I'm definitely curious too. I played every Ultima so far and would love to see a new game in the series. I hope I get in to beta to help with feedback from a huge fan.
I loved Ultima. EA doing it = bad. Paul Barnett involved = bad. but BOTH!!!....holy shit. Somone take it outside and shoot it quickly.
Did any of you read the Paul Barnett bit from EA louse?
"Oh yeah, and he needed Paul Barnett. You know him as the crazy British dude that appears in random videos at EA to promote his latest bullshittery. We know him as the crazy British dude who we have no idea of how he still has a job. This man was supposed to be the savior of Warhammer's vision and design. Now all he can do is promote his strange ideas about his little secret project web Ultima game that's been almost universally criticized by all of us and focus groups. What's that? You didn't know Paul loves one of those old Ultima games sooooo much he's making a literal copy of it for Facebook? Well, the cats outta the bag. Too bad it sucks ass."
This is why I regard reviews/postings on this site with a very big pinch of salt because mmorpg seems to be pretty much 'Are they going to advertise with us/bring us page hits?. if yes then post really positively about them.'
But they're a business so it's understandable. Don't bite the hand etc etc.
I loved Ultima IV. This is actually genius if they do it right. If there is one thing I learned in life, the best "graphics" is what your brain conjures up. It's the reason why books sell so well. I remember playing UO and thinking "wow, these 2D graphics are beautiful" then when it went 3D, I quit playing. They should've just left the game 2D...
Naturally, as an individual who's been playing UO since beta, I want a successor to the series I knew and loved. Make it single player, make it an MMO: I don't care. A F2P casual experience doesn't interest me in the slightest.
"This is life! We suffer and slave and expire. That's it!" -Bernard Black (Dylan Moran)
I will wait till Richard Garriot releases his new Ultima game thanks. Yes there is one in the works read about it the other day.
From what I understand, the new game is a spiritual successor not an actual sequel. EA owns the rights to the Ultima series and RG cannot make a true Ultima game without permission from EA, which he most likely will never get.
<blockquote><i>Originally posted by jpnz</i> <br><b><p>Not sure why everyone is 'hating' this.</p><p>I never played Ultima IV but many of my friends swear by it.</p><p>I would imagine if you are a fan of a series, you'd want more people to play the game?</p><p>I did look at some screenshots of Ultima IV and yeah...... I know graphics isn't everything but jeez, that is too 'classic'.</p></b></blockquote> <p> </p>
Ultima IV is thee grandfather of all RPG games. The main problem as I see it is that they will probably never capture the true experience of it in a modern development environment.
Ultima IV = graphics < Gameplay Modern games = graphics > gameplay
Back in the day of U4, graphics consisted of 16 colors and a bunch of giant squares called pixels lol games were all about gameplay because graphics were purely representation. The original U4 was all about YOU going on an adventure...you had to take notes, remember who you walked to and what they said, who did they tell you to speak with and where they cozul be found.
Today, games almost play themselves...I don't have to remember Anything, or even bother to, because my in-game log book automatically takes notes for me. My map automatically tells me where to go and the people I meet have icons over their head when they have something important to tell me. In short, I. Really don't have to think...it's not MY adventure...I am watching a character in an interactive movie on their adventure...and I just have to occasioally push some buttons to keep the movie playing.
So, for those of us who remember laying the original Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar ( in my case, I still own the original game, in the box with all the original materials, for the Atari 800xl) we have zero expectation that this will live up to its forebearsr. Some things should just be left alone.
Sorry bout the formatting fiasco
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone www.spankybus.com -3d Artist & Compositor -Writer -Professional Amature
Today, games almost play themselves...I don't have to remember Anything, or even bother to, because my in-game log book automatically takes notes for me. My map automatically tells me where to go and the people I meet have icons over their head when they have something important to tell me. In short, I. Really don't have to think...it's not MY adventure...I am watching a character in an interactive movie on their adventure...and I just have to occasioally push some buttons to keep the movie playing.
So, for those of us who remember laying the original Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar ( in my case, I still own the original game, in the box with all the original materials, for the Atari 800xl) we have zero expectation that this will live up to its forebearsr. Some things should just be left alone.
