[NEWS] SA Release Date Announced

[Sneaky Que]

EA Readies for Gargoyle Invasion and Announces Release Date for Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss

Players Prepare to Descend into the Abyss on September 8, 2009

FAIRFAX, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mythic Entertainment™, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) studio, today announced Ultima Online™: Stygian Abyss™, the 8th expansion to one of the longest-running MMORPGs in the genre’s history, will be released on September 8, 2009.
Available via digital download only, Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss revolves around the introduction of the playable Gargoyle race. Players will also find expansive new areas to explore, including Ter Mur, the Gargoyle homeland, and the Stygian Abyss – the largest dungeon area ever introduced to Ultima Online. This sprawling dungeon will contain new boss monsters of unparalleled difficulty, including the Medusa, Primeval Lich and the Stygian Dragon, as well as Player vs. Player zones where adventurers will be turned against one another.
Current subscribers can also take part in the Stygian Abyss Open Beta from Friday, August 14th – Sunday, August 23rd by logging on the Retribution server on the server selection screen.
“As the 12th anniversary of the storied Ultima Online franchise approaches this fall, we could not be more excited to launch UO’s 8th expansion, Stygian Abyss,”said Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer for Mythic Entertainment. “On September 8th UO players past and presentwill be able to experience all new content, including the new Gargoyle race and one of the largest dungeons in UO history.”
Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss will be available via UOGamesCodes.com and the EA STORE™:

• Stygian Abyss Expansion: $29.99
• Stygian Abyss Expansion & 30-Day game-time: $39.99

Additionally, consumers who purchase Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss from September 8th – 29th will receive multiple Alteration Tokens to transform current characters into Gargoyles, an exclusive gargoyle craftable pet, and decorative Stygian Abyss mob boss statues.
Earlier this month Mythic announced that Ultima Online™: Mondain’s Legacy™, the 7th expansion of UO which introduced the playable Elven race and several expansive dungeons, is now available at no charge to existing subscribers, and to new players as part of the 14-day free trial.
Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss expansion requires the original Ultima Online game to play and will be available via digital distribution only. To download Ultima Online at no charge or to find out more information about Ultima Online and the additions from Mondain’s Legacy and Stygian Abyss, please visit: http://www.uo.com or http://www.uoherald.com/stygianabyss.
About Ultima Online
Released in September 1997, Ultima Online is one of the longest-running games in MMORPG history. The first widely successful graphical online role-playing game, Ultima Online has thrived for over a decade, with armies of devoted followers around the world. Fans of the game continue to experience an epic storyline set in an ever-growing world of magic and fantasy. Ultima Online has spawned seven expansions and dozens of content updates, making it one of the deepest, largest MMORPGs ever created.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA MobileTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA Mobile, POGO, Ultima, Ultima Online, Stygian Abyss, Mondain’s Legacy and Mythic Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Contacts


Electronic Arts Inc.
Scott Gamel, 650-628-7286
Sr. PR Manager
[email protected]
Tammy Schachter, 650-628-7223
Senior Director
[email protected]
or
fortyseven communications
Chase Colasonno, 212-391-4707
[email protected]




http://news.ea.com/portal/site/ea/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090812005343&newsLang=en




***





FINALLY!

 

[Clog|Mordain]

less then a month

 

[Petrify]

No surprises, they rushed it out yet again.

 

[Fink]

one of the longest-running MMORPGs in the genre’s history

Isn't it the longest-running?

 

[Mijac_Chmon]

Am I gonna have a lot of catching up to do with this?

I haven't really played for, what, a year or so?

How totally out of the loop and clueless am I going to be?

(Downloading the new client as we speak. Apparently it will just need to be patched for open beta which starts tomorrow or something?)

 

[Sneaky Que]

Am I gonna have a lot of catching up to do with this?

I haven't really played for, what, a year or so?

How totally out of the loop and clueless am I going to be?

(Downloading the new client as we speak. Apparently it will just need to be patched for open beta which starts tomorrow or something?)

