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Ultima Online

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happy birthday

10 Years Of Ultima Online

Ten years ago yesterday the age of the MMO was ushered in with the release of Ultima Online. While not technically the first MMORPG, it was the first one that gained a widespread audience, paving the way for games like Everquest and World of Warcraft. In celebration of this 10 year anniversary, Electronic Arts is inviting players from the entirety of the games 10 years to return to the game for free from now until October 9th using their old username and password to experience the recent changes that came with the Kingdom Reborn makeover. The in-game celebration includes special events like a monster hunt where players can win prizes like maps of Britannia, an ahnk pendant, commemorative sculpture, or a virtue armor set. All players will also receive a wand of fireworks and 10 decor tokens, whatever those might be. Happy 10th Ultima Online! May you last another 10 years with the tiny player base you have left over! More »

3:00 PM on Wed Sep 26 2007
By Mike Fahey
4,112 views, 34 comments

Latest by n/a: Even after all these years, I still stop to read the war stories of UO veterans. Gosh bless you Ultima Online. 97-02' Pacific more »

uo redo live

Ultima Online Is Reborn

Nearly a full ten years since the original game was launched in September of 1997, Ultima Online is reborn as Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn launches in North America. Much lumber will be gathered this day in celebration of the massive graphical overhaul the game has undergone to keep up with UO's tendency to look 5-7 years old at any given time. On top of the graphics, the game has received an enhanced UI, and an updated new character experience to help ease players into the world. The update is completely free for all, with new players able to try the game four 14 days to see what they've been missing these past ten years. Part of me is tempted to give the game a try, but the other part of me that has gone back to try to find enjoyment in the game multiple times over the past decade took that part out to the woods behind my apartment and beat the shit out of it. For those not as conflicted, hit the jump for download locations. More »

9:20 AM on Mon Aug 27 2007
By Mike Fahey
6,286 views, 34 comments

Latest by SirCletus: @etho: I think you win the über-geek award on this one, referencing Lovecraft in a post on a video game site discussing Ultima Online. Geeks rock! more »

develop conference

Garriot - MMO Design Must Change

Delivering a keynote speech at the Develop Conference in Brighton, Richard "Lord British of the Rat Tails" Garriott denounced the MMO genre as having grown stagnant, simply offering gamers shinier shells over the same core components that were formulated ten years ago when Ultima Online launched. Garriott explained that by reusing the same concepts, developers are underselling the potential of the genre. "We owe it to consumers to provide new kinds of gameplay." Specifically mentioned in the keynote as overused features were stale combat systems, a focus on grinding, and a general lack of AI use in the genre.
"I think it (AI) has a lot more to offer the MMO genre than a lot people has given it credit for. The richness it offers in helping create the world and making sure that players are not the only moving part in that world is really important for the MMO category."

More »

9:40 AM on Wed Jul 25 2007
By Mike Fahey
2,664 views, 49 comments

Latest by 天雷: @Thapa: Agreed. I spent two hours in the beta and I'm not logging back in again. There was nothing there that really caught my interest, since a lot of it was the exact same thing Garriot was saying more »

mmorpg facelift

Clip: Ultima Online Kingdom Reborn

Ten years ago a force was unleashed upon the world that would change how we waste our time forever. Now EA is nearly ready to...re-unleash that same force, having spent countless resources making Ultima Online - a ten year old game - look like a seven year old game. More »

9:20 AM on Fri Jun 15 2007
By Mike Fahey
9,421 views, 35 comments

uo

UO: Kingdom Reborn Website Launches

Winner of the Most Dangerous Place To Be A Lumberjack award nine years running, Ultima Online is quickly approaching its 10th anniversary, and EA has just launched the website for the expansion. The site details new features being added to the game, such as a streamlined, more World of Warcraftian interface, an improved new player experience, and an all new graphics engine, complete with before and after comparisons like the one above. . More »

9:20 AM on Thu Mar 22 2007
By Mike Fahey
3,463 views, 18 comments

charity

2007 MMO Charity Calendar

With the New Year just around the corner, MMO players are going to need a new calendar to monitor how many days they can safely go without sleep before succumbing to death's icy embrace. MMO Portal has exactly what they need in the form of their 2007 MMORPG calendar, featuring art from a different game every month, signed by members of their respective dev teams. It'll cost you $14.95, and 100% of all proceeds go towards the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee. More »

12:40 PM on Tue Dec 26 2006
By Mike Fahey
287 views, 13 comments

Latest by Elathiel: Hi guys! I'm Elathiel, from MMO Portal. To answer some of the questions you've had... Square Enix did not respond to any of the 3 emails I sent them regarding this, so no FFXI. David Swafford from NCsoft said, "We have to pass this more »

ea

Ultima Online Gets Upgrade In Its 10th Year

It seems that one of the MMO's that popularized the genre will continue to receive some life support, this time in the form of a totally new client. Yep, massively multiplayer online role playing game Ultima Online will see a considerable graphics overhaul and a reworked UI. More »

9:46 AM on Sun Aug 20 2006
By Michael McWhertor
4,998 views, 2 comments

ultima online

Ultima Online Deletes Trillions in Gold

Ultima Online just did some major housecleaning. A few weeks after the game started to use cheat detector PunkBuster, Electonic Arts announced that they have closed down 180 accounts and permanently deleted about 15 trillion gold pieces. That's a 15 with god knows how many zeros. More »

11:30 AM on Sat Jul 8 2006
By Brian Crecente
1,564 views, 18 comments

mmo

Mythic, Ultima Online Teaming Up

Apache reports that something is afoot over at Ultima Online. The official site for the granddaddy of MMOs says they are going to be teaming up with Mythic to "forge Britannia's future." More »

7:19 PM on Fri Jun 30 2006
By Brian Crecente
220 views, Comment

raph koster

Virtual Ecospheres Coming To MMOs?

Master MMO designer and Ultima Online graduate, Raph Koster points out the emergent artificial life simulation created by a Second Life user in the non-game. More »

5:00 PM on Wed May 31 2006
By Brian Crecente
259 views, 3 comments

ultima online

Free Eats with the Ultima Online Crew

Electronic Arts is hosting a Redwood City Town Hall meeting on March 2 to discuss Ultima Online. The meeting, which will on the Redwood Shores campus, will include members of the UO Team and discuss some of the upcoming coolness set to land on the granddaddy of MMOs. The 3 1/2 hour meeting will include free pizza and soda and a chance to ask your own questions of the team. More »

4:06 AM on Fri Feb 17 2006
By Brian Crecente
96 views, 2 comments