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Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn
Praetoriani
Member Posts: 1,147
Hiya. I have a question to the MMORPG.com community - are you interested in Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn, due to be released this summer? For those of you who don't know - Kingdom Reborn will update the Ultima Online graphics in all aspects. It won't look spectacular, but it'll definitely be competitive with some other MMORPGs that were released this and last generation. Before, I was held back playing Ultima Online - but now I'm actually thinking of trying it because of this update.
I was wondering - will any of you UO vets resubscribe? And if you're not an UO vet - are you thinking of trying it? I'm trying to gauge if and how much the UO community will grow. I believe that in many aspects (even though I haven't actually tried it yet) Ultima Online is still one of the best games gameplay wise, due to the amazing variety of things you can persue - not to mention nearly ten years of content.
Also, I'm European. Should I join up on the Europa shard, or is there a shard with a more active population, even during European daytime?
I was wondering - will any of you UO vets resubscribe? And if you're not an UO vet - are you thinking of trying it? I'm trying to gauge if and how much the UO community will grow. I believe that in many aspects (even though I haven't actually tried it yet) Ultima Online is still one of the best games gameplay wise, due to the amazing variety of things you can persue - not to mention nearly ten years of content.
Also, I'm European. Should I join up on the Europa shard, or is there a shard with a more active population, even during European daytime?
Comments
I will never play UO again unless Siege Perilous has a huge overhaul or they release a Classic pre-Renaissance shard. I stuck with UO from the beginning for many years and was burned far too many times to ever want to play that game again, even though I have vast experience and knowledge of the game.
The typical EA cycle is to develop an aspect of the game that is new or hard to obtain, let players struggle with obtaining or achieving it and then giving away similar abilities or aspects for free merely with the purchase of their next yearly expansion - it's a trap, a dangling carrot that typically destroys the efforts of their player base in favor of the hope of obtaining new customers.
If you play on any shard, I would recommend Atlantic for population, Siege Perilous for the best gameplay and community, and Europa for your location.
But, I don't recommend Ultima Online for any experienced MMOG players, it has devolved into mass market crap and a graphics update is not going to change that, only the appearance.
Why Ultima Online Currently Sucks?
I never played UO until recently. I gave the free trial a shot and I'm confused.
I logged on one day and there was an option to run the game in 3d, logged in the next day and could only run the game in 2d. Is the 3d UO that I got to try how Kingdom Reborn will look, or is it going to be dif? I wasn't very impressed with what I saw from the 3d version.
I want to play, but I'm a graphics whore and unless Kingdom Reborn is doing more for the engine then I saw I don't think I'll give it a second shot.
Ultima Online still continues after TEN YEARS since it's initial release way back in 1997. There is a reason for that.
With a fresh graphics overhaul I will definitely give UO more game time. If the graphics and graphics engine are smooth and still offer the same game mechanics and freedom that todays UO offers, then I can see myself very likely going back to it.
The same would happen IF Asherons Call would just do the same.
Regardless of how much UO has screwed stuff up since the addition of Trammel way back when, UO still is a much better mmo then 90% of the games released today.
I've said it a million times it seems like. Asherons Call and Ultima Online are STILL the two best mmos ever produced. People argue with me on this all the time, but there still isn't any mmo that comes close to offering the freedom and the complete avatar control that AC and UO offer. No mmo comes close to offering the depth that these two great mmos offer. Comparing a game like WOW and UO depth-wise is comparing a backyard garden canal with the grand canyon.
So yes, if this new graphics overhaul and engine in Kingdom Reborn is quality stuff and not crap like their 3D client now is, then I would definitely go back to one of the deepest and most rewarding mmos ever produced.
I will agree that Ultima Online used to be the best game going, that fell through about the same time Trammel came into existance.... They open up some classic servers, i'll play..... I refuse to play with freaking ninja's, samurai, elves and other annoyances that have no place in this game or it's lore.... This game was ruined. It truly was a shame.
The graphics and animation are worse than I thought. The window is also rather small on my 19" screen on a high resolution. However, I'm guessing this will be a moot point in a month or three so I'll be fine.
However, the moment I logged in on Europa (literally) someone asked me if I needed help. At first I thought it was an NPC - but to my surprise he replied as I talked. Showed me the ropes and was overall very friendly in an RP-style. Even though I've been playing for an odd 20 minutes now, I must say I've never been met with such friendliness in an MMORPG community.
Richard Garriott and Raph Koster made a helluva game, no doubt. Some of the other developers that came afterwards didn't share their vision and implemented some bad things into the game... We've seen some rough spots, for sure. The current dev team, led by Aaron Cohen, is quite simply kicking ass. They've been working hard on UO:KR, but have also found time to start working towards fixing existing problems. The Siege Perilous blessing imbalance is getting fixed in the next week or so. Old, worthless skills, like Arms Lore, are being made worthwhile again. Khaldun puzzle boxes are getting fixed! Kingdom Reborn is going to nerf most of the neon. Change is happening, and I think that by the end of 2007, Ultima Online is going to reach a new golden-age!
The only thing that the current team has really had trouble with is PvP balancing. They are currently saying they'll revisit it after the next expansion, Stygian Abyss (to be released late this summer)... which is not only a revisit to it's Ultima roots, but will also introduce Gargoyles as a playable race. Ultima fans are rejoicing... or should I say... "To be rejoicing, we Ultima fans are..."
