Post by Morreion on May 19, 2010 6:56:44 GMT -5
Ultima Online official site
Ultima Online (Wikipedia)
Ultima Online (UO) is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), released on September 25, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today. The game is played online, in a fantasy setting similar to that of the other Ultima games that preceded it.
The success of Ultima Online opened the door for the creation of many new massively multiplayer games. Ultima Online is a fantasy role-playing game set in the Ultima universe. It is online-only and played by thousands of simultaneous users (who pay a monthly fee) on various game servers, also known as shards. It is known for its extensive timing-based player versus player combat system. To maintain order in the online community, there are Game Masters who resolve player disputes, police the shard for terms of service violations, and correct glitches in the game.
Several expansions have been released, but its aging game engine and graphics make it outdated compared to competitive, new massively multiplayer games. The release of Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn in 2007 brought a new game engine which offers a newer visual experience. Since Ultima Online's prime in 2003, the overall subscriber base has seen a steady decline. Subscriber numbers peaked at around 250,000 in July 2003, and to date sit around 135,000 subscribers (approximately 70,000 of whom are from Japan). As of June 2006, Ultima Online held a 1.1% market share of the massively multiplayer online game subscriptions.
Quoting directly from the Electronic Arts press release announcing the Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn expansion, Ultima Online was "The first MMORPG to reach the 100,000 subscriber base, far exceeding that of any game that went before it". Since then, it has added seven expansion packs and dozens of free content updates.
The success of Ultima Online opened the door for the creation of many new massively multiplayer games. Ultima Online is a fantasy role-playing game set in the Ultima universe. It is online-only and played by thousands of simultaneous users (who pay a monthly fee) on various game servers, also known as shards. It is known for its extensive timing-based player versus player combat system. To maintain order in the online community, there are Game Masters who resolve player disputes, police the shard for terms of service violations, and correct glitches in the game.
Several expansions have been released, but its aging game engine and graphics make it outdated compared to competitive, new massively multiplayer games. The release of Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn in 2007 brought a new game engine which offers a newer visual experience. Since Ultima Online's prime in 2003, the overall subscriber base has seen a steady decline. Subscriber numbers peaked at around 250,000 in July 2003, and to date sit around 135,000 subscribers (approximately 70,000 of whom are from Japan). As of June 2006, Ultima Online held a 1.1% market share of the massively multiplayer online game subscriptions.
Quoting directly from the Electronic Arts press release announcing the Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn expansion, Ultima Online was "The first MMORPG to reach the 100,000 subscriber base, far exceeding that of any game that went before it". Since then, it has added seven expansion packs and dozens of free content updates.
UO Stratics fan site
UO Travelogues & Adventurer's Guide
Mad Biker shaded his eyes, and looked around. The bright sand stones of Trinsic reflected the burning sun beams back into his face. He had just come to life in a town named Trinsic, which he had chosen as his home town. A friend had reocmmended him to start here, so they could meet and explore together. Not exactly knowing what he should do, Mad Biker looked around and examined buildings and passing peasants. Someone had told him that the most important thing was, to get a weapon and start to train one's skills. But where should he go? He chose the road to the south, and strolled past the high protection walls of Trinsic. He soon reached a building in front of which the street was rather crowded. Someone dropped an axe on the floor. Mad Biker quickly picked it up, happy to get a powerful weapon for free. Time to try his first steps outside the town!
Equipped with a tailoring set and his new weapon, he tried to find the city gate which would lead into the unknown wilderness. After searching for quite some time (this town was really big!), he finally passed a doorway and crossed a small stone bridge by the southern walls of Trinsic. A voice warned him that he just had left the protection of Lord British's guards. Mad Biker didn't worry much about that. Now he just had to find some animals to train fighting and tailoring. But what beast should he start with?
Carefully Mad Biker sneaked through the woods, the vision of evil monsters and murderers in his mind. He had heard a lot of stories about the dangers in the wilderness, and his heart was bumping with every sound he heard and every animal he saw. Finally he tracked down a dog and decided that this would be the right creature to try his new battle axe on. He was surprised and shocked that he missed with almost every swing while the dog barked and bit him, almost killing the unexperienced adventurer. While he was running away, Mad Biker thought that all this was more difficult than he had expected. He would need some counseling about how to proceed faster.
He continued to look for smaller creatures and even managed to kill chicken and rabbits. On his campfire he roasted the delicious meat, beginning to enjoy these adventures. With improving skill, he even was able to gather some hides from hinds, which he tried his tailoring skill on.