Sorry bout the formatting fiasco
But why hate on a company trying to reintroduce ultima back into gamer's mind?
If we look at the new generation of gamers, other than knowing UO was the 'first MMO' (depends on point of view); do they know 'Ultima'? Do they care?
Should Ultima be forgotten never to be remade?
I played Ultima VII (?) I think and I thought the world was excellent. It would be a shame to forget about this world just because 'hardcore' fans can't accept certain mechanics in these older titles were bad and are now improved.
Taking notes out side of the game is an objectively bad game mechanic which is why no one does them.
I am living in a fantasy world with magic - makes sense that I have something to write on like pen / paper. So why isn't the pen/paper in the game?
OR
I am playing in a video game in front of a computer that has more CPU power than NASA had when it was sending people to the moon. Why the heck do I need a pen / paper to record stuff?
Gdemami - Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
It's note there is a notebook in the game that's a problem, but the fact that, when an NPC rattles of a novel of information, the log book automatically adds notes about the parts that were important. What if the information that I needed was something that needed to be sifted through and worked out to decider the important bits? The game just robbed me of that experience.
Back in the day, the Ultima games came with a bunch of supportive matierlas, paper and books, to be used outside the game. While this isn't Tron and they cannot physically suck you into the game, they wanted you to BE the avatar...read your tomb of magic and turn the page with your own hands, to get your hands on a small part of the experience.
Anyway, the notebook is just a symptom of a larger problem....gamers are collectively dumber, and games have been dumbed down to cater to it....or he'll, maybe the games being dumbed down have made us dumber...chicken and the egg.
Why hate on EA for remaking it? Im not really hating on EA, but this is a cash grab and nothing more...there is no altruistic desire on the part of EA to share a part of history with young gamers....if they were to purely port the original U4, as-is, for the iPad, that might me cool. See the original on new tech.
Honestly, I cannot think of one remake that lived up to its predecessor. Can you? If you cannot at least match the original, why do it?
And BTW, U4 was made public domain ages ago and you can easily find a copy out there if you really wanna experience this legendary title....Just found a few places to get it from with a little quick google action.
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone www.spankybus.com -3d Artist & Compositor -Writer -Professional Amature
Honestly, I cannot think of one remake that lived up to its predecessor. Can you? If you cannot at least match the original, why do it?
And BTW, U4 was made public domain ages ago and you can easily find a copy out there if you really wanna experience this legendary title....Just found a few places to get it from with a little quick google action.
Need for Speed: HS by Criterion remake was miles better than the original NFS:HS. :P
I don't think gamers are 'dumber'. We have more gamers so we get more extremes and the medium level is stretched across a larger varation. This isn't something new.
There is a difference between 'manual' and 'difficult'. What you are describing is 'manual' which I don't agree with.
Are we dumber now since we do our laundry using a washing machine rather than our hands?
I make no judgement on what I haven't seen yet (let alone played) but if this 'streamlined' re-imagining means we get gamers interested in the Ultima IP again, so be it.
Gdemami - Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
looking at the site, the character models have this real cheap Age of Empires Online look... like dumbed down wow graphics. screw that - put some effort in and produce something at least equal to ultima online.
and lady british? WTF! no offence to the woman, im sure she is smarter than me, BUT UO in its current state is FUBAR.. why would you put her in charge to re-create U4?
anyways.. looking past that, its EA and Bioware - Mr Bigshot Shovelware All About the $$ and Biovverated ..
Yeah, i'm pretty much at the point that i'd rather apply a liberal amount of honey to my genitals and then t-bag a bee hive before playing one of these half assed excuses for a game.
Comments
I'm definitely curious too. I played every Ultima so far and would love to see a new game in the series. I hope I get in to beta to help with feedback from a huge fan.
SO it's a blank slate for a new Richard Garriot game of an old game revisited
Paul Barnett and EA.
NOPE!!!
I loved Ultima. EA doing it = bad. Paul Barnett involved = bad. but BOTH!!!....holy shit. Somone take it outside and shoot it quickly.
