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Lord British Assassination Pic

A few years ago during the beta testing of online RPG Ultima Online, one legendary player managed to kill the game’s central character Lord British during a public speech, and Monolith CEO Jason Hall is looking for a screenshot of the event.

Lord British, under the control of the game’s creator Richard Garriott, was meant to be invulnerable. If my memory serves me correctly, Garriott was expounding ingame to a virtual gathering of all the beta testers in town when the offending player (GM Trafalgar) somehow stole a mega-potent spell from Garriott and cast it upon him, thereby slaying the unslayable. In the turmoil (which must have been acutely bemusing for those testers who witnessed it) the player had the presence of mind to take a screenshot.

At the time I was awed by the event as it seemed to me simultaneously the ultimate hack and the creation of the online community’s first real legend. UO’s deity figure was killed, you don’t get more ironically and epically mythological than that. Garriott took a much dimmer view of the proceedings - which just added to my enjoyment of it - and had the player banned permanently from the game, thereby missing probably his only opportunity to incorporate an authentic piece of folklore into the UO world. At the very least he should have awarded the player with notoriety in the game, perhaps making him kill on sight for every guard in every town, and a hero to the more chaotic inhabitants. But alas, his ego blinded him, though to be fair the player had been guilty of exploiting a bug and so was in breach of the EULA.

If anyone who remembers the incident also has access to the screenshot, as well as dropping Jason Hall an email, let me know. That picture is something I’d like to hold onto.
Webdog

  posted by monty · at 2:12 pm · filed under News