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Ultima Online

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Ultima Online
UO 7th Anniversary Edition
UO 7th Anniversary Edition
Developer(s)Origin Systems
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Producer(s)Richard Garriott
Designer(s)Raph Koster and more... over 20
Platform(s)Windows
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Released on September 30, 1997, by Origin Systems, Ultima Online (UO) is a popular graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game that 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.

Overview

The success of Ultima Online (UO) opened the door for the creation of many new massively multiplayer games that have or are about to hit the market. UO is a third-person/isometric 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 also known for its extensive timing-based player versus player combat system. Over a million paid accounts have been created in the game. 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Several expansions have been released, but its aging game engine and graphics make it outdated compared to competitive, new massively multiplayer games. Since the release of Ultima Online: Age of Shadows expansion, many veteran players have all but removed themselves from the game to either try new MMORPGs, free shards, or quit entirely. Since Ultima Online's prime in the early 2000's, overall subscriber turnout has been dramatically dropping. Subscriber numbers peaked at around 250,000 in July of 2003, and have steadily declined to around 135,000 subscribers (aproximately 70,000 of which are Japanese) [1]. Ultima Online holds a 1.1% market share of MMOG subscriptions [2].

Current state

Aaron Cohen (known online as Darkscribe), the current producer of Ultima Online, is a player of the game and appears to be bringing a player's enthusiasm to his work with a willingness to put his team to work on unglamorous but necessary issues, such as working to control massive cheating. For example, he has initiated testing of the anti-cheat program PunkBuster for use with Ultima Online (PunkBuster's first use with MMORPGs). Also, his team has undertaken a massive sweep of Ultima Online's in-game economy for in-game currency (gold pieces) that was obtained through illegitimate means.

On other fronts, Cohen has initiated a game-wide plot-line revolving around a new computer-controlled character named Inu the Crone, a plot-line which has proven popular with players. The new plot-line currently has injected new life into the world of Ultima Online, with puzzling mysteries and dynamically designed invasions. These current events show a lot of new ideas and talent, and the willingness of the Ultima Online development team to revitalize and improve the game.

The reaction of Ultima Online players to Cohen's reign has, overall, been mixed to positive. While far from glowing praise, this is a vast improvement over their reaction to previous regimes.

By far the most significant announcement to come out of Darkscribe's team thus far is the creation of a new UO client.

See here:

http://www.uo.com/uokr/kingdomreborn.shtml

and here:

http://www.uo.com/uokr/UOKR/UOKR.html

The client was, according to the team, done with the specific ends in mind of modernizing UO's look, making it easy to add new content without backsliding through outdated and outmoded art, and yet not sacrificing UO's niche market as the MMORPG that can be run on lower-end computers.

Interestingly enough, the client was first announced in-game, through an event that was part of the Inu the Crone plot-line.

The new client should be available sometime in 2007, and the team has explicitly stated that "all" players' questions on this new client will be answered before this year (2006) was out.

Reaction to this new client has been overwhelmingly positive, with a few players worrying that the client would be too high-end, despite its explicitlys tated aims, and other players worrying that the new client would mask deeper issues within the game.

Exactly where Darkscribe and his team are taking the game still remains to be seen, but at the time of writing it appears that UO, long-considered a holdover from an earlier era in the MMORPG industry, is intent upon not dying anytime soon.

Game mechanics

Main article: Ultima Online game mechanics

Ultima Online continued the tradition of previous Ultima games in many ways, but due to advancing technology and the simple fact that it was Origin's first persistent online game, there were many new game mechanics as well. Partially designed as a social and economic experiment, the game had to account for the widespread player interaction as well as deal with the long history of players feeling as if they were the center of attention, as had been the case in single-player games. New to both the developers and the players, a lot that was planned never happened, and a lot that was unexpected did, and many new game systems were put in place to compensate.

Issues faced

Main article: Ultima Online issues faced
File:UO LB assasination.jpg
In an infamous incident during the Beta, Lord British was assassinated

Ultima Online has seen many major revisions throughout its history. This includes game-play revisions, staff changes, technical revamps, and even fundamental design changes. With few earlier MMORPGs to take lesson from, the staff behind UO was breaking new ground and had to solve complex issues that had never been faced in a commercial game on such a wide scale before. The importance of understanding psychology, social interaction, economy, and such became increasingly important as complex social behavior evolved.

Throughout the pre-release development of the game, a well-balanced, realistic economy and social structure was the goal. While not nearly all of the features planned for incorporation made it into the first release, the developers did manage to put almost all of the control into the hands of players in terms of what they could do to each other and the world as a whole. What ensued caused permanent repercussions still faced in the game today.

