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  1. #81
    I think OP long-travel times, refer to when you first play the game, which I did around 1998, I was like 10 years old.

    I was in Trinsic, I got no idea how to get to Britain and I just started the game. I was just following the path of the dirt pile which somehow resembles a dirt road and after like 10-15 mins(got distracted by all the monsters and chased by them), I arrived at Britain, it was such a great feeling, the music, experience throughout the journey was definitely the best I ever experienced

  2. #82
    First and foremost, thank you all for contributing to a worthy idea. It is reassuring to know the gaming community hasn't completely gone off the deep end. (This post must never die, or so too does the heart of gaming.)

    Many people in today's gaming society are ignorant of UO. Unfortunately, they came too late. UO launched with the wide circulation of the internet. It was the pioneer, termed MMORPG and PK'ing.

    Sadly, it fell for the same reasons that the USA is struggling democratically. (I do not wish to turn this into a political discussion, but the connection is there.) USA has been enslaved by corporate greed, our government has sold us out. Likewise, UO is owned by EA, which was voted worse company in America by consumer reports for a reason. They don't care about the intrinsic value of gaming, only the money they can gain.

    But to my fellow gamers, don't fret. The winds are changing. The Age of Information is taking root, and people are not as ignorant as they once were; there is hope. For gaming, it is happening. The 'carebear' and 'treadmill/grind' generation is struggling and dieing. The doors are being opened for a new way: corporate blockbuster can't hack it, indie games are on the rise, the next generation of game engines are being designed to reflect this (Unreal's next engine specifically, with more technical power and power to the designers.)

    There were things about UO that could be improved upon, but the developers missed the mark in large part. They took away the "gaming world" and replaced it with with a pre-scripted world full of safe guards and the accomplishment of a grinding plateau . UO was great because you grew as a real person in a virtual world. It was the simple design concepts of a (mostly) open world that made it so complex. EI: Your avatar model looks like 1 or 2 choices, but the customizations were nearly endless. You could truly roleplay, not by making an orc character and running around saying "Zug zug", but by using the customization to mimic an orc, and joining a community of like minded people that had a blast doing it and enriched the game for everyone.

    UO reflected real life, and brought the same satisfaction from overcoming the risks and challenges it presented. You made real friends on a virtual world, or you died. Had the same skill challenges presented in an FPS from the fast paced mouse skills of a 2d scrolling world. It also challenged you strategically, like an RTS, having to make quick decisions with abilities or on the terrain. It had the dynamics of a real world, where networks matter and an economy and politics made up the environment. UO also offered a since of accomplishment, through the prestige of a unique avatar, guild notoriety, and the ability to own your own piece of the world (housing). The game would die with the community. There was no need for a content expansion, unlike games today.

    So far, very few games have expanded on these core concepts that made the first and greatest of the genre what it was. They've deviated for the sake of money (understandable, but not commendable). However, the world is changing. Money doesn't nourish your body, and it isn't fun to play.

    WoW was great in its scope, story, art, and technical execution. It missed a lot of key elements that would have made it a true world of Warcraft. EQ was the 3d, pve answer to UO. Shadowbane came close, but was too complex in its design IMO. DAoC made some improvements to class gvg/rvr elements. It was UO's open simplicity that made it great. You had to chop wood and mine ingots to become something better as a craftman. Those mundane actions were crucial, because they added value. EI: In real life you don't just become a CEO or President, you have to get in the trenches and rise up. The vulnerability was also important. EI: It was hard to just bot your way to the top, because some opportunist would just let you do the dirty work and kill you; you needed networks to survive. By not dictating (so much) the way the game had to be played, it developed a natural (real life) world with a real sense of ebb and flow.

    Stand strong my friends, and we will prevail. Our cause is righteous, and our voices are growing louder.

    Favorite Games: Ultima Online, Warcraft 2, Quake 3: Rocket Arena, FIFA

  3. #83
    Deleted
    As others have stated, UO will always be the game that I base other MMORPG's from and unfortunatley, not one game has managed to surpass a game that is now nearly 15 years old.

    UO gave you a freedom that other games simply can't or won't give you. I can understand in some ways why developers choose not to go down this route, to give the players alot of freedom in game I'm sure creates alot of problems for them, but then you look at the other end of the spectrum, games like WoW etc (list is never-ending) ... and personally I take no joy in playing games where I am told what to do and how to do it.

