1. Could you clarify? Before people were asked to make donations out of the kindness of their heart to keep shit up and running?
Yes Exactly.
And now we have the online store?
Yep
For how long was UOG up and running w/o the store? I'm just curious, it's good to know, it really puts things into perspective. Everyone should know the server's history imo.
The online store has been around like 4 to 5 years. I have no idea how long it was up before the last wipe but it was a pretty long time. The server was well established and had a good player base. The server was moved and long story short if I remember correct the save they had was corrupt and the old isp would not let them back on the box to get another copy. The wipe was really a good thing. I think most who left because of the wipe came back eventually.
I've run a few guilds, pretty big ones too (shellholder in FFXI, passed lead off to my right hand for WoW)... I mentioned before that Hybrid kind of feels like a huge ass guild sometimes. Idk, I think I can relate a bit. I remember having girls on my dick thinking that I could get them drops. People sending me gifts for my birthday and christmas... Members accusing me of favortism... Man, I could go on and on... People had ridiculous expectations. It just drains all your energy. And of course, when shit hits the fan it's a swift kick to the nuts and nice wad of saliva...
I imagine running a private server can be equally, probably even more draining. More people, more work, more drama.
I have ran my own RUNUO server and yes it is very demanding. People do not give the staff enough credit for what they do.
Ryan is the founder of UOG?
Yes Ryan owns the entire uogamers/runuo/ect network, domain names ect.
I think I would PM him and patiently wait for a response.
Either way, it's all good.
And... back to work