The other most common problem with the game was the "scamming" that went on between players. That is, exploiting minor glitches in the game relating to transactions between players. Scamming was legal throughout the 2nd age but then became illegal upon the arrival of Ultima Online Renaissance. But, since the gamemasters were receiving too many complaints, scamming was made legal with the implementation of publish 18. After scamming had become legal many players received reputations for being "scam artists" or "scammers". In a study conducted by UO Stratics in May 2003 the top scammers were revealed through many polls and surveys. The con who is credited with scamming the most amount assets was Westside of the Pacific shard.

Expansions, sequels and other releases

Sequels

  • Ultima Online 2 (UO2) — later renamed Ultima Worlds Online: Origin (UWO:O) — was announced in 1999. It was to add Steampunk elements to the fantasy setting, set in a world where the Past, Present and Future of Sosaria were merged together by a mistake made by Lord British while attempting to merge together the shards of the Gem of Immortality. Todd McFarlane was hired to design original monsters and regions for the game, as well as help shape the story. It was cancelled in 2001 before its release, citing the competitive nature of the massively multiplayer online gaming market — Electronic Arts feared the sequel would harm UO's subscription numbers. Some of the monsters and art made for UWO:O were later used in the Ultima Online expansion Lord Blackthorn's Revenge.
  • Ultima X: Odyssey — This new MMORPG was to be set in a world named Alucinor, created by the Avatar after the events of Ultima IX: Ascension. It was cancelled in 2004 — again, according to EA, in order to focus on expansions to the original Ultima Online.

Expansions

  • The Second Age (October 1, 1998) Featured a new area of land called the Lost Lands, along with an in-game chat system and new creatures. Also known as T2A. Was Released in two boxed versions with the first having different artwork and a single manual.
  • Renaissance (April 3, 2000) The world was doubled in size, as there were literally two copies of it. The worlds were called Felucca and Trammel, after the two moons in Ultima's Britannia world. The Trammel world did not allow player killing, while the Felucca world did. Felucca also adopted a darker, more foreboding look.
  • Third Dawn (March 7, 2001) The major change was that this expansion included a 3D client, no doubt to compete with 3D MMORPGs like EverQuest. Also, a special Third Dawn only land was created, called Ilshenar. It was accessible only to 3D clients until the release of Lord Blackthorn's Revenge.
  • Lord Blackthorn's Revenge (February 24, 2002) Brought "a dark new world based on new characters from Todd McFarlane" to Ultima with improved game AI, in-game help, and improved character creation.
  • Age of Shadows (February 28, 2003) Brought the landmass of Malas with lots of space for new housing, two new character classes (Paladin and Necromancer) and the ability to customize house designs. The item system was completely reworked with this expansion. Armour resistance was split in to five types of resistance, and many new properties that affected gameplay were added to weaponry. As good equipment was now vital, this expansion also brought with it item insurance.
  • Samurai Empire (November 2, 2004) Brought ancient Asian mythology and folklore to the game, two new classes (Ninja and Samurai) and a new area to explore, the Tokuno Islands.
  • Mondain's Legacy (August 30, 2005) Introduced a new race, elves, and a new skill, spellweaving. Several dungeons were also added.
  • Kingdom Reborn (Planned for 2007) This expansion is going to introduce a new client with better graphics than the original ones. The developers also stated that there will be a few surprises. More details will be announced until the end of 2006.

Other releases

  • Ultima Online: Charter Edition (September 30, 1997) Was available to pre-order from Origin Systems at the launch of Ultima Online and in small quantities alongside the standard retail box. It included a signed lithograph of the Ultima Online artwork by the Hilderbrandt brothers, a pewter pin badge bearing the Ultima Online logo and the box was signed by Richard Garriott. The Charter Edition also included the cloth map which was also a feature of the standard box.
  • Ultima Online: 7th Anniversary (September 25, 2004) Was a special release of the game to celebrate Ultima Online's seventh birthday. Like all of the items listed in this section, this release did not bring anything new to the game and is not an expansion, although it did include a more recently patched CD; the Age of Shadows was still the most current version at the time. This release was contained in a small cardboard box containing a triple-CD jewel case, featuring Ultima Online: Age of Shadows, but also included Ultima IX: Ascension install and play discs as a special bonus. A glossy booklet showing the history of Ultima Online expansions was included which contained historic art and an interview from the Ultima Online team and community leaders. Also included in the package a code for an in-game gift, one of which was Ultima Online's famous Hilderbrant print, an extra character slot (a total of six characters was now available) and 7 buddy registration codes.
  • Ultima Online: Gold (July 18, 2005)
  • Ultima Online: The Eighth Age (September 25, 2005) Was a boxed game CD with an array of in-game tokens. Though not bringing any new features, the release was to celebrate Ultima Online's eighth birthday. The box included a updated game CD (with more recent patches), a glossy booklet feauring an atlas of Sosaria, in-game tokens for an anniversary gift (choice of 8) a character transfer, an advanced character and a 45-day free trial code. Also a time-limited blue soulstone was included.
  • Ultima Online: Eve of a New Age (Planned for release October, 2006) Details of this release are still being finalised by the UO Dev Team, but is planned for release sometime in October, 2006

