Ultima Online Celebrates 10 Years 52
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.
Re:MMORPG (Score:4, Informative)
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.
Obligatory shill from an anonymous dev! (Score:5, Informative)
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]
The best MMORPG of all time, never RPGs too restri (Score:1, Informative)
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)