• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Ultima Online

I feel like I've been chasing the MMO high I got from Ultima Online for the past 20 years and eventually gave up. nothing has come close to giving me the experience that Ultima Online gave me.

I've been playing it on and off on player made servers (shards) for the past 20 years.

I'm making this thread partly to see whether anyone else has had a similar experience with the game, or whether I'm just dealing with nostalgia.

The game is very challenging by today's standards

- if you die, you lose everything. your items stay on your body and odds are it will get looted by the time you get back to it. assuming you can even get back to it because now you're naked. also you have to run to a far away location to resurrect yourself so the whole process takes a long time, making it more likely your shit will get looted
- if you leave town, other players can kill you. if they kill you, they're stealing your shit.
- if you decide to PK enough, your name becomes red and now NPC guards in most towns will kill you on sight.

When you saw a red name, you would freak the fuck out.

What I think I loved most about the game was the economy and customization the game allowed. The whole crafting system was so rewarding. It took forever to raise your mining and smithing, for example, but once you finally got your smithing to a high enough level your crafted armor and weapons would have your name on it. And the stuff you crafted was considered top tier gear, so the in game economy rewarded you for your time and labor.

I could set up NPC vendors in my house to sell my crafted goods. And yes, in MY house. You could own houses. You would literally get to go out and find a plot of land and place your house. It could be anywhere in the world, as long as your house could fit on the plot of land. And there were many different styles of houses, each with cost that corresponded to their size. I've never played an MMO that had anything nearly as cool as this. You could fully participate in the game as a carpenter and never even raise a sword to a monster. You could make a name for yourself as an artisan. Where weary travelers would venture to your home to buy your exceptionally crafted goods.

You and your buddies could create a guild, put together all your gold and eventually get yourself a castle. You could decorate the castle with furniture you crafted, or that you purchased from other carpenters.

Yes, it was my first MMO. But firing up the game 20 years later still gives me those magic feelings.

Chilling by the bank in Lower West Britain

GP72irL.jpg


Player houses

Azoth_01.jpg

tjmm8eoh19lx.png


It's been a couple years since I've last gave it a go. The game is still officially running, although it has changed DRASTICALLY since it first came out in 1997. The player run servers (called player run shards) are still offering the same experience you had in the late 90s. There are plenty of options and they're pretty much all free.
 
Last edited:

Holammer

Member
First experience while testing on a friends account was getting ganked within seconds.
OoooOOooOOOooOOOo

The PVP aspect was poorly implemented and no doubt scared away lot of players. Tried it again years later after Trammel was introduced and explored it for maybe 100-200h and I particularlly enjoyed going to Vesper just for the music.

 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
I vaguely remember playing in a free server with a guild or team and stashing things like whatever ore bars in our castle, having a horse and constantly training my animal taming/control skill on random creatures to build it up to a useful level. Also some 3D models on same ol 2D map version.

Edit: the box I have free from some magazine with a trial iirc has this cover:
Ultima_Online_-_Third_Dawn_Coverart.png

I only remember playing/dedicating serious time to WoW up to level 60, then maybe slowing down when it came time for 70 before giving up altogether and never getting into any other. I think I only did one proper raid, Karazhan, as a tank, but the journey to end game, not the end game, was ace.
 
Last edited:

Hinedorf

Banned
Looking at your pictures.....did you play on the Pacific Shard because I swear I recognize some of those outfits and folks who'd be at west Brit, I might even be in that pic
 

shoplifter

Member


No other game since then has given me the pure joy UO at launch had. It was quite honestly, everything I had ever wanted, and had a level of freedom that games today can't touch. The engine was absolutely archaic based on modern standards, but the things you could do, the hijinks you could get up to...UO was just the best. It's probably why I liked EVE so much too, half the fun was trying to find ways to exploit the game for your own entertainment, usually at the expense of other players.
 
Last edited:
Looking at your pictures.....did you play on the Pacific Shard because I swear I recognize some of those outfits and folks who'd be at west Brit, I might even be in that pic
grabbed the pics off google images, so it very well could be you!
Obligatory


this music still has more of an effect on me than pretty much any other video game music ever. Zelda might be up there with it.
 

niilokin

Member
I played UO Renaissance as a 12 old, had no idea what I'm doing, I kept dying but fucking hell it was all so exciting, started getting bit downhill with AoS IMO, then the artstyle started getting fuglier with the weird shitty 3d models converted to 2d sprites and next thing you know it's got elves and samurais, fuck that. I tried some Second Age and Renaissance shards but I miss the old OSI days.
 
I played UO Renaissance as a 12 old, had no idea what I'm doing, I kept dying but fucking hell it was all so exciting, started getting bit downhill with AoS IMO, then the artstyle started getting fuglier with the weird shitty 3d models converted to 2d sprites and next thing you know it's got elves and samurais, fuck that. I tried some Second Age and Renaissance shards but I miss the old OSI days.
Yeah, I agree that over time it became shittier and shittier. I was fully out by the time samurais rolled around.
 

RaptorGTA

Member
Man, there will never be a game like UO. Me and my friend practically got everyone in my highscohol playing UO back in the day. We mainly played on a free shard called The Alter Realm. There were a few others we would jump on but TAR was the main one we use to play on.
 

