Ultima Online
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ultima Online | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) | Origin Systems, Electronic Arts |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Designer(s) | Raph Koster and more... over 20 |
| Release date(s) | September 1997 |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (formerly Mature) |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Media | CD |
| System requirements | Intel Pentium CPU, 32 MB RAM, DirectX 5, Internet access |
| Input | Keyboard, mouse |
Released on September 25, 1997, by Origin Systems, Ultima Online (UO) is a popular graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) 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.
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[edit] Overview
The success of Ultima Online opened the door for the creation of many new massively multiplayer games. Ultima Online 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 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Several expansions have been released, but its aging game engine and graphics make it outdated compared to competitive, new massively multiplayer games. This will change with the release of Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn in 2007, which will feature a brand new engine that is predicted to see Ultima Online active and thriving for many years to come. 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 of 2003, and to date sit around 135,000 subscribers (approximately 70,000 of which are Japanese) [1]. Ultima Online holds a 1.1% market share of massively multiplayer online game subscriptions [2].
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, making it one of the deepest, largest MMORPGs ever created. It is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest continuously running MMORPG in history."
[edit] History
Ultima Online is the product of Richard Garriott's idea for a fantasy game involving several thousand people who can all play in a shared fantasy world. There were a number of prior games that allowed hundreds of people to play at the same time, most notably Neverwinter Nights which ran on AOL servers and the GemStone series created by Simutronics. However, Ultima Online was intended to be a significant improvement over the previous games, both graphically and in game mechanics. The initial team was composed of Garriot, Starr Long, Rick Delashmit and, a bit later Raph Koster, who became the lead designer for the project. Koster wrote a number of public "designer letters" and usually went by his nickname of Designer Dragon.
The project started in 1995 and was shown to the public at E3 in 1996. At the time (in the mid-1990s), Ultima Online was a very expensive project and quite risky for the company. The development cost was much greater than traditional computer games, it relied on people accessing servers with modems, and it attempted to transform the Ultima series into an entirely new genre. Ultima Online was an ambitious game on a number of fronts, such as:
- Players may buy housing and build them within the persistent landscape (this is still an uncommon feature in many online games).
- A skill system without the more traditional experience-based levels or classes.
- Many different trades or crafts can be performed by the players to create an in-game economy.
- Players could be freely attacked anywhere in the game, even in cities (this has since changed).
Upon release in mid-1997, Ultima Online proved to be very popular, reaching 100,000 paying subscribers within six months of release. Subscriptions grew for several years reaching a peak of some 250,000 paid accounts. Origin was able to make a great deal of money from the monthly fees required to play Ultima Online and many other companies took note and began development of their own massively multiplayer games. The most successful games after Ultima Online have been EverQuest (released in March 1999), Dark Age of Camelot (released in October 2001), and World of Warcraft (released in November 2004). The Korean massively multiplayer game Lineage was very much inspired by Ultima Online, as have many other subsequent online games.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Issues faced
Ultima Online has seen many major revisions throughout its history. This includes gameplay revisions, staff changes, technical revamps, and fundamental design changes. With few earlier MMORPGs to take lesson from, the staff behind Ultima Online 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 other issues 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 all of the features planned for incorporation made it into the first release, the developers did manage to give almost all of the control into to the 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.
[edit] Expansions, sequels and other releases
Throughout Ultima Online's long history, there have been many releases of the game, both on store shelves and online. Several sequels were in development but canceled, and expansions have been released regularly.
[edit] Sequels
Two sequels were planned by Electronic Arts, but both were canceled during development so that more focus could be spent on the original game.
- 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 Ultima Online's subscription numbers. Some of the monsters and art made for the game were later used in the Ultima Online expansion Lord Blackthorn's Revenge.
- Ultima X: Odyssey was a new MMORPG to be set in a world named Alucinor, created by the Avatar after the events of Ultima IX: Ascension. It was cancelled in 2004 in order to focus on expansions to the original Ultima Online.
[edit] Expansions
Expansions have been released regularly, all of which add new content in the form of landmass, art, quests, items, or game mechanics.
- Ultima Online: 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. It was released in two boxed versions with the first having different artwork and a single manual.
- Ultima Online: Renaissance (April 3, 2000) doubled the size of the world, 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.
- Ultima Online: Third Dawn (March 7, 2001) included a 3D client to compete with 3D competition 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.
- Ultima Online: Lord Blackthorn's Revenge (February 24, 2002) brought "a dark new world based on new characters from Todd McFarlane" to Ultima Online with improved game artificial intelligence, in-game help, and improved character creation.
- Ultima Online: Age of Shadows (February 28, 2003) brought the landmass of Malas with 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. Armor resistance was split into five types of resistance, and many new properties that affected game play were added to weaponry. As good equipment became vital, this expansion also brought with it item insurance.
- Ultima Online: 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. The new class skills shifted the balance of player vs. player combat away from mage dominance.
