The Ultima Online Ledger had the honor of interviewing Chad Sexington and Tony Emerald of UOThief.com, Guildmasters of the THIEF guilds on Siege Perilous and Atlantic, respectively, this Sunday.First off, thank you both for deciding to do the interview with us tonight. Unfortunately, Jose Muerto– Guildmaster of the THIEF guild on Great Lakes– could not be here due to outside obligations. I’ll alternate the questions between both of you to keep everything consistent :). Let’s get started!
- Q. Chad, so you are the Guildmaster of the THIEF guild on Siege Perilous, correct? Please give us a brief description of what the THIEF guild is.
Chad Sexington: THIEF is a pure *pvp* thief guild for players who enjoy playing thieves. I’m looking for members who enjoy the hunt and the chase (and the glory!) more than the gold value of items. I try to get all my members to take screenshots of their steals and their get-a-ways. THIEF is not a RP guild. I consider my style “mock-roleplaying.” We are scoundrels. When I’m in-game, I play the part.
Q. Tony, from my understanding your thief, Tony Emerald, is the Guildmaster of the THIEF guild on Atlantic. Please tell us why you chose to play Atlantic and how the THIEF guild has made your experience on Atlantic more enjoyable.
Tony Emerald: That’s correct. Tony Emerald is the Guild master of Thief Atlantic. I have been playing on Atlantic for the last 8 years and I’m a quite well known member of the community, although that’s separate from Tony Emerald and only three others know of the link [of my characters]. In my mind Atlantic is the best shard. It has the biggest PVP and PVM community and the most active player base over all other shards.
Q. Chad, in your opinion, is being a thief on Siege Perilous more fun than being a thief on a standard production shard?
Chad Sexington: Aye. More people = more fun. More facets and lands to explore = more fun. I move to Siege and all of a sudden “fel” is alive. I move to Siege and all of a sudden I’m wandering Tokuno and Malas. For a thief, it’s great.
Q. Tony, do you feel being a thief on a standard production shard such as Atlantic is more fun or rewarding than being a thief on Siege Perilous?
Tony Emerald: Yes, although Siege is fun it’s a little too easy for my enjoyment (although having the whole of thief together there is gonna be fun). I find it more rewarding to steal on production shards because it’s harder to find something to steal so the satisfaction afterwards is great. People expect to be stolen from on Siege. On production they think they’re safe so [they] make mistakes with big items, plus I love stealing from people I’ve watched the last 8 years and holding it over them.
Q. Chad, I noticed your website, UOThief.com, contains a lot of comic-style stories about the journeys of some of the members of the THIEF guild. Are these episodes true stories of your guild members’ thieving adventures or simply comedic representations of life as a thief?
Chad Sexington: It’s all painfully (and often hilariously) true! That’s the whole point! Did you just call me a thespian? An actor? A fraud? *ahem* What you see in the screenshots are all real with real people with real steals (and occasionally, real failures). The text in between the screenshots is my interpretation of what’s happening around me in-game as “Chad.” When I log on UO, I play the part. I’m a brigand. I’m a thief. I’m usually clueless. I’m unlucky when I fail and I’m a genious when I succeed… And all of that is amplified when I’m writting the stories that accompany those screenshots.
Q. Tony, on UOThief.com there is an extensive FAQ guide on thieving that is divided up into sections outlining different aspects of thievery. In the guide under Section 3 you outline four different types of thieves; The Pure Thief, The Mage Thief, The Thug Thief, and The Disarm Thief. Which of these four, if any, is your favorite and why?
Tony Emerald: That’s a very very hard choice. The pure thief is good because that’s why you play, purely to steal, however without magery or a decent weapon you are stuck if you need to end a life to claim your prize!! A thug thief is probably the most fun. Steal something, hit them, and run– or simply hit them…. [It] gives a lot more options!! If a new player asked me what the best to start with is I’d say thug, then hybrid mage/thug thief. I don’t hold water for a disarm thief these days, [as there are] way too many mages.
