Dino Steps Aside
Some tragic news from Dino the Dark Dragon, this Boxing Day:
I’ve evidently been busy lately. I’ve reached the point where the effort needed to maintain Dino’s Ultima Page on a regular basis is more than I can afford. And since nobody has answered the three recent calls for assistance in posting news, I have no option but to let it go.
Although this is a sad decision for me, it is one that I take without regret. The two main aspects of this site – news and information – are covered by Ultima: Aiera and The Codex of Ultima Wisdom (respectively) in ways better than I ever could.
It is in these good hands that I leave you as I move on. It was a pleasure to serve the Ultima community for almost ten years, and I also feel that the Ultima community has been an important part of my life.
Dino’s Ultima Page will remain online for as long as I draw strength, and although I will not update it regularly any more, I am not ruling out the possibility of returning to it occasionally.
Ultima Dragons: Thank you, happy holidays, and good luck!
It’s an understandable turn of events, Dragons and Dragonettes. Dino, in his real life, has been moving ahead in schooling and career over the last few years, and I think we’ve all taken note of the fact that he hasn’t been able to update his site as frequently as was once the case. Running a large, heavily-trafficked website is challenging at the best of times, especially if it is a site in service of a wider community. It takes a sometimes herculean effort to consistently manage and update sites that the community has come to rely on for news.
And I can understand the frustration he has with not being able to find help. A couple of people have stepped up and occasionally posted content of their own here, which is nice, and there are a couple of other people who periodically send me emails full of links to bits and pieces of Ultima news that I’ve missed reporting on. But even I’ve asked for people to help out writing regular content for the site, to little avail.
Dino’s Ultima Page was one of my major inspirations when I began Aiera, and Dino himself was hugely instrumental in getting Aiera off the ground in its first days. And it’s hard to recall the last time a month went by where Dino didn’t spot an update to one remake site or another before I did; he had his fingers on the pulse of the Ultima community more so than anyone else I can think of, and his site will be sorely missed. There will be a gap in Ultima news reportage with his site’s closure. I, for one, am sorry to see him go.
Fare thee well, Dino, in whatever your next venture is! You shall be missed.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! We’ll miss your help, but I’m sure this isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. Especially since it’s a passion project.
I just want to say thanks! There’s been times I’ve found things I’ve needed on that website that you can’t find anywhere else. I’m sure it doesn’t mean you’re done with Ultima, but it’s sad to see you “go” in a sense.
Again, THANKS!
I have to admit, I rarely visit his site anymore. It is definately sad to see him hang up his hat. I do hope the site stays around though, as it is still a source of a lot of information on the Ultima games (it is still my first port of call whenever I need game-related info).
As noted above, Dino intends to keep the site available. It just won’t be updated.
I’ll really miss Dino, I used to check his site weekly for news and updates. Dino’s site is an excellent resource, but over the years Aiera had become slightly more modern and more frequently updated. It’s a shame Dino has stopped updating, though.
A pity, truly.
Dino’s Ultima Page and Ultima Aiera are two of the sites that I keep in the Speed Dial of my browsers, since I access them almost everyday.
Dino’s updates will be missed as much as I miss our discussions at the Exile forum (@ exodusmachine).
Everyday’s duties sooner or later caches us off guard and we have to throw in the towel.
Thank you very much for your efforts, Dino. Everyone here is in your debt.
I too checked Dino’s Ultima Page on a regular basis. Unfortunately I myself cannot help with news gathering at this time. Nonetheless, thank you Dino for doing this for all these years!
Me too am sad :-(. Good luck Dino with all your work and life. One day, you will have time again perhaps and we shall see a new update !
Good luck and have a happy new year,
Jc
That’s definitly sad… I always loved going to Dino’s site looking up for all Ultima community related news (even if admitedely these news also have dwlindled over the years).
I was very excited when he began reporting the updates from La Légende d’Ultima even though they were in French.
Just for the record: If anyone does trip over Ultima-related news, feel free to bring it to my attention by either leaving a comment in a recent post on the site, or via the contact form.
(Just…strip the “http://” part from the hyperlinks you submit via the contact form and it should accept them. And don’t leave more than one link per comment…or do, and wait for me to dig the comment out of the moderation queue.)