Five Ultima Online Legacies That Hold True Today - The List at MMORPG.com

SBFord · February 2016

Five Ultima Online Legacies That Hold True Today - The List at MMORPG.com

Ultima Online launched just a little bit less than 20 years ago. 2017 will see the game’s twenty year anniversary. What is interesting about Ultima Online is that the legacy of that game still holds very true today. So many games are patterned off of design concepts that were created last millennium. Here is a list of some of those legacies.

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Scorchien · February 2016

been playing since launch , still , such a great game ... So much that other games just dont do , Monsters looting your corpse , is such a great feature, always bewilders me why other games dont do this ... And only seems fair as you were going to loot the mob:).. but it really makes for some intense recoveries as you race back to your corpse( if noone is near to rez you ) gather your gear and now hunt down the mob that looted you , And hope another player didnt kill it first ,., Endless amounts of cocntent , is availble .... want to grow plants .., cook, read, fish ,weave, mine etc.. amazing stuff... Build your own home brick by brick .. with endless decor options.... great events...

Quicksand · February 2016

Great list. UO at launch was amazing

laserit · February 2016

The chickens were deadly.

There was a lot of good times to be had back in those early days. The Players made the game so much fun.

Slapshot1188 · February 2016

Hopefully much of that ends up in Shards Online...

sprousatm · February 2016

The decline of UO imho was the seperation of trammel and felucca. Not sure if the names are right though. Back in the day before trammel was live, you really had to decide whether you wanted to carry your good stuff beyond the city boundries or not. All those red marked player killers wandering the forests and caves. It was so much fun. I had backpacks ready with reagents, armor, bandages, potions and weapons for the time I died again. For fast restock.

Trammel made the life way easier but felucca on the other hand was way less terrifying. There simply weren't as many people anymore.

I stopped playing some time after the 3D-addon but have so many cool memories. The first MMORPG always was the best, I suppose

edit: The community was indeed very strong. Ppl knew each other. They had to interact with each other beyond the point of just pushing a button to get teleported to any kind of dungeon and finishing it without even saying hello. People were known for their good PVP. They had names and were respected. Won't find that anymore in other games. At least I haven't. Besides maybe Anarchy Online.

SlyLoK · February 2016

sprousatm said:

The decline of UO imho was the seperation of trammel and felucca. Not sure if the names are right though. Back in the day before trammel was live, you really had to decide whether you wanted to carry your good stuff beyond the city boundries or not. All those red marked player killers wandering the forests and caves. It was so much fun. I had backpacks ready with reagents, armor, bandages, potions and weapons for the time I died again. For fast restock.

Trammel made the life way easier but felucca on the other hand was way less terrifying. There simply weren't as many people anymore.

I stopped playing some time after the 3D-addon but have so many cool memories. The first MMORPG always was the best, I suppose

edit: The community was indeed very strong. Ppl knew each other. They had to interact with each other beyond the point of just pushing a button to get teleported to any kind of dungeon and finishing it without even saying hello. People were known for their good PVP. They had names and were respected. Won't find that anymore in other games. At least I haven't. Besides maybe Anarchy Online.

UO was dying before Trammel was released. In fact UO went to its peak after Trammel and is the only reason the game is still alive.

The legacy that should have been mentioned is the proof that open PvP and full loot doesn't work and is by far the smallest of niches. It was UOs death knell against EQ and DAoC.. They had to change.

FacelessSavior · February 2016

SlyLoK said:

sprousatm said:

The decline of UO imho was the seperation of trammel and felucca. Not sure if the names are right though. Back in the day before trammel was live, you really had to decide whether you wanted to carry your good stuff beyond the city boundries or not. All those red marked player killers wandering the forests and caves. It was so much fun. I had backpacks ready with reagents, armor, bandages, potions and weapons for the time I died again. For fast restock.

Trammel made the life way easier but felucca on the other hand was way less terrifying. There simply weren't as many people anymore.

I stopped playing some time after the 3D-addon but have so many cool memories. The first MMORPG always was the best, I suppose

edit: The community was indeed very strong. Ppl knew each other. They had to interact with each other beyond the point of just pushing a button to get teleported to any kind of dungeon and finishing it without even saying hello. People were known for their good PVP. They had names and were respected. Won't find that anymore in other games. At least I haven't. Besides maybe Anarchy Online.

UO was dying before Trammel was released. In fact UO went to its peak after Trammel and is the only reason the game is still alive.

The legacy that should have been mentioned is the proof that open PvP and full loot doesn't work and is by far the smallest of niches. It was UOs death knell against EQ and DAoC.. They had to change.

Ah the, "My preferred playstyle is the only one that matters, and any other playstyle is wrong" guy. Didn't take you long to show up today. There's always at least one.

Amaranthar · February 2016

I loved UO. In many ways.
But the rampant PKing was out of hand. They needed something to stop that. The best way is through a player run social system, and that needs to be based on a community's need for players and their involvement in that community.

