Any UO'ers planning on playing SWTOR?

[Woodsman]

Isn't Skyrim first person though? Kingdoms of Amalur looks like it'll be third person, hm. The Destiny system looks pretty cool, too. Reminds me of something that could easily turn into a MOBA MMO. I'd have to look for a sweet third person iso to replace my UO addiction.

Skyrim is first person, but both it and Amalur are sandboxy even though they are single-player (for now).

Ultima Aira has a bunch of Amalur stuff: http://www.ultimaaiera.com/blog/lots-of-reckoning-linkage/

There have been interviews where both had developers mentioning the influence of the Ultima series.

My hope is that with Dragon Age doing well, Skyrim doing well, and if Star Wars and Kingdoms of Amalur do wel, that EA will start pumping resources into UO/Camelot/Warhammer.

That may seem crazy, but Skyrim is expected to do well over half a billion dollars and it's got the attention of a lot of people at EA, Star Wars has exceeded pre-order expectations. If Amalur does well, being that EA is the publisher, there is a small part of me that thinks EA may finally realize just how much money there is in properly done and properly supported RPGs, and that would bode well for UO since it's under BioWare. Plus the 15th anniversary is next year. EA does like making money.

For a flashback to UO's predecessors that set the tone for the sandbox feel of UO, this was written a few days ago:

Gaming Made Me: Ultima VII | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

In fact, it’s at The Blue Boar that everything came together. Not at the Black Gate or in some grotty underground cave; right there, sitting with my friends on either side and a drunk shopkeeper opposite. As the evening turns to night the place really fills up. There’s the baker, who I learned a new trade from earlier, he’s arrived just in time to grab a plate of meat and potatoes, and trade jokes with his mates. And there, over in the corner on his own, that’s the tailor, downing tankard after tankard. Business must be very good. Or very bad.

I could sit in The Blue Boar for ages, making up stories for all the patrons, knowing that I’d be able to track them down the next day. They weren’t spawned at the doors, forced into existence so that the pub would feel like a pub and them snuffed out of existence as they left, they were the same people who would be walking the streets the next day and selling me goods.

Then people would stand up, say their goodbyes and leave. Closing time. And time for me to find a bed for the night or, more likely, to trudge back into the wilds looking for some fresh adventure. I’d always be back though, to The Blue Boar, because it felt like a haven. I had friends there, and warmth and food, I was part of something. I was no longer the audience, I was an actor sharing a stage.

Britannia wasn’t very large compared to more recent game worlds or the ludicrousness of Daggerfall but it did have variety and it felt like a place full of life. In a way that made me more eager to protect it but it also made me far more willing to become part of that life. I had to force myself to deliver the promise I held as the Avatar because I’d rather have been one of the ordinary folks. Hunting and drinking, dining and dancing. Ultima is all about the Virtues and one of the greatest virtues of this most excellent entry in the series was its ability to make being a hero so hard. Not because of high-powered enemies and ridiculous grind, but because it offered a world full of distractions instead of arrows pointing to the bad guys.

 

[icm420]

I didn't read much of this.. but is skyrim somehow EA? I thought bethesda was it's own thing..either way if skyrim is anything liek oblivion then it will be an amazing game.

Dragon age was cool for a bit but for me it was a game I could play threw once then mayb touch it a year or two later. I had no interest in going threw it again on a differnt type of toon, mage all the way and was only one mage story to play no matter your race.

And I'm going to diablo3.. I played diablo2 for years and I loved it.. however i've heard bad things about the pvp.. we will see.

Oh and star wars looks stupid to me.. no intentions of playing ti

 

[Woodsman]

I didn't read much of this.. but is skyrim somehow EA? I thought bethesda was it's own thing..either way if skyrim is anything liek oblivion then it will be an amazing game.

It's not an EA title, but EA is paying attention - if you go on Twitter or read what EA executives and employees are saying, a lot of them are talking about Skyrim.

