Ultima Online Celebrates 10 Years

The well known EA-run MMORPG Ultima Online is now celebrating its ten year anniversary. At the time, Gamespot referred to the game as a 'buggy, unplayable mess.' Here's to another ten years, UO. 'In recognition of the game's 10 year anniversary, EA has announced the "Return to Britannia" initiative. Past subscribers of the game can download the free Kingdom Reborn update through Ultima Online's Web site, and then play the game gratis until October 9. EA will also be hosting a number of events during this period, including a monster hunt where players can win loot such as an ankh pendant necklace, a map of Brittania, an Ultima Online commemorative sculpture, and a virtue armor set.' I think it's also worth pointing out that UO isn't the first big graphical game to hit ten years; that would be Meridian 59.

10 Years...

And still waiting for that mac version. Boo!

Condensed summary of the article

At the time, Gamespot referred to the game as a 'buggy, unplayable mess.' Here's to another ten years, UO.

Couldn't have said it better myself, having played from 1998-2000!

Pimps and Dragons

It was Ultima Online that was the basis of one of the earliest and most entertaining articles I read on MMORPGs: "Pimps and Dragons" by Elizabeth Kolbert of The New Yorker. A quote from that article that still haunts me:

"Playing a virtual-world game takes some getting used to," Garriott told me. "You have to realize that the world is what you make of it. Unfortunately, that means most likely you're going to have a relatively mediocre life."

You can find a copy here:

Pimps and Dragons [btinternet.com]

To all the Trammies at the bank...

*Corp Por*

MMORPG

Nice move making the mention of Meridian59 at the end. I can't tell you how many posts I've seen where people claim Everquest or something was the first MMORPG. Which is pretty funny, especially since the term MMORPG was coined in order to describe Meridian59. Too bad they were unable to adequately describe a good reason to pay $5.95? a month for a game, when people were already paying $29.95 at the time for dial-up.

Re:MMORPG

Let us not forget Muds [wikipedia.org]. PvP on MajorMUD's [wikipedia.org] was one of the primary reasons I'm able to type as well as I (for the most part) do. Some of the boards we played on had anywhere between 50 to 500 player peaks at the time, depending on how much exposure it had, and some were donation supported instead of subscription.

I mean jebus, its still around today as well [majormud.com], and they have an actual market of people paying for a massively multiplayer text based game. Its definitely not shine, polish, and brand name thats keeping them around.

no offense but this is why it sucks

a monster hunt where players can win loot such as an ankh pendant necklace, a map of Brittania, an Ultima Online commemorative sculpture, and a virtue armor set.

Dont get me wrong, I played uo from beta till 2004 or so.. thats like 7 years. The problem with uo is they went from a nice free form game (like eve online currently) and made it more like a collecting stupid fucking rares and equipment game (wow has since refined this technique). I blame entirely EA. They made it into a game about collecting and decorating your house.(not that i didnt pimp the illegal no draw tile i had)

Its bittersweet because as much as people complained about OSI back in the day, they ran it LIGHT YEARS better than ea ever did. So grats i guess to the hollowed out shell of one of the best and most forward thinking games of all time. I still cannot build a house in any game since*.

*POS and 0.0 stations are almost houses but not quite.

Obligatory shill from an anonymous dev!

People like to point out that other games came before UO, and that it isn't the "first" MMO.
To those people, I remind you (cough) that UO was the first MMO to be a major success: to hit 100k subscribers, setting the standard for judging MMO success for years to come.

It brought a world to life, introduced an entire generation to a new way of playing online, and opened the doors for games like EQ, DAOC and WOW.
It brought joy to hundreds of thousands, and frustration, and angst and anger and every other emotion one could think of.
It brought people together and foreshadowed the massive impact the internet could have on our social lives.

Oh, and it was fun too! Between 97 and 99 for some, between 2000 and 2003 for others, and even in 2007 today.

So, here's to the longest running, continuous, subscription based MMO - here's to another 10 years!

For anyone who wants to see where UO is going, check out some screenshots of the new client:
http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/uo/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=uouhall&Number=7421553&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=31&fpart=all&what2=postlist [stratics.com]

Post from non-anon dev

To those people, I remind you (cough) that UO was the first MMO to be a major success[...]

Of course, it all depends on how you define "major success". If we define it as the game that had over 1M subscribers in North America, then UO is merely a historic oddity compared to WoW.

(Caveat: I run the company that currently owns Meridian 59.)

While Meridian 59 didn't live up to its potential (IMNSHO), it was still a success. For a while, 3DO was only making significant income from two areas of the company: Meridian 59 and lawsuits. Considering that M59 began as a small garage development project, not a project from a large company using a long-cherished IP, it succeeded quite admirably.

