Ultima Online: On And On We Go....

[Prince Caspian]

For years... in fact, since year one, people have predicted the folding of Ultima Online. Within months. Days. Hours!

Even I have had my doubts in the past -- but so far it keeps on trucking. So many things feel precarious -- EA's financial straits.... the age of this game.... failed client upgrade after failed client upgrade... and most of all, our dwindling player base.

But we still have new content, and things seem to be as robust as ever from the development side.

But I wonder... what is keeping us afloat? The MMORPG market is flooded with so many (increasingly sophisticated) products. I can't imagine we are recouping many players who left, and I really can't imagine the younger generation joining up a game whose heyday may indeed precede their time on this planet...

Could it be that EA is keeping us around out of a sentimentality and bragging rights (the longest fully animated MMORPG in existence) due to low overhead?

 

[Taylor]

I haven't been able to get into other MMORPGs. Believe me, I've tried. We have three vacant portals that need Managing Editors--Lineage 2, Everquest II, and RIFT. I was hoping to be drawn into one of these games and temporarily fill the roll, myself, but after trying them, I found myself disinterested.

In sum, UO ruined MMORPGs for me. I can't articulate why, but there's something special about it.

 

[LadyNico]

It's been an internal shift for me. I no longer worry overmuch about when the plug will be pulled on UO. It's more a matter of how long it will be until I pull the plug on playing UO.

 

[popps]

Personally, I think that with its almost whopping 15 years of age, Ultima Online is a milestone of the industry and milestones cannot easily be dismissed........it might not even be convenient to get rid of such a milestone because there is always the possibility of sequels, major overhauling etc.

So, I would imagine, even if UO just breaks even between costs and revenues, it still might be a good thing to keep it going because one never knows, the milestone might become very usefull sometimes down the road.

That's at least as I see it.

 

[Carharrt]

and on and on we go with threads bout the same bs........

 

[Bella]

I still play though not as much as I use to. But still, I cannot see a time when I won't have at least one active account. UO will always hold a special place in my heart.

Bella

 

[lucitus]

I haven't been able to get into other MMORPGs. Believe me, I've tried. We have three vacant portals that need Managing Editors--Lineage 2, Everquest II, and RIFT. I was hoping to be drawn into one of these games and temporarily fill the roll, myself, but after trying them, I found myself disinterested.

In sum, UO ruined MMORPGs for me. I can't articulate why, but there's something special about it.

I couldnt say it better, have tried so much and would be boored so fast. UO has shown what is and should be possible and i cant get into these genere because all games are behind UO, most of them far behind.

 

[Felonious Monk]

and on and on we go with threads bout the same bs........

Good to see you filling the void.
way to step up to plate

 

[Emil Ispep]

Since EA is unable/unwilling to put a UO box on store shelves, or do any form of advertising about UO, the player base will continue to dwindle.

One way to bring new players in is to refer RL friends and family to UO. Ive done this with a few friends, a few stuck around, and some didnt.. this more than EA is ever going to do, especially with a 15 year old game.

If everyone brought in one player and they stuck around, and then those who stuck with it brought in another player who sticks.. we might have a viable solution.

Kinda funny though, EA puts all this time and effort into new MMOs which flop, and UO is sitting right here.

How many 'newer' MMOs has UO outlived? And how many more will it outlive?

 

[Prince Caspian]

Good to see you filling the void.
way to step up to plate

Just what I was going to say.

Sure, it's ground covered endlessly, but I always wonder why people who have to weigh in and say this kind of crap are usually the ones who contribute the least on the forums.

 

[Ken of Napa]

It's been an internal shift for me. I no longer worry overmuch about when the plug will be pulled on UO. It's more a matter of how long it will be until I pull the plug on playing UO.

I never thought that I would be one of the people that thought this way. However this is exactly how I feel right now.

I currently have 6 accounts still open. Not really sure why anymore. I hardly log onto the game now.

I've packed up my museum but haven't put it into bank box's yet. However that's coming soon, after that who know's? I may go ahead and sell my malis castle to Nabin, he's been wanting to buy it back for a while.

I think part of the problem is, that after playing this game over 12 years I've accomplished as much as I ever wanted. I've placed, bought and sold Castles, Keeps and other homes. I currently have 2 Castles, a Luna Home, a Fel Keep, a Tram Large Tower and Two Malas 18 x 18's over 3 shard's. I've managed to obtain the 3 rare items that I wanted most in UO. Even had a duplicate of one and sold it at auction for half what I paid for it. Wasn't a big deal because what am I going to do with the gold anyway?

Anyone want to buy a Loaded Fel Keep on Cats?

