I have gone back to UO many times, but I do not like the new skill system's set up, and I do prefer to play with the old 2D client, verse their 3dish client.

Trammel was the best thing to happen to UO.

Siege Perilous still had the Trammel-free fun.

The rest of the shards got to choose and when they added the 4 way Factions PvP everyone went back to Felucca on their own terms.

Brilliant, brilliant game design.

The PK cry babies QQ'd but the REAL PK's kept playing on Siege (hardcore server) and rocked out the Factions PvP.

The PK cry babies moved on to games like Shadowbane so they could continue to gank and grief.

And I still cannot fathom as to why they dont release UO2, not only would its loyal fan base go head first into it, but all of us hundreds of thousands of players who used to play and love this game would also be overjoyed and handing over our cash.

3D Ultima online, with the old skill and item systems. Instant money maker.

Great article Op. I have been playing UO since launch (Yes for 15 years) and it never gets old.

There have been a lot of changes in that time, however, they have all helped to keep the game fresh fun and interesting.

For all those people posting here who have played and are reminiscing I have news for you: UO is still here and you can play it right now.... so why not just jump back in and enjoy the fun you so fondly remember.

Originally posted by kerigar

Reading this, you can really see how these guys had such a different take on MMO's compared to the Devs/Designers now.. "players could manipulate the world, how they could engage and feel like the experience was as life-like as possible."  To create a life like virtual world.....

Nowadays its all about trying to find a proper theme and slap on the Lifeless/Static WoW Style mechanics, And try to railroad people as fast as they can to endgame because "my friends are all 50, or level 85 and i wanna play with them and thats where all the really fun content is!!!"

I remember way back in 99, the first day  i started playing ultima online, I met up with my uncle and his friends (who actually introduced me to UO), they took me back to the log cabin they had setup ingame, Crafted some warrior armor a katana and a shield for me. Then we all headed out to hunt fire elementals at the fire dungeon... We all cooperated, looted, etc.. Once we got back to the cabin, we all tossed our loot into a bag on the floor sorted the junk split the gold and rolled for loot... We created those mechanics ourselve using the tools at hand in the game, a Cup of dice and a loot bag on the ground!

You just dont see that level of cooperation/creativity allowed in games nowadays, Theres no social aspect to it, hanging out having fun DOING WHAT YOU WANT, its all about leveling climbing the gear ladder being MOAR L33T than that dude standing next to you...And all we can do is stand back and watch companies like blizzard suck the life out of MMO industry.. Its sad really, In all honesty even with all the MMOs out now, i still have sudden urges start playing uo again a 15 year old game!? Is the mmo industry really that stupied that they can clone WoW 100 times over because it had MASS APPEAL to the casual players? Yet a game that grandfathered them all cannot be cloned or remade properly once in 15 freaking years????

// A bit  of a rant near the end but i think it warranted with the BS company's releasing nowadays...

 

as the man said

great article btw

Originally posted by yorkforce
3D Ultima online, with the old skill and item systems. Instant money maker.

Yeah the MMO genre REALLY needs to go back to its roots, back to open worlds, multiple progression paths, player driven content... The original vision!!!

What better way to do it than by reduxing the grandfather of it all?

Oh wait EA's in charge, never mind...

Originally posted by yorkforce

And I still cannot fathom as to why they dont release UO2....

The short answer = EA owns the rights to the game, Richard Garriott owns rights to Lord British (and a few of the other characters, if I remember correctly).... and never the twain shall meet again, I'm afraid.

The moral of the story is that it takes a long, long time and a lot of intermediate successes to make your dreams happen.

UO2! Now!

Originally posted by spankybus

I can't help but wonder if the 2D client could run on a tablet PC. It would be absolutely badass to be able to play this game. On iOS and Droid tablets and would probably flood the servers with a host of new and returning players.

Maybe this game is dated by PC standards...but it's fun as hell and perfect for portable gaming now....especially since its point and click.

So many good memories of this game.

 

That would be cool, but really hard to do in such a complex game.

I remember having mapped more then 50 key-combinations for my mage in PvP :D

Isometric view is just better for these kind of games, noone gets that though.

Just looking at those screenshots, that game has really changed since I played way back in the beginning.