Probably in part because Kingdom of Amalur (Which is published by EA) is coming out in 4 months, and if it does well, that's two successful AAA single-player medieval/fantasy sandbox RPG titles within six months. If you mix in Dragon Age 2, that would be three successful AAA single-player medieval/fantasy RPG titles within 11 months.

I would make a joke about Skyrim (and Amalur/Dragon Age) being a throwback to what Richard Garriott describes as the "first era" of gaming but the point is that they are going against conventional wisdom, and with Amalur and Skyrim they are both sandboxy.

From EA's perspective (and bottom line) , Amalur, along with Dragon Age, would make a good case for EA to rethink medieval RPGs, and possibly MMORPGs in the long run. I'm not saying that they'll push a new Ultima RPG out anytime, but if EA has two successful medieval/fantasy RPGs under its belt within a year....and if it sees Skyrim pulling in half a billion dollars...

Huge success in the RPG area would be good for UO.

 

[Zosimus]

When you have web/tv famous people (Felicia Day) playing that have a huge following playing Skyrim and tweeting about it that also helps

 

[Woodsman]

It's hard for me to imagine how well a true AAA sandboxy Ultima RPG developed by BioWare would be received these days, given how many people who are now developers or who run the gaming websites were fans of Ultima, but I imagine that it would be incredibly well-received and incredibly well-publicized.

 

[Aran]

If you mix in Dragon Age 2, that would be three successful AAA single-player medieval/fantasy RPG titles within 11 months.

No, if you mix in Dragon Age 2 you're still only at two good titles.

 

[curlybeard]

I felt some of the areas in Ilsh had some creatures in it which somehow didn't feel right. Robot like things, kinda. Is it that sort of thing?

That's it exactly. It was a marketing gimmick to bring Todd McFarlane in and it was quite obvious he had no clue what UO was or what UO was about.

I thought Todd McFarlane was brought in for one of the cancelled UO sequels. The idea was to make UO steam punk. I think the rationale for the change in genre at the time was that EA wanted to expand the player base without directly stealing subs from UO. Turns out it didn't work out and the project was cancelled. To recoup some of the investment some steam punk content was added into UO as part of the LBR expansion.

But this could just be thoughts rolling around in my head with my few remaining marbles with no basis in reality, as I don't have citations to back it.

 

[A Thought Elemental]

I thought Todd McFarlane was brought in for one of the cancelled UO sequels. The idea was to make UO steam punk. I think the rationale for the change in genre at the time was that EA wanted to expand the player base without directly stealing subs from UO. Turns out it didn't work out and the project was cancelled. To recoup some of the investment some steam punk content was added into UO as part of the LBR expansion.

But this could just be thoughts rolling around in my head with my few remaining marbles with no basis in reality, as I don't have citations to back it.

That would make sense in that it joins up 2 different-sounding things I've heard about all of this.

 

[Saphireena]

I've set up our guild "The Elders" on both the Sith Empire and Republic side. If you're a 25+ (RL age) roleplayer, feel free to apply. You can read about our concept on the Elders page.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I Really Really enjoyed the first 2 knights of the old republic games on xbox and while im sure this will be a bit dif being as its an mmorpg type game i defo have the highest of hopes for it.They make killer games!Ill try it if my pc allows me to Im sure if it does i will love it!

 

[Morgana LeFay (PoV)]

+1.

 

[Zosimus]

+1.

Happy to see your still alive and doing well Have a happy and safe holiday season Morgana

 

[Aran]

I thought Todd McFarlane was brought in for one of the cancelled UO sequels. The idea was to make UO steam punk. I think the rationale for the change in genre at the time was that EA wanted to expand the player base without directly stealing subs from UO. Turns out it didn't work out and the project was cancelled. To recoup some of the investment some steam punk content was added into UO as part of the LBR expansion.

But this could just be thoughts rolling around in my head with my few remaining marbles with no basis in reality, as I don't have citations to back it.

That's pretty much it.