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Released on September 30, 1997, by Origin Systems, Ultima Online (UO) is often considered the first popular massively multiplayer computer game. The game is played online, in a fantasy setting similar to that of the other Ultima games that preceded it.
Overview
Ultima Online's success opened the door for the creation of many exciting 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". There have been hundreds of thousands of subscribers. To maintain order in the online community, there are gamemasters 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Several expansions have been released, but its aging game engine and graphics make it fairly outdated compared to competitive, new massively multiplayer games. The original Ultima Online sequel, Ultima Worlds Online: Origin was to be 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, it was described by some as the first attempt at a Steampunk massively multiplayer online game. Todd McFarlane was hired to design original monsters and regions for the game, as well as help shape the story. Unfortunately it was canceled before its release citing the competitive nature of the massively multiplayer online gaming market, Electronic Arts feared that the sequel would harm UO's subscription numbers and vice versa. Some of the monsters and art made for UWO:O were later used in the Ultima Online expansion Ultima Online: Lord Blackthorn's Revenge. A new sequel entered development called Ultima X: Odyssey, which was to bring together the stories from Ultima IX and Ultima Online, it was cancelled as well in order to focus more on other Ultima titles being made.
The number of subscribers achieved by UO was surpassed by EverQuest in 1999.
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.
- 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 possibility to customize house designs.
Assassination of Lord British
Lord British (Richard Garriott's character) is supposed to be immortal. However, this was not the case during an in-game appearance during UO's beta test on August 8, 1997. A player character known as Rainz cast a spell called "fire field" on Lord British that surprisingly killed him. Shortly afterwards, Rainz's account was banned from the beta test for previously exploiting bugs rather than reporting them (infamously used by his character Aquaman to kill many player characters). According to Origin, he was not banned for the assassination but rather for previous complaints against his account that were brought to light as a result of this attention.
Shard emulators
Technically-inclined fans of Ultima Online have reverse-engineered the game to produce emulators of the original game servers. This emulation is legal, and Origin is aware of its existence, although in certain countries the authors of these emulators are considered to have violated their software license by reverse-engineering the game, and may be banned from the official UO servers as a result (other countries don't allow restrictions on reverse engineering). To stay legal, emulation servers do not distribute the client files, and must not charge to be able to play on the shard.
With emulators, coders and players alike can enjoy a much larger variety of playstyles and UO time periods. From the pre-T2A era, to the era of Age of Shadows, to fully customized shards which don't even seem like UO anymore. Many shards encourage or enforce their players to roleplay and remain in-character.
A list of notable UO shard emulators:
Replacement clients
Ultima Iris (http://ultimairis.sourceforge.net/) (in development) is an open source client able to work with emulated servers. Using mostly the graphics of the official 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 gameplay requiring only a copy of the original client. The most notable feature of Ultima Iris is its real 3D engine.
Krrios Client (http://www.runuo.com/) 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.
External links
Official Ultima Online
Ultima Online emulation
- ShardWire (http://www.shardwire.org/) - MMORPG emulation news, information, resources, and more.
- UOGateway (http://www.uogateway.com/) - Connect to hundreds of Free Shards.
- Ultima Online Top 200 (http://www.gamesites200.com/ultimaonline/)
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