Ultima X : Odyssey announced

[Halldin]

it's official now.

http://www.uxo.ea.com/

I don't like the idea of calling it Ultima X

[Elmo]

Why not?

It is a continuation of the single-player series, just online.
The story takes place after Ultima 9. The Avatar ascended to a higher plane and is still struggling with the Guardian. The Avatar created a new world "Aluncinor" from his memories and experiences in the past. This world is inhabited by the players. In order to help the Avatar win his fight against the Guardian, the players have to master the Virtues and ascend to Avatar-status themselves, guided by the great Avatar himself.

The game is played online in a MMORPG environment, but you have actual quests like in single-player games which you do either alone or with a small group of friends in private areas.

I think this concept sounds really good.

[Halldin]

So, there will be a monthly fee then? (YES - if I know EA right)

Or is it SP+MP a'la Diablo?

[Bork]

Otherwise, it's just a new lame copy of WoW or

Personally, I don't like that they call it Ultima X. Ultima IX was the FINAL Ultima game, made by Garriott .. and that's that.

They should have released UO2 when they had the chance, it looked really good. Ahead of it's time and all that.

[Elmo]

I am sure that you have to pay a monthly fee.

And it won't be like WoW. As I understood it, it is more of a single-player game played online. There will be a persistant world like in any other MMORPG, but you have an actual storyline like in a single-player game with quests like in a single-player game which you can even do alone in a private area.

[Noviere]

I'm fairly certain it will be more MMORPG than single-player. While there are aspects of it that would lead one to think otherwise, in essence it will me MMP.

As much as I want to hope it will be good, I have no faith in EA.

[XxVenomxX]

It'll be just like Anarchy online. A big multiplayer world, but when you get a "kill the foozle" quest, you go into a dungeon that only you and your groupmates will be in. While other groups will be in the same dungeon, but by themselves, etc. Not a new concept.

[Darkmoon]

I'm almost sure that Richard Garriott developed this concept while he was still working at Origin. Back then he was working on a new game, codenamed "Project X". When Garriott left origin he had to sign a contract that didn't allow him to create games that competete with anything EA/Origin were doing for a year.
Now he reused his concept for his new game "Tabula Rasa".

[fluxrez]

I just wish you could demo MMORPG before buying them
I spent 50 bucks to play star wars galaxies for what? 3 days
man that one stunk

Final Fantasy XI looks promising
we'll see

[Noviere]

Agreed, fluxrez.

I did the same thing with SWG. Played it for maybe 15 hours in total. Same with DAoC, though I did play that one for a few weeks(like 3?).

What a waste of $60.

[~]|[~]

I wish they'd concentrate on another single player Ultima (perhaps even a remake?) instead of trying to milk players with MMORPG's standard monthly fee's.

[XxVenomxX]

There are plenty of dedicated fans out there making high profile remakes. UV Lazarus being one of the most prominent ones. When the companies dont come up with the results, the fans take over
EA doesn't care about the old school fans. They want your money, and the way they can keep getting it is by producing games which require a subscription fee to pay. Even Ultima IX was a joke, unfortunately. Again, at least some fans tried to take care of that, and some are also making a remake of that as well, which looks promising too.

[fluxrez]

Most the remakes Ive seen are a joke
or just Mods for existing games

a good effort but not what we're looking for

[XxVenomxX]

You haven't taken a close look at Lazarus then, have ya? Yes, you need Dungeon Siege to play it, but they're modifying so much, it's incredible. Just saying so you dont overlook it. If you already have seen it and think that, thats fine. Not trying to force opinions.

[EarthquakeDamage]

"I wish they'd concentrate on another single player Ultima (perhaps even a remake?) instead of trying to milk players with MMORPG's standard monthly fee's."

Well, the reason they're making MMORPGs in the first place is to milk players for their money. It's a brilliant game-design strategy because it yields more money for the long haul.

The computer gaming industry is a business, therefore those involved are out to earn a profit. If they can rake in more cash from their players via monthly fees attached to massively multiplayer games, they will.

It may suck for fans of singleplayer games, such as myself, but the whole MMO thing seems to be a strong trend.

[Bork]

What ever happened to being dedicated to make a great and original game instead of maximizing profits

EA : Burn in hell

[DreamMaster]

It died about the same time the Dot Com bubble burst.

[Trevor_Clim (damn Log in)]

ehm... why playing Ultima X when you can choose between it and Tabula Rasa?