Difference between revisions of "Lord British"

Revision as of 11:40, 17 February 2008

Lord British was once the King of Britannia. Initally, he was played by Richard Garriott, who is the creator of Ultima Online.

In the past, the NPCs of UO consistently, and with apparent sincerity, discussed their love of and respect for their King, which added to the fiction that the realm was well-governed and that Lord British was a benevolent ruler.

The fiction was that Lord British was somehow from the real world, as was the Avatar.

He originated the Virtues. His friend and political rival, Lord Blackthorn, invented a competing belief system called Chaos. Blackthorn eventually became corrupted and evil. The fanatical followers of each man fought in the streets as part of the Chaos/Order PvP system, while the two men played chess amicably and discussed philosophy.

Lord British disappeared for unknown reasons after Garriott left EA. After his initial departure, Blackthorn, furious with his not being appointed to the throne in Lord British's stead, struck an alliance with Exodus and turned "true evil".

Lord British returned again during the Age of Shadows expansion for a plotline involving Minax. However, it was not Richard Garriott that played Lord British in this instance. Garriott allowed UO to use his character on a temporary basis so as to develop an explanation for Lord British's long absence and permanent departure. Accordingly, Lord British left to take an undefined, yet powerful, artifact into the Ethereal Void, which would permanently secure it beyond Minax's grap.

In his stead, the realm is now ruled by the Britannian Council, which is loosely parliamentary, and/or by the role-played High Councils that exist on various, but not all, shards.

Trivia

And the cry rang out, "HE DIED."

During a speech on August 8, 1997, Lord British was killed. It was during UO's beta version when Lord British was killed by players who were using a combination of flame-based spells. The killing blow was a Flamestrike.

Accounts differ if the players used an Exploit, or if Garriott forgot to turn on his "invulnerable" flag. Either way, the killing player was banned, for this and for other naughty things done during the beta test. Richard Garriott also challenged his killer to a rematch in his more recent game project, "Tabula Rasa." So far as anyone knows, the challenged has not responded.

This event was used in the fiction for the Royal Leggings of Embers artifact.

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 [[image:Lord_british.gif|frame]]
-'''Lord British''' was the King of Britannia.  He was played in-game by [[Richard Garriott]], the creator of [[Ultima Online]].
+'''Lord British''' was once the King of Britannia. Initally, he was played by [[Richard Garriott]], who is the creator of [[Ultima Online]].
-The [[NPC]]s of UO consistently, and with apparent sincerity, discussed their love of and respect for their King, this adding to the fiction that the realm was well-governed and that Lord British (often abbreviated by players to "LB") was a benevolent ruler.
+In the past, the [[NPC]]s of UO consistently, and with apparent sincerity, discussed their love of and respect for their King, which added to the fiction that the realm was well-governed and that Lord British was a benevolent ruler.
 The fiction was that Lord British was somehow from the real world, as was the [[Avatar]].
-Lord British invented the [[Virtues]].  He was friends with a political rival, Lord [[Blackthorn]], who invented a competing belief system called [[Chaos]] and would, eventually, turn to true evil.  The fanatical followers of each man fought in the streets as part of the Chaos/Order [[PvP]] system, while the two men played chess amicably and discussed philosophy.
+He originated the [[Virtues]]. His friend and political rival, Lord [[Blackthorn]], invented a competing belief system called [[Chaos]]. Blackthorn eventually became corrupted and evil. The fanatical followers of each man fought in the streets as part of the Chaos/Order [[PvP]] system, while the two men played chess amicably and discussed philosophy.
-Lord British disappeared for unknown reasons after Garriott left EA.  After he left this first time, Blackthorn, furious with his not being appointed to the throne in LB's stead, struck an alliance with [[Exodus]] and turned true evil.
+Lord British disappeared for unknown reasons after Garriott left EA. After his initial departure, Blackthorn, furious with his not being appointed to the throne in Lord British's stead, struck an alliance with [[Exodus]] and turned "true evil".
-Lord British later returned, following Blackthorn's death, around the time of the [[Age of Shadows]] expansion, for a plotline involving [[Minax]].  Garriott did not play Lord British for this return, but rather simply allowed UO to use the character on a temporary basis, to have some fictional explanation for the departed king.  He left again in short order, in order to take a powerful [[artifact]] of some kind to the Ethereal Void to guard it from Minax.
+Lord British returned again during the [[Age of Shadows]] expansion for a plotline involving [[Minax]]. However, it was not Richard Garriott that played Lord British in this instance. Garriott allowed UO to use his character on a temporary basis so as to develop an explanation for Lord British's long absence and permanent departure. Accordingly, Lord British left to take an undefined, yet powerful, [[artifact]] into the Ethereal Void, which would permanently secure it beyond Minax's grap.
-In his stead, the realm is ruled by the [[Britannian Council]], basically a Parliament of some kind, and or by the role-played [[High Council]]s that exist on various, but not all, [[shard]]s.
+In his stead, the realm is now ruled by the [[Britannian Council]], which is loosely parliamentary, and/or by the role-played [[High Council]]s that exist on various, but not all, [[shard]]s.
 ==Trivia==
-During UO's beta, Lord British [[Timeline|was killed]] by players by use of a [[Flamestrike]] spell.  Accounts differ if the players used an [[Exploit]], or if LB forgot to turn on his "invulnerable" flag.  Either way, the killing player was banned, for this and for other bad things done during the beta test.  This event was used in the fiction of the [[Artifact]] known as the the [[Royal Leggings of Embers]].  Richard Garriott also challenged his killer to a rematch in his more recent game project, "Tabula Rasa."  So far as anyone knows, the challenged did not respond.
+[[Image:Lord british dead.jpg|frame|left|<b>And the cry rang out, "<i>HE DIED</i>."</b>]]
+During a speech on August 8, 1997, Lord British was killed. It was during UO's beta version when Lord British [[Timeline|was killed]] by players who were using a combination of flame-based spells. The killing blow was a [[Flamestrike]].
+Accounts differ if the players used an [[Exploit]], or if Garriott forgot to turn on his "invulnerable" flag. Either way, the killing player was banned, for this and for other naughty things done during the beta test. Richard Garriott also challenged his killer to a rematch in his more recent game project, "[http://www.rgtr.com/ Tabula Rasa]." So far as anyone knows, the challenged has not responded.
+This event was used in the fiction for the [[Royal Leggings of Embers]] [[artifact]].
 ==See Also==