PVP:Yes | Distribution:Retail | Retail Price:$09.99 | Pay Type:Subscription
Desktop Client | System Req:
| ESRB:T
Ultima Online Interviews: 12 Years and The Stygian Abyss
MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller recently caught up with Ultima Online Development Manager Calvin Crowner to talk about the game's 12 year anniversary and the Stygian Abyss expansion.
By Garrett Fuller on August 24, 2009
| MMORPG.com: | MMOs have come and gone, what keeps Ultima Online still alive after 12 years of game play? |
| Calvin Crowner: | I wish I could come up with a blanket answer for this question. It's a combination of things. Part of it is a community that is quite set on what to expect from the social elements, role-playing, and the simple hack and slash gameplay that Ultima Online offers. There are people that have their short-term forays into other games, and then find that for all the pretty graphics, the fundamental "game" under the graphics lacks what UO has to offer. Also, simply put, Ultima has been around so long that a lot of the things the game has iterated on; made mistakes on; and recovered from; has made it a stronger gameplay experience in the long run. Players are drawn to that. |
| MMORPG.com: | We have seen some updates for Stygian Abyss, what will the expansion offer long time players from Ultima? |
| Calvin Crowner: | New housing tilesets, almost a dozen major and minor systems, new peerless and champion battles, new loot, new monsters to tame and steal from... I guess in short... LOTS! |
| MMORPG.com: | What can a new player expect to find in Ultima Online vs. some of the more current and popular MMOs? |
| Calvin Crowner: | What New Players will find is a world without boundaries. I think that in current MMOs the contemporary player is used to entering a game, killing rats for a while, killing bigger rats, until you gather a group and kill the biggest rat. In UO, you effectively learn by trial and error. When you get womped the first time, you learn what is dangerous. However, when you go back and kill that thing that womped you, there is a sense of accomplishment you don't get in other MMOs. Something else I've noticed, replaying as a new user, is that you can simply start clicking and discovering. UO is as much about testing the limits of the world as testing the limits of the player. What new players may find is like playing golf. All you need is one good swing that your muscle remembers, and then you're hooked. UO is a little bit like that ... just with more blood and the ability to have your own estate in the middle of town. |
| MMORPG.com: | Ultima has always been applauded for its skill based system, yet few other MMOs have adopted that policy, do you think it is the skill based system that has helped Ultima's longevity? |
| Calvin Crowner: | Absolutely! That is arguably one of the more endearing and "sticky" features of UO. You effectively get better at what you like to do most. It just makes sense for ANY game. It's difficult to pull off and balance well. Not too games many care to take that path. |
| |
| MMORPG.com: | Stygian Abyss offers the Gargoyles as a playable race, what can we expect from these long time villains now that they are on the other side? |
| Calvin Crowner: | Well ... the Gargoyles were not really villains, they just had a different point of view ? You can expect then to have access to areas that are not reachable unless you're a gargoyle. In addition, by stature, they are larger and more imposing than humans or elves. Their buildings are also modified so their wings can fit through. In the design of Ter Mur (the Gargoyle Homeland), we tried to design the city and areas so they made sense. You'll also notice the Void (or the dark magic the Gargoyle Queen has held at bay) encroaching through different areas. Gargoyles bring some of their own "special sauce" to the table, as they are more skillful with the new systems (Imbuing, Mysticism), and are the only race who can use throwing weapons. |
| MMORPG.com: | With a twelve year history, what do you think has been the biggest change to the game over that time? |
| Calvin Crowner: | I think about this a lot. The answer is ... I'm not sure. Clients have changed over time. Players can still download the classic client they know and love for free, and play it with the new Expansion. Different expansions changed content or systems, but the core systems and things that make UO ... UO still exist. The team has changed, but even early members of UOs history have returned to contribute, and never completely disappear. |
| MMORPG.com: | What does the future hold for Ultima Online? |
| Calvin Crowner: | In the near term? Sleep. The team has been shoulders forward and head down for a long time trying to produce a quality and most of all FUN Expansion for our current players and extended UO community. Beyond that? Everyone has their pet projects, but we'd like to investigate and fix on some of the long-standing issues like movement (i.e. speedhacking), improving the experience for players returning and entering the game ... most of all staying true to Virtues, Loyalty, and the Sandbox gameplay that has been UO's legacy. |
;)
This was my first MMO. I still feel it was EQ that got me hooked tho.
How many adults are still playing in the sandbox they played in when they were toddlers?
How many adults are still playing in the sandbox they played in when they were toddlers?
hehe you would be surprised! That is why after 12 years it is still going, because old timers still play it.