I went back and played the game maybe a year or so ago, was nice to still see people playing it. 

It's just so frustrating to see this genre of games continue to take steps backwards.  MMO's should be worlds for us to make our own and of course to share with everyone else.  They should be massive online games, not fully instanced and on rails, being told what to do next.  The did so many things right with UO in mine and many gamers eyes, yet apparently all we want, according to big publishers, is linear, uninspiring gameplay that involves clicking something for a quest or killing 20 bad guys.  It's sad.  At least UO lives on somewhat.

Originally posted by yorkforce

And I still cannot fathom as to why they dont release UO2, not only would its loyal fan base go head first into it, but all of us hundreds of thousands of players who used to play and love this game would also be overjoyed and handing over our cash.

3D Ultima online, with the old skill and item systems. Instant money maker.

Once upon a time Lord British had an article about making a sequel.   I don't remember all the details but for an MMO he thought it was a bad idea.   At the time I agreed with him...

Currently there really isn't a well funded game similar to UO.   So making a UO2 now with a modern engine and gameplay close to the original... would be a smart market move in my opinion.   Just to keep the expectation a small (but profit making) core of very rabid/loyal gamers.

The only real downfall would be the debate about launching a new game with something like Trammel in place so you could attract the PvE players... and the "no care bear" crowd.   I've always liked the idea of seeing an MMO made with a "wasteland" area... which had incentives to enter but the dangers as well (getting ganked in other words).   Risk versus reward...

Only a new UO can save the MMO`s world

My first exposure to graphic based computer games were the Ultima games on my friend's Commodore 64.  Between the Ultima series and Bard's Tale, I was hooked.

Years later, out on my own, with a slim budget and a new job, it took everything I had to save up for a PC so I could partake of the Ultima Online goodness.

I remember the excitement I felt when I started exploring all of my favorite places fully realized into an online game, and experiencing for the first time a sense of online community.

I was on the Pacific server, and the folks I ran into were friendly and outgoing.  People gave me access to their houses and castles, and overall I just felt like I belonged.

I try to recapture this feeling in games today, but it seems I haven't found the right one yet.  Long gone are the days when I'd drag a small herd of tamed beasts into the town square to sell as mounts, or travel by boat on a non-linear path across an ocean, or stop by a friend's castle to borrow their dye vats to color my new armor.

As I read through the feedback to some of these articles based on UO, it seems to me that I wouldn't find that same feeling of community that used to thrive there.  I can only hope that we all find another game that offers so much,

Originally posted by Ferrark

Only a new UO can save the MMO`s world

How can you make a new one when people can't even agree on what the old one actually was.

Memories of UO are a sort of inkblot personality test for MMO gamers - everyone remembers it differently and has a different opinion of what the essential part of it was that made it UO.

I liked the game, and played it for a decent ammount of time, but deep down I was much more impressed with Everquest and after EQ I really could care less about Ulitma Online.

It's still nostalgic to me, but not enough to like buy it again/pay a subscription in this day and age.

No one has attempted to create a virtual world the way UO did.  I join in sadness at how unlikely we will ever see its kind  again.

Modern MMORPGS are all about shoving you down the path THEY want, all the while dragging a block of cheese ahead for you to chase.  Everyone knows this but stands helpless because giant companies control the market and they care about one thing - maximum profit at minimum risk.

One McMORPG after another.  At least with hamburgers, while you have McDonalds, you can also choose to buy a higher quality burger at a higher price.  In the MMORPG world, its a race to the bottom to see who can sling the most repackaged hash.

Good article. We need more games like UO, but in this corporate era, no chance from big companies.

Originally posted by Ferrark

Only a new UO can save the MMO`s world

 

Since EA canceled a UO Sequel twice (UO2 & UOX ). does that mean EA has doomed the MMO world two times over?

Admittedly i loved the entire Ultima Series & Ultima Online (Chesapeake shard ftw). I was one of the first 2x GM Mages (100 magery/scribe with like 90ish magic resist). I had a bowyer/lumberjack who was also a gm swordsman/tactician and master mage with which i made most of my ingame gold with during the bow craze early on)..

I do every so and then think of that game. Then i remind myself of what the Origin name means to EA now and die a bit inside.