Month: March 2011

Ultima IV, EA, and a New Ultima Online

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I have seen the new Ultima Online, and it’s the Ultima Online that many readers of this website are currently playing, just with high resolution graphics and better player experiences, for both old and new players alike.

You read that right. Below are eight ten reasons why I think there will not be a new Ultima Online, but also why I think the current UO will feel like a new MMO if EA follows through on their plans. Some of these I’ve spoken at length about in the past, but given the high interest generated in Ultima IV that is currently present on the web, I think it’s important to point some things out.

I’d also like to point out that the jobs postings that have come to light (link) are tied to a possible second attempt at The Sims Online, only through a web browser this time around. Some have confused them and not actually read the job description, which explicitly states that it’s tied to a new Sims “experience” on the web. Even Massively failed to read through the links and see that the job posting was for somebody to work on The Sims.

Speaking of the Ultima IV story, that’s why I’m writing this – I’ve had several people ask me for my thoughts on it. If you are not familiar with it, read the original Ultima Aiera story about Ultima IV and some of the actions EA is taking as well as the article WTF Dragon posted earlier today trying to clear up a lot of the misinformation that is floating around the various game sites.

For the record, I think there is something happening with the Ultima franchise, obviously with UO as my long-winded post below illustrates, but also in other areas. Whether these are simply the original Ultimas distributed in some kind of DOSBox format or packaging, or some kind of online play, or some kind of update similar to the Secret of Monkey Island special editions, remains to be seen.

On with the list.

1. There are some still left in EA that remember the fiasco with Ultima Online 2.
However you may look upon Ultima Online 2 and how it was handled, EA did not have the ability to handle an MMO that was going head-to-head with an already existing EA MMO, and some of those in the upper ranks of EA’s current management were around to witness it. You can attribute it to not knowing what they wanted to do with Ultima and Origin, not knowing the target audience, or any number of other things. That’s not to say that other companies haven’t done so successfully – Sony has done so with Everquest and Everquest II, and CCP hopes to have two different MMOs successfully integrate, with EVE Online and Dust 514. Dust 514 is an FPS (First Person Shooter) MMO that will be set within the EVE Online universe and the players from each will be able to interact with one another.

If a new Ultima Online were created, while the old one was in place, it would create of hostility and resentment from current UO players if the new Ultima Online were treated better than the current UO, which wouldn’t be hard to do. Everquest II came fairly quickly after Everquest I, within 5 years I believe, whereas current UO players have been around for over a decade. Admittedly, UO’s numbers today versus the era when Ultima Online 2 was in development are much lower, but as I point out below in reasons #5, #6, #7, and #8, the actions that EA is supposed to be taking with the current UO do not reflect those of a company who would be considering another Ultima MMO, because they are indicative of a company who is trying to bolster the long-term survivability of the existing UO.

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Oceania Has Migrated Back to Australia

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Yesterday, Oceania players were asked to test the hardware. The UO team liked what they saw, and so Ultima Online players in that part of the world will once again have a local shard, Oceania, to play on, as it has been migrated to a server located in Australia.

From UO Herald

Kai Schober

Update 3:25 pm EDT: The shard is now available again. Enjoy!

Greetings,

After the successful performance test, we will transition Oceania shard to a server space located in Australia today, Wednesday 03/30. This will require a server down.

We will take down Oceania at 1:45 pm EDT. We expect the shard to be back online no later than 4:45 pm EDT.

Thank you for your support.

Ultima Online – Death Penalties, Shards, and Originality

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Who says Ultima Online doesn’t get attention on the various MMO websites. Okay, usually it’s being discussed in the past tense, but nonetheless, plenty of people are still reading about it.

First off, Massively has put together the perfect death penalties as part of their ‘Perfect Ten’ series. Ultima Online clocks in at number four:

Nothing like putting in a hard day’s work and seeing the physical rewards of that work in the form of loot — and then having all of that stripped away from you after you are killed and humiliated by a roving band of player-killers! What joy! What fun!

While the odd recent game like Darkfall is trying to bring back full-body looting as a consequence of death, this feature by and large remains a relic of the cold, cutthroat days of Ultima Online pre-Trammel.

And we get a bonus mention on another Massively article, this time when talking about the MMO industry and how it rolls out servers, err shards and how they are structured in terms of single shard vs multiple shards:

Sometimes it feels as if almost every MMO development studio just defers to the choices made by the creators of other successful games without doing its own research. This is particularly visible when comparing server models, as most MMO coming out on the market are still using Ultima Online-style shards. I think we’ll see more games released using a single-shard server structure in the coming years to create a cohesive community.