Did any of you read the Paul Barnett bit from EA louse?
"Oh yeah, and he needed Paul Barnett. You know him as the crazy British dude that appears in random videos at EA to promote his latest bullshittery. We know him as the crazy British dude who we have no idea of how he still has a job. This man was supposed to be the savior of Warhammer's vision and design. Now all he can do is promote his strange ideas about his little secret project web Ultima game that's been almost universally criticized by all of us and focus groups. What's that? You didn't know Paul loves one of those old Ultima games sooooo much he's making a literal copy of it for Facebook? Well, the cats outta the bag. Too bad it sucks ass."
So looks like he finally got his way!
On the beta site it says action-RPG+cartoony GFX...not gonna even touch it and I hope todays drinking binge will erase the memory of this abomination.
This is why I regard reviews/postings on this site with a very big pinch of salt because mmorpg seems to be pretty much 'Are they going to advertise with us/bring us page hits?. if yes then post really positively about them.'
But they're a business so it's understandable. Don't bite the hand etc etc.
I just regret people who believe the posts.
Sounds like SWTOR lol.
Found the full article:
http://natural-order-guild.com/content/ea-louse-why-warhammer-online-failed
He was spot on about swtor as well....
I loved Ultima IV. This is actually genius if they do it right. If there is one thing I learned in life, the best "graphics" is what your brain conjures up. It's the reason why books sell so well. I remember playing UO and thinking "wow, these 2D graphics are beautiful" then when it went 3D, I quit playing. They should've just left the game 2D...
Sounds like another EA cash grab.
Nice marketting presented as news articles though.
Well I was the first person in the UK to complete Ultima IV back in the day (yes I am that old).
And I would love to see this revamp into a much loved world.
Looking forward to it, although not going to rush through it this time - lol
(When you completed the game there was a phone number to call - no prize for first in the UK other than actually being able to goto sleep -
).
If the open ended choices are like the ones on ME3 then: No, Thanks.
Oh and the cartoony graphics of the warrior and the mage are horrible, really.
I will wait till Richard Garriot releases his new Ultima game thanks. Yes there is one in the works read about it the other day.
Naturally, as an individual who's been playing UO since beta, I want a successor to the series I knew and loved. Make it single player, make it an MMO: I don't care. A F2P casual experience doesn't interest me in the slightest.
"This is life! We suffer and slave and expire. That's it!" -Bernard Black (Dylan Moran)
Highly doubt it, didnt he sell the rights to the name along with the rest of his company?
A good way to finally destroy and bury the franchise.
"I'm sorry but your mmo has been diagnosed with EA and only has X number of days to live."
From what I understand, the new game is a spiritual successor not an actual sequel. EA owns the rights to the Ultima series and RG cannot make a true Ultima game without permission from EA, which he most likely will never get.
Not sure why everyone is 'hating' this.
I never played Ultima IV but many of my friends swear by it.
I would imagine if you are a fan of a series, you'd want more people to play the game?
I did look at some screenshots of Ultima IV and yeah...... I know graphics isn't everything but jeez, that is too 'classic'.
Gdemami -
Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
<blockquote><i>Originally posted by jpnz</i>
<br><b><p>Not sure why everyone is 'hating' this.</p><p>I never played Ultima IV but many of my friends swear by it.</p><p>I would imagine if you are a fan of a series, you'd want more people to play the game?</p><p>I did look at some screenshots of Ultima IV and yeah...... I know graphics isn't everything but jeez, that is too 'classic'.</p></b></blockquote>
<p> </p>
Ultima IV is thee grandfather of all RPG games. The main problem as I see it is that they will probably never capture the true experience of it in a modern development environment.
Ultima IV = graphics < Gameplay
Modern games = graphics > gameplay
Back in the day of U4, graphics consisted of 16 colors and a bunch of giant squares called pixels lol games were all about gameplay because graphics were purely representation. The original U4 was all about YOU going on an adventure...you had to take notes, remember who you walked to and what they said, who did they tell you to speak with and where they cozul be found.
