Interview with Sebastian
President & Co-Founder
of the Britannian Mining Company, founded in 1998.

By Deadbob of “The Bookstore”
On Changes in UO:
“Nowadays… You have to actually go find trouble and place yourself into a position of unfavorable odds before you can experience what was felt all the time when the world was young.”

DeadBob: When did you start playing Ultima?

Sebastian: I started playing UO about Nov. 1997 while serving in the Army. I was turned onto the game by a friend of mine that lived in the barracks with me, and I created a character on his account. He was from California and had friends there so I started out on Baja shard. Later… After I ordered my own copy of Ultima Online, I created a character on Atlantic shard.

Q: What did you like about Ultima Online, at first?

A: The romantic side of UO was the lure in the old days. Ya know… now you can pretty much travel the world in UO and never exceed your normal heart-rate. Back when UO first started… It was an adventure to just walk outside town limits. Nowadays… You have to actually go find trouble and place yourself into a position of unfavorable odds before you can experience what was felt all the time when the world was young.

The taming of UO by EA was a mistake if the opinion of a old vet is appreciated. The wildness of the lands and the vulnerability of its inhabitants were the spirit of UO back then. No one day was the same as the day before. An ongoing adventure if you will, a challenge awaited every single login session whether you were on the coasts of Moonglow or in the 3rd level of Destard.

Relationships that were forged were cast in the fiery mold of humanity gone virtual, where murderers and innocence could congregate together on special occasions and respect would be extended by both.

Yes… those days are truly missed. The time when your karma and fame made your name unforgettable, and your deeds followed you from town to town.

Q: Why are you still here?

A: The Britannian Mining Company. The BMC is why I am still in UO. For 10 years the BMC has spear-headed the ingot industry of Ultima Online and to all of the patrons of the BMC Capitol located on the Eastern side of the road outside Luna’s South gate… we appreciate your business. For those of you that are not familiar with our location, travel approximately 2 screens East of the road south of Luna in the area before the blue-tile bridge, and the 18X18 white-stone castle with the white lettering BMC on the roof is our HQ and capitol.

On managing a 10 year old guild:
“The Britannian Mining Company … has a unique system of government … based on a democratic process”

Q: Tell us about your guild.

A: The BMC was a guild in the Ultima series before Ultima was ever online.
[editor: see
http://ultima.wikia.com/wiki/Britannian_Mining_Company
The Vice President (Kal Vas Flam) and I founded the online guild in June of 1998. When we first created the guild, neither one of us had any idea what we had just founded because neither one of us knew that much about the Ultima series. It wasn’t until a friendly mage named Roach approached us on the icy shores of dagger island and informed us what we had did we realize the significance of the BMC.

The BMC is a miner’s guild. It is also a Monarchy comprised by Kal Vas Flam and myself that has a unique system of government embedded within it based on a democratic process. The BMC boasts the only democratic process of it’s kind in all of Ultima Online where at the pinnacle of power, the leadership consists of 5 Legislators that write law and submit those articles for review to be added to the Guild Charter, 5 Judges oversee the membership and any 1 Judge may preside over grievances as well as review any law submitted by a Legislator and has to be approve before forwarding the law to the President (Me) for final approval. And finally, The office of the President and the Vice President make up the Executive Branch of the BMC. The same system works vice-versa insomuch as I, the President, has to submit any new law to a Judge and it has to be approved and passed forward to a Legislator for final approval before the law is ratified into the BMC Guild Charter that we all fall under. The BMC has a established system of checks and balances based on the United States Government. But… The system does exist inside a Monarchy.

The BMC is credited to founding 3 other guilds in Ultima Online which are the Britannian Mining Company Military (BMCM) which congregate the warrior class characters of the members of the BMC. The Britannian Lumber Company (BLC) which was dedicated to the Lumber market of UO but fell out of favor with the BMC and was consequently voted out of the alliance. And the Britannian Rawhide Company (BRC) which is dedicated to the leather market of UO.

Q: What would you like to do in UO in the near future?

A: The BMC just expanded its sales base to include more than just mining products after the BLC was banished from the alliance. All members that dedicate vendors to the sales categories listed in the Official BMC Price guide enjoy rent free vendor locations at the BMC Capitol. The BMC is dedicated to bringing the finest products at reasonable rates to all of the UO community. We like to consider ourselves the community’s guild of choice when shopping for raw materials.

DeadBob: Not all players are serious Ultima players nor should they be. But longtime serious Ultima players like Sebastian give us all a sense of history that no other game can claim. Thank you, Sebastian.