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Question!! UO is 11 years old!! Whats the next longest played Online game..
MUD
C
Corrupted Goblin
Guest
Command and Conquer it was a LAN connection but still played via the internet
J
Jeremy
Guest
Meridian 59 predates us for a bit, and there's apparently a German MMO that beats us by a few months too (although I didn't catch the name and need to look it up.) The next North American mass-market MMO would be Everquest, then Asheron's Call and/or DAoC and/or Shadowbane, I believe (can't remember offhand the order there.)
K
Kratos Aurion
Guest
I believe Neverwinter Nights qualifies as being the first and oldest MMO ever released (1991-1997?)
Edit:
I don't know if I misinterpited your question or not but Neverwinter Nights is supposedly the first (oldest) MMO created, but it isn't the oldest in game play existance.
Edit:
I don't know if I misinterpited your question or not but Neverwinter Nights is supposedly the first (oldest) MMO created, but it isn't the oldest in game play existance.
X
XavierArcanus
Guest
I'm not sure as I'd go so far as to confuse The Realm with "graphical," but if you must...
Yeah, and I still pay my monthly bills to EA.
Sometimes it's hard to move on. hehe
N
Nyte Doombringer
Guest
Legends of Kesmai
Legends of Kesmai (LOK) was among the first successful graphical multi-player online role-playing games. It was based on a slightly stripped down version of Island of Kesmai and was available for play at America Online and a now defunct site called GameStorm. Prior to that, Kesmai corporation ran a long open beta for the game, as well as hosting the game for a short period of time in the mid 90's. In 1999 Electronic Arts bought Kesmai and in 2001 closed the business.[1] The rights to the game were sold to Electronic Arts sometime in 1999, and the game was subsequently shelved by them.
I know this game was before UO because I played it on Gamestorm and then as said EA bought them out and closed them down because they wanted everyone to come play their new Ultima Online game.
Legends of Kesmai (LOK) was among the first successful graphical multi-player online role-playing games. It was based on a slightly stripped down version of Island of Kesmai and was available for play at America Online and a now defunct site called GameStorm. Prior to that, Kesmai corporation ran a long open beta for the game, as well as hosting the game for a short period of time in the mid 90's. In 1999 Electronic Arts bought Kesmai and in 2001 closed the business.[1] The rights to the game were sold to Electronic Arts sometime in 1999, and the game was subsequently shelved by them.
I know this game was before UO because I played it on Gamestorm and then as said EA bought them out and closed them down because they wanted everyone to come play their new Ultima Online game.
L
Locker
Guest
Kingdom of Drakkar is older than UO (by like five years) and it's definitely still up in some form.
Here is a pretty cool history of online gaming some might find interesting:
http://library.thinkquest.org/C002414/history.html
Enjoy!
Locker
Here is a pretty cool history of online gaming some might find interesting:
http://library.thinkquest.org/C002414/history.html
Enjoy!
Locker
B
Belmarduk
Guest
The longest running mmorpg which is STILL GROWING is definatley Eve-Online.
Getting 6 years old soon.
Greetings Belmarduk
Getting 6 years old soon.
Greetings Belmarduk
LOL ..catch u up in 5 years time then and see if its still strong....UO for the kill
S
Sir Stain
Guest
The question is ONLINE game. International Chess. I played it on my first pc. A 386 that I bought from Mongomery ward. A real piece of junk. I had a 243 chess rating. Germans were the main contenders and more advanced with pc gaming techno.
K
Katlene
Guest
You did see the part where it says UO is 11 this year yeah?
And dont tell me its not growing Ive run into 3 new chars just on Oce this week
D
Darker
Guest
Depends on if you count Meridian 59's shut down and restart as part of its total running time. I started playing it in 1996 and it and Dark Sun Online were the only graphic online games I knew of for a year or so - until UO came along and people left Merdian in a mass exodus to play in the "new world"... I started UO and kept playing M59 until they shut it down in 2000. A few years later I talked to one of my friends who used to play and they told me it had come back online a year or so later and its been up every since. So Meridian 59 might count as the longest running if its downtime doesn't count against it...
L
Locker
Guest
Hmm did I get skipped?
Kingdom of Drakkar 16 Years > UO 11 Years.
From the linked article above:
1992 - MPG-Net, a privately owned company funded by wealthy online games enthusiast Jim Hettinger (now CEO of iEN), launches a new dial-in gaming service with The Kingdom of Drakkar, a top-down view graphic role playing game. It rapidly becomes popular, signing up more than 3,000 players who pay between $3 and $5 an hour for access.