 

[T-Hunt]

All other games are a filler...6 months top your borred.
They dont have any replay value to them..
Yes there graphics may be far beter then UO..but alot of them are going back to the over head view that makes UO.

Other games have some sort of housing, yes...but it is nowere near what UO has.
Were else can you place a plot and built it from the ground up..and place stuff were you want ..to a extant..

No you cant do it LOTRO, Vanguard, EQ2 somewhat but its intence housing and borring.
Other games you have a cookie cutter template when it comes to chars..if you want to succeed..

In uo you can be anything you want..crafter that can kick a paragons but..or a jack of useless skills..

There is replay value in UO, if there wasent the game would have died long ago..
And yes EA needs to do something about showing UO to the public..

 

[Uvtha]

Costs are very low. The dev team is pretty small, and assuming like 20k players thats still like 3 mill a year on just subs.

 

[sativa green]

UO offers less and less to a subscriber with half-asses "boosters", increasing monthly fees, and very little insight into what the future holds. i've played UO for the past 11 years, and to me, the game just doesn't hold up to what other MMOs offer in terms of content.

i'm fairly confident that once i figure out what to do with my house, i will be closing my account until i see some glimpse of hope for UO. something that offers a better pvp system than factions and a higher incentive to actually get out there and do these endless grind loyalty gains that made WOW completely irritating.

 

[SugarSmacks]

I have pvp ready toons on at least 8 shards, and i could spend up to an hour in this game shard hopping looking for a fight.

People say go to Atlantic and its about as horrible as anywhere. The player base of whats left of this game refuses to even try to fight without a group of people behind it.

Then it occurs to me how much im paying to not get to fight anyone.

Or all the recent events and storyline and invasions dont give us crap, and let me tell you after 14 years thats a first. And im supposed to feel bad for asking stuff.

O lets not forget the uncontrolled scripting or speedhacking that they do nothing about but HEY! everyone on the free servers run the same speed so it just MUST be impossible to fix.

EA is a joke, a BILLION dollar joke, whats the point in playing one of their games? To make them money while they give me the middle finger? I would be a fool to ever willingly buy another product of theirs after the service i received here and so would you.

 

[Woodsman]

Personally, I think that with its almost whopping 15 years of age, Ultima Online is a milestone of the industry and milestones cannot easily be dismissed........it might not even be convenient to get rid of such a milestone because there is always the possibility of sequels, major overhauling etc.

It's EA, if they lose money on UO, they will ditch it in a heartbeat. They do not like UO.

Kinda funny though, EA puts all this time and effort into new MMOs which flop, and UO is sitting right here.

How many 'newer' MMOs has UO outlived? And how many more will it outlive?

I'm not defending them, they did lay off UO developers when UO was still profitable while Warhammer crashed and burned like no other MMO before or since, but the Sims Online was a brilliant idea, just many years too early. The new Sims Online game is insanely successful on Facebook. If they did a facebook version of the muscle car MMO they tried, I'm sure it'd succeed wildly as well. Star Wars is doing way better than anybody expected, but it was being worked on before EA acquired BioWare, and I do not dismiss EA's ability to meddle with BioWare and screw it up.

EA has supported Star Wars (and the Sims Social facebook thing) in a way that it has never supported any MMO under it's control. Garriott had to fight for UO, and but even then it seemed like EA was deliberately doing things to hurt UO both before and after he left (splitting off into a new UO with Garriott while not figuring out what to do with the existing UO, Ultima-based games that took resources from UO, moving the UO team from Texas to California and then to Virginia, etc.). Mark Jacobs had to fight hard for UO and Camelot. Meanwhile BioWare and the Facebook gaming group gets anything they want.

The BioWare leadership even said that they and they alone control UO and that EA has nothing to do in regards to decisions made about UO, and yet UO is still treated just as crappily under BioWare as it was under EA.

I think UO has a few more years, but even since I've been back I've seen long time players leaving. If they don't try to bring in new players and make a serious effort at bringing old players back, then UO will end.

Has there actually been anything talked about in regards to helping bring in new players? Cal was the last person that said anything specific, but it seems like the UO team now has no interest in new players, just keeping existing players around.

 

[Woodsman]

EA is a joke, a BILLION dollar joke, whats the point in playing one of their games? To make them money while they give me the middle finger? I would be a fool to ever willingly buy another product of theirs after the service i received here and so would you.

I felt a little guilty about buying The Old Republic and Kingdoms of Amalur. I'm not too thrilled of TOR now, but at least Kingdoms of Amalur was only published by EA, and not owned by them (for now I hope Curt Schilling doesn't sell out like the BioWare founders or have to sell like Garriott did).

EA and Ubisoft: two companies I have no desire to purchase from going forward.