Decline and Fall of Ultima Online

[hawkeye_pike]

Somebody now clearly cares about Ultima within BioWare. GOG.com, UltimaForever, and the announcement about upgrading the graphics and EC and new player stuff, those all happened within the past several months and they can't be a coincidence, not after all of the neglect UO and the Ultima franchise has suffered.

Maybe. Or maybe not. I have seen too many announcements and promises not coming true that I formed the habit to wait for results before becoming too enthusiastic.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

This. Somebody now clearly cares about Ultima within BioWare. GOG.com, UltimaForever, and the announcement about upgrading the graphics and EC and new player stuff, those all happened within the past several months and they can't be a coincidence, not after all of the neglect UO and the Ultima franchise has suffered. You could toss in the recent announces about Camelot getting an upgraded website and new user thing as signs of something as well.

I finally got the chance to look at Ultima Forever and I was pleasantly shocked by how much it front-loaded UO.

Interesting.

I really wish they had gone with a high-resolution 2d-style animated thing for UO, a-la Saphireena's pictures now....Because that would have been much more Ultima and much better looking and much more Ultima than the EC is, and much better looking than the CC is.

If some kid decides to go retro-gamer, downloads U4, likes it, and then tries Ultima Online and finds that the EC lags him more than WoW could ever hope to? Not good!

I guess it will depend in large part on what changes they make to the EC. Although it's clear that the CC won't go away until computers so outstrip it that it can't work anymore, and I feel all content should be in the CC even if they only use placeholder graphics, I feel that the EC should be a major priority, right up there with content.

As a CC player I'll be more than happy with placeholder art; as long as I can function with it and new players will have something more modern to play with? I'm good.

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Maybe. Or maybe not. I have seen too many announcements and promises not coming true that I formed the habit to wait for results before becoming too enthusiastic.

This is the other thing of course. If whomever's idea this was is fired or quite or is put on something else? It could all come crashing down fast.

And I say "all," assuming there's more planned than this site, which for EA is a big assumption.

-Galen's player

 

[gunneroforgin]

I don't believe that EA would spend money on a game that is dead. So all of the retoric above is meaningless. I will continue to play until EA puts me out. I will go kicking and screaming. lol

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

I don't believe that EA would spend money on a game that is dead. So all of the retoric above is meaningless. I will continue to play until EA puts me out. I will go kicking and screaming. lol

mmmm UO:2 ??
true enough ... "the game A" was not dead ... but "the Game B" never saw the light of day ... peek-a-boos ... but no launch

 

[HD2300]

I don't believe that EA would spend money on a game that is dead. So all of the retoric above is meaningless. I will continue to play until EA puts me out. I will go kicking and screaming. lol

Well they are spending money for astroturf and spam, just not on development. And I am not including the 30 EMs who are also paid by EA. It is bait and switch. Last year is was the Classic shard carrot spam, this year the EC graphics revamp carrot spam.

 

[Woodsman]

Well they are spending money for astroturf and spam, just not on development.

You've said this many times, but you've never provided proof. Every time I see UO mentioned on the gaming sites in the past six months, outside of the Curse.com video thing, every single time it's a comment made about UO in passing, such as comments on a game system or some story about Richard Garriott. Those aren't necessarily negative things (although inevitably comments in the comment section about UO are negatively referring to the graphics or Tram/AOS), but they aren't positive things. I find it really hard to believe that EA is paying those websites to mention UO, especially when UO is usually mentioned in a proper context.

Also, if EA was paying for comments to be made about UO, they would probably pay for positive comments in the comments sections of those stories, instead of leaving the posts ridiculing the graphics or Trammel or whatever unchallenged. Go make a mention of UO on a Massively.Joystiq story, watch for the "UO graphics " comment, and then notice that nobody rushes to defend UO.

I'm not saying that AOL wouldn't make up stories for its gaming websites just to have a passing mention of UO if EA paid them enough, but as ******** as EA management can be, even they know the money would be better spent on more developers/artists. Nobody is going to play UO because some story mentioned that Richard Garriott was running Origin when UO was developed, not after looking at the graphics.