(Yes my dumb ass paid 4 bucks an hour to play this game. Unreal.)
...
1997 - Origin releases Ultima Online for play across the Internet. Despite massive problems with bugs and lag, the game has over 50,000 paying customers within three months. The game proves there is a large audience of gamers waiting for MMRPGs.
Henceforth, the Modern Era of Online Gaming begins.
Kingdom of Drakkar 16 Years > UO 11 Years.
From the linked article above:
1992 - MPG-Net, a privately owned company funded by wealthy online games enthusiast Jim Hettinger (now CEO of iEN), launches a new dial-in gaming service with The Kingdom of Drakkar, a top-down view graphic role playing game. It rapidly becomes popular, signing up more than 3,000 players who pay between $3 and $5 an hour for access.
(Yes my dumb ass paid 4 bucks an hour to play this game. Unreal.)
...
1997 - Origin releases Ultima Online for play across the Internet. Despite massive problems with bugs and lag, the game has over 50,000 paying customers within three months. The game proves there is a large audience of gamers waiting for MMRPGs.
Henceforth, the Modern Era of Online Gaming begins.
V
Vyal
Guest
Dark Sun Online is not that old I know the guys (guy purty much) who made it and I promise it isn't as old as you think.
As far as MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER ONLINE GAMES go keyword being MASSIVE, Everquest is next in line after UO all other are total trash and not massive.
L
Locker
Guest
You inserted the word Massive and defined it, not the original poster. Based on his initial question lots of games could be considered including RTS and flight combat.
Speaking of RPGs with a persistent world... if you are discounting Drakkar because it only had 3000 signups during launch year and that's not "massive" to you, please remember how many people actually had computers with video cards and modems in 1992. In that year, 3000 players in one persistent and graphical RPG world is definitely "massive".
Speaking of RPGs with a persistent world... if you are discounting Drakkar because it only had 3000 signups during launch year and that's not "massive" to you, please remember how many people actually had computers with video cards and modems in 1992. In that year, 3000 players in one persistent and graphical RPG world is definitely "massive".
Yup, Jeremy has it.
So no need for me to bring up that Meridian is Older than UO and Everquest is next.
But I will add the Original Diablo, the last time I checked it is still running and still running in hacked God Mode.
Beat me to it. It probably qualifies as 'massively multiplayer' but not as persistent, I suppose, as other genre choices. Godly Plate of the Whale FTW, eh?
(Edit: see below, Neverwinter Nights by AOL was the First MMORPG but no longer in service, The Realm Online is next and is still in service.)
Asheron's Call was released November 2nd, 1999 and was/is developed by Turbine, Inc. and published by Microsoft which, at the time of release, used MSN Zone to log into the world and register for the game. In 2004 Turbine did away with MSN Zone when they purchased the rights (a year earlier in 2003) to the franchise from Microsoft and allowed users to migrate their old MSN Zone characters to the Turbine database, which I did for 2 of my AC accounts. Was sweet to pick AC back up after not playing it for nearly 7 years, import my OLD arse characters, and play.
More information on older MMORPGs:
Neverwinter Nights (AOL), released March 1991. (Oldest MMORPG but is no longer in service, ended in 1997)
The Realm Online, released March 1995. (Oldest MMORPG still in service)
The rest are all also still in service and worthy of being mentioned as paving the way for the spectacular MMORPGs we see today:
Meridian59, released December 15th 1995 in a early stage then fully published/released in September 1996.
Furcadia, released December 16th 1996.
Ultima Online, released September 25th 1997.
Everquest, released March 16th 1999.
Asheron's Call, released November 2nd 1999.
Just to note, MUDs (text based roleplaying online games), have all MMORPGs beat of course. I do not think the OP was referring to MUDs however since he refers to Ultima Online, an MMORPG.
Asheron's Call was released November 2nd, 1999 and was/is developed by Turbine, Inc. and published by Microsoft which, at the time of release, used MSN Zone to log into the world and register for the game. In 2004 Turbine did away with MSN Zone when they purchased the rights (a year earlier in 2003) to the franchise from Microsoft and allowed users to migrate their old MSN Zone characters to the Turbine database, which I did for 2 of my AC accounts. Was sweet to pick AC back up after not playing it for nearly 7 years, import my OLD arse characters, and play.
