Interview with EM Rawiya!

Community Manager

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing EM Rawiya of the Sonoma shard! You can read all their responses below;

1.    What made you decide to start EMing?

As a player myself and having attended EM events off and on for a decade, I understand how much an EM can shape a shard’s player experience.  I always enjoyed creating player events and I wanted to create positive and enjoyable experiences for other players such as myself on a wider and more in depth scale.

 

2.    What is your favorite parts about EMing?

 

The players, truly. Those native of Sonoma and those that join from other lands. They give me such inspiration.

 

I like making events with players.  Giving players something other to do than just killing mobs.  Having them look for something or interact with NPCs. I also like creating something in the game and see how players interact with it. I like playing out consequences to decisions. 

 

Pirates invade Trinsic because there is no Governor. Trash begins to pile up as the lawlessness persists.  The trash as time goes on turns into toxic sludge. Citizens become sick, as the sludge has poisoned the water. Players had to clean up the water around town and heal sick citizens. Yew farms bring in goats to eat the trash. This mutated the goats that were brought back to Yew.  An animal smuggler associated with the pirates kidnaps the goat farmer. He collects the goat fertilizer and sells it across the realm, which has unintended consequences in all the farms of the land. All of this madness just because Trinsic was left without leadership.

 

Crafting books is also a favorite pastime of mine, it can add so much to the story or foreshadow what will be happening in the coming months.

 

3.    What is your favorite memory thus far of EMing?

 

I have so many memories even though I’ve only been an EM for two years.  I love watching where the players take the stories I start.  I love the Royal Council and being able to interact with players in smaller numbers.  There are such creative and observant people.

 

 

 

Who would have thought the death of a small kitten outside of Zento could have such an impact.  The manhunt for the kitten killer, accusations thrown, a kitten adoption center opening, and a naked drunk Governor confessing to the slaying.

 

 

 

4.    What is your most memorable moment playing UO?

 

Taming my first nightmare who happened to be pure black in T2A back when it was extremely hard to find and tame.  It took over two hours and I was sure I was going to be found and pked.  Still have that nightmare to this day.

 

5.    What is your favorite thing to do in UO?

 

Currently? EMing. I love creating stories for others to enjoy. Rawiya means “storyteller” and that’s what I try to do, tell stories. 

   

6.    Is there a specific event that you've done that is your favorite? What is it?

 

I appreciate each event for its own uniqueness.

I really liked my reef event, I spent a lot of time working on what turned out to be a beautiful reef.

 

Also the Britain Fair days when Kevin the Butcher of Minoc showed his prowess wrassling an alligator.  Or did the alligator wrestle him?

 

7.    Was there a drop you made that you liked most out of all of them thus far? What is it?

 

I have enjoyed creating so many of my drops.  I really like the process of coming up with something that fits the event or sometimes I think of something and create a story around it. I can think of two that really stand out to me.  One is the reward for my second anniversary which is coming up end of March.

 

The most meaningful drop to me was a tribute to EM Xanthus, for those of you who don’t know he was a long time EM on Sonoma and he passed away in Fall of 2022. From when I began EMing on Sonoma you could feel the impact he had on Sonoma’s players.  When I heard about his passing it only felt right to pay tribute to him and his legacy. 

 

 

 

The event happened in the month of his birthday and included winter harts being found across the lands. White harts often considered gold omens, with some thinking they bring messages from the deceased. Players followed the winter harts and it lead to an abandoned black robe where then players were attacked by a dancing demon who they had to kill with snowballs.

The drop was a pair of Disco Dancing Shoes with the subtext “left as a reminder to enjoy life and keep on dancing”. EM Xanthus loved to dance.

 

I hope he would have liked what I have done on Sonoma.

 

8.    Is there anything else you'd like to add to the players out there?

 

The player base, to me, is what has always made Ultima Online what it is.  You are what makes it worth it to play and to be an Event Moderator.     

I always welcome and listen to feedback after each event. The only thing I ask is that people wait until the roleplay is over. I will always come back to address feedback on my EM character. 

 

Cinderella

♥ We Love you  EM Rawiya ♥

you have made us very happy with including us in your events. I love how we can say something at a governors meeting and then it becomes part of our story.

Happy 2nd Anniversary to you

*raises a bottle of Rawiya two years wine to lips*

*spits out, for it tastes like toxic sludge, swamp water and death robes. lots and lots of deathrobes*

Here is to many more to come...