    People who say UO was just a gank-fest, well that's not really the games fault, you yourself can change that... by being more organised or just not PvP'ing in hotspots where you know you will be outnumbered.... that's a player problem, not a game problem and it's stuff like that which led to UO's decline. Instead of making sure you were prepared/organised and thinking with your head, people just whined and moaned leading to severe changes and killing UO. Probably the same people who never really cared about the game itself in the first place and left it to die once those changes came through. UO was never a game that was going to hold your hand while you played it, there was real consequences to nearly all your actions, whether they be good or bad. Being a PK wasn't just a walk in the park, like some people lead you to believe. It was alot of hard-work and while you may of got killed and a few hours of hard-work taken out. a PK ran the risk of losing his actual character, so there was balance. (As my friend found out when I missed a heal on him, he was more then slightly angry lol)


    Games need risk vs reward, you can't just have everything....I feel in new games I'm rewarded for doing absolutely nothing. *You opened a door* Congratulations! 1000 achievement EXP! In UO you were rewarded for hard-work, whether that be killing monsters, crafting, PvPing. The more work you put in the more you got back, sure the game wasn't perfect but what game is?

    I too await the day that I can login to a game and it give me that sense that UO did. I've been playing online games since 1996 and it feels like a long and painful torture when playing these new MMORPG's. For those that asked why don't I just play UO? Well, I and many others never asked for the game to be changed so dramatically in 2003 with the advent of Age of Shadows. UO was just about getting back onto it's feet after the creation of Trammel and although some will disagree, Publish 16 actually got felucca populated again and PvP was again at the fore-front of the game, although it was slightly more unbalanced, but it was still enjoyable. However, it was short-lived and 9 months later, Age of Shadows ripped the fundamental aspects of the game clean out and we got left with a game that wasn't even recognisable to the game we loved. EA themselves even issued an apology about a year ago on Age of Shadows, saying in hindsight they would of never changed the game had they known the impact it would of have. Too little too late obviously, but if a company as big as EA can admit their mistakes, then maybe it's about time they rectified those mistakes and gave us a MMO that a UO player would want to play.

    As a UO player I feel I am branded with a "hardcore" gamer tag, like a conspiracy theorist is labelled crazy. I just want a game where I am free to do whatever I wish, as was the original vision of the genre. Is that too much to ask?

    Keep this thread alive, love hearing UO stories

  4. #84
    Well said!!! One of the best posts yet! I also wish they would shock the world and give us a UO comparable game!

    KEEP GOING MY FRIENDS!!!!



    Quote Originally Posted by ApolloCreed View Post
    As others have stated, UO will always be the game that I base other MMORPG's from and unfortunatley, not one game has managed to surpass a game that is now nearly 15 years old.

    UO gave you a freedom that other games simply can't or won't give you. I can understand in some ways why developers choose not to go down this route, to give the players alot of freedom in game I'm sure creates alot of problems for them, but then you look at the other end of the spectrum, games like WoW etc (list is never-ending) ... and personally I take no joy in playing games where I am told what to do and how to do it.

    People who say UO was just a gank-fest, well that's not really the games fault, you yourself can change that... by being more organised or just not PvP'ing in hotspots where you know you will be outnumbered.... that's a player problem, not a game problem and it's stuff like that which led to UO's decline. Instead of making sure you were prepared/organised and thinking with your head, people just whined and moaned leading to severe changes and killing UO. Probably the same people who never really cared about the game itself in the first place and left it to die once those changes came through. UO was never a game that was going to hold your hand while you played it, there was real consequences to nearly all your actions, whether they be good or bad. Being a PK wasn't just a walk in the park, like some people lead you to believe. It was alot of hard-work and while you may of got killed and a few hours of hard-work taken out. a PK ran the risk of losing his actual character, so there was balance. (As my friend found out when I missed a heal on him, he was more then slightly angry lol)


    Games need risk vs reward, you can't just have everything....I feel in new games I'm rewarded for doing absolutely nothing. *You opened a door* Congratulations! 1000 achievement EXP! In UO you were rewarded for hard-work, whether that be killing monsters, crafting, PvPing. The more work you put in the more you got back, sure the game wasn't perfect but what game is?