Uo, really, was just the bare bones of what could be done. And despite that, it was great.

norman728 · February 2016

I remember playing UO back in the day and falling prey to the "HELPFUL" players. and having a collection of Death shrouds. having to leave Body where it was because it was either too far and/or being to Low level to make it back. still miss it despite the Early Trolls

Amaranthar · February 2016

This article, while excellent, leaves out something that I saw right away.
Exploration, and the use of game mechanics in exploring the world.
In UO there were a lot of strange things to find that left you wondering what that was about. If you knew UO really well, and followed the message boards, you'd eventually find out what that was. But even that could leave you wondering if there wasn't still more to the story. There was, as they either were parts of GM plot lines and the history of the game, things that were supposed to be that too but never were completed as story lines were dropped with management changeover, or simply broken. Also, I believe that UO had a very deep plot line and had dropped lots of clues to that plot in the game, but all was left behind at some point.

Another thing that UO had, related to exploration and discovery, was the mechanics of the game.
Most items in the game world, if you clicked on them, would give you a description. Also, tools and lever like things were tripped if you double clicked them. These mechanics meant players could look for things in the game world that did something or revealed something unexpected. And lots of this went on in UO as game play. There were many mysteries in UO, and I always felt that this aspect was left incomplete or unsatisfactorily incomplete.

Another thing related to all of this, UO had rare items. They started out being mistakes, things that players weren't supposed to be able to pick up. But rare occurrences happened and these items became very collectible, worth a lot of game money (and even Ebay money).

It's funny that when UO decided to actually build on the "rare" as an intentional system, they pretty much turned it into "just another system" and it lost meaningfulness. The ideal of game developers that they should make content, even of this nature, widely available and compound it into lack of interest is something game designers really need to address.

MindTricked · February 2016

Halberd (Hally) > Bardiche. Psssht. Meanwhile, I played for over 5 years, April 2000 (T2A) to July 2005, and I honestly don't know what I did for so long there. I remember training skills for all my alts, and aside from all the killing go on... I don't remember truly accomplishing anything.

GameboyMarc · February 2016

I ♥ this game.

Maygus · February 2016

TimothyEisenzimmer said:

Amazingly enough, all things I desperately want in my MMOs now!

It took 15 years to start getting back to the online worlds of old! (curses the Theme Park Dark Ages)

Agreed - the themepark MMOs have been a struggle to continue with due to the rinse and repeat nature of them. They have unique things sure but I've felt no risk in stuff... I'll just dive into a pack of 10 mobs and find they're too difficult "oh well" and go another way.

Ozmodan · February 2016

Actually you are all wrong. UO blossomed with the addition of Trammel. There were a lot more people playing. I lived in Felucca for 7 years, but it was nice when you did not want to constantly watch your back to to head to trammel for some casual play.

The nice thing about UO, the player made items were very good. You really did not need the rare magical items at all. Age of Shadows really hurt the game. Not only was the game almost unplayable for a month after release of the expansion, but they tried to make it more like EQ with lots of magical properties and having to insure such. The only way to get the special tools to make all that fancy equipment was in a dungeon that the reds constantly targeted. They took the best part of UO and mangled it. That expansion was horribly thought out, too many bugs that allowed all sorts of exploits.

The funny thing is many of these indie sandboxes try to capture UO at it's best yet they all completely clueless about what made the game so fun. I am still waiting for at least one indie to wake up and implement something similar.

Shards Online won't be it either.

Brenics · February 2016

Nice read and thanks for it. Personally I believe Trammel ruined the game. But it did bring in more players but the excitement of the game went down a few notches when they did Trammel. Even after Trammel the game still and always will have that feeling of excitement I don't think we will ever capture again. Like your first love you never forget it and always try to find it again.

Xiaoki · February 2016

[URL]http://community.crowfall.com/index.php?/topic/102-gordon-walton-are-you-the-one-who-brought-us-trammel/[/URL]

People (and MMORPG.com) just don't want to admit that pre-Trammel UO was not the MMO Golden Age they think they remember it to be.

The truth hurts that much.

Maybe that's something they should have put in this legacy article:

"Trammel saved UO from the chopping block"

jmcdermottuk · February 2016

I'm not so sure that these legacies do hold true. While there is a small minority of us that want some (and I stress some) of those it's obvious the majority don't want them, or they'd still be standard features in modern MMO's.

Most successful MMO's today are class based, quest hubbed, non OW PvP, no full loot Themeparks. I'd say those legacies are dead for a reason.

Arglebargle · February 2016

Watching my friends play UO and EQ kept me from playing mmorpgs for years. Though skill based systems and strong crafting are attractive.

FrejaSP · February 2016

To the ones, who miss UO from before Trammel ruined it, we still have one Ultima Online shard without Trammel and Item Insurence, named Siege Perilous.
You can still get PK'ed, looted and lose everything.
A thief can still steal from you
Player events still exist
Player Justice still exist
Community still exist
Respect is earned

If you start as a new player on Siege Perilous ot returning player, you will find the community very helpful and because players can loot you, it do not always happen, it all depend of your reputation.

For the ones, who don't want to risk any kind of PvP, there are still the Trammel shards.