Nocturno999

Member
UO and Shadowbane were the only MMOs that made me feel immersed in another world. Even with their dated graphics.
 
Last edited:

swaffles23

Member
Ultima Online is probably my top 2 favorite games of all time. I got my brother and a few friends hooked on it.

Going into dungeons to farm gold and seeing a bunch of red names pop up on screen was some of the most intense times I've ever had in gaming.

I loved playing as a thief and would just sit at banks and steal expensive weapons and rare stuff from players.

Played tons of mmorpgs over the years hoping to recapture the UO magic but nothing ever came close. There's still some really good free shards out there for anyone wanting to try it.

 

lillars

Member
The thieving in that game was hilarious. I remember one of my friends would just run up and steal from people near banks who were obviously looking at inventory. It seemed like at least half the time they couldn't spell "guards" correctly probably because they were in such a hurry to call them. You see "GURADS!", "GAURDDS!", etc. :messenger_tears_of_joy:. By the time they got it spelled correctly my friend would be way off the screen and out of the town. Of course this was it near the beginning of its release, so I'm not sure if they ever fixed that to be more lenient.
 
The thieving in that game was hilarious. I remember one of my friends would just run up and steal from people near banks who were obviously looking at inventory. It seemed like at least half the time they couldn't spell "guards" correctly probably because they were in such a hurry to call them. You see "GURADS!", "GAURDDS!", etc. :messenger_tears_of_joy:. By the time they got it spelled correctly my friend would be way off the screen and out of the town. Of course this was it near the beginning of its release, so I'm not sure if they ever fixed that to be more lenient.
On the shards I played on thievery was also really rampant, it was a blast

I had a hot key for “guards” but people would still have success if the victim wasn’t paying attention or AFK

You could also steal from pack animals
 
Last edited:

Aenima

Member
Ultima Online was the 1st MMO i played and the MMO i played the longest time (2 years).

I ended up being the strongest player in the server i was playing. The GMs organised fighting tournaments of 1vs1 in an arena, they got tired of me winning all the tournaments to the point they only allowed me to participate if i fought 2 players at a time. :D Thats what happens when ur the best blacksmith in the game and keep the best armor and weapons and sell lower tier ones to other players. :D

Fun times. But nowadays i would not play a MMO where when a player kills u you lose all ur loot and the enemy player can loot your body. The last MMO i played FFXIV is more what i look for in a MMO these days. Bigger focus in co-op and no pvp in the world.
 
Last edited:

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
I feel like I've been chasing the MMO high I got from Ultima Online for the past 20 years and eventually gave up. nothing has come close to giving me the experience that Ultima Online gave me.

I've been playing it on and off on player made servers (shards) for the past 20 years.

I'm making this thread partly to see whether anyone else has had a similar experience with the game, or whether I'm just dealing with nostalgia.

The game is very challenging by today's standards

- if you die, you lose everything. your items stay on your body and odds are it will get looted by the time you get back to it. assuming you can even get back to it because now you're naked. also you have to run to a far away location to resurrect yourself so the whole process takes a long time, making it more likely your shit will get looted
- if you leave town, other players can kill you. if they kill you, they're stealing your shit.
- if you decide to PK enough, your name becomes red and now NPC guards in most towns will kill you on sight.

When you saw a red name, you would freak the fuck out.

What I think I loved most about the game was the economy and customization the game allowed. The whole crafting system was so rewarding. It took forever to raise your mining and smithing, for example, but once you finally got your smithing to a high enough level your crafted armor and weapons would have your name on it. And the stuff you crafted was considered top tier gear, so the in game economy rewarded you for your time and labor.

I could set up NPC vendors in my house to sell my crafted goods. And yes, in MY house. You could own houses. You would literally get to go out and find a plot of land and place your house. It could be anywhere in the world, as long as your house could fit on the plot of land. And there were many different styles of houses, each with cost that corresponded to their size. I've never played an MMO that had anything nearly as cool as this. You could fully participate in the game as a carpenter and never even raise a sword to a monster. You could make a name for yourself as an artisan. Where weary travelers would venture to your home to buy your exceptionally crafted goods.

You and your buddies could create a guild, put together all your gold and eventually get yourself a castle. You could decorate the castle with furniture you crafted, or that you purchased from other carpenters.

Yes, it was my first MMO. But firing up the game 20 years later still gives me those magic feelings.

Chilling by the bank in Lower West Britain

GP72irL.jpg


Player houses

Azoth_01.jpg

tjmm8eoh19lx.png


It's been a couple years since I've last gave it a go. The game is still officially running, although it has changed DRASTICALLY since it first came out in 1997. The player run servers (called player run shards) are still offering the same experience you had in the late 90s. There are plenty of options and they're pretty much all free.

Eve Online is pretty much Ultima Online in space if you're into that sort of thing, but the game's info overload, myriad systems and somewhat detached gameplay leaves some people cold.
 