    I too await the day that I can login to a game and it give me that sense that UO did. I've been playing online games since 1996 and it feels like a long and painful torture when playing these new MMORPG's. For those that asked why don't I just play UO? Well, I and many others never asked for the game to be changed so dramatically in 2003 with the advent of Age of Shadows. UO was just about getting back onto it's feet after the creation of Trammel and although some will disagree, Publish 16 actually got felucca populated again and PvP was again at the fore-front of the game, although it was slightly more unbalanced, but it was still enjoyable. However, it was short-lived and 9 months later, Age of Shadows ripped the fundamental aspects of the game clean out and we got left with a game that wasn't even recognisable to the game we loved. EA themselves even issued an apology about a year ago on Age of Shadows, saying in hindsight they would of never changed the game had they known the impact it would of have. Too little too late obviously, but if a company as big as EA can admit their mistakes, then maybe it's about time they rectified those mistakes and gave us a MMO that a UO player would want to play.

    As a UO player I feel I am branded with a "hardcore" gamer tag, like a conspiracy theorist is labelled crazy. I just want a game where I am free to do whatever I wish, as was the original vision of the genre. Is that too much to ask?

    Keep this thread alive, love hearing UO stories

  5. #85
    Love the 'ol UO.

    As its probably been mentioned, Darkfall is your best bet these days.

    You can also get a classic UO experience from IPY2



    /edit

    Good post ApolloCreed I agree with you 100%. I have been playing wow since 2004 and still it grinds my gears every time the game engine tells me "you cannot attack that target"
    Last edited by Zoneseek; 2012-08-16 at 07:48 PM.

  6. #86
    I made an account just to respond to this post. I have been hopping from mmos constantly since 2003-2004. I played UO since the alpha stages.. on a 14.4k modem and super bad lag but it was so incredibly addictive. UO after i've played Wow on and off for years, rappelz, rift, aion, god knows how many other mmos.. is by far still the best in terms of being memorable. I have forever been hoping someone would create ultima online 2 and just slightly re-tune the world and have maybe a new map for the world the guardian is from. I played ultima 5, 6, 7 part 1 and 2 since i was a little kid. I always liked the medievil types of mmos more. The person who wrote this post is brilliant and pointed out a lot of important issues with mmos today. im 32 and a majority of gamers in mmos now are young and never even heard of uo now. it's sad. the housing system was awesome. i remember how fun it was to buy a house then use a carpentry character and start building furniture as well. It was almost like playing the sims to an extent but it was an mmo. nothing today compares to UO.. look at the hundreds of skills... all the crafting and all in 1996-1997!
    I popped into a server on the 14 day trial and talked to a few people who said theyve been there for 10+ years lol. that says something about a game right there.

  7. #87
    I was a UO seer. Ask me anything.

  8. #88
    I played UO when it first came out in '97 on my 14.4 modem from Australia. Oh the lag! Was damn fun though. I still remember the first time I was ever PK'd. I was using my crook to herd some sheep near Vesper and some guy run up to me and Corp Por'd my face. Hilarious.
    Then there was that time I disconnected right outside my small house near dungeon shame and came back to my looted corpse and some guy standing inside my house. He stole my key and my house and looted me dry. I lost everything but I wasn't giving in that easily. I camped for that guy for months but never managed to catch him coming and going... until about 6 months later. I PK'd him with a friend just as he recalled in. We took the keys from his corpse and then we proceeded to loot all the shit he had moved in to the house. Best. Revenge. Ever. He didn't come back and the house eventually fell but by that time I'd already moved into a 2 story L shape near Trinsic and gated in a couple of poison eles as house guards. Although I remember them killing me a couple times cause i would lag out in a bad spot. lol.
    I don't even want to know how many hours I spent outside North Brit Mage shop on Pacific scribing scrolls for people. "100gp per circle! Bulk recall and gate available!"
    Or the months I spent hanging out in the Deceit duel room and having all my reags stolen by thieves while in the middle of a duel.
    Good times.
    I played it steadily up until about 2003-2004. Age of Shadows kinda killed it for me but I still played on and off again right up until last year when I finally deleted everything I ever owned and cancelled my account for the last time. Twas a sad day in Britannia.

