Will SA be sold on store shelfs, Or in any hard form?

[Lord Urza]

Please Please Please tell me SA will be sold on store shelfs, or that there will at least be a disk that we can order.
I play on a dial up conn and will have a hard time trying to download the new client at over a Gig.

 

[Storm]

The answer is no they dont want to spend money on packaging and as far as a disk I believe thats no also

 

[Lord Urza]

Im looking for a bit more of an official statement on this one storm, but your prolly right I hope not tho. They made the ML Client aval on a disk upon request, I got one. It was just a disk with some ML art on it, in a white paper CD sleeve. It wasnt much....but it was all a dial up user like me needed to forego hours and hours of downloading a client...the patching with ML proved to be a bit long for me allso tho in the end so i went back to the classic client, But i really wanna try the SA Client out, and i dont care to pay some money for a disk with the client on it post beta like I would any other game one bit.

 

[Tazar]

Sorry I do not have a link, but they have already said several times that there will be no boxed version - they believe that digital download is the way of the future.

Whether or not a disk version can be purchased directly I have not heard anything on. From the install I did a couple of nights ago, the actual download and install is very short. It was that first patch that had the bulk of the information.

Download the install program, and then some night before you go to bed, start the patch and you'll probably be fine the next morning.

I have seen people copy the files via flash drive or local networks from computer to computer so I would assume that - or having a friend copy to CD/DVD to sent to you would probably work as well.

 

[Lord Urza]

OK as long as i know whats up.
In other words dont look to EA Mythic for any help
Continue to rely on friends and other players to help you instead.......I gusse i should start paying my friends instead.

 

[Der Rock]

Please Please Please tell me SA will be sold on store shelfs, or that there will at least be a disk that we can order.
I play on a dial up conn and will have a hard time trying to download the new client at over a Gig.

do you have NO friends with fast internet,wich can make you a copy of the file??

 

[Lord Urza]

None that dont have jobs, and familys, plenty of things of there own to take care of. I try not to inconvenience my friends if at all possible.

 

[Reginus]

If they are not going to create a disk, and I have to download anything, then I am certainly not buying it. I don't trust internet downloads to download properly the first time, and am not going to spend a week downloading the new client. I still run the Legacy client for that reason.

Digital downloads may be the wave of the future, but I believe UO's motive was more to save money by not advertising a game which they feel has no potential for increased revenue.

UO is a dial-up game, and a great one, but if I am ever expected to upgrade my connection to enjoy it fully, I may as well play a newer game. I would upgrade for a UO2, not for a new client in an antique game.

 

[IanJames]

The official word is in the press release which is linked from the UO herald and which I have conveniently copied/pasted for you here. Really do you guys ever look at the herald for any information?

Please note the second paragraph where it says "available by digital download only."
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.

 

[Uvtha]

Dial up is very old technology, and highspeed of some kind is affordable, and almost completly ubiquitous. There is no reason for them to expect any solid number of people would be using it. It sucks for people without dial up, but what do you really expect?

 

[Lord Urza]

In the interest of saving myself from dialup negelect I had comcast send a guy out to see if they could run a cable line to my house for highspeed, but dispite the fact that there are addresses on my street with cable, they would not be able to run it to my house ( Great Dispair)

What do I really expect? I never expect very much but allways hope for just a little more then I expect.

I have sitting in front of my a CD bought from EA for the kingdom reborn client which I paid 12.99 for, All I want is that this service would be provided to those who are unable to download the new client themself, or wish to have a hard version of it in case of future loose of the program.
If they could do it for KR why not for SA?

In the words of the forgotten rapper afro man. "I paid my money just like you, and baby Ima do what I came to do"

 

[Maplestone]

One of the problems these days is that an individual patch may run up to 200mb - and they will likely be common as polish is applied to the new expansion. A CD/DVD does allow you to save time on the initial install, but it won't completely solve the pain of being on dialup.

(and highspeed isn't quite ubiquitous yet - I have it, but I have quite a few friends who either don't have it, or have had reliability problems with it)

 

[Lord Urza]

200mb for a patch isnt nearly as bad tho, because the patcher will pick up where it left off if your forced to have to get offline before it finishes.

And thank you maplestone, there really are alot of people who still use dialup....I meet them on UO very often.

In most cases there not uber rich, they cant easily do peerless, or doom.
They play because they love the game dispite not being an elite player.

 

[Amren]

UO is not the money maker it used to be, and it would probably take more money and effort then it's worth to make a few hundred-thousand boxes to ship worldwide and probably not sell them all.

If you are on dialup, just start the download before you go to sleep. By the time you get home from work the next day, you will be 30% done the download.

 

[Lord Urza]

Maybe it would get more attention thus make more money if anyone even knew it exists, I go to gamer events weekly, we talk about video games and mmos regularly, and no one knows what ultima online is. I explain to them, they allways ask me why they havnt ever seen it anywhere.
Most of the under 25 crowd havnt even heard of it before, because since most of them have been playing mmos UO hasnt been advertising any.

With no ad's, and no in store items to catch new peoples attention its no wonder uo isnt the money maker it used to be.
You gotta spend money to make money, its a well known fact of economics.

 

[cgunny]

When I played UO pre AOS I had the frustrations of not having a form of broadband available, it sucked but UO was still playable - The biggest annoyance for me with dial up was the 2 hour disconnect my ISP imposed and the fact it engaged the line.

They should make the game avilable on a "No thrills" disc, even on a 1-2mb line it can still take 1-2 hours to download the client.

Can I just confirm - Will I need to download a new client to play SA? I have the ML client i downloaded via the 14 day free trial. Or can i just use the 2d client and just upgrade my account using an SA code ($29.99)

 

[Maplestone]

the 2d client will get a huge patch when SA is published, but you do not need to reinstall. And yes, once patched, all you need is the account upgrade code.

( reference: http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=153024 )

 

[cgunny]

the 2d client will get a huge patch when SA is published, but you do not need to reinstall. And yes, once patched, all you need is the account upgrade code.

( reference: http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=153024 )

Thanks Maplestone.