More information on older MMORPGs:
Neverwinter Nights (AOL), released March 1991. (Oldest MMORPG but is no longer in service, ended in 1997)
The Realm Online, released March 1995. (Oldest MMORPG still in service)
The rest are all also still in service and worthy of being mentioned as paving the way for the spectacular MMORPGs we see today:
Meridian59, released December 15th 1995 in a early stage then fully published/released in September 1996.
Furcadia, released December 16th 1996.
Ultima Online, released September 25th 1997.
Everquest, released March 16th 1999.
Asheron's Call, released November 2nd 1999.
Just to note, MUDs (text based roleplaying online games), have all MMORPGs beat of course. I do not think the OP was referring to MUDs however since he refers to Ultima Online, an MMORPG.
Everquest was released on March 16, 1999.
I would have posted a link but I am unlcear about the advertising thingy so I will just say if anyone wants to see it is a simple google.
I would also point out that Everquest is the largest of the MMORPG's of that era, content, expansion packs and subscribers.
In one sense it is very funny how EQ and UO are linked at the hip.
Try these perennial arguments made on the EQ boards over the last 3+ years.
EQ is dieing, it will be dead tomorrow unless this is done.
EQ is dieing, it is not attracting new players and will die tomorrow unless massive advertisement is done.
EQ is BOREING, unless something new is done I will close my 1000 accounts tomorrow. And all my friends with their 1000 accounts each will close theirs the day after I tell them I left. And EQ will die the day after that.
EQ is dieing because SOE has abandoned PvP.
EQ is dieing because SOE has abandoned Tradeskills.
EQ is dieing because SOE has abandoned the individual / small groups in favor of the massive raid encounters.
-------------------
The majority of EQ players were UO players that, when given a VIABLE CHOICE, chose to go to a game that segregated PvM and PvP (think SP shards and Trammel shards).
SOE got caught with its pants down, just like OSI did. They both assumed because their subscribers were there, that they would always be there. As in Your here so you like it. They both missed the reality that there was no meaningful choice to move to.
EQ did to UO what WoW did to EQ. *Shrug* Wow just did it bigger and better and may have learned to NOT assume that because people are there, that they will always be there, because they like the way things are.
I would have posted a link but I am unlcear about the advertising thingy so I will just say if anyone wants to see it is a simple google.
I would also point out that Everquest is the largest of the MMORPG's of that era, content, expansion packs and subscribers.
In one sense it is very funny how EQ and UO are linked at the hip.
Try these perennial arguments made on the EQ boards over the last 3+ years.
EQ is dieing, it will be dead tomorrow unless this is done.
EQ is dieing, it is not attracting new players and will die tomorrow unless massive advertisement is done.
EQ is BOREING, unless something new is done I will close my 1000 accounts tomorrow. And all my friends with their 1000 accounts each will close theirs the day after I tell them I left. And EQ will die the day after that.
EQ is dieing because SOE has abandoned PvP.
EQ is dieing because SOE has abandoned Tradeskills.
EQ is dieing because SOE has abandoned the individual / small groups in favor of the massive raid encounters.
-------------------
The majority of EQ players were UO players that, when given a VIABLE CHOICE, chose to go to a game that segregated PvM and PvP (think SP shards and Trammel shards).
SOE got caught with its pants down, just like OSI did. They both assumed because their subscribers were there, that they would always be there. As in Your here so you like it. They both missed the reality that there was no meaningful choice to move to.
EQ did to UO what WoW did to EQ. *Shrug* Wow just did it bigger and better and may have learned to NOT assume that because people are there, that they will always be there, because they like the way things are.
Neverwinter Nights by AOL has everyone (MMORPGs) beat by being the first, however The Realm Online has them all beat by still being in service.
Figures it would have been AOL to release the first MMORPG.
*Orvago chuckles shaking his head*
See my post above, I edited it after doing further research.
Figures it would have been AOL to release the first MMORPG.
*Orvago chuckles shaking his head*
See my post above, I edited it after doing further research.
P
Pawl
Guest
AOL .......was first, but ended,
Meridian 59 ..........came 2nd ended for a short time and restarted and still going today,
The realm.........came 3nd
as for EQ it still alive, more players then UO, It has PVP shards, and other hard shards. Trade skills have been revampped and lota new items added... EQ offered 3 months free for returning players few months ago and LOT came back after seeing changes..
as far as aol, game it was for AOL account only at beginning.. so not everyone could play..