Shard emulation

Main article: Ultima Online shard emulation

Technically-inclined fans of Ultima Online have reverse-engineered the game to produce server emulators of the original game servers. This emulation is legal in most countries, and Electronic Arts is aware of its existence, although in certain countries the authors of these emulators are considered to have violated their EULA by reverse-engineering the game, and may be banned from Electronic Arts Ultima Online servers as a result (other countries do not allow restrictions on reverse engineering). To stay legal, emulation servers do not distribute the original Electronic Arts client files, and the users of the emulation software must not charge their players to be able to play on their individual shards.

Clients

Official clients

Ultima Online features two distinct clients: the original client, which has 2D characters and lighting, and a very distinct 3D client, which uses 3D models for characters and lighting. The 3D client was originally released as a part of the Third Dawn expansion, but has received poor reviews from both veteran and new players alike due to a large number of performance issues (especially memory leaks early on) and what many see as sub-par graphics. Both clients, however, have strong followings, and EA continues to develop both simultaneously. A much needed update to the 3D Client was made on January 30th 2006 as characters and creatures from the game were scaled down to smaller size. A criticism often heard of the 3D client was how characters and creatures were disproportionate to the rest of the game's isometric environment.

Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn

Another Ultima Online client was announced in August of 2006.

This client was, according to the Ultima Online team at Electronic Arts, done with the specific ends in mind of modernizing Ultima Online's look, making it easy to add new content without backsliding through outdated and outmoded art, and yet not sacrificing Ultima Online's niche market as an MMORPG that can be run on lower-end computers.

The new client should be available sometime in 2007, and the team has explicitly stated that all players' questions on this new client will be answered before this year (2006) is out.

Reaction to this new client has been overwhelmingly positive, with a few players worrying that the client would be too high-end, despite its explicitly stated aims, and other players worrying that the new client would mask deeper issues within the game.

Third-party clients

  • Ultima Iris (in development) is an open source client able to work with emulated servers. Using mostly the graphics of the original client, it is able to work with higher resolutions and on multiple platforms. It also allows for the addition of custom art, making it highly desirable to custom shard makers. This client allows for 2D or 3D Ultima Online-like game-play requiring only a copy of the original client. The most notable feature of Ultima Iris is its real 3D engine.
  • PlayUO, (formerly known as Krrios' Client, or KUOC), is another option of custom Ultima Online client, however it is closed-source and only has a 2D version. It can be downloaded at the RunUO.com forums.
  • Palanthir (in development) is another option of custom Ultima Online client, however it is closed-source and only has a 2D version.
  • Wolfpack UO Client (in development) is an open-source client able to work with emulated servers. It can be downloaded at the wpdev.org forums.

Trivia

  • Lord British's throne is the top half of the Ultima Online logo.
  • It is possible to summon a purple llama on rare occurances by casting the spell "energy vortex". (This has been seen to occur during the recent Ophidian Invasion scenario as well)
  • There are hidden caves beneath the town of Bucaneer's Den, that were cut off due to early bugs in Ultima Online in relation to movement of NPCs in or above them.
  • Many of the graphics used are actually high-resolution versions of graphics used in Ultima 8.
  • A monster called a slime exists ingame which is a small slithering blob. Some years ago on rare occassions you could encounter a slime that was renamed a "jwilson" which was purportedly named after magazine editor Johnny Wilson, who gave UO a bad review and thus earned a derisive place in the game by the developers. While the jwilson certianly existed ingame, it has not been seen for some years.
  • Cows may be "tipped" by clicking on them numerous times.
  • There was once a gray goo phenomenon that occurred when an area-of-effect spell such as fire field was cast on a slime, which was programmed to randomly split upon taking damage into two new slimes. The exponential growth would often crash the servers.

See also

References

  1. ^ MMOGchart.com (2006-07). "An Analysis of MMOG Subscription Growth - Version 21.0". MMOGchart.com. Retrieved 2006-08-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ MMOGchart.com (2006-06). "MMOG Subscriptions Market Share". MMOGchart.com. Retrieved 2006-08-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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