Rykan

Member
It is quite incredible how the entire genre has devolved from this. MMORPGs truly were a virtual world back then and it's crazy that all that potential went to waste. Instead, we now have glorified singleplayer games dressed as MMORPGS like Final Fantasy XIV which are heralded as "One of the best MMORPGS ever".
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
Easily the best mmorpg ever created to this day and an huge influence for my younger self. Spent so many beautiful days with my friends in that universe.
 

Moonjt9

Member
I feel the exact same way. UO was a truly revolutionary experience, definitely the best virtual world ever made. The fact that you could do anything and thrive was so amazing. Everything is combat only now.

No other MMO comes close to touching Ultima Online. Sadly, I don’t think a game like it could be made in current times.
 

Soosa

Banned
Best MMO I have played, we gamed on some american free shard called "abrupt utopia" on early 2000's.

Experience were great, so much to learn and explore, and then turn into notorius PK duo with my friend, I also had a thief which I used to steal some of the best items on the shard with luck.

Variety of things to do is still not mached, and it is difficult to do it. Having ability to have house in so many places is just epic, but would be difficult to do in modern games with millions of gamers.

I still think about those glorious adventures few times a year
 

Starhowl

Member
What's making me wonder is the in-game premium currency for a game as old as this one. Would love to have given it a chance, but with a broken mechanism? :pie_thinking:
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Very cool. I remember being in 8th grade and 3 of my buddies would talk about it all the time, it usually went something like this

Justin: "Joe, what the fuck, why did you kill all my sheep last night!?!?!"
Joe: "lol"
Justin: "And Ryan, you were with him, what the hell??"
Ryan: "I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen to me!"
Joe: "lol"
 
Last edited:
Very cool. I remember being in 8th grade and 3 of my buddies would talk about it all the time, it usually went something like this

Justin: "Joe, what the fuck, why did you kill all my sheep last night!?!?!"
Joe: "lol"
Justin: "And Ryan, you were with him, what the hell??"
Ryan: "I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen to me!"
Joe: "lol"
I remember riding around the world on my llama in search of sheep, taming them, then walking them back to my house to place them in a makeshift barn I created so I could trim their wool each day to raise my tailoring.

good times.

edit: only to have some jackass come by and cast earthquake, killing all my sheep :( I forgot about that. looking back it, it does feel like a very UO thing to have happen.
 
Last edited:
Loved ultima online. I was a volunteer at the end of my days with it (teleport etc and helped new players and stuff) I was filthy rich in that game and owned a villa in Felucia. One of my fondest experiences in gaming.
 
Played UO on Lake Superior back in T2A days. Stopped playing shortly after they released that weird Todd McFarlane expansion
 
I've been playing it on and off on player made servers (shards) for the past 20 years.
That's one of the reasons I never got into MMOs (Elder Scrolls Online being the exception) and it's the time commitment you have to spend in these immersive worlds. And there's no shortage of them, from World of Warcraft, Ashron's Call, Ultima Online, EverQuest, the list is endless.
 
That's one of the reasons I never got into MMOs (Elder Scrolls Online being the exception) and it's the time commitment you have to spend in these immersive worlds. And there's no shortage of them, from World of Warcraft, Ashron's Call, Ultima Online, EverQuest, the list is endless.
Ultima Online isn't really a time sink though. You can create macros to level up all your skills if so inclined. I have zero programming experience and was able to get them to work. it's actually pretty fun, seeing what you can do via macros. I know they're not for everyone though. but it allowed me to grind away at some of the more tedious skills while watching TV.
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
Ultima Online isn't really a time sink though. You can create macros to level up all your skills if so inclined. I have zero programming experience and was able to get them to work. it's actually pretty fun, seeing what you can do via macros. I know they're not for everyone though. but it allowed me to grind away at some of the more tedious skills while watching TV.
Ultima Online was fun for a time, but it had serious problems and the world moved on from it for good reason. You advocating for how the game is worth playing by utilizing systems to get around monotony so you can watch TV while the game runs in the background is quite the sales pitch.
 
Ultima Online was fun for a time, but it had serious problems and the world moved on from it for good reason. You advocating for how the game is worth playing by utilizing systems to get around monotony so you can watch TV while the game runs in the background is quite the sales pitch.
I'm not sure I collect VHS tapes I collect VHS tapes intent was selling people on an MMO from the 90s and I'm doubtful would play it anyway due to better products. He most likely wanted to reminiscence with his fellow players and we can only respect his wishes.
 

TexMex

Member
Wish I had seen this thread initially.

Best game ever. I don't have more fond memories of any other game. Really incredible. I won't lie and say that the novelty of the first MMO had a big part in that because it did, but it objectively does so many things better than every MMO that came after it it isn't even funny.

And when the land became open for the Renaissance expansion pack and I got my villa north of Minoc as the entire game crashed til the next day, everyone's 56k connection struggling to keep up - high point in my gaming life.

No other game has had such a good sense of exploration and character progression, but more than anything of that the economy of UO is what kept it going. Everything felt so earned. Social aspects too, just hanging out in some of the bigger hubs was a total blast.

There are some decent player run shards - Shadowlands has a particularly good population. But none of it compares to peak UO in the late 90's / early 2000's.
 
Top Bottom