Q. Chad, many Ultima Online players who have never played a thief believe the class is pointless and has no rewarding factors. How would you address the players with these opinions?
Chad Sexington: I would say, read my Mis-adventures. Scratch that. I would say, read my “Prologue” at the beginning of the Mis-adventures, then read the Mis-adventures and then come back and tell me if you think I succeeded or not at what I set out to do. That’s exactly what I set out to disprove when I started doing my adventures over 2 and a half years ago. You be the judge.
Q. Tony, What is the guild abbreviation for the THIEF guild, and is it the same on Atlantic, Great Lakes, and Siege Perilous?
Tony Emerald: It is nearly the same. It is based on Chad’s original ‘[^^]‘ (which represents how eyes look when someone grins) on Napa [Valley]. However, these weren’t available on some shards so we have different ones on each shard, such as mine ‘[-^^-]‘ showing crease lines at the sides of the eyes and the Siege one is a full grin face with ‘[^_^]‘.
Q. Chad, do you enjoy stealing artifacts or items from other players more?
Chad Sexington: I enjoy stealing something I’ve never stolen before… but even that is superficial. I enjoy the hunt up until the steal and I enjoy the chase and the moments inbetween they realize they’ve been stolen from. Unless… you meant “stealing artifacts” as in picking up artifacts off the ground in dungeons…? In that case, it’s pointless to me. There’s no interaction there. There’s no hunt. There’s no chase. In fact, I’d rather walk around Sosaria aimlessly just for the chance of finding another player… and eventually failing to do so, than “steal” artifacts from dungeons.
Q. Tony, would you like to see Electronic Arts/Mythic Entertainment bring the ability to steal items directly from inside shops into Ultima Online? By this, I mean items that are openly displayed and not inside of a container.
Tony Emerald: No, no way and hell no! In my mind that would constitute becoming a collector thief, the type that go around [Tokuno Islands] and grab up baskets. However, I would like to see house keys again :(.
Q. Chad, I noticed on your site there was a section for a game you have been working on called ‘Undeniably Sexy: A Thief’s Tale’. First, is this game titled after you (or me :p)? And second, how can Ultima Online players check out your game seeing as it is a game for UO fans?
Chad Sexington: Haha. I could talk about this game for hours. (But I’ll keep it short.) Undeniably Sexy: A Thief’s Tale is an Ultima Online fan game made with RPG Maker XP. I’d like to think it’s titled after me, but it’s not. It’s after the character “Chad Sexington” that I’ve made up in my mind. He’s an overtly curious, habitual liar. He’s curious like a kid. He can’t help not be. I’ve been working on this project for over 2 years now and can only bring myself to work on it when I have long stretches of free time. I get sucked into it. I find myself spending way too much time on it and yelling at my cat, “Why didn’t someone tell me video games took so long to create!?” It is currently incomplete, but a playable demo is always available for download. Just go to my site, go to Undeniably Sexy: A Thief’s Tale, click on the download link and follow the instructions.
Q. Tony, have you played Undeniably Sexy: A Thief’s Tale? If so, what are your thoughts on the game?
Tony Emerald: Unfortunately I have not, as I usually go onto the forums from my workplace in a game I call ‘Real Life’. I haven’t got access to it, and when I’m at home I am stealing. However, I will get [around] to it eventually. Looking at the graphics and reading about it though I’m gonna say Chad must have been very very bored one day :P.
Q. Chad, on UOThief.com there is a section called ‘The Non-Chad Episodes’. Please tell us what the Non-Chad Episodes are.
