Ultima Online gets Reborn

lolz I played UO since second age and I gotta say, this looks worse than the 2d version they already have, it reminds me of the third dawn expansion which looked like complete crap ahh well I guess and dont listen to pspeaks "And for several years now you can play for free using some free shards that are almost exactly like a osi server." no they arn't, yes their free but their nothing like the game servers. and finalsquall that is a lie, there is no community anymore, there was way way back when but not anymore =/ pvp is not awsome it is terrible, the only spots to do pvp is brit, yew, or the faction towns but then its always crap, people sit in their houses and hit ppl who sit at the moongates wow thats some fun there lolz

I have been playing UO off and on Since Beta and still think there is no game that comes close to its versitality and playability. There is no game that I know of that lets you do all the things you can do in UO. And for several years now you can play for free using some free shards that are almost exactly like a osi server.

i like the graphical look actually -- better than wow's orange and purple cartoonish look.

All that wasted manpower should've been assigned to polishing the landscape of ==> Warhammer Online, not giving that old dinosaur a facelift.

I'm gonna miss the old school graphics. Oh well.

I think it's a good move for UO as I hate 2d and the game needs to be fixed some how because the lag pissess most ppl off, before ppl can really enjoy what UO has to offer. I play on Oceania and have the biggest guild there :). I have played WOW, Lineage 2 and Final Fantasy 11 (which I'm a big FF fan). But one of the main things UO has that no other game that I know of has! is Community. You got all kinds of ppl, who stick to their territories. Ppl that hunt in Trammel or PPl that kill in Felucca. I love the whole pvp side. I love it that I have player enemies that you know them in game. a real RP hatred for the enemy and working out tactics to pwn them and their guild(s). I mean pvp in UO is fast, tacticals and never the same. Plus running around on a mounts, dismounting, setting up feilds and traps is very fun. It's the one game that can piss you off but your hooked. More and more ppl have been coming back from other games ie wow and that is great :D You make friends, u hang at their house, go kill people or save people. You don't need to devote your self to quests and there is so much to do. Plus you can make your character anyway you want. Very complex but for hardcore gamers that is fun :D why not try a samuria ninja who cooks :P hehe you can work in any skills. There is not one type of mage in uo... You can have a tank mage, Nox mage, scribe mage, bushido mage, ninja mage, tamer mage etc etc... and that is just mages. Imagine the other classes. Anyways I think a great move. UO is the fastest game around that I have seen except for lag :( but lest hope that is fix :D

I would have to say that there are some good points here, but many silly ones as well. The game has been around for 9 years people. That speaks for itself. Many of the 'Greatest' and 'Best' in both the single player and MMO field simply have not lasted this long. So all in all, no a 'new' game is not needed - as the multitude of crap rushed 2's and 3's of many game series' have been nothing good. If you have a huge fanbase (and it does) with players that have played for years (and it does) why reinvent the wheel? Add features, graphics, update it to modern standards, I think this could not be a bad idea. All in all most that complain on this prob never even played it so that certainly puts that in perspective :) BTW I have accounts on WoW and UO, and play EUO - a freeware graphical mmo on and off, and have played MU, Thang, and Helbreath (also mmos) and they are very different play experiences. As was said below, UO is a skill based system that does not lock you into classes in the conventional way. In the end id have to say thumbs up to this, and if you dont like UO, play WoW! You cant lose as WoW rocks anyway. Action, PvP arenas, strict classes, awsome dungeons, do WoW. But if you want to break from the more standard MMO formula in a huge world where you can own and build houses and set up shops, try UO.

I agree with mobybeaver. EA is just milking it's cash cow UO for every last drop. What they really need to do is release a new game. They could of done that with UO2 and UXO, but EA doesn't like to take risks. That's why they'll never be the forerunners in the MMORPG genre.

It's a shame that EA is wasting Mythic's talent like this. A full-fledged sequel is needed, not another graphical makeover.