  9. #89
    The game truly died as it approached AoS with bullshit like powerscrolls, limited looting in Felucca dungeons and generally just lots of crap catering toward extra "grinding". UO was not and never should have been a grind based game - the fun came from player interaction. When AoS came in and item insurance was introduced, it was the end. It was an awful 2D copy of WoW (which is hilarious that a 6 year old game was trying to compete with a game that had modern graphics and better combat systems).

    The glory days of UO were the late 90's, it survived until AoS but at that point UO lost touch with its original fanbase and turned to custard. Deactivated my EA account on the day AoS was released and never looked back. Playing freeshards of the T2A/UO:R era on and off ever since.

    I still hold hope someone will make a revolutionary game that will break this crap cycle of releasing MMOs that are no different from each other.. a game where people actually play roles instead of "I'm doing this so I can level my exp faster/gear my character".

  10. #90
    I hear what your saying bro and agree with all of it. Now adays even in virtual world it's all about the dollars......but I believe someone out there is making a game that will satisfy and be not as easy as World of Warcraft. I play EverQuest and UO online still and seeing the difference between all the games is very dramatic. Interaction with almost everything in the game is very awesome in UO I love, Imitating as close to RL as it can get.

    For me if there is not some sort of challenge/effort on your own to do/see/make something there is no fun. What is fun about being guided one place to another like a zombie to earn exp and loot ???? Nothing. I want a world where anything is possible and i can interact with everything also having cause and effect.

    Anyway like I said before i TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU and think NEW DEVELEPORS NEED TO EXPERIENCE UO type games to be able to make better games. Evolution of gaming....(*Cough*DeEvolution*Cough*) is very sad. Graphics and easiness is not the key.

    ()

  11. #91
    Quote Originally Posted by nightshark View Post
    When AoS came in and item insurance was introduced, it was the end. It was an awful 2D copy of WoW (which is hilarious that a 6 year old game was trying to compete with a game that had modern graphics and better combat systems).
    I find it hilarious that a 6 year old game was trying to compete with a game that wasn't even released yet

  12. #92
    It was the Mondain's Legacy expansion that really copied WoW. Purple elves and quests.

  13. #93
    Quote Originally Posted by Taenathal View Post
    Probably because most people do not get any enjoyment out of seeing hours of work ruined and taken away when life is already stressful enough. Morality isn't only limited to the real world, after all. It has less to do with 'whining' and more to do with the simple fact that in this day and age, many gamers simply do not have the time or urge to start from scratch each time someone scores a major victory over them.
    so it only works one way, you couldn't find weaker players and kill them for their loot? you can't strategize on where to farm, what to do in case of an ambush, and what to take when you do go into the pvp world? you couldn't use the tracking, detect hidden and stealth skills defensively? paranoia and preparation were your friends in ultima, not zerging.


    I played the shit out of UO, always free shards like TDS, RR, pretty much smaller but good communities with good LOS PVP and no zergfests.

    no dungeons? uo had plenty of dungeons the only difference was anyone could enter them they weren't instanced
    having to try hard to get one item, to craft something or to get a mount? really? mounts spawn in the same place and servers always load em up, tame em even when you don't need them and keep em for future, or steal one from outside of britain. I found crafting in UO to be much easier than it is in GW2 and much more realistic. funny how that works.
    nothing to do after your skills are maxed? PVP??? gm events like FFA battles or tournies or even player ran tournies? exploring the world looking for rare enemies in secret areas? enjoying the game in general, not worrying about making set raid times 3 nights a week? man all of these things that wow doesnt have sound sooooo unappealing.
    there were no classes so you could play how you wanted, level what you want use what weapons you want, the only things you really have to use are magic and los

    I've played WOW more than UO since WOW has released and every single expansion is the same, they make your gear obsolete, they give you a few new dungeons and raids to go through, then a month after its release youre stuck leveling alts, progressing in the exact same dungeon(s) week after week for hours on end, stuck just sitting in the city waiting on an instance queue to pop, or you work on gaining miniscule stat gains to your gear to last you 2-3 months when blizz might add a content patch that makes your gear obsolete so they can take more of your money and have you do the exact same shit over and over and over again

    I mean WOW is even rotation based, like each class has a certain optimal rotation to use so after each major patch youre really just stuck working on gearing up while doing the same damn rotation for months on end mindlessly whereas in UO what you did was very situation based

    I have nostalgia goggles but still, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that you can do everything you can in WOW in UO but the players aren't a bunch of nerdy whiny elitist fucks that call the people low on the dps meters baddie fails or whatever dumb terms theyre using now

  14. #94
    Quote Originally Posted by xvsanx View Post
    so it only works one way, you couldn't find weaker players and kill them for their loot? You can't strategize on where to farm, what to do in case of an ambush, and what to take when you do go into the pvp world? You couldn't use the tracking, detect hidden and stealth skills defensively? Paranoia and preparation were your friends in ultima, not zerging.