Thanks to the advise of a friend, Mad Biker soon was wearing some simple armor, and his swordsmanship skill allowed him even to kill bigger deer. Slowly but steadily he was improving. He was getting more and more curious about this strange world of Britannia. One day, he left the western city gates of Trinsic to explore the dense woods for the first time. His fist clenched around the hilt of his axe, as he left the safe walls of Trinsic behind.
After sneaking westward for a while, his heart was in his mouth. Would he ever find the way back to the town? When he reached some mountain side, he suddenly froze. He heard a crackling sound. He looked around. THERE! A skeleton came walking towards him, obviously attacking him. Terrified and stricken with fear, Mad Biker turned around and ran for his life. He ran and ran and ran, until he had reached the gate of Trinsic. The skeleton was gone. But his thirst for adventure had awakened and soon should make him pack up his belongings and leave the save town for a long hike...
Equipped with a tailoring set and his new weapon, he tried to find the city gate which would lead into the unknown wilderness. After searching for quite some time (this town was really big!), he finally passed a doorway and crossed a small stone bridge by the southern walls of Trinsic. A voice warned him that he just had left the protection of Lord British's guards. Mad Biker didn't worry much about that. Now he just had to find some animals to train fighting and tailoring. But what beast should he start with?
Carefully Mad Biker sneaked through the woods, the vision of evil monsters and murderers in his mind. He had heard a lot of stories about the dangers in the wilderness, and his heart was bumping with every sound he heard and every animal he saw. Finally he tracked down a dog and decided that this would be the right creature to try his new battle axe on. He was surprised and shocked that he missed with almost every swing while the dog barked and bit him, almost killing the unexperienced adventurer. While he was running away, Mad Biker thought that all this was more difficult than he had expected. He would need some counseling about how to proceed faster.
He continued to look for smaller creatures and even managed to kill chicken and rabbits. On his campfire he roasted the delicious meat, beginning to enjoy these adventures. With improving skill, he even was able to gather some hides from hinds, which he tried his tailoring skill on.
Thanks to the advise of a friend, Mad Biker soon was wearing some simple armor, and his swordsmanship skill allowed him even to kill bigger deer. Slowly but steadily he was improving. He was getting more and more curious about this strange world of Britannia. One day, he left the western city gates of Trinsic to explore the dense woods for the first time. His fist clenched around the hilt of his axe, as he left the safe walls of Trinsic behind.
After sneaking westward for a while, his heart was in his mouth. Would he ever find the way back to the town? When he reached some mountain side, he suddenly froze. He heard a crackling sound. He looked around. THERE! A skeleton came walking towards him, obviously attacking him. Terrified and stricken with fear, Mad Biker turned around and ran for his life. He ran and ran and ran, until he had reached the gate of Trinsic. The skeleton was gone. But his thirst for adventure had awakened and soon should make him pack up his belongings and leave the save town for a long hike...
Belan the Noble Looter!
The Game Archaeologist and the Ultima Prize: Richard Garriott (Massively interview)
Massively:
A lot of these other games that came out later were 3D MMOs -- was this a concern of yours while making a 2D MMO?
Richard Garriott:
No. In fact, in those earlier days when games were in software 3D -- hardware 3D had yet to come -- I actually preferred top-down 2D, as it allowed you to interact in a very detailed way with the world. I would even argue today that a vast majority of MMOs are about running around, killing monsters and collecting treasure. They're not about interacting with the physical world in detail. Ultima Online was about this. Things such as placing on tables cups and plates and silverware, and being able to pick up rings off the ground were important to me. Even today, 2D offers some advantages to how you might be tuning your game.
A lot of these other games that came out later were 3D MMOs -- was this a concern of yours while making a 2D MMO?
Richard Garriott:
No. In fact, in those earlier days when games were in software 3D -- hardware 3D had yet to come -- I actually preferred top-down 2D, as it allowed you to interact in a very detailed way with the world. I would even argue today that a vast majority of MMOs are about running around, killing monsters and collecting treasure. They're not about interacting with the physical world in detail. Ultima Online was about this. Things such as placing on tables cups and plates and silverware, and being able to pick up rings off the ground were important to me. Even today, 2D offers some advantages to how you might be tuning your game.
Massively:
Whatfeature did you particularly enjoy seeing go in the game? What about a feature you wanted in the game, but ultimately (no pun intended) got scratched?
