Originally posted by Kyleran

I never played UO, so I can't comment much about it.  However, one thing I know, when it was first released, it received "Coaster of the Year" award from Computer Gaming World,..."

      Yes, because you had a monthly  fee on top of the price to get the game which was unheard off in those days .

     The fee was $9.99 a month + internet fees since some of the internet services still came with either a limited amount of hours per month, a pay per minute rate, long distance charges or all these fees.

     I myself only had the choice of 50hrs a month, because the unlimited services did not have a local number in my area If I went over the 50 hrs I got charged a per minute fee on top.

     That on top of the performance of the internet over a 28k  or a 56k modem  ( which if you are old enough you can remember that connecting at top speed was extremely rare) and 1k+ players logged on at once in the same shard.

Fact is, UO  was way ahead of its time.

BTW you forget to mention that later in 2006 Computer Gaming World inducted UO into their "Games Hall Of Fame"

I don't know if the game sucks or not but I downloaded a trial to give a look to the legendary game and I just can say that this game is unplayable for me. This game had his place in the mmos history but we cant stay at the past forever, we must move forward and keep it as the iconic mmorpg. I never knew what I had to do while I played.

Originally posted by patshir

I don't know if the game sucks or not but I downloaded a trial to give a look to the legendary game and I just can say that this game is unplayable for me. This game had his place in the mmos history but we cant stay at the past forever, we must move forward and keep it as the iconic mmorpg. I never knew what I had to do while I played.

It's unplayable for anyone who doesn't have the patience to take the time to learn. There are many excellent guides out there that give thorough explanations about playing the game.

The difference with UO and newer games is that it doesn't hold your hand. You've actually got to figure things out for yourself, which seems to be impossible for many gamers these days, unfortunately.
 

Originally posted by alacres

Originally posted by patshir

I don't know if the game sucks or not but I downloaded a trial to give a look to the legendary game and I just can say that this game is unplayable for me. This game had his place in the mmos history but we cant stay at the past forever, we must move forward and keep it as the iconic mmorpg. I never knew what I had to do while I played.

It's unplayable for anyone who doesn't have the patience to take the time to learn. There are many excellent guides out there that give thorough explanations about playing the game.

The difference with UO and newer games is that it doesn't hold your hand. You've actually got to figure things out for yourself, which seems to be impossible for many gamers these days, unfortunately.
 

i loved uo and agree with the not holding your hand part, i palyed it for a few years then went to WoW for the last 2 months..... all i can say is my WoW sub wont be getting re subed cause it was just boring compared to uo....... so im hoping darkfall is kinda like the new uo, but we'll see

What UO needs now is more than a bit of extra content and a new make over. It needs a lot more than the story aspect it use to. Sadly what UO needs now is a revisiting. I've played on and off since it's launch and have been through all the ups and downs. What UO has become now days is more of a never ending collection quest and showing off lol. The harsh world is gone, the discovery aspect is gone. The massive world feel is gone now as well. None of this is meant to dis the game. I've just been there and done that for so many years now it's just time to let it go.

What UO truly needs is for EA to take another look at UO2. I mean hell, EA has Bioware and Mythic now at there disposal. If they were to work on and lauch a fully 3D modern UO with a lot of the key features that are unique to UO the game would likely be a massive hit as long as it was done right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXpnAs8Z9g4

If it was ever time to take another look at doing a UO2, now is the time. With Biowares story telling and Mythics MMO experience and a time where PvP MMO's and Sandbox's are gaining in popularity now is the time to capitalize. Make it good, make it big and make it a fresh take on the mechanics and concepts we love.

I mean UO has given the MMO scene a lot. The entire fantasy side of the MMO industry has been influenced by UO a ton. If you look at the classes that seem unique to many MMO's they are strikingly similar to popular templates in UO. UO gave us player housing and did such a job with it no other MMO has seemed to be able to deliver player housing that has been remotely as meaningful.

It's time for a new UO.

UO needs to release an expansion that burns the world to the ground.  EA should use this catastrophic in-game event to fix UO.  Get rid of everything neon, Asian, and cartoony.  It needs to be a medieval world again...

UO has lost all appeal.  They destroyed everything that made the game special, no one should play it anymore, and every person that has taken part in its systematic destruction should burn in hell forever. 

 Hello, I never played UO, I began playing MMORPGs just in 2004, which is I believe after the infamous Trammel Incident. I began with WoW, and as usual got tired of it, then I began searching (without buying, except for AoC) for something different more akin to my P&P role playing experience, and I found that what I was lookin for is UO, sadly, everyone that at one point played it told me in forums or other places that it is death as it was used to be.

I passively followed DFO, but when it launched it was clear that very few of RPing was going on and the tools that the game offered were very PvP oriented, then I stopped at MO and saw a lot of features very similar to UO and bought it, I honestly dont play much of the beta, mainly because I have had no time during the last months, but I wish to ask you if you think MO will be sort of a UO revamped, given than EA have no desire to make UO2. 

Thanks for the answer

We can hope that Mortal Online tries to be the new UO.

The developers seem to want to try, though I am pretty sure it will take another 6+ months until the game is really finished and enjoyable for the general crowd.

For roleplay make an UO trial account and check out the europa server and you should find people who roleplay. Roleplay is not as various and good as it once was but still alive despite EA.

Originally posted by obii

We can hope that Mortal Online tries to be the new UO.

The developers seem to want to try, though I am pretty sure it will take another 6+ months until the game is really finished and enjoyable for the general crowd.

 

For roleplay make an UO trial account and check out the europa server and you should find people who roleplay. Roleplay is not as various and good as it once was but still alive despite EA.