    I played the shit out of uo, always free shards like tds, rr, pretty much smaller but good communities with good los pvp and no zergfests.

    No dungeons? Uo had plenty of dungeons the only difference was anyone could enter them they weren't instanced
    having to try hard to get one item, to craft something or to get a mount? Really? Mounts spawn in the same place and servers always load em up, tame em even when you don't need them and keep em for future, or steal one from outside of britain. I found crafting in uo to be much easier than it is in gw2 and much more realistic. Funny how that works.
    Nothing to do after your skills are maxed? Pvp??? Gm events like ffa battles or tournies or even player ran tournies? Exploring the world looking for rare enemies in secret areas? Enjoying the game in general, not worrying about making set raid times 3 nights a week? Man all of these things that wow doesnt have sound sooooo unappealing.
    There were no classes so you could play how you wanted, level what you want use what weapons you want, the only things you really have to use are magic and los

    i've played wow more than uo since wow has released and every single expansion is the same, they make your gear obsolete, they give you a few new dungeons and raids to go through, then a month after its release youre stuck leveling alts, progressing in the exact same dungeon(s) week after week for hours on end, stuck just sitting in the city waiting on an instance queue to pop, or you work on gaining miniscule stat gains to your gear to last you 2-3 months when blizz might add a content patch that makes your gear obsolete so they can take more of your money and have you do the exact same shit over and over and over again

    i mean wow is even rotation based, like each class has a certain optimal rotation to use so after each major patch youre really just stuck working on gearing up while doing the same damn rotation for months on end mindlessly whereas in uo what you did was very situation based

    i have nostalgia goggles but still, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that you can do everything you can in wow in uo but the players aren't a bunch of nerdy whiny elitist fucks that call the people low on the dps meters baddie fails or whatever dumb terms theyre using now

    i love it!!!!!

  15. #95
    OU died when EA acquired it, simple as that.

    I'm keeping an eye on Archeage - at least they've got housing, but I doubt it'll be anywhere near as hardcore as classic UO.

  16. #96

    Check out Rel Por

    i just stumbled across this thread/site while looking for something else. anyone who wants a good old school uo experience should check out relpor.com (sorry, wont let me make a link)

    Its a mix of a couple different eras, custom smaller map for more action, and a very diligent staff.

    The server just launched on 8-3

    Come check it out, im samhall in the relpor forums if you have any questions.

  17. #97
    The Lightbringer Toxigen's Avatar
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    @ OP:

    There will never be another game like UO, because the average MMO player today simply couldn't handle it.

    I will forever wish for a re-hash of the original Asheron's Call (AC2 was an abomination). It just isn't going to happen with games like WoW destroying what used to be a tight-knit, hardcore community.
    "There are two types of guys in this world. Guys who sniff their fingers after scratching their balls, and dirty fucking liars." -StylesClashv3
    Quote Originally Posted by Kalis View Post
    Not finding-a-cock-on-your-girlfriend-is-normal level of odd, but nevertheless, still odd.

  18. #98
    Only free servers worth their salt atm are
    UOSecondage.com - ~500 average online count, T2A replica, been running 4 years now
    UORenaissance.com - New server but steady playerbase of ~130 already and increasing

    - RunUO player of the last 10 years who's been disappointed by "flavor of the week" shards more times than I can count.

  19. #99
    do you think ultima online is worth getting? the only thing that looks bad is old outdated runescape combat lol

  20. #100
    I think its worth free. a lot of things about UO look "bad" by todays standards, but its not about that. its about the ultimate freedom to do what you want. Ive played on and off since its early days, and its tough to kick. Again, if anyone is interested in rel por, all combat skills raise very quickly. Crafting skills are very slow, but you can have a playable warrior in a couple of days (even less if youre good with razor.) so there isnt much to lose in checking it out.

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