I plaid UO since beta day 1. And I have to say there is no other mmorpg that comes close to this game even today. Sure there are games such wow that really made it on a great and stable user frienldy game made for casual gamers in focus. UO ist not made for casual gamers only thats the major differences.. UO gave a exitement that no other mmorgp have ever given or gives today. Best pvp ever and most things to do in this great world of UO. But sadly the original team got split and a complete new team got their hands on the game and started to copy eq and titles such that. Finaly EA bought it and made it as close to user friendly as posssible and devided the world into 2. 1 World for players that only wish to hunt for gold and such. The other world was for the "hard core" gamers that liked to PVP. But ofcourse this didnt work as they planned. What "noobs" would ever enter the pvp world? But still there was some fun wars for the pvp players but the whole unique exitment got whiped out sadly. Even when I was new and had a lousy character I worked for hours on gettings items became an offer for a good pvper in the woods. He attacked me out of nowhere and killed me in like 6 seconds. When he first started to attack me I got an adrenalin rush and tried to flee, but in vein as he got me and llooted my items. I was alittle angry ofcourse but maan what a feeling.. in a game.... this is why I spend money on a game.. to experience a special feeling I cant get anywhere else.. Well it should be if you were in a real fight or in real danger this intence was the feeling when you first encountered a murderer. I plaid this game for many years and became a good pvper my self. And wow what a deep pvp system they managed to create.. The game it self looked and still does look like sh*t but all uo vets know what Im talking about.. none cared about the looks. It was all about the system. Ofcourse when wow released and it got so hyped with max scores from all companies.. I started that game as well as Im a true warcraft fan and thought... oh wow just think of the exitement from UO in warcraft world with a brand new 3d look, this will rock. When I entered wow I started my endless jounry of doing all quests that I really couldnt skip. After intense hours of playing I finaly got to lvl 60 and thought yea its time for pvp, the sweet old feeling. on pvp server ofcourse. I ran with some friends to start some wars.. But hey.. there is no system for this thing in wow... No guild wars no houses no guild stones.. Nothing.. and when u found your enemies I killed them big time but hey.. for what? NOTHING. no loot no nothing.. Hey I could even let them kill me cause I couldnt loose anything.. my god what a bad thing for wow. There was NO Exitement at all in this game.. I never got any rushes at all.. no worries cause U cant ever loose anythiing... This made me quit wow instant cause there was nothing else to do accept some raids with some rps.. that lasted for some days then got boring.. No skills at all in wow. Its completly for casual gamers and mostly young players that want to feel they belong in a nice group and have some hunts that can never fail. But still Im a warcraft fan and hope wow will get this into their plans to give the pvp players.. And for UO reborn... it looks sweet and would be great to start playing again with my one of the oldest account ever. But it is still the same way since ea took over.. world devided and most of the rushes is taken away. Well this is just my 5 cents into UO and mmorpgs. Thanks :) Oh and sorry for my bad english.

First of all UO didn't create MMORPGS anyone who says that is a moron. and pvp didn't come from uo in fact the first mmorpg with pvp and best pvp ever was called Never winter nights. and it not PC version you all know by bioware it was a mmorpg a ad&d game on AOL. then came dso then UO I beta tested them all and played them all and many since. And as for mmos being around for 20 yrs before uo that bs. Those where muds and muds are still around and are not mmorpgs. So people get your facts straight. Also there was no lvl's in UO it was a skill based system and still is.

Here's a question for you all: Didn't they try this twice before? Seriously, I remember when they were developing an Ultima Online 2 back around 2000 or so, and then it got cancelled. Next up, they tried to make another update called Ultima: Odysee and that was also canned at the last minute. From what I understand, They were affraid to make a new game that would cut into UO's profits. So, instead of developing a new game based on Ultima, they go for the cheap and dirty upgrade again. And people wonder why I hate EA...

I remember the first time playing UO: I was a fighter .. and the game allowed me to take off my clothes up to my bare undies... so i picked a fight with a goat when I was level 1 and the thing chased me all around town and to another town... all while i was nekkid and and screaming for help.. hehe fun stuff

I bought the game when it was first released and was not able to play to weel due to having a dial-up account. Other then the horrid lag due to sadi account, I thought the game was sweet. Also helped that I got 3 months free since they had so many issues. Kinda wish I was still playihng it. only stopped because of the lag due to dial-up and the fact that everquest broke up the lag with it's zones...

To think, I helped Beta Test UO when it first came out and it's STILL going. It's too bad that after Beta, I couldn't pick up the full game and play. Maybe I'll take a look around and get me a copy now. It'd be interesting to see what's changed since it started.

Wowsa... I didn't even know people were still playin this game... very awesome point about the brain melting grind of MMO's of today by Stiler, yet I'm pretty sure most RPGs are victim to such working formulas of gameplay... its just the way the ball rolls until someone brave and intutive comes along and adds a dramatic twist to the scene. I do look foward to seeing UO in the form of Diablo, that may keep me busy for about a weekend.