Not to late to try

Sure it not the game you left 1997, a lot did changes but alot is still true

jesteralways · February 2016

FacelessSavior said:

SlyLoK said:

sprousatm said:

The decline of UO imho was the seperation of trammel and felucca. Not sure if the names are right though. Back in the day before trammel was live, you really had to decide whether you wanted to carry your good stuff beyond the city boundries or not. All those red marked player killers wandering the forests and caves. It was so much fun. I had backpacks ready with reagents, armor, bandages, potions and weapons for the time I died again. For fast restock.

Trammel made the life way easier but felucca on the other hand was way less terrifying. There simply weren't as many people anymore.

I stopped playing some time after the 3D-addon but have so many cool memories. The first MMORPG always was the best, I suppose

edit: The community was indeed very strong. Ppl knew each other. They had to interact with each other beyond the point of just pushing a button to get teleported to any kind of dungeon and finishing it without even saying hello. People were known for their good PVP. They had names and were respected. Won't find that anymore in other games. At least I haven't. Besides maybe Anarchy Online.

UO was dying before Trammel was released. In fact UO went to its peak after Trammel and is the only reason the game is still alive.

The legacy that should have been mentioned is the proof that open PvP and full loot doesn't work and is by far the smallest of niches. It was UOs death knell against EQ and DAoC.. They had to change.

Ah the, "My preferred playstyle is the only one that matters, and any other playstyle is wrong" guy. Didn't take you long to show up today. There's always at least one.

Nothing to say against the fact that Trammel brought more players in UO than it ever had and generated more profit for the game? I did quick search in google and all the articles i read backs up his post and not only that, all the articles also points out that trammel had more players playing than felucca. So that means; as he claimed, people rejected the original FFA pvp and open corpse looting system of UO and wanted more player friendly environment. Do you have anything say about this?

Lawlmonster · February 2016

I'll just C&P my response to another UO thread to save myself the time and effort:

"Look, I don't want to make this thread about why UO went to shit (but I'm going to anyway). All of us who were PvP'ing and Towning didn't want to make a switch to a new server (Siege Perilous), with slower skill gain rates, where all of our pre-established communities, housing, and characters were already located so that players who didn't understand the concept of the Ultima world (open and free, with all of the consequences therein) could play without threat of player dangers. I really don't care that it saved their population, it ruined the base of their game, and ultimately lead to what it is now: stale and redundant, doing things that games made for PvE achieve with far greater success.

Siege Perilous was great. Really, they could have not afforded that option at all, and given those of us who enjoyed the game pre-Ren a hearty "fuck you", but it eventually lead to the vast majority of players I knew, and who we knew through interaction with other guilds, to leave the game. Staying afloat and betraying the original concept, I can't get behind it. It was a purely economic decision, and still doesn't sit well with many of the original adopters that I've known personally. Experiences may differ."

Edited to mention the modern successes of games with similar mechanics and/or philosophies: DayZ, Rust, EVE. People have a love or hate relationship with entertainment like this, but you can't deny that there will always be a market, which you can attempt to marginalize, for players who enjoy the thrills and risk vs. reward they provide.

Konfess · February 2016

UO has Levels, there is no such thing as skills only progression, allow me to explain.

There were 720 (level 100%) skill points to be distributed. Seeing this should have warned you that there was a level.

Level / Skill Points Spent
0 / 0
10 / 72
25/ 180
50 / 360
75 / 540
100 / 720

Once you have spent those point on your 7 or 8 skills to max build level you are at Level 100.

Another formula for level based on 8 non-zero skills is:
Level = (Skill_1 + S2 + S3 + S4 + S5 + S6 + S7 + Skill_8) * 100 / 720

The Consider calculated a Player Combat Level. Hell UO was nothing but levels "Hidden" from view of the players.

Again once you have progression, you have levels. a Level-less system has absolutely no progression of skills and or attributes. Numbers do not change. That is what is meant by level less. Skill progression is a level progression none the less.

I am interested in learning more about player events, and how they differ from raids, dungeons, dailies, and RP.

I played UO, and was subbed for 3 years. But from what I have read and been told, UO was nothing but exploits that the community took as features. Item 5 should be renamed exploits, because in the Dev's mind that is what it was. A dead player should have been rezed by their fellow players, the body and gear should been guarded by players in the area. Skills would have been leveled by game play and not sitting around in a pickpocket circle.

LynxJSA · February 2016

SlyLoK said:

The legacy that should have been mentioned is the proof that open PvP and full loot doesn't work and is by far the smallest of niches.

I had a different takeaway from UO's history. It's not that open world PVP and full loot don't work, but that only about 10-20% of your players are going to want to engage in it if your game has more depth than just the open world PVP. In that light, the game should be designed to minimize the impact that 10-20% has on the rest of the playerbase, just like it does with every other aspect gameplay.

laserit · February 2016

Full loot was the main culprit, not to mention that if you weren't a mage/archer you were fodder.

Dreamo84 · February 2016

The genre has just gotten to big and mainstream. I'm leaning more and more towards indie MMOs being developed these days.

I think the development costs for these big budget games is too much for them to take any real chances. Plus they have to spend so much time polishing their uber graphics that they don't have time to develop new systems.

Imagine if a AAA developer put a big budget behind a massive 2D MMORPG? The amount of things they'd be able to accomplish...

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