Originally posted by obii

Originally posted by niceguy3978
The funny thing about this list is that 2 of the 3 first mmos were made by 2 of the most hated publishing/developing houses on this site (Verant was owned by sony and ran by the infomous Smedly and EA had bought Origin years before development began on UO).

No one really knows how UO managed to be a success with EA as publisher

It thrived despite being an EA game is all I can say :P

EA wasn't always the filthy bastard it is today.  If you think about those early years, video games were still pigeonholed as a "nerd" hobby, and consoles were for still mostly regarded as the playthings of children and early teens.  As the console wars really heated up, the game industry took notice, and so did eager investors.

Mentalities changed, or evolved into even more horrific incarnations of themselves.  I heard horror stories about Trip Hawkins from people that worked along side him long before EA became the vile cesspool that it is today.

A lot of egos became far too large for their own good from those years until now, and so did the penchant for greed.  Very few of them remained humble in the face of millions of dollars pouring in during the video game boom.

Originally posted by BartDaCat

Originally posted by obii

Originally posted by niceguy3978
The funny thing about this list is that 2 of the 3 first mmos were made by 2 of the most hated publishing/developing houses on this site (Verant was owned by sony and ran by the infomous Smedly and EA had bought Origin years before development began on UO).

No one really knows how UO managed to be a success with EA as publisher

It thrived despite being an EA game is all I can say :P

EA wasn't always the filthy bastard it is today.  If you think about those early years, video games were still pigeonholed as a "nerd" hobby, and consoles were for still mostly regarded as the playthings of children and early teens.  As the console wars really heated up, the game industry took notice, and so did eager investors.

Mentalities changed, or evolved into even more horrific incarnations of themselves.  I heard horror stories about Trip Hawkins from people that worked along side him long before EA became the vile cesspool that it is today.

A lot of egos became far too large for their own good from those years until now, and so did the penchant for greed.  Very few of them remained humble in the face of millions of dollars pouring in during the video game boom.

One of the best commentaries on EA that I've ever seen...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh3FN3YCwYk

"Do you know how hard it is to piss off people that watch other people's 5 year olds for a living?"  - I laughed really hard at that part of it.

I also enjoyed the old statement from EA on their "nobel" early goals...

We are an association of Electronic Artists who share a common goal.  We want to fulfill the potential of personal computing.

With reading that old article on "can a computer make you cry?" and such...  What EA is vs what they started as...  It's an amazing review.

Originally posted by Omali

Originally posted by Yukmarc

Originally posted by obii

Originally posted by niceguy3978
 

EA was already ruining Ultima by the time Ultima Online came out. They ruined Ultima 8 (1994) by rushing it out the door to please the investors.

They also killed Ultima Online 2  because a new top dog  wanted make his account books look good.

First was Neverwinter Nights on AOL 1991 .  Pay per hour ! plus pay per hour ISP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-zQWEp_IvY

sorry but the timeline is wrong =/

Originally posted by PK4Gold

First was Neverwinter Nights on AOL 1991 .  Pay per hour ! plus pay per hour ISP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-zQWEp_IvY

 

sorry but the timeline is wrong =/

Brilliant!!! That vid is great.

Tbh, Timeline can be improved: I thought a website callling itself: "Timelines" sounded sufficiently scholarly on the subject...

I'll update the OP Timeline before long.

Originally posted by MumboJumbo

Originally posted by PK4Gold

First was Neverwinter Nights on AOL 1991 .  Pay per hour ! plus pay per hour ISP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-zQWEp_IvY

 

sorry but the timeline is wrong =/

Brilliant!!! That vid is great.

Tbh, Timeline can be improved: I thought a website callling itself: "Timelines" sounded sufficiently scholarly on the subject...

I'll update the OP Timeline before long.

Pleas add Lineage release date September 3rd, 1998 to the timeline as well.