Ultima Online

Let me start off by saying I haven't played in about a year. Been trying to "find" that new MMO that satisfies, we all know how this feels. Needless to say, I've tried them all and in the end I try and fool myself into thinking I like "leveling up" and getting "new skills" and moving on to the next area, you know, every game out there that isn't UO does this. I like to call this the everquest model of MMOs.

I've been playing WAR recently and I think it's a great game, like some of the others, but I think i've finally nailed what is missing from these games.

Where is the correlation between me pressing 1, my character shooting an arrow and the sense of accomplishment? Sure I get accomplishment when my arrow hits the  monster and I see some damage, but thats about it. I could shoot off 1 million arrows and never advance at all, its completely possible. This micro detail is that itch in my a.ss that I haven't noticed before.

Let me fill you in a bit. I started MMO gaming back during MUDS and eventually I ended up playing UO when it came out. I played UO hardcore until about 2006. I also played EQ, swg, and a bunch of others.

The difference between my above example and UO is simple. In UO, when i shoot off an arrow, I'm actually using and working my archery skill. I'm not trying to kill 100 monsters using my archery skill so that I can go to the next level, and get some more skills for archery. I'm simply using my bow to do whatever and based on how I use it I can either gain or not gain skill. At the same time I have the benefit of killing a monster, animal, player, etc.. The benefits of killing and the benefits of using a skill are completely different but both cause each other to grow and allow the player to prosper.

Not only this but I'm not an "archer" simply because I can use a bow. Everquest model games force you to pre-define your entire life within the game. You're labeled with mage/healer/tank/crafter and you level up. If at level 60 you're bored and want to do something different you have to simply roll a new character and start over, being forced to do the same things you've already done before.

In UO, you are a blank character. YOU decide what you want to do, be, not be, etc..

I could be a mage who bakes and begs.

I could be an archer necromancer bard.

I could be a tailor that employs any means to kill my prey and obtain leather, magic, weapons, etc..

And I can change these things at any time and balance them as I see fit.

I could be a really strong mage with a weak mind, sure why not! Maybe I only need to cast low level spells and want to primarily use my sword to fight stuff.

The fact is, you can create any type of character you can dream up for any type of gameplay you can imagine!

How fun is this?!? Let me explain it again:

You can do whatever you want with your character!!!!

Now, this is just the residual of what is left over from the original freedom that came with UO.

Back in the day not only did you have such immense freedom of choice with your character, you could literally do ANYTHING in the game from killing other players to stealing from them. Using only your real intellegence you could potentially poison a loaf of bread and convince someone to eat it.

What I'm trying to say here is that UO was based on rules that governed the world and not rules that governed every action a player could take.

Now, while I miss old UO just as much as the other vet players I still enjoy UO. I resubbed on friday and am already addicted again. I played literally all day saturday ( rainy days are fun ) and most of sunday. What did I do? Well, I have a lot of characters who are all Grand Masters in a bunch of stuff but my most favorite character is Homer, my mageromancer and soon to be grandmaster poisoner.

I even chose kingdom reborn as my client and I have to admit, I really like it. When I first tried the KR i really didn't like it, but that was a year ago and now I'm finding it very useful and better on the eyes since I have large screens and it runs at the max resolution.

Anyway, I spent the weekend riding around looking for a spot to put a Keep while working on poisoning and alchemy. I also took several breaks to go hunting. I never really played my mage in a hardcore fasion but I decided to try my tactics on dragons, sphynx, etc.. I was amazed that my mage could take down these critters faster than my tamer if you employed the right strategy. Being GM+ in necro and magery really is a plus as well.

I play on Napa, always will. I was suprised to find a healthy server population on napa. Sure it's not as healthy as back in 2000 but its not as bleak as some of the other MMO's I've played where you literally see no-one for hours sometimes.

I'll be on Napa, working on rebuilding the Homer empire.

I hope you will come join me. I'm looking to start a tight knit group of friends to play with casually or non casually. If you want to come join the fun, send me an mmorpg.com email and I'll help you get started in UO!

As for you returning players, c'mon, come play with me and the others. There is no game like UO other than UO. You can continue wasting your time trying to get the next level or you can play an intellegent game that puts the thinking back into the players hands and gives you a greater sense of satisfaction as an individual than any of these games.

Take it easy, cheers, peace and goodbye!

The UO you describe no longer exists. It is an item based safe zone populated by all the losers who used to set up spam macros at brit west bank selling their torches and layered sashes.

UO was the best game of all time.. of any genre in my opinion.. it is a different game now however

If you are interested, there is a game coming out that is very similar to UO.. and it comes out in 2 month aproximatly

Its very controvercial on these boards because for some reason people fear one game out of 500 to not be an EQ clone..

its called Darkfall Online and after years of waiting it is releasing very soon.. they say a december relese.. phase 3 of beta is starting in 7 days.

Sign up for beta: www.darkfallonline.com/beta

you need to make a forum account to do so...

completely skill based , exactly like UO.. open world no safezone ect... have fun

Originally posted by EndDream

its called Darkfall Online and after years of waiting it is releasing very soon.. they say a december relese.. phase 3 of beta is starting in 7 days.

lol

yeah i signed up for the DF beta a while back.

I forgot to mention I like the non first person aspect of UO, gives more of a "looking into a window of a virtual world" feel than a "hey I'm a dark elf mage casting this spell" feel.

And I know the UO from the past doesn't exist, but that doesn't mean the current UO is bad, its just a different game.

The new UO is an abomination and a blasphemy of old UO. It is WOW with crappy graphics. I liked the old bird's eye 3/4 view 2d/3d hybrid too though. I agree with you there.

Sorry but if you compare WOW to UO you obviously haven't played one or the other. WOW is a level/quest based game whereas UO is a skill-use based game.

The current incarnation of UO is NOT a skill-based game. If I reactivate one of my 7x GM's and fight some goofball at the Moonglow graveyard, I will get owned based on his gear alone even though I was a top-ranked dueler. Hell, I would probabaly be killed by the npc spawn. If you don't have good gear, you suck. That is not a skill-based game. Sorry. Trammel also killed the sandbox. No risk, no return. It is WOW sans linear quests and cartoonish graphics. Sorry, just because you played some MUDS doesn't make you an authority on the evolution of MMORPGS. UO is dead. What you are playing is not the same game.

Yeah I've got a 1998 account with Ultima Online.
I've been thinking of coming back for a few weeks now, and I think I might !
Ultima Online will always be a game I can go back to for a bit of fun :)