Chad Sexington: The Non-Chad section has had different names for different reasons over the years. There are people in my guild that don’t feel like writing stories for the long term. They may write one or two. My current recruitment policy on Siege requires new members to record their first two steals with screenshots. There are sometimes other thieves that want to start their own chapter of THIEF on their shard… and find that it’s not for them. There are other thieves have no desire to join my guild but have a steal they want to share. The Non-Chad section is for all of these people (and not just members of THIEF). Any pvp thieft hat plays UO can post their stories on my forum and I’ll add it to the listing. The Non-Chad section is a record of every UO story about pvp stealing that’s every been posted on my forums, sent to me by private message, or any story that I liked and have gotten permission to host. There are so many ways to categorize and organize different people’s stories especially when you never know when they may lose interest or just stop for whatever reason. The Non-Chad section is for my sanity. I got tired of organizing and re-organizing based on unknown individual schedules and interests. There’s no way to manage that. The Non-Chad section throws all those troubles out the window and every incoming story gets added onto the list and they arrive.
Q. Tony, Trammel or Felucca?
Tony Emerald: You have to ask? I was a Trammy for 5 years until I started my thief. Now it’s Fel or bust for me! What’s the fun of sitting at west Britain bank wearing event rares if no one can steal ‘em????
Q. Chad, Malas or Ilshenar?
Chad Sexington: Wherever the people are. Right now (between the two), it’s Malas.
Q. Tony, has your guild on Atlantic ever been at war with another guild?
Tony Emerald: No, and it won’t be because thieves require the shadows and people not paying attention to them. Having someone trying to kill you every 3 seconds throws a thief’s balance off… Plus, who would be stupid enough to get slaughtered by us all the time!!!! *Checks if anyone heard*.
Q. Chad, why should other thieves join the THIEF guild?
Chad Sexington: Join if you want to tell stories of your own and you enjoy playing a thief. It isn’t the guild rules that make it THIEF. In fact, when someone else shows interest in creating a new chapter of THIEF on another shard, I tell them guild rules, policies, allies and factions or non-factions is up to them. Their guild is entirely run by them by whatever rules they want to live by. All I ask is they promote taking screenshots of their steals and post them on the forums regularly because that’s what makes it THIEF. It’s the stories of the steals that hold the guild together (across all shards).
Q. Tony, how long have you played as a thief in Ultima Online?
Tony Emerald: 3 wonderful years, most of the time as a different name. I changed it to Tony Emerald when I started THIEF Atlantic to cut all ties with my other personality so no fall back will hit my friends online and I can prove myself again…
Q. Chad, how long have you played as a thief in Ultima Online?
Chad Sexington: I started playing UO during T2A. That makes it nearly 10 years now. But my account is only currently 76 months old. I keep on quitting and I keep on coming back.
Q. Tony, would you ever delete your thief for any amount of money, whether in game or real life? If so, how much would it take?
Tony Emerald: Yes I would! Make me an offer!! That’s the great thing about Soulstones and Advanced Character Tokens… [If] something bad happens you can make the character again in days :P. But if it’s a total delete it would cost you a private island, a set or triplets and enough money to keep my mind off UO for a long long time! I would never play UO again if I couldn’t log onto my thief at least once a day though!!!
Q. Chad, the UOThief.com Forums contain a great amount of information about the THIEF guild. Would you recommend your forums to thieves even if they are not interested in joining the THIEF guild?
Chad Sexington: Yes, that’s kind of the point. Not just the forums, but the entire website. It’s not an accident that the guild is named generically as it is. It’s not an accident that the website is generically named after a generically named guild. “UOThief” is named both as a guild website and as a website for the entire thieving class of Ultima Online.
Q. Tony, describe your gameplay style in two words.
Tony Emerald: Fucked Up!
Chad: If you could give one sentence of advice to a beginner thief, what would it be?
Chad Sexington: No means no. Trust me.
Again, thank you both for conducting this interview with us at UOLedger.com. It has been a pleasure speaking with both of you, and I wish you the best of luck with all of your future endeavors.
Tony Emerald: Huzzah!!!
Say “Cheese”! by Sid
UOLedger
7-28-08