Meridian 59 ..........came 2nd ended for a short time and restarted and still going today,
The realm.........came 3nd
as for EQ it still alive, more players then UO, It has PVP shards, and other hard shards. Trade skills have been revampped and lota new items added... EQ offered 3 months free for returning players few months ago and LOT came back after seeing changes..
as far as aol, game it was for AOL account only at beginning.. so not everyone could play..
Incorrect, The Realm Online was 2nd, Meridian 3rd being beat by about 9 months or about 18 months if you count "fully" released. See my edited reply above for dates.
I think this topic needs to be refined more. Like you really can't compare any free games to a subscription based game. So since Uo is a subscription based game. Go from there. What other games that you have to pay for are the longest running. Free games can last alot longer. Any game where it is just short sessions where you hook up with like a dozen or so people to complete a campaign isnt an online game(in the sense).
The Realm Online: $6.99/month. (1st oldest still active MMORPG)
Meridian 59: $10.95 per month. (2nd oldest still active MMORPG)
*Orvago winks*
as for EQ it still alive, more players then UO
Sorry i doubt that is true...EQ with over 100k players??? Huh??? very much doubt it... unless u are of course referring to the comeback campaign were peeps may have retried it whilst it was free again...then even then i doubt the statement would read true.
Sorry i doubt that is true...EQ with over 100k players??? Huh??? very much doubt it... unless u are of course referring to the comeback campaign were peeps may have retried it whilst it was free again...then even then i doubt the statement would read true.
----------------------------
Thanks Orvago that sum's the ''mmo rpg genre'' brilliantly!!!
I'm pretty sure they ALL had video cards.
They just weren't all VGA video cards. Some of them were EGA, or worse, CGA. Or monochrome. Eeep.But yeah, 3,000 for the time would have been amazing. Just not "massive."
I think we've twisted the definition of an MMORPG, particularly since the phrase wasn't even coined in the media until UO was out and EQ and others were in the works.
However, if we're talking about MMOGs, regardless of subscription and number of players conncurrent in one session, there's a whole slew to throw into the cauldron. I think however the initial purpose of this thread was to determine the modern era MMORPGs of similar style and vein to UO.
Meridian 59, NWN, and even The Realm, while multiplayer, were far from massive. UO was the game that defined "massive," and EQ went on to double that definition. Then, years later, WoW came out and said, "Hah. Those numbers are child's play." But remember, WoW's success was because of the game and how it was developed... it's not doing what it's doing solely on name alone.
However, if we're talking about MMOGs, regardless of subscription and number of players conncurrent in one session, there's a whole slew to throw into the cauldron. I think however the initial purpose of this thread was to determine the modern era MMORPGs of similar style and vein to UO.
Meridian 59, NWN, and even The Realm, while multiplayer, were far from massive. UO was the game that defined "massive," and EQ went on to double that definition. Then, years later, WoW came out and said, "Hah. Those numbers are child's play." But remember, WoW's success was because of the game and how it was developed... it's not doing what it's doing solely on name alone.
L
Locker
Guest
When the typical online game at that point was for 2 or 4 players I think 3000 is pretty massive and that number doubled a year later. Also in this context massive seems like it should be about capacity, not about number of subscribers.
It is obvious, for some reason, that folks don't want UO to be beat in this category so they just ignore the information.
No biggie... Drakkar cost a lot but I had had hella fun and still play it from time to time.
Peace,
Locker
It is obvious, for some reason, that folks don't want UO to be beat in this category so they just ignore the information.
No biggie... Drakkar cost a lot but I had had hella fun and still play it from time to time.
Peace,
Locker
I dunno, to me, 3000 people would still suffice as a Massive amount of people. Massive is just another word for saying "very large amount" in terms of numbers. 3,000 is a large amount of people, especially back then, being online in one game.
It is true though, Richard Garriot was the one who got the term MMORPG going with UO. Before UO they were referred to as MMO or MMOG I think, but I am not sure as the info out there is sketchy. I didn't hear of the
"MMORPG," "MMO," or "MMOG" terms until after UO though, so I don't know first hand when these terms began their use.
It is true though, Richard Garriot was the one who got the term MMORPG going with UO. Before UO they were referred to as MMO or MMOG I think, but I am not sure as the info out there is sketchy. I didn't hear of the
"MMORPG," "MMO," or "MMOG" terms until after UO though, so I don't know first hand when these terms began their use.
Uh, when I left EQ in the Spring to return to UO, the subscription level was at 400,000. I doubt that it was that high but I have NO dobut it easily exceeded 300K.