Meanwhile, over at Life on Aggramar, a World of Warcraft-oriented website, Delin Quent has put together an interesting article that is worth reading, MMO Originality: Ultima Online (via Ultima Aiera), that discusses the sandbox that is/was Ultima Online, and it’s influence on other MMOs. This is actually part one of a multi-part series.

Delin takes a look at resource gathering, which is still a lot different than most other MMOs:

The mining, lumber and cloth gathering in UO is vastly different to any game I have played. First mining, there were several ore types you could mine depending on your skill level and mining is as simple as having a pick or shovel and finding any rocks in the game and start mining. No looking for a mining node on screen somewhere, but find a pile of rocks, which mountains were prevalent, and start mining till you mine out that spot and move on. Lumbering was the same, look for a forest and take your axe and start chopping trees to fill your pack with logs. In later expansions they added more wood types, again determined by your skill level. Cloth making had to be the most unique, yes, you could go to a tailor and buy bolts of cloth, but those truly immersed in the game would go out in the world and gather cotton or wool from sheep’s to spin into yarn and then into cloth.

Test the New Oceania Hardware in Australia

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If you play on Oceania, and especially if you are located in Australia or New Zealand, you can now test out the new hardware which is actually located in Australia.

The Test Oceania shard is running a backup copy of Oceania.

From UO Herald:

We’ve opened up a test shard named “Test Oceania” to test server performance on our new hardware located regionally in Australia. We invite you to join us in this test. The shard has a recent Oceania shard backup on it as well as test center rules. Any time played on this shard is only for testing purposes and will not affect your actual Oceania characters. Thank you for your time and we value your assistance.

Notes on Recent Client Update with Publish 70, Booster Pack?

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Update: Pictures of Gothic house tiles, Virtue Banners

Somebody asked me to take a look at some of the recent changes contained within the CLILOC files of the Classic Client, that we haven’t seen yet, or haven’t seen fully.

These are taken straight from the client files, with some clean-up work done by me to take into account formatting.

First off, references to Magincia have been changed to New Magincia.

There are also miscellaneous references to:
* Doormats or door mats
* Stone pavers
* Ritual Table

Virtue Tapestries are listed:
* Sacrifice Tapestry
* Spirituality Tapestry
* Honesty Tapestry
* Humility Tapestry
* Justice Tapestroy
* Compassion Tapestry
* Honor Tapestry
* Valor Tapestry

Possible New Housing Tiles:
* Gothic Wall
* Gothic Window
* Gothic Archway
* Gothic Half wall
* Gothic Quarter Wall
* Gothic Window
* Gothic Stairs
* Gothic Half block
* Gothic Block
* Gothic Rose Window

Old description of Magincia:
Magincia – Isle of Riches

Magincia is a fairly small island town known for the incredible wealth that it derives from the sea and from the practice of the magical arts. The city itself is beautiful to behold, with golden streets and majestic architecture. Honest tradesmen do not linger for long upon this isle, however, preferring to pass through the moongate upon its western edge in search of a more pleasing environment.

For those who seek to begin a career in Magincia, however, the city does offer guilds for fishermen and miners, and a modest collection of shops. Little in the way of danger ever finds its way here, but the moongate does offer abundant danger on its other side.

For the visitor, Magincia’s most impressive sites are its Parliament Building and the Temple to the Virtues – even if these are rarely practiced in the city.

Should an adventurer join the ranks of Magincia’s elite and purchase a ship, the docks to the south of the city offer access to the many other islands nearby.

Amenities: Baker, Bank, Counselors’ Guild, Healer, Inn, Jeweler, Magic Shop, Shipwright, Tailor, Tavern, Tinker

New Description, of New Magincia:
New Magincia – Razed and Reborn

New Magincia lies on the spot of what once was fairly small island town known for the incredible wealth that it derived from the sea and from the practice of the magical arts. The city itself was beautiful to behold, with golden streets and majestic architecture. Destroyed by daemons and later rebuilt, now New Magincia is famed for its lush gardens and the New Magincia Bazaar.

For those who seek to begin a career in Magincia, however, the city does offer guilds for fishermen and seafarers. Since its destruction and rebuilding, little in the way of danger ever finds its way here, but the moongate does offer abundant danger on its other side.

For the visitor, the town’s most impressive sites are its Public Gardens and the New Magincia Bazaar.

Should an adventurer join the ranks of Magincia’s elite and purchase a ship, the docks to the south of the city offer access to the many other islands nearby.

Amenities: Bank, Inn, Shipwright, Tavern

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