But, you can split hairs and try to define who was really "first" in what capacity. Even your highly qualified statement, "So, here's to the longest running, continuous, subscription based MMO[...]" doesn't describe UO because you forgot commercial text MUDs; I believe Gemstone is the game that matches that description. In the end, both M59 and UO influenced online games. M59 even influenced UO by going with a flat-rate monthly subscription model, which set the trend for the rest of the games you mention.

Anyway, no need to put down other games to make UO seem better. It's nice to see games that reach the 10 year mark at any rate.

Have fun,

It would not still exist...

The game would not still exist if emulators like UOX, Sphere, and RunUO hadn't kept people interested long after they stopped paying their monthly fee.

What's the oldest (still active) MUD?

MUDs have been running far longer (although admitedly this does not contradict the original article in any way). I play Discworld MUD and that's been running for 15 years for example.

I wonder which MUD has been running the longest out of all the ones still going? There are hundreds so I'm not researching it but if anybody knows then that'd be an interesting addendum to the article.

Woah

I didn't realize this game was still around and recognized by EA. I was aware of the emulators and such, but had no idea that it was still being officially run. Everquest is coming up on a decade in a couple of years, too I believe.

Good ol' macros

vendor buy bank guards i ban thee

I'm sure

All three people still playing the game feel very proud of this fact.

Goodie

"Return to Brittania"?

That list of goodies is nice, but not gonna happen unless I get a Necklace of Pk Griefer Teenybopper Groups Slaughtering People By The Graveyard Die Now Pigs.

The best MMORPG of all time, never RPGs too restri

I played from the day the game came out (1998 was it? to 1999). This game was really one of the first and best graphical MMORPG's to this day. Today's Online RPG's aren't fun as UO. I played Warcarft and FFXI... there are too restrictive....

Back in the day players had MORE control over the world. That is what was fun. Not killing monsters together as a team (like in the World of Warcraft)... yawn..

Until they fixed the so called "loop holes" in UO, you could

Gate Monsters anywhere: Being a member of LLTS of on Atlantic Shard, we had our own Island, so every few weeks we would gate in high level beasts to our huge island (with the OSI building on it), hold them for a bit, then release them for a huge "Monster Invasion Role Playing Shannanigin of our Island Base." It was tons of fun and we had prizes for the teams that saved the day.
You could also gate Monsters into houses, trap them behind chests, and create "Magic Resistance Training Houses", were you could go into and the monsters would attack you with magic, you would get hurt, and yoru resist would go up. We would also kidnap healers (NPC) to revive you in case you died. You could charge admission to stuff like this.

PVP - PVP was so much better. Sure, most high level characters were tank mages, casting spells with gold plate armor on , then using a quick macro to equip a a crossbow or halberd to mow down the PKers. But this was fun. Magic was more powerful and more plentiful.

New games, you have the LAME option of not being PVP. In UO, you had the constant threat of being killed. This made the game GREAT. It was very realistic. You could be killed anytime, so you best have your skills sharpened, have you attacks ready to use at a moments notice, or be ready to escape.

Death & Looting - More Permanent: I feel like newer RPG's are made for children. IN UO, You die, you lose everything (expect your spellbook). Good, this made the game fun. Nothing was more interesting then sitting at the bank, talking in an IRC room, and hearing "Guys, we've got PK'ers at Covetus" from my fellow guild members. We would then meet up, and gate a mile south, run up, destroy them, and i would leave with 200 of each reagent, tons of plate mail, magical weapons.. etc...
There was also the flip side to this... when I would die... and boy it was horrible... but the emotions I felt when I died, the sinking feeling in my heart, has never been replaced my any RPG to date. I die in WOW. big deal,I just get resurrected. I don't really lose anything significant (exepct some stats are made lower).

Ownership of Property: I came to own 4 houses, a stake in a castle, and my character was a carpenter to top it off so would furnish my places (and I had fun chopping down trees to furnish my home). I also had my own boat (which was kinda pointless with instant warping, but it was still fun). What games to it like UO did.. none.

Warp anywhere in the world: To my knowledge you can still do this in UO, however, most new RPG's don't allow this. This instead jump makes the game lots of fun, and you don;t waste time either.

Anyway, this buggy game really let me feel in more control, do more things, experiment more, and at the end of the day, have more fun. It was cool to figure out the processes behind the game (like how monsters wouldn't follow you across server boundries).

If anyone wants to write an Online RPG like UO used to be, lets do it!

~Cloud [Tactics Officer] LLTS (Atlantic Shard)

Need a credit card, even for the free trial...

"Trial requires the entry of a registration key provided below. A major credit card is required to validate your account but will not be charged during the trial period. Please note the credit card will be automatically charged at the end of the trial unless cancelled."

I hate stuff like this. It preys on those of us who are too lazy to cancel our free subscriptions when the trial is up.

I'd love to give it a shot, but I just don't trust myself.

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