play on free servers (or even some private pay servers if they're good enough).

How many of you have heard of the Generation NEX Nintendo Entertainment System? It may seem a tad ridiculous to some of you, but I'm a part of the Nintendo Generation.. and this is just awesome. It's an NES console. One and a half inches tall, 2.4GHz wireless technology for the controllers, AND.. it supports Famicom cartridges as well as original NES cartridges. It also comes with dual-mono sound (not quite stereo, but it will play out of both speakers on your TV!). It is almost completely backwards compatible with the NES. You can play just about any old NES game on it (unfortunately there is a compatibility list) as well as use any of your old NES accessories (different controllers, duck-hunt pistol, etc). Check out the full story with pictures here! : http://www.ign.com/articles/2005/12/21/the-nes-reincarnated

SoftModding an X-Box is completely legal. All it does is void your warranty. The only negative things that can come from it is getting your X-Box live account banned. But, generally speaking, SoftMods are quite easily reversed. All you have to do is put the Microsoft X-Box Dashboard back on and you're set. Some of the dashboards out there even have a way to toggle between them without having to un-softmod it. There is a semi-solution to the X-Box live problem however, you can connect via IP to other softmodded X-Box consoles to play with other people. More like running a LAN game than using X-Box live.I'm curious though. Those of you who have modded your X-Box, how did you go about doing it? There are a few different ways to do it and I'm just interested in how others achieved it. Also, which dashboards are you running?

I will definitely be ordering this game very soon. Like Trystim, I was a paper/pencil D&D junkie. I also started at about 13, but I haven't played it in like 4 years. I played AD&D 2nd Ed. , PlaneScape, RIFTS and a few others. I think I miss RIFTS the most though. Ley Line Walkers.. Glitter Boy Killer powerarmor.. ahh.. those were the days. I don't even usually like the futuristic fantasy stuff.. but RIFTS had me heh.Ya anyway, Trystim, keep us updated on how the game is!

I'd have to say, my most memorable moment was when I was a Game Master on an Ultima Online free server. I was teleporting around checking on players, invisible of course, when I stumbled across a group of well-known PKs (Player Killers). I revealed myself to them, and I guess it startled them, because my STAFF character was dead in less than 5 seconds. These guys are good =) Thankfully, I found the invulnerability command a few minutes later hehe.

I'm playing the same game I've been playing for 6-7 years. Ultima Online. I've taken breaks in those 6-7 years for games like Counter-Strike.. and all the new Need For Speed games.. but for the most part, it's good ol' UO. I tried GuildWards, Ragnarok Online, Everquest, Everquest 2, Dark Ages of Camelot and many more.. but I just don't enjoy any of them. Also, I'm quite a fan of the Star Wars : Knights of the Old Republic games. I haven't played the second one for more than 10 minutes, but the first one had me hooked. If anyone has played KOTOR 2.. is it any good?

There is a snippet from Ragnarok Online's T.O.S. This is the only section I can find that may leave you leagally accountable for running a Ragnarok Online free server. Aside from that, everything was basically, "You break this rule, your R.O. account goes bye bye." That being said, I leave it up to your interpretation. I'm not 100% sure if that would affect you or not. For your best interests, I hope your server is legal and that you have all the best successes with it!

Actually, it depends on the game and it's Terms of Service. For instance, Ultima Online has MANY free servers available (literally thousands) and it is completely legal. I should know, I'm developing a network of them. In order to find out the legality of a Ragnarok Online server, one should take some time to CAREFULLY review it's terms of service. I don't personally know if a free server for R.O. would be legal, but I'd be interested to know the specific details of it. I may go read the T.O.S here soon and leave you a post detailing it.

Even though the game is quite dilapidated, I can never seem to tear free from it's hold. I've been playing Ultima Online for about 7 years now and it never gets tiring. Sure, certain aspects of it get old (like the people who do nothing but trash-talk about peoples' PVP skills), but I don't think I will ever get tired of the game. I played on OSI paid-servers for about a year and a half. Then I found the wonder of free shards. All the fun, and more, of a paid OSI account without having to pay? You bet I'm on top of that! I started with one shard right after leaving OSI. It was called Icrontic back then (it went from Icrontic.. to Icronticshard.. to Ikrontik) and it was my life. I spent about the first year of my free-shard career on Icrontic before I decided to strike out, see if there was something better. In these last few years I've probably tried out around 50 other free-shards, but I have yet to find one that compares to Icrontic. After about 3 years of being with Icrontic (off and on.. and dealing with Icrontic changing hosting and ownership and downtimes as a result) I applied for a staff position. I was initially turned down due to circumstances regarding my roommate. But I stayed vigilant and continued to help out the shard in any way that I could, being a player. Within 2 months I was accepted to the ranks of staff as a Trainee Counselor. That's where my whole UO mess started. Staffing wasn't what I had expected. I went from Trainee Counselor to Full Counselor in about 3 days and then I zipped straight to the near-top as a GM (Game Master). All the stories I had heard about being a GM gave me nightmares. People told me I would have a never-ending flow of stupid questions, constant accusations of being a cheater or showing favortism, and various other horror stories. But honestly, I loved it. It was a fairly busy job, but it wasn't bad. So, I persevered as a GM for almost a year. Then, the time came for me to step up into the ranks of Administrator, which puts me where I am now.I am currently developing the Ikrontik Shard Network (spelling changed to Ikrontik about two years ago). Rather than just having 1 server under the wing of the Ikrontik name, we will have several. Currently, we have 1 POL server ready to launch today and a RunUO server that will be launced before Valentines Day. We will expand into more POL and RunUO servers and possibly even into Sphere servers. My job in all of this: get the ball rolling (and graphics design). I, and 1 other, are the head Administrators of the project. I've received nothing but naysaying from other Admins."Oh you won't be able to handle it. One shard is hard enough for anyone."But, these are also the same people that said I wouldn't be able to handle being a GM =).Anyway, that's my story with Ultima Online. Please share your experiences if you have them. If you're interested in Ultima Online, but want to know more, feel free to ask me. It's a great game and, contrary to popular belief, it's simplicity makes it one of the best.