Not too much has changed in the last year, you should be fine. PvP wise the biggest change would probably be the addition of Faction arties which have extra bonuses. Apart from that I can't really think of anything to major that has changed since ML.

The new client will take a little time to get used to and figure out, but once you know what your doing it is quite good. Definatly the best out of the three "3D" clients that have existed, not that TD and the unfinished KR were hard to beat...

The 'enhanced' (SA) client is still in beta and the Devs have said it will remain in beta until it is done, thankfully. Originally it was meant to be released with the SA expansion, but I am glad they are holding it back to try and get it right this time and are trying not to make the same mistake they did with KR.

 

[Mijac_Chmon]

What about storylines? What's this about dungeons collapsing or something?

Has the been much change to the actual world that I might need to know or is it simply a case that they've just had various events tha have resulted in different items being given out?

If so, is there anything I need that I won't have and, if so, how do I get it?

And what's the deal with Factions? Has it been made a central platform of how UO exists these days? Does this mean everyone is involved? Where does CoM fit in and how are they holding up?

 

[Fink]

It seems you don't have to migrate to the new Enhanced client to join the expansion beta. You will have to update the legacy client if you want to use it, though.

 

[Clog|Mordain]

And what's the deal with Factions? Has it been made a central platform of how UO exists these days? Does this mean everyone is involved? Where does CoM fit in and how are they holding up?

CoM dont exist lol

 

[Mijac_Chmon]

How come? Are there only two factions now or something? One good and one bad? Isn't that just Order/Chaos?

 

[Clog|Mordain]

How come? Are there only two factions now or something? One good and one bad? Isn't that just Order/Chaos?

Oh they exist. just no one plays in it. its either TB or MINAX. Sorry i should have specified more

 

[Sneaky Que]

What about storylines? What's this about dungeons collapsing or something?

Has the been much change to the actual world that I might need to know or is it simply a case that they've just had various events tha have resulted in different items being given out?

Well, Magincia got destroyed by Demons and is now haunted by souls (thus why nobody plays in CoM).

If so, is there anything I need that I won't have and, if so, how do I get it?

There are new spawn replicas that are old event items that got duped to high heaven, you get them by doing spawns. The faction arties you can buy for silver at your faction's HQ. They require faction rank (level depends on the artie) to ware.

And what's the deal with Factions? Has it been made a central platform of how UO exists these days? Does this mean everyone is involved? Where does CoM fit in and how are they holding up?

Yes, you could say factions have once again become quite central to PvP with the introduction of the arties. Almost all the PvPers on the shard are in a faction these days. From an OPK perspective, aprox 3/4 of all our chars are in True Brits/OPK, the rest are in our normal guild, AUPK.

At the moment there are only 3 'active' factions (see above about Magincia), and of those SL is very quiet. Its basically True Brits (OPK) Vs Minax (lots of nub guilds ) which are both very active.

 

[five oclock]

one of the longest-running MMORPGs in the genre’s history

Isn't it the longest-running?

You are right Fink. It IS the longest running game. Its in the record books.

 

[Mijac_Chmon]

Cheers, SQ.

So in terms of what I should actually be doing, would you say:

*Join a Faction and get involved in that action. Get silver and buy arties as part of this.
*Do spawns to get those other items.

Out of these two, i get the feeling that Factions actually has something to do with a storyline and what's happening with Stygian Abyss etc? As such, it actually seems to be the more meaningful action whereas Spawns are just standard item-getting stuff. Is this right?

If so, can anyone expand a bit on how factions tie into the storyline?

Lastly, I've read a bit about Shadowlords and Dragons or something? A bit of info here would also be appreciated.

Sorry to be hitting you all up on things that are probably common knowledge but I gotta find out somehow.

Ooooh, very lastly - nice win by the Green Machine last night, SQ.

 

[Sneaky Que]

Cheers, SQ.

So in terms of what I should actually be doing, would you say:

*Join a Faction and get involved in that action. Get silver and buy arties as part of this.
*Do spawns to get those other items.