It is bait and switch. Last year is was the Classic shard carrot spam, this year the EC graphics revamp carrot spam.

So you are saying they are not doing the graphics update? If that's the case, then put UO on a timer, because without new players coming in, and because it's not 2003 when EA could afford to lose 175,000 subs for UO, UO is headed towards being shut down. EA is not going to keep it open once it drops below a certain number of subs.

If content was king and graphics didn't matter, UO would have easily stayed above 100,000 subs, and the majority of shards wouldn't have so many deserted areas.

No offense to you or your fellow classic shard supporters (and I now kinda see your point about how nice it would be to have a classic shard), but there is only one thing that can keep UO going past the next few years, and that's an influx of new players who have never played UO.

A classic shard might bring back some veteran players, but you know what? Relying on people who have already quit the game in the past is the most ******** mistake anybody at EA could make. You don't put a game's future in the hands of people who have already proven they can walk away from the game.

 

[Nexus]

I've been here since Beta, and as I often have said, I will be here when Ultima Online closes. In fact, I'll be playing that very day -- I will throw a big party for the friends online I've met in the past several years in my tower, right up till server down.

But over the years, there have always been, year in and year out, declarations that UO is finished. UO is about to die. Origin/EA Mythic/etc are already selling off assets and the UO office will be closed for all time.

It gets numbing after a while so that you just ignore such posts. They were wrong before.

But I think UO is going to be gone within the next three years. The player population has been dwindling dramatically. Our returning players are very few. The game is just old. And most disturbing of all, EA Mythic is selling all kinds of sundries that give us cool benefits but also excise some of the play elements from the game. Our shelf presence has been non-existent since 2005 or so.

As many of you are going to point out, none of this is anything new. For the past five years, you could say the same about all of the above.

But the Maginica Bazaar is concerning me. This is a twist that gamers that I know of have been waiting for, for years. But on Sonoma, maybe 10% of the booths are even occupied. No bids for the rest. Plus the stories of EA Mythic taking a 40% sacking, makes me wonder how much longer this game will go before the plug is pulled.

I'm in my late 30s. The Ultima mythology is something from my generation. But I'm getting old -- and scooting to the outer fringe of the "gamer demographic." Most of the young people nowadays are no more familiar with the UO mythology than with Hogan's Alley Comic Strips from 1905. And so much behind UO is the mythology. In short, it's something that isn't going for it anymore. Plus, as I always maintained, gamers are fickle. They are usually chasing the next big thing.

Anyway, my thoughts. For the first time, I really think UO is on its way out.

But then, my voice may simply be added to the countless others incorrectly harkening UO's demise since this game came out.

I won't say UO has fallen but it has declined, largely I blame this on technology.

Technology has advanced and UO has not, and I don't blame the developers, or EA, or anyone I simply accept it as a natural effect. It's odd they say life imitates art, but at times the opposite is true. As time marches on just like people start age and loose the appearance of youth, so does software. UO has simply been marching through time and the fresh young faces of it's digital world are simply outshining it, and have displaced it's place in the spotlight. There is no blame to be give, no place to point fingers, the only thing we can do is accept that eventually UO will fade away and when the time comes accept it.

Give WoW another decade and it will be in the same boat I expect, the same holds true for other popular titles on the market. All of the MMO's of UO's generation have seen decline, we've all seen them shrink or close their doors even if we didn't pay it much notice, but it is happening and it will continue to happen.


Oh and you aren't scooting to the outer fringe of anything, you are firmly in the middle of the demographic!

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/average-age-of-gamers-is-32-says-study

 

[Llewen]

These kinds of threads have been appearing since the earliest days of every MMO that has ever been released in the history of the genre. They have always been based on nothing more than speculation and either an attempt to create bad press for the game, or some form of emotional hangover. This thread, and every other thread like it, should be locked. It is worthless, based on nothing, and serves no purpose other than to discourage those who are stupid enough to be taken in by it.