This is NOT and will NOT turn into an EQ advertisement.
There are more worlds IN EQ than there are Shards in UO.
Each World easily has MORE players at any given moment than the UO shards I visited (all except the Oriental based shards).
There is a single PvP shard and it really is about like any of the heavily populated shards in UO and is considered to be as dead, population wise, compared to the other worlds, as SP is to the Trammel Facets.
BUT TRUST ME, PvP in EQ is really bad. It is a Monumental Screw UP.
As for the acronym MMORPG -
Albert Einstein said, "When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity."
Subjective .....
DD was one of the first (not laying claim to being the first) to coin the acronym, in context he was saying that when 100K subscriptions were exceeded, that WAS MASSIVE. The creators of EQ and the others, quickly adopted that definition.
Do we really want to pervert that definition because we can? (every thing is subjective isn't it)
P
Pawl
Guest
Meridain 59 came before The realm...
Go to wikipedia to even go look
One thing you have to look at is release dates
Meridain 59 Free open Beta June 1996 with 25,000 players
Pay and commercial launch on September 27, 1996,
The realm Dec 31 1996 Note read top few lines of page
""""The Realm Online, originally known simply as The Realm, was among the first MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) for public release (the public 'Beta' was out 5 months before Meridian 59's commercial release, but was preceded by Furcadia by 15 days). 'The Realm Online', often referred to as 'The Realm', is still being played worldwide by a small number of players, and is known as one of the few 'classics' that is still dial-up friendly and easy to play."""""
The realm beta only came out 5 months before M59 was release!!!!!!!
so the part about The realm coming out in march 1995 HAS to be a typo!!!!!
it had to be March 1996
AND
Furcadia Dec 16 1996
it beat The realm BY 15 DAYS and still going to this day!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_realm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furcadia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridian_59
Go to wikipedia to even go look
One thing you have to look at is release dates
Meridain 59 Free open Beta June 1996 with 25,000 players
Pay and commercial launch on September 27, 1996,
The realm Dec 31 1996 Note read top few lines of page
""""The Realm Online, originally known simply as The Realm, was among the first MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) for public release (the public 'Beta' was out 5 months before Meridian 59's commercial release, but was preceded by Furcadia by 15 days). 'The Realm Online', often referred to as 'The Realm', is still being played worldwide by a small number of players, and is known as one of the few 'classics' that is still dial-up friendly and easy to play."""""
The realm beta only came out 5 months before M59 was release!!!!!!!
so the part about The realm coming out in march 1995 HAS to be a typo!!!!!
it had to be March 1996
AND
Furcadia Dec 16 1996
it beat The realm BY 15 DAYS and still going to this day!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_realm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furcadia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridian_59
I miss Meridian 59. Server 101 for the win.
You forgot Dark Sun Online (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Sun_Online) Game was released on 04/22/96
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19971024/shot9.gif
Out of all mentioned so far....which game is oldest in concept? IE; UO had NES versions back in the late 80's......
Oh this last one is definetly Ultima. Ultima I was released in the late 70's early 80's for the Commodore 64 computer. Granted Ultima I and II were crappy. They were the start of Ultima. However the continent we know as Sosaria was brought about in Ultima III. The only problem UO had was they veered too far away from Ultima world when they made it. For example the dungeons. In the original games all * of the original dungeons Covetous, Destard, etc. each had 8 levels where the 8th lvl all 8 dungeons connected to each other. This is something Uo should have made.
B
Beastmaster
Guest
Your mention of C64 reminded me of my first online games - Tradewars and Empire. Tradewars was hosted on PC bulletin boards systems and Empire was hosted on C64 bulletin boards. Another was Food Fight. All 3 were text based. I released an online C64 version of Minesweep before I ever saw the game on a PC.
Any Color64/128 Sysops out there?
Any Color64/128 Sysops out there?
B
Belmarduk
Guest
In 2005 UO was allready on its decline and had about half the subscribers Eve has now - Believe me I wish UO was still growing.... but sadly it is...not
P
Pawl
Guest
Trade Wars ROCKED!!!! Played it on BBS, then ran my own, Apple IIe then upgraded to the GS...
Still have the Apple IIe and Apple II GS
AND Tradewars is Still being played to this day, yes it got graphics but game is still based off the text versions. Now called tradewars 2002 you can still find Telnet servers and online bbs sites running it..
So this game never cost anyone anything to play, but it i guess could be called the OLDEST multiplayer online game!