- Ultima Online: Mondain's Legacy (August 30, 2005) introduced a new race, elves, and a new skill, spellweaving. Several dungeons were also added.
- Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn (Planned for 2007) will introduce a new client with new graphics. The developers also stated that there will be a few surprises. More details will be announced at the end of 2006.
[edit] Other releases
Ultima Online has had several special releases which were not expansions, but came with boxed or in-game extras.
- 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) was a special release sold by Wal-Mart and includes the same content as Ultima Online: Samurai Empire. This edition also comes with an Advanced Character token code, and quick-start manual.
- 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: 9th Anniversary Collection (Scheduled for release October 31, 2006 in North America). Formerly known as "Eve of a New Age."
[edit] Shard emulation
Fans of Ultima Online have reverse-engineered the game to produce server emulators of the original Electronic Arts servers. With the modern emulation server software available today, it is possible to customize most aspects of the game and support large numbers of concurrent players on a single server.
[edit] Clients
Electronic Arts provides the standard client with which players are allowed to connect to the Ultima Online servers, though some third-party clients have been made.
[edit] Electronic Arts 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 Ultima Online: 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 Electronic Arts continues to develop both simultaneously. An update to the 3D client was made on January 30, 2006 when characters and creatures from the game were scaled down to smaller size.
[edit] Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn client
Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn was announced in August 2006 to be released sometime in 2007 with a new client. The new client, according to the Ultima Online team at Electronic Arts, is being created for the purpose of modernizing the game's look, making it easy to add new content without backsliding through outdated and outmoded art, while maintaining the niche market as an MMORPG that can be run on lower-end computers.
[edit] Third-party clients
Third-party clients are made by fans for use on third-party servers. Use of a third-party client is in violation of the Electronic Arts terms of service, however.
- Ultima Iris (in development) is an open source client capable of higher resolutions and is supported on multiple platforms. It also allows for the addition of custom art. This client allows for 2D or 3D Ultima Online-like game-play.
- PlayUO, (formerly known as Krrios' Client, or KUOC), is a closed-source Ultima Online client.
- Palanthir (in development) is a closed-source Ultima Online client.
- Wolfpack UO Client (in development) is an open-source client.
[edit] Trivia
Throughout the years, Ultima Online has exhibited many quirks. Some were intentional Easter eggs, while others were not.
- Lord British's throne is the top half of the Ultima Online logo.
- On rare occasions, casting the spell energy vortex will summon a purple llama instead of the cloud-like creature the spell is meant to summon. The purple llama is labeled in-game as "an energy vortex" and has the same powers as the creature the spell is named for.
- 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 original graphics used are actually high-resolution versions of graphics used in Ultima 8.
- A monster called a slime exists in-game which is a small slithering blob. Some years ago on rare occasions, it was possible to encounter a slime that was renamed a "jwilson," which was purportedly named after magazine editor Johnny Wilson, who had given Ultima Online a bad review and thus earned a derisive place in the game by the developers. "Jwilsons" are no longer in-game.
- 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.
- Caverns, similar to those found under Bucaneer's Den, are also found under the town of Yew, but these are now totally inaccessible save through magic and knowing someone who has marked this location on a rune.
- A special area used by the manufacturers and developers to test in-game housing was accidentally accessed by players. Players who were caught in this area, which came to be known as "Green Acres," were alleged to be banned.
- Every once in awhile, casting the recall spell (made to quickly transport one from one location to another one far away) would take one to an island in the middle of an ocean, or a starry area (known as "The Star Room"), instead of the intended destination.
- Although Ultima Online was a great on-line success, it was not the first graphical MMORPG released. The Realm Online, Neverwinter Nights, and Meridian 59 all predated Ultima Online, but they did not do as well.
[edit] See also
| The Ultima series |
| I - II - III - IV - V - VI - VII - VIII - IX |
| Akalabeth (Ultima 0) |
| Worlds of Ultima : The Savage Empire - Martian Dreams |
| Ultima Underworld : The Stygian Abyss - Labyrinth of Worlds |
| Ultima Online |
| Ultima Worlds Online: Origin - Ultima X: Odyssey - Arthurian Legends |
| Ultima articles - Ultima characters |
- Ultima Worlds Online: Origin (Ultima Online 2)
- Ultima X: Odyssey
- Ultima Online timeline
[edit] References
UOForums.com - Interview with Punkbuster's Founder, Tony Ray.
- ^ MMOGchart.com (2006-07). An Analysis of MMOG Subscription Growth - Version 21.0. MMOGchart.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.
- ^ MMOGchart.com (2006-06). MMOG Subscriptions Market Share. MMOGchart.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.
[edit] External links
- UO.com - Electronic Art's Ultima Online site.
- UO Stratics - Fan site with news, information, and history.
- Town.UO.com - Ultima Online sites and fan sites.
- [1] - Raph Koster's Online Worlds Timeline.
