![]() Not according to Richard Garriott, creator of Ultima Online, but what does he know? He hasn't made a great game since Ultima Online. Attitudes changed and their design changed, but for the better? They can't if they let go of your hand and you stray too far off the entertaining path, you'll leave - and they can't afford you to. They're friendly, they don't kick you while you're down. Now massively-multiplayer role-playing games are common, and they've changed (barring ye olde Eve Online). I slid all of the face customisation sliders to the left. And knowing that someone could come and kill you in a dungeon and loot everything you carried? Part of the magic. I didn't care that I didn't have any idea what to do because it was so exciting! But Ultima Online was obtuse - making progress was an initiation, not a right. My medieval fantasy world was alive, inhabited by actual other people. But firing up the game 20 years later still gives me those magic feelings.Ĭhilling by the bank in Lower West BritainWhen Ultima Online came out 17 years ago it blew my teenage mind. You could decorate the castle with furniture you crafted, or that you purchased from other carpenters. You and your buddies could create a guild, put together all your gold and eventually get yourself a castle. Where weary travelers would venture to your home to buy your exceptionally crafted goods. You could make a name for yourself as an artisan. You could fully participate in the game as a carpenter and never even raise a sword to a monster. I've never played an MMO that had anything nearly as cool as this. And there were many different styles of houses, each with cost that corresponded to their size. It could be anywhere in the world, as long as your house could fit on the plot of land. You would literally get to go out and find a plot of land and place your house. I could set up NPC vendors in my house to sell my crafted goods. And the stuff you crafted was considered top tier gear, so the in game economy rewarded you for your time and labor. It took forever to raise your mining and smithing, for example, but once you finally got your smithing to a high enough level your crafted armor and weapons would have your name on it. The whole crafting system was so rewarding. What I think I loved most about the game was the economy and customization the game allowed. ![]() When you saw a red name, you would freak the fuck out. if you decide to PK enough, your name becomes red and now NPC guards in most towns will kill you on sight. if they kill you, they're stealing your shit. if you leave town, other players can kill you. also you have to run to a far away location to resurrect yourself so the whole process takes a long time, making it more likely your shit will get looted assuming you can even get back to it because now you're naked. your items stay on your body and odds are it will get looted by the time you get back to it. The game is very challenging by today's standards ![]() I'm making this thread partly to see whether anyone else has had a similar experience with the game, or whether I'm just dealing with nostalgia. I've been playing it on and off on player made servers (shards) for the past 20 years. nothing has come close to giving me the experience that Ultima Online gave me. I feel like I've been chasing the MMO high I got from Ultima Online for the past 20 years and eventually gave up. ![]()
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