Yes, there are Ninjas and Samurai, but you know what? Half of the game's population is in Japan now... an Asian based expansion made sense to the EA suits. Western players may not agree, but no one is forcing you to use those skills.
But if you can look around the problems, what you'll find is a game that is completely unrivaled in terms of depth and choice.
And by the way, the new graphics look great.
I will try it again.
The graphics scaerd the shit out me before.
Not even! That may have been the case years ago, but not anymore, you are diluding yourself by continuing to tell yourself such things. UO is now quite shallow in comparison to other MMOGs, from combat and crafting to skills and even diet:
Roma Victor Features
Ultima Online Skill List
Roma Victor Skill Tree
Ultima Online is a good study in MMOGs, it has been morphed from the side-project, labor of love, of a small group of caring, experienced, intelligent developers at Origin, Inc. that exploded into a great success, only to be ignorantly taken over and wrecked piece by piece by the Electronic Arts corporation that owned it; in favor of seeking the short-term profits of the standard perceived teen computer gaming market, with unremarkable gaming designs catered to the lowest common denominator.
Basically Ultima Online was converted from an outstanding multiplayer game design that kept players competing and interested in playing often, even with very little developer content, into merely a vehicle for EA to sell some extra boxes every year.
And that's the main point, a graphics update will change very little, when it's the gameplay and design that are paramount; the years of foolish develpment and design cannot be so easily patched up as updating the graphics, but at least it is a step in the right direction.
Not even! That may have been the case years ago, but not anymore, you are diluding yourself by continuing to tell yourself such things. UO is now quite shallow in comparison to other MMOGs, from combat and crafting to skills and even diet:
Roma Victor Features
Ultima Online Skill List
Roma Victor Skill Tree
Ultima Online is a good study in MMOGs, it has been morphed from the side-project, labor of love, of a small group of caring, experienced, intelligent developers at Origin, Inc. that exploded into a great success, only to be ignorantly taken over and wrecked piece by piece by the Electronic Arts corporation that owned it; in favor of seeking the short-term profits of the standard perceived teen computer gaming market, with unremarkable gaming designs catered to the lowest common denominator.
Basically Ultima Online was converted from an outstanding multiplayer game design that kept players competing and interested in playing often, even with very little developer content, into merely a vehicle for EA to sell some extra boxes every year.
And that's the main point, a graphics update will change very little, when it's the gameplay and design that are paramount; the years of foolish develpment and design cannot be so easily patched up as updating the graphics, but at least it is a step in the right direction.
Are you serious? Ultima Online has better graphics than Roma Victor.. I have played and own both.... Are you aware that in RV the skills you list arent even all useable... For instance when I first got RV animals simply were not spawning AT ALL, despite the fact that I chose to be an animal handler.... much of RV broken, much of RV are broken promises.... That game is just as broken and awful as VSOH and that is saying a lot....
No thanks, I'd play Ultima Online even in its current idiot form before I'd touch RV again.
Forgot to mention that you make your character through a web browser... uhhh what?
It's come a long way. Ultima Online was just as "broken" if not worse in it's first year and it was funded by the EA giant.
And NO! UO does not have better graphics than Roma Victor, not visually or technically. I challenge you to either post a comparison or retract that foolish statement!
Many of those skills are implemented now and so are animals, maybe it's time for you to log back in? Ultima Online would just be a waste of your time.
A bad impression was made from the initial launch, but what is most important, even from the start, is that the Roma Victor gameplay and design are headed in the right direction, the virtual world concept, rather than the video game concept of current Ultima Online and many other MMOGs.
If your taste is for 2d cartoons, then yeah, UO has "better" graphics.
Just so everyone is clear about the value of your opinions, here is a direct comparison:
Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn / Roma Victor
Funny you should say that. That is the exact screenshot that Electronic Arts themselves is using to advertise Kingdom Reborn!
Both are actual screenshots from both games and both are cropped to the exact same size and compared sided by side.
You can't get fairer than that.
So who's blind?
http://www.vokr.com/novinky_ze_sveta/27-08-06_12.jpg
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Real as Reality Television!!!
Its great to see semp in yet another UO post, we all know how you feel about UO semp, it would be impossible for us not to seeing as you have a never ending source of hatred for UO.
At first i actually used to take in what you said but now its all the same drivel that you have said 200000 times before and its just getting really old, its not even constructive anymore, its just pure trolling of everything UO.
The most hilarious thing is that you play RV and bash UO, pretty much every game on the market is better than RV right now and most people would agree with that, so tell me why should we listen to the words of someone who enjoys playing with shit ? afterall you must be into half finished, bug ridden games otherwise you wouldnt be playing RV.
Garrik
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"once upon a midnight dreary, while i porn surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of 'hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, "give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404."
It really depends what you expect from a the game.
If you are in for the roleplay or freedom then UO is your choice.
For gameplay with storylines, quests or loot chose a levelbased system which are FAR superior than UO.
(I play wow at the moment too so I can compare the two and each has its strengths)
UO is broken in many core aspects, though newbies will not feel it that much at the beginning anyway and so definitely worth a try.
And I bet it was paidric that helped you, guy in black robe, looking like death incarnated.
For the servers europa has the giggest roleplay community I think. Atlantic is the server with the biggest population.
And some claim the asian servers have the best pvp, but that is open to discussion and only relevant if you speak japanese i guess.
And for starting really wait until KR is out - it is a free upgrade and there are free trials for it too
KR should be out in the next 1-2 month and will be pretty buggy (my guess from previous ea releases), but playable and judge the game then