Today, games almost play themselves...I don't have to remember Anything, or even bother to, because my in-game log book automatically takes notes for me. My map automatically tells me where to go and the people I meet have icons over their head when they have something important to tell me. In short, I. Really don't have to think...it's not MY adventure...I am watching a character in an interactive movie on their adventure...and I just have to occasioally push some buttons to keep the movie playing.
So, for those of us who remember laying the original Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar ( in my case, I still own the original game, in the box with all the original materials, for the Atari 800xl) we have zero expectation that this will live up to its forebearsr. Some things should just be left alone.
Sorry bout the formatting fiasco
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone
www.spankybus.com
-3d Artist & Compositor
-Writer
-Professional Amature
But why hate on a company trying to reintroduce ultima back into gamer's mind?
If we look at the new generation of gamers, other than knowing UO was the 'first MMO' (depends on point of view); do they know 'Ultima'? Do they care?
Should Ultima be forgotten never to be remade?
I played Ultima VII (?) I think and I thought the world was excellent. It would be a shame to forget about this world just because 'hardcore' fans can't accept certain mechanics in these older titles were bad and are now improved.
Taking notes out side of the game is an objectively bad game mechanic which is why no one does them.
I am living in a fantasy world with magic - makes sense that I have something to write on like pen / paper. So why isn't the pen/paper in the game?
OR
I am playing in a video game in front of a computer that has more CPU power than NASA had when it was sending people to the moon. Why the heck do I need a pen / paper to record stuff?
Gdemami -
Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
It's note there is a notebook in the game that's a problem, but the fact that, when an NPC rattles of a novel of information, the log book automatically adds notes about the parts that were important. What if the information that I needed was something that needed to be sifted through and worked out to decider the important bits? The game just robbed me of that experience.
Back in the day, the Ultima games came with a bunch of supportive matierlas, paper and books, to be used outside the game. While this isn't Tron and they cannot physically suck you into the game, they wanted you to BE the avatar...read your tomb of magic and turn the page with your own hands, to get your hands on a small part of the experience.
Anyway, the notebook is just a symptom of a larger problem....gamers are collectively dumber, and games have been dumbed down to cater to it....or he'll, maybe the games being dumbed down have made us dumber...chicken and the egg.
Why hate on EA for remaking it? Im not really hating on EA, but this is a cash grab and nothing more...there is no altruistic desire on the part of EA to share a part of history with young gamers....if they were to purely port the original U4, as-is, for the iPad, that might me cool. See the original on new tech.
Honestly, I cannot think of one remake that lived up to its predecessor. Can you? If you cannot at least match the original, why do it?
And BTW, U4 was made public domain ages ago and you can easily find a copy out there if you really wanna experience this legendary title....Just found a few places to get it from with a little quick google action.
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone
www.spankybus.com
-3d Artist & Compositor
-Writer
-Professional Amature
Need for Speed: HS by Criterion remake was miles better than the original NFS:HS. :P
I don't think gamers are 'dumber'. We have more gamers so we get more extremes and the medium level is stretched across a larger varation. This isn't something new.
There is a difference between 'manual' and 'difficult'. What you are describing is 'manual' which I don't agree with.
Are we dumber now since we do our laundry using a washing machine rather than our hands?
I make no judgement on what I haven't seen yet (let alone played) but if this 'streamlined' re-imagining means we get gamers interested in the Ultima IP again, so be it.
Gdemami -
Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
well they will water this down into donkeykong arcade, so ppl dont get your hopes up.
EA is as in a sad state , as mmo crowd is ....doomed to eridicate themselves with their behaivor
and decisions.
Sigh....
Still waiting(see sig).
Einherjar_LC says: WTB the true successor to UO or Asheron's Call pst!
looking at the site, the character models have this real cheap Age of Empires Online look... like dumbed down wow graphics. screw that - put some effort in and produce something at least equal to ultima online.
and lady british? WTF! no offence to the woman, im sure she is smarter than me, BUT UO in its current state is FUBAR.. why would you put her in charge to re-create U4?
anyways.. looking past that, its EA and Bioware - Mr Bigshot Shovelware All About the $$ and Biovverated ..
PASS!!!!
made me laugh, but true