Out of these two, i get the feeling that Factions actually has something to do with a storyline and what's happening with Stygian Abyss etc? As such, it actually seems to be the more meaningful action whereas Spawns are just standard item-getting stuff. Is this right?

Basically yes to all of that.

If so, can anyone expand a bit on how factions tie into the storyline?

Lastly, I've read a bit about Shadowlords and Dragons or something? A bit of info here would also be appreciated.

The Shadowlords event is coming to a close, but the faction arties are permanent. I really didn't do much of the PvM event part of it but it was basically armies invading towns based on who controlled the faction sigil. That has since ended and the new story arc that leads into the SA expansion is starting.

Sorry to be hitting you all up on things that are probably common knowledge but I gotta find out somehow.

No worries

Ooooh, very lastly - nice win by the Green Machine last night, SQ.

Yeh it was ay! Showed the rest of the comp how to beat em! You must be happy with your Eels, they are making a good run for the finals.

 

[Mijac_Chmon]

Would it be possible to start up CoM again? I understand the city might be a wasteland but I could still maybe earn silver and get the Faction arties... Basically, I guess what I'm asking is whether controling towns, sigils etc blah blah actually gets you anything? If not, it would be possible to revive CoM and still partake, yes?

I'm quite happy with the Eels, SQ Won $1800 on Tryscorer/Margin double last weekend against the Warriors, too. However, it is still as tight as hell and if we drop either of our next two games we'll be in trouble.

 

[Sneaky Que]

Would it be possible to start up CoM again? I understand the city might be a wasteland but I could still maybe earn silver and get the Faction arties... Basically, I guess what I'm asking is whether controling towns, sigils etc blah blah actually gets you anything? If not, it would be possible to revive CoM and still partake, yes?

Capturing town sigils now earns the thief that steals them 10 kill points and 100 silver per sigil. There is nothing at all stopping you from joining/using CoM, the faction base is still intact. The Magincia moongate is now 'one-way' though, you can travel to it but cannot use it to travel elsewhere. There is a teleporter near the ruined Magincia docks that takes you to Trinsic and back again. Mag is full of souls that are quite weak, but you wouldn't want to stand still in there for long as there is quite a lot of them. There is nothing left in Mag anymore except for the CoM base and the faction town post. The rest of it is all ruins, no vendors, shops, or anything.

I'm quite happy with the Eels, SQ Won $1800 on Tryscorer/Margin double last weekend against the Warriors, too. However, it is still as tight as hell and if we drop either of our next two games we'll be in trouble.

Nice work. Hayne is in some freakish form at the moment. Yeh you guys need to keep winning to make it, 9th at the moment. I reckon you will take Brisbane or Panthers spot in the 8 by the end of round 26. Our last game vs Broncs @ Suncorp could be pivitol for your chances the way things are shaping up.

 

[Fink]

Mag is full of souls that are quite weak, but you wouldn't want to stand still in there for long as there is quite a lot of them.

The corrupted souls are the aggressive ones; not too bad but they've got some sort of pack instinct. They swarm if there's enough of them nearby, plus they do more damage per mob in groups.

 

[PoCove]

Well Not having seen any of the content (or bata) I will hve to give it a go..

I really look fowarf to seeing it ..

 

[Fink]

Something to keep in mind: the gamecode site usually limits you to two transactions a month, for some bizarre reason.

If you need more than two accounts upgraded you might have to wait for the third or fourth, or get a 5-pack bundle. Also, tokens and such count toward the two-code limit.

 

[Sneaky Que]

The corrupted souls are the aggressive ones; not too bad but they've got some sort of pack instinct. They swarm if there's enough of them nearby, plus they do more damage per mob in groups.

Yeh, they move around rather quick too.

 

[Fink]

The corrupted souls are the aggressive ones; not too bad but they've got some sort of pack instinct. They swarm if there's enough of them nearby, plus they do more damage per mob in groups.

Yeh, they move around rather quick too.

I like them, some AI with a bit of spice.. instead of the usual "dump 5 spells on you from 2 screens away = tougher mob" crap.