RG:
Two features stand out as noteworthy in spite of how they turned out. The first was a feature that failed -- that was the virtual ecology. We had spent a great deal of time and effort building a virtual ecology between plants, herbivores and carnivores. When the game operated with no players in it, it found a natural balance. When the game launched, the players killed the creatures so fast that there was no way to crank the respawn up high enough to give it any relevance. So very sadly, we removed it.
Conversely was the amazingly uninteresting feature of fishing that we put into the game for completeness. Even though it was extremely basic, that feature became stunningly popular, and a bunch of apocryphal stories arose of whether fishing worked better in streams or rivers (it didn't). So we doubled-down on it and increased the sophistication of the feature.
Massively:
PKing became a huge issue in the early years of the game -- did the team anticipate it panning out the way it did, or did it get too out of hand?
RG:
We definitely did not expect it to pan out the way it did; as it began to unfold we had mixed feelings as how to respond to it. The theory we thought was sound -- we made the towns safe and guarded, you'd leave and have more of a free-for-all. But one day I was GMing as Lord British, and I saw a female character shouting for help. Right as I was talking with her, a thief shows up with macros, steals everything she has and runs away. I teleported ahead of him, froze him to the ground, and told him to cut it out. He promised to do so, but stole from her two more times. When I confronted him about it, he broke character and said, "Of course I'm going to do that, I'm a thief, it's what I do. I'm operating within the rules of your game, and of course I'd lie to the king of the land." I was like, "Damn! You're right!"
Massively:
What did the community do that truly surprised you when the game went live?
RG:
There are numerous examples. The game quickly became a victim of its own success -- it didn't handle well with a hundred people on screen at the same time. So the players were understandably frustrated when they clustered together.
What's interesting about it is that you'd think if people were frustrated with the game, they'd quit. But the people of UO were so compelled to be a part of it and, simultaneously, frustrated and wanting to be heard, that they staged a sit-in at Lord British's castle. They brought a thousand people together in the castle, which brought the game to its knees, then stripped and got so drunk that their characters started throwing up all over the floor. They basically had a civil disobedience uprising as a way to get the development team to hear their complaints.
Whatfeature did you particularly enjoy seeing go in the game? What about a feature you wanted in the game, but ultimately (no pun intended) got scratched?
RG:
Two features stand out as noteworthy in spite of how they turned out. The first was a feature that failed -- that was the virtual ecology. We had spent a great deal of time and effort building a virtual ecology between plants, herbivores and carnivores. When the game operated with no players in it, it found a natural balance. When the game launched, the players killed the creatures so fast that there was no way to crank the respawn up high enough to give it any relevance. So very sadly, we removed it.
Conversely was the amazingly uninteresting feature of fishing that we put into the game for completeness. Even though it was extremely basic, that feature became stunningly popular, and a bunch of apocryphal stories arose of whether fishing worked better in streams or rivers (it didn't). So we doubled-down on it and increased the sophistication of the feature.
Massively:
PKing became a huge issue in the early years of the game -- did the team anticipate it panning out the way it did, or did it get too out of hand?
RG:
We definitely did not expect it to pan out the way it did; as it began to unfold we had mixed feelings as how to respond to it. The theory we thought was sound -- we made the towns safe and guarded, you'd leave and have more of a free-for-all. But one day I was GMing as Lord British, and I saw a female character shouting for help. Right as I was talking with her, a thief shows up with macros, steals everything she has and runs away. I teleported ahead of him, froze him to the ground, and told him to cut it out. He promised to do so, but stole from her two more times. When I confronted him about it, he broke character and said, "Of course I'm going to do that, I'm a thief, it's what I do. I'm operating within the rules of your game, and of course I'd lie to the king of the land." I was like, "Damn! You're right!"
Massively:
What did the community do that truly surprised you when the game went live?
RG:
There are numerous examples. The game quickly became a victim of its own success -- it didn't handle well with a hundred people on screen at the same time. So the players were understandably frustrated when they clustered together.
What's interesting about it is that you'd think if people were frustrated with the game, they'd quit. But the people of UO were so compelled to be a part of it and, simultaneously, frustrated and wanting to be heard, that they staged a sit-in at Lord British's castle. They brought a thousand people together in the castle, which brought the game to its knees, then stripped and got so drunk that their characters started throwing up all over the floor. They basically had a civil disobedience uprising as a way to get the development team to hear their complaints.
Excellent interview. He also talks about the time he had forgotten to put his invulnerability on, and was PKed in game by a player ;D
