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Ultima Online
built 289 days ago
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, including The Realm Online, Neverwinter Nights (the AOL version), and Meridian 59. 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.
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The heart of Ultima Online is interaction with other human players and there are always plenty of players online - perhaps too many. The wilderness is full of players tromping around looking for something, anything, to kill. Monster respawning locations are typically surrounded by huge posses of characters out for blood. Naturally enough, if Ultima Online's bloodthirsty populace, er, "role-players" can't find monsters to attack, they start killing other players ("pkilling"). There's no escape from this pkilling in Ultima Online except in the relatively safe cities. Of course, if you happen to commit even a minor crime within a city, the all-powerful guards will promptly execute you (ah, nothing like a little frontier justice - jaywalkers beware).
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The success of Ultima Online opened the door for the creation of many new massively multiplayer games. Ultima Online is a 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... 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.
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Which would be fine, if Ultima Online didn't suffer from numerous design and technical flaws. Origin's own statistics indicate that, on average, players spend three to four hours every day in Britannia, so obviously Ultima Online has its share of supporters. Since the game must be difficult enough so that even hard-core players don't become demigods too quickly, skill development is extremely slow. New players are relegated to performing repetitive, relatively mundane tasks in order to increase their skills and wealth before they are capable of partaking in some traditional adventuring. Some players, of course, may enjoy a lifestyle of fishing, mining, or cooking in Britannia, and therefore may not consider "putting a bun in an oven" mundane. But even if you want to be a "hack and slash" fighter or similar adventurer, you'll still have to spend several hours making and selling objects to often frugal merchants in order to save up enough money to buy appropriate equipment.
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The worlds of Ultima Online have been revolutionized with exotic and fantastical creatures. Enter a world oppressed by evil forces, where diabolical villains have returned and aligned their powers in an attempt to conquer and vanquish the virtuous. Over 30 new monsters and creatures designed by Todd McFarlane add a darker twist to the once familiar land of Ilshenar. A new land area located in the center of Ilshenar is the setting for the beginning of this dark siege.Who will prevail in this legendary battle of good versus evil? What new characters will emerge to protect and defend the heroes of Britannia™? What frightening and evil foes await them?
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Released on September 25, 1997, Ultima Online is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest continuously-running MMOG in history. Despite problems early in its release, the game is ... one of the earliest MMOG success stories, and is widely regarded as opening the door for the large number of popular MMOGs available today. "Ultima Online has thrived for ten years and achieved the status of an MMO classic, thanks in large part to the devoted player community," said EA Mythic Vice President Mark Jacobs. "We are very excited to celebrate this special anniversary with players."
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