TOG - The Older Gamers

Kia Mae · 29th January 2007, 03:55 AM

Just thought I would mention the new UO client coming this spring.

Read about it here.

You can see a few more screenshots here.

For those of you unfamiliar with Ultima Online, it was the first MMO ever, released as early as 1997 - and it`s still going strong 10 years after. The new upgraded graphics in Kingdom Reborn will not compete with the graphics in games like Wow or Vanguard, but UO still offers a genuine player experience like no other.

I have been playing UO on and off for 5 years now, and I don`t really plan to unsubscribe. I check out the new games, play them awhile - and then I head back to UO. I am going to try and write why that is so.

Ultima Online is skillbased, not levelbased. There are no canned templates like in other games where you choose to be a mage and have a skillset that comes with it. In UO you have a skillcap of 700, and if you want your character to be a Grandmaster in a chosen skill, that takes 100 points. Your character can in essence be a grandmaster of 7 skills, and the player chooses which ones that should be. My main character in UO is a mage with magery, meditation,evaluate intelligence. Those are supplements to the mage. In addition she has Fishing, Inscription and tailoring.

How you want your character to be is in your hands as a player, the choice is yours. There are 55 skills to choose from, from taming combos to bards to thieves to treasure hunters to paladins to necromancers etc.

UO is very casual friendly, as you can mark runes to almost any place and can recall there quickly after. Have 30 min for a quick hunt? No problem, just log on, recall and head into the dungeon. There are no instanced dungeons so you can meet up with players all over the world.

UO has no "endgame". You are not finished the moment you have a 7xGM. There are various dungeons and monsters that require groups, but there are no raid communities with a 3x4 hour requirement every week.

The game has also something no one else has, EventManager events, that are server wide. Quests and scenarios made to get players together to work towards common goals. It has invasions, EM run characters and ongoing stories.

UO has servers all over the globe, from Asia to Australia to Europe. The only limit in where you can play is the lag, but it`s quite possible to play from Europe on one of the US servers for example.

UO invented pvp, and it still has one of the better and more interesting systems in place. On every shard (server) there is a copy of the landmass that is called Felucca. Here you can be attacked everywhere and anywhere, but you yourself can choose to play all your UO life without ever going there. There is also a faction system in place in Felucca, where different factions fight over the control of cities. In addition a guild can choose to war another, also in Trammel (the pve facet) - making for some very fun and interesting RP battles. UO has a very stable roleplayer base, that use the war ring system.

Housing in UO is like no other game, in that you can customize and build your own. This is also not instanced, and other players can see your house and even have a peek inside if you have set it to public. You place a plot - and from there can choose a number of different tiles and styles. It`s just amazing what you can do with it. In addition you have a huge choice in decorating. This part of the game is just awesome, and it`s inspirational to see what other gamers can do with tiles and walls.

Ultima Online I feel is about player choice, it`s in essence a huge sandbox where the player is in focus and what she wants to do with her time.

If you are interested in trying it out, or have questions please do not hesitate to PM me or ask me here. Hope this info was of interest.

Btw - I play on Europa.

Kia Mae · 29th January 2007, 04:44 AM

Found another interview with the Producer, Aaron Cohen here.

Garain · 30th January 2007, 01:52 AM

what's it cost Kia-Mae? Is there a trial? The new graphics kind of look like Neverwinter Nights. Might be worth a shot.

Kia Mae · 30th January 2007, 04:14 AM

I didn`t manage to find a trial yet, but I`ll ask around. I know fileplanet offer one, but then you need to be a subscriber. The new client Kingdowm Reborn is not out yet, so we still play on the old graphics. The subscription cost is as cheap as 9.95 US dollars pr month for one account with 6 character slots, this is of course subject to change.

You can get a bundle of all the expansions on Amazon pretty cheap, The 9th Anniversary Collection. for 14.99$ You would need this in order to play the game when KR is released, as the new client is just that - a client. It will be free and downloadable as far as I have understood.

Later this summer there will be a new expansion coming out named Stygian Abyss that will be KR savy and offered only to those that use the new client. After that I am sure the new expansion will be bundled with the new client.

Kia Mae · 31st January 2007, 07:25 AM

You can download the old client from here. If you want to try it out before the new client comes out, just to say " I played the old UO!" I have a few new account codes laying around, that gives a 30 day free trial

Kia Mae · 31st January 2007, 08:18 AM

Update:

You can download it for free over at Fileplanet, and get a trial code.
From another player:
went to the 'log in' option, used that and a new username, on the next page chose 'no thanks' from the subscription prices, and was then logged in to Fileplanet, and could get to the download for the UO client.

Sloffe · 31st January 2007, 11:41 PM

If you go to www.uo.com they have a 14 day free trial with links to fileplanet and gamespot to download from. Haven't played any ultima games for a long time, not since U6 and UU1:TSA so i might have a go while I'm waiting for Vanguard to come out in the shops here. BTW is the aussie server still running?