Dont forget that as well as official p2p servers there are a number of very active free servers :)
its also interesting how much has happened over last 12 years, computers became like 100 times more powerfull, many epic gaming companies went bust, 9/11 and the fallout from it and yet UO keeps on going :)
The way I see it, you're buying three things in an MMORPG: a fun experience, a social network, and an illusion of progress and permanence to your actions and accomplishments. A new game can offer more refined eye candy or a more intense story. Social networks and community can rise and fall. But there's an organic sense of history that only comes with years upon years of patches, tweaks and additions, of having lived through growing pains and cataclysmic upheavals.
Going to an aged MMORPG as a player is more like wandering the narrow, weathered streets of an historic city, surrounding you in an eclectic mix of the ancient and the modern with deeper and deeper layers as you explore.
God, I loved UO
Me too. I'm honestly not sure if it's just nostalgia or because it was the first big time MMO, but in all the years since it launched, and all the mmos that came after it, I still haven't found one that was as fun as UO was ( heh, not even current UO sadly) in it's heyday.
I still play it ;D
UO is the best MMO I can think of. No other MMO has survived this long. But I still think it's kinda sad that no one will pickup this awesome playstyle and mix it with new graphic..
I love UO :)
I have yet to find a game that has managed to keep me away from UO. The graphics are nicer in some of the newer games and even some had some near ideas for there combat systems. But none have been as fun or rewarding as playing UO. I take my breaks and I try other MMO's (Usually the ones touting to be the new UO) but I always come back lol.
darkfall online is the new UO
UO was also my first MMO. To me it got ruined when Origin got sold to EA, that's when trammel got added, and then it deraild further from the original Ultima storyline adding samurais, a blackthorn that looked half human half cyborg (graphically), pottery and even architecture (and still they took away the large forge houses :( )
And Darkfall has similarities, skill system, open pvp, but it'll never rival to what UO was to the players in it's prime.
It's sad that not many MMO's have adopted the skill system, this whole X race can only be Y class has gotten old fast. I miss being able to be a fighter (tank) with enough magery to be able to teleport around or even heal myself.
UO is still my favorite MMO game to this day. The original UO, before Trammel, I mean.
To Pedrob, for me the skill system was not the reason I enjoyed the game. It was the freedom the game provided. The progression system was definitely part of this equation, but it was more than that.
UO was a world, not just a game. This has yet to be accomplished or duplicated since.
There are no other games on the market that allowed you to set up your own shops, place your house wherever you can find a space big enough, be hired as a bodyguard, become a murderer, write books, loot everything a person was carrying, steal from others or shops, make interesting housing decorations, tame any animal in the game, and do hundreds of other things unique to UO.
I've been in and out of UO since 1997 and, though I don't enjoy it as much as years ago (mostly because I don't know anyone there to play with anymore), it still pulls me back again and again. No other MMO has the flexibility in crafting, where you can make almost everything you use. Housing is still the most awesome housing system of any MMO. UO tamers are still the best class for having pets of any MMO. They may not have the best graphics but they still have the best of some things. I still have all my pets and have to go back and visit them every so often for a few months. I can't think of any other game that has the staying power of UO... maybe diablo, but that's not an MMO. The other MMOs could learn a few things from good ol' UO. Take away the eye candy and then see how they compare. Too bad UO's graphics can't be brought up to today's standards because then it would truly blow away the competition. If you don't agree, then you haven't tamed four different types of dragon or built a castle and enjoyed the thousands of items you can store in it... yes, thousands. I get one small chest and about 15 or so decorative items in my small Lord of the Rings house. How does that compare? Sure, it looks nice, but I'd trade those nice looks for some decent storage space any day. And I have to pay "rent" on that useless house to boot! *sigh*
Me too. I'm honestly not sure if it's just nostalgia or because it was the first big time MMO, but in all the years since it launched, and all the mmos that came after it, I still haven't found one that was as fun as UO was ( heh, not even current UO sadly) in it's heyday.
I totally agree. UO was like a drug that took over me and alot of my RL friends years ago. So many good stories from UO, Ive played probably 90% of the mmo's to come out since UO & that game was fucking classic from beta on. I didnt like it that much once trammel and all that came out, thank god. If UO never changed I probably woudlnt have quit
There is a server that is identical to the way we all remembered UO. If anyone is interested let me know, I still go on OSI every now and then, but EA ruined UO.
I keep going back too. UO is still the most "worldly" of any game, by far. When you go into a dungeon and see a book, and try to see if you can read that book, or click on any number of things to see if they do something unusual, you know that game has something different. And without the quest driven style, players actually stop and talk sometimes. UO is still the best overall roleplay experience.
I have gone back to UO like three times. I could never get back the feeling I had when I first started playing in early 1998, when there was no Trammel.
I tried so hard, but it never came back. The game has changed so many times, it didnt have that magic anymore.
Then when I saw that Samaurai theme, that really blew it for me.