 

[Woodsman]

Technology has advanced and UO has not, and I don't blame the developers, or EA, or anyone I simply accept it as a natural effect. It's odd they say life imitates art, but at times the opposite is true. As time marches on just like people start age and loose the appearance of youth, so does software.

That's very ironic given that Origin used to push the technology envelope with the Ultima games.

It's really, really ironic when you think about it. Origin and the Ultima franchise evolved technologically as the hardware evolved. Ultima Online was supposed to be a living, breathing world of sorts that would evolve over time. Regardless of whether people think UO evolved or devolved, graphically it did stop evolving.

 

[Woodsman]

These kinds of threads have been appearing since the earliest days of every MMO that has ever been released in the history of the genre. They have always been based on nothing more than speculation

There is a point of no return. EA has shut down enough MMOs in the past that it's not idle speculation.

It is worthless, based on nothing, and serves no purpose other than to discourage those who are stupid enough to be taken in by it.

Actually it shows that a lot of us still think there is plenty of life left in UO if something would just be done. We may disagree on the finer points, but most believe that new players are key to UO.

 

[Nexus]

That's very ironic given that Origin used to push the technology envelope with the Ultima games.

It's really, really ironic when you think about it. Origin and the Ultima franchise evolved technologically as the hardware evolved. Ultima Online was supposed to be a living, breathing world of sorts that would evolve over time. Regardless of whether people think UO evolved or devolved, graphically it did stop evolving.

I honestly believe that when the game was in concept keeping up with technology was a goal, but I think it was rapidly realised that it wasn't practical. It's almost impossible to think that in a persistent game world you can do the type of updating that would be required to keep up with the march of technology.

Sure they can patch in new sound, and some new graphics, into the client, but on the back end... well remember how much they had to do to get the KR/SA clients to work properly with the CC. They had to turn to us to help them log shard specific relics of events and places past. Now imagine them trying to do the same thing while converting UO to a fully 3D game, it simply wouldn't work.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

There is a point of no return. EA has shut down enough MMOs in the past that it's not idle speculation.
Actually it shows that a lot of us still think there is plenty of life left in UO if something would just be done. We may disagree on the finer points, but most believe that new players are key to UO.

And "now" as you've noted but not named ...
we are beyond the simple "sky is falling" knee jerk
and wise to the too oft cry of wolf (all of the UO "killers")
and though it is a decent goal to be a never ending story

THAT story pivoted on the loss of true believers (the darkness)
and we NEED a young Atreyu to save our shattered shards
*sigh*
problem is ... that plot device won't work for UO
Nor will a "Return of the King" ... RG walked that character into the darkness of the void ...
and not even a STNG "Return of Kahless" will work (for the same reasons as there)
A "clone" will not suffice, not a one for many shards or many ones for each and every shard ...
An "Emperor" perhaps, to rule the many "kings"(EMs)
Touring about to visit the many parts to >maintain< a semblance of consistency of the Empire (Pax Romana)
BUT
kings or emperors ...(what RG "forgot") there needs be a known "chain of succession" to AVOID falling back to the dwindling anarchy we ARE currently experiencing ...
An Empire for a horse ... a leader ... a hero ... a story teller ... a story READER ... a lonely figure silhouetted on the ridge ... something ...


Well ... "something" IS happening ... went to background some guild characters and when I hit the MyUO link at the hearld ...
got this and with the "buddy program" recently(mysteriously)
being "temporarily disabled" hummmmm ... and one other
a "good thang" (thank the binaries)
FULL complete no patching needed FRESH client downloads ... Huzzah!
can't remember how long it has been needed ...
did not believe it when I saw it mentioned, so ...
borrowed a clean working box and downloaded
CC first ... zip zip zoom ... create new account ... new char ... went running about ... woot!
it worked !!
EC next ... phew! what a beast ... no problem ... keep chugging ... I'll get some coffee and try to be a calming stone in freshly raked sand ...
new account? no Thanks! got one ... play, password select shard ...
wow! I am alive where I left me ... now lets
start to
run
to the other
places
that
I was ju
st in the
clas
sic client ....
crashed to re-boot ...

considering options