I don't know, I don't have a lot of hope left for Mortal Either. The game itself isn't playing to well as in not working and there running out of cash so there going to have to eventually push it out anyways. Personally I think they spent way to much money and time on the full nudity gimmick lol.

While the game may not really work right now, at least they have detailed anatomically correct fully nude toons right? lol.

If you like UO you should definitely check out Mortal Online.

It's inspiered by UO. I am in the beta, it's really really promising. Those creating UO wanted to make a modern UO, but improve things that could be done better, like the crafting system etc .... release within a few weeks. 

www.mortalonline.com
 

Originally posted by Diekfoo

If you like UO you should definitely check out Mortal Online.

It's inspiered by UO. I am in the beta, it's really really promising. Those creating UO wanted to make a modern UO, but improve things that could be done better, like the crafting system etc .... release within a few weeks. 

www.mortalonline.com

I have great doubts about Mortal. As much as I would love to believe it will be similar, I just don't think it can stand up to the awesomeness that was Ultima Online when it was in it's glory.

I'd much rather see Garriott pick up the pieces and work on a UO2 provided he recreates the world from the ground up.

I'm hearing Mortal Online if failing to materialize also.

So many games try to recapture the magic that was the original UO, but they all seem to fail. Maybe it's because they are missing what was most important to the magic.

Originally posted by Smartwhois

I'm hearing Mortal Online if failing to materialize also.

So many games try to recapture the magic that was the original UO, but they all seem to fail. Maybe it's because they are missing what was most important to the magic.

Problem is more like that it is really difficult to make a lagfree MMO. Mortal has the problem I feared most, they do not manage to get the netcode ready for lagfree gaming. If the game is solid and lagfree then you can add features over time, but until then Mortal is still, a big IF.

EVE showed that a solid game has its players, you need a solid game as basis though.

Originally posted by sempiternal

Originally posted by AznAndy
Stellerex and Sunsword don't work on UO anymore. They have been gone since 2004. UO is in better hands than them, but I do agree that the hands of Richard Garriott and Starr Long would be the best.

These two, however, are now working on Tabula Rasa.

Yes, but so far their damage to the original UO virtual world has been everlasting.

These two EA developers, Stellerex and Sunsword, are responsible for two of the most ill-conceived expansions;

UO: Renaissance aka the consensual Trammel mirror

UO: Age of Shadows aka as the Item-Based gameplay expansion

Both of these expansions were drastic changes to the existing Ultima Online game and rules.

Only someone in a position of power, can abuse that power; such as a producer getting away with changing the rules in the middle of a game.

Without Trammel .. UO would have been shutdown long ago. It was needed.

But I will agree that putting stats on items wasnt a good idea but I still found it fun.

Originally posted by SlyLoK

Without Trammel .. UO would have been shutdown long ago. It was needed.

But I will agree that putting stats on items wasnt a good idea but I still found it fun.

Myth.

UO did tremendously well without Trammel.

It was only after Trammel was added that the game stopped growing.

Lord British wasn't the main force that shaped UO, I forget the name, but one person working in the team at the time was responsible for most the design of its systems and execution of UO they had for launch, LB just came in and agreed with the ideas and sat and did some play testing.

There was even an occasion he came and and sat down to have play with the latest build and started talking to NPC thinking it was dev team member, not realizing that had put NPC's in the least build. Giving LB all the credit for Ulitma online is wrong, he didn't design game and its systems that made UO, he just has credit for the creation of the IP property ( Ultima)that went in the game.

Originally posted by IAmMMO

Lord British wasn't the main force that shaped UO, I forget the name, but one person working in the team at the time was responsible for most the design of its systems and execution of UO they had for launch, LB just came in and agreed with the ideas and sat and did some play testing.

There was even an occasion he came and and sat down to have play with the latest build and started talking to NPC thinking it was dev team member, not realizing that had put NPC's in the least build. Giving LB all the credit for Ulitma online is wrong, he didn't design game and its systems that made UO, he just has credit for the creation of the IP property ( Ultima)that went in the game.

You're probably thinking of either DesignerDragon or Raph Koster. Both had major roles in the greatness of UO.

Originally posted by Smartwhois

Originally posted by SlyLoK

Without Trammel .. UO would have been shutdown long ago. It was needed.

But I will agree that putting stats on items wasnt a good idea but I still found it fun.

Myth.

UO did tremendously well without Trammel.

It was only after Trammel was added that the game stopped growing.

Pfftft.

Most servers still have a healthy population and housing on both facets is still at a premium on some shards. If Trammel caused the game to stop "growing", how do you explain its still profitable existence after almost 12 years, more than half of which Trammel has been a part of.

Man, even after all this time folks still cant accept that Trammel is at the bottom of the list of UO's problems.

Originally posted by Azureal

Most servers still have a healthy population and housing on both facets is still at a premium on some shards. If Trammel caused the game to stop "growing", how do you explain its still profitable existence after almost 12 years, more than half of which Trammel has been a part of.

 

Man, even after all this time folks still cant accept that Trammel is at the bottom of the list of UO's problems.

Lies. The game is an empty wasteland sprinkled with a few trinket collectors.

UO grew steadily to 180,000 subscribers without Trammel at all. Adding Trammel didn't make much of a difference, except that soon after the addition the game stopped growing except for a few short-lived peaks surrounding expansions. Which were probably temporary multiple accounts bought to place housing.

Trammel ruined the game.

Trammel was definitely crappily inroduced. Just copying existing lands because you had no plan to deliver the lands else was ... amateurish?

Still after the introduction of Trammel UO gained until AOS 250.000 accounts and that was probably because now the pvp and pvm players had their place.

With clever design they could have kept it up, but diablo geeked developers thought the game needed something new.