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EA and NetDragon have announced their partnership today to develop a new MMOG based on Ultima Online.
EA's Mythic Entertainment will cooperate with NetDragon in the development of the title. NetDragon will hold exclusive operating rights for the game in China, Macau, Hong Kong, and India.
When contacted, representatives at Mythic Entertainment confirmed the project, but made clear that this its aim is to bring the UO experience to those foreign markets, not to create a sequel.
Via JLM Pacific Epoch.
Comments
Isn't BioWare's president in charge of all MMO's/RPG's for EA? I wonder if they will be involved here too? Probably not since NetDragon is not a company of EA.
I Reject your Reality and Substitute it with My Own!
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
(checks if it's April 1st)
an MMO based on UO being developed? Possible win!! Still hope MO turns out to be good though...
Wonder if it's "oldschool" UO, or simply based off of what they have now.
*EDIT* - Nevermind. Read posts below FOR THE FAIL. =(
Back to waiting for MO
*EDIT 2* - BTW, the title of this COMPLETELY changed...previously it seemed as though an MMO (similar to UO) was being developed. The word "overseas" was not in the title. Hence my excitement lol
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I really hope this will be playable in the US! It almost seemed as though it might only be played in the Asia-Pacific region.
Sorry to disappoint you, we were excited too!
I called Mythic to confirm, as I was also a tiny bit excited, but no. This is about bringing existing UO to those markets, not about a new game for North America.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Could this be really it, can a big budget publisher actually make a Sandbox game, time will tell, also it begs the question those this partnership include sharing of the engine + design of the abandoned Ultima X project?
Edit: Just saw the previous answers, we wont be seeing a big budget sandbox then
I called Mythic to confirm, as I was also a tiny bit excited, but no. This is about bringing existing UO to those markets, not about a new game for North America.
Do they really think the Asians will play that old crap they made out of UO?
Those graphic updates did hurt the eyes more than anything else.
I called Mythic to confirm, as I was also a tiny bit excited, but no. This is about bringing existing UO to those markets, not about a new game for North America.
Do they really think the Asians will play that old crap they made out of UO?
Well, the first thing they'll have to do is add an exponential curve to the experience earning grind to the skill levels.
Edit: changed logarithmic to exponential
I actually think they will implement classes and levels.
Ditto. Bah.
Ditto. Bah.
We weren't sure. We got them to comment and so the title was updated.
You guys should be ashamed of yourselves! Because of you millions of old-scool MMO'ers worldwide are now forced to do underwear laundry for nothing!
I called Mythic to confirm, as I was also a tiny bit excited, but no. This is about bringing existing UO to those markets, not about a new game for North America.
Do they really think the Asians will play that old crap they made out of UO?
Those graphic updates did hurt the eyes more than anything else.
You know UO was very popular in Hong Kong back in the day... or at least Sonoma had a lot of HK guilds.
Then again UO even back then was very successful in the asian market which very few western MMO's can say. They have never shut down a shard and have actually continued to open new ones (now and then).
The game already runs in the following regions:
Europe
Japan
Korea
Oceania
Taiwan
US East, Central and West.
When I used to play each region even had region specific down time (aka it was your morning if you played locally not during your prime time).
It seems a bit odd that a game Mark Jacobs claimed was going to be shut down by EA (but he talked them out of it) is now being relaunched into these extra markets.. especially as old as UO is.
I dunno it seems kind of odd but UO was my favorite MMO "back in the day". I've also never had an experience I thought was better... and certainly never played another game as long. Any game I've had an account that long.. I've taken extensive breaks.
anyway.. /end ramble
UO was my first MMO and left me with a bad after taste when my cartographer was ganked while just being a simple lumberjack.
I called Mythic to confirm, as I was also a tiny bit excited, but no. This is about bringing existing UO to those markets, not about a new game for North America.
Do they really think the Asians will play that old crap they made out of UO?
Those graphic updates did hurt the eyes more than anything else.
Have you ever played or even seen 95% of asian mmos? If so, you would never have asked that.
Sigh... making a new Ultima Online would have been cool. Damn you EA, Daaamn youu!
XD
I will point out that the reason you dont see anyone shutting down UO shards is because of the player housing. Would be a really big mess.
My guess is that they will rework UO and add classes and experience points to go along with the skill grind.
I wish EA would just get back to work on UO2 or get to work on a completely new engine to bring UO closer to 2009. They had a good base to build from with KR but they are already abandoning it for a crappy mix of washed out 2D art and "3D" models. The best part of KR was the art.