I suppose I'm posting here now too. I'm 19, started here on Ultima when I was 17. Similar to Mud, I had primarily watched the game prior to joining Ultima, but had played it a few times on the Dreamcast and also the GameCube. I do also enjoy PSO on Ultima more than most or all other MMOs that I've played
I only joined Ultima originally because of my Fiance, @KarmaTheFoney. He kept prodding me to try it out, until I got fed up with his begging and did it. Haven't looked back since then. The only thing that really keeps me on Ultima these days (although recently I've had a little break for various reasons) is the people. And not just any people, but specifically the people that MudkipzJM mentioned and a few more
I hate to do this to everybody else, but when it comes to the lasting relationships that I've made on Ultima, only one sticks out. @mudkipzjm has really become a great friend of mine. I cherish our friendship and our time spent talking/playing PSO/whatever else we may be doing. If it weren't for Mud, I -might- be on Ultima still, but chances are I would have left by now
As for how PSO has affected my life, I think it goes right back to the same topic I've been rambling on about thus far. I've made friends that affect my life outside of PSO, and that I think about regardless of where I am or what I'm doing. To take it to a bit of a darker place, I was very sick for 8-9 months, and only recently got better. The people I know on Ultima (along with @KarmaTheFoney) are probably the only reason I'm actually still here at all. Their words gave me hope, and that hope stuck with me. I cannot thank them enough for that
As for my weirdest PSO memory, this one is easy. A player that used to play on Ultima (Zanraizer/Atro) and I had an interesting thing happen to us while in game. We were doing CCA to get his FOmarl to level 200, and I was using his RAcast's gear (Iron Faust and Yasminkov 9000m). The server crashed at one point, and upon relogging, I found that his gear wasn't in my inventory, nor was it in his RAcast's. Also, I had gear from his RAcast bank that he never withdrew or touched. Later on, we found out that the gear was on a totally different character in THEIR bank. It really confused the two of us, and also scared us momentarily because the gear was just totally gone
-Auli'i