This one came totally out of the blue... Good work EA! First "The original Kane" in C&C3 and now this - I like such surprises :)

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It's just going to be upgraded until all of a sudden, it's Ultima Online II

I can't wait to play it

I don't know how anyone could hate EA....I mean, EA buys Mythic and revamps one of the best and first MMOs. Good work, EA. Signal_1941--"WoW has a community?" You have to be kidding me...Is that suppose to be a smart ass comment? Because it's not very smart since World of Warcraft has nearing in on 7 million subscribers.

its a long-overdue facelift... and seriously, I think its going to need a lot more than that to pull in any new players.

not that interested

Wow - it looks awesome! What a fun friggin game.

These screens look like D2, graphically. Hardly up to date. Still, a nice treat for those die-hards that are still playing one of the originals.

UO was my favorite mmo. It seems since then no other mmo has came nearly close to what UO had. It wasn't simply the open pvp and freedom the game had that made me like it so much, it was the social experience within the game. The community aspect seems to have taken a backseat to current mmorpgs. It seems instead of FUN things and such to do in mmo's it's swayed into "grind grind grind" and "loot loot loot" instead of fun fun fun.

"pvp was the best" Yea..if you like macro text spammers who hit a button sending 200 lines of speech at you causing your system to lag out while they killed you and looted everything you just played the last 2 hours aquiring. yea..that was the best.

Good idea for a classic. I feel sad for the artists thoe...

I love it when people use the phase "fact of the matter is" on the Internet. It usually means what they are about to say is largely inaccurate. UO did not invent MMOs, or MMORPGs for that matter. It was merely a large profile, high budget title in a genre that was already nearly two decades old at the time. There was very little original about the title. However it was a first step in the genre gaining mainstream attention.

sweet! i cant play it.... itll take away the life ive worked so hard to build i LOVE UO... it never deserved the 7-8s that it got... in my book UO will ALWAYS be a 10.

Fact of the matter is, UO invented the MMO genre, and if you ask ANY oldschool UO player they will tell you that the MMORPG Genre has been moving BACKWARDS since UO created it. Gameplay has slacked, customizing your character abilities has backstepped, player vs player combat has backstepped, along with economies. UO pioneered the genre, and, at the same time, IS the best there was. Sadly, its been massacred in recent years as people have chosen to buy games that arent anywhere up to it's level, and in response, EA turned UO into one of those games. It would be nice if this update reverted a few of the mistakes theyve made though, I'd still go back and play if it returned to how it was

UO was a classic! I feel sorry for anyone that didn't get to play it in it's glory days. There is so much content now with more strict rules its hardly worth playing. Pre-Trammel days when you could pwn anyone and l00t their body was some of the best times ever. PvP was the best! I am glad to see some new graphics...maybe I will contact the old guild mates and try it again.

for the record EA had nothing to do with the making of the original version. It was origin under the mastermind garriot that came up with uo. EA did help pay for it so I will give them credit there. UO was the best online game until the whole mess with richard garriot leaving. The EA stepped in and ruined it with the expansion pack age of shadows. UO still has the best crafting system. UO to me is my all time favorite MMORPG as of now. I played UO for 3-4 years. I really enjoyed it. I am excited to see it revamped, but I wonder if EA is going to even further slaughter the Ultima universe. Time will tell. I honestly see this as an attempt for EA to step in and charge even more. They will turn around and say well we upgraded the engine and now we can charge the 16.99 a month for it. EA is known for ripping off and screwing over their customers. I remember when uo started at 9.99 a month.

@kittencrusher And five years from now we'll be saying the same thing about WOW. What's your point? I might give it a try in this case. I've always heard UO was a very good, although non-casual MMO. Might be a nice break from WOW and COH.

Well the graphics do looks alot better than before, maybe i should try this game, do they have a free trial? I don't want a free shard, looking for a trial of official version ^.^

WoW has a community?

Least the 're-vamped' graphics look much better then here (imo) horrible 3d-models in low-rez-2d-tlle-map setup they attempted long ago...I dont know why they even bothered if they weren't going to do a full make-over back then, useless gimmick I guess... Regardless, nice see'ing the grand-daddy of MMOs is still catering to its extremely hard-core audience.

I'm sorry but this game is ancient. I dont care how great it used to be "BACK IN THE DAY".........but now? I mean come on. Just let it die already.

chiplambert "I've played UO since it came out. Next to WoW the community is the friendliest I've came across for the most part. Give it a try!" Well then, does anyone know if Kingdom Reborn will contain the entire game or will it just be an expansion? I mean, will I need an original copy of Ultima Online in order to play it or will it be ready to play right out of the box?

It looks kinda cool...the graphics do look alot better but I think they could have done more...but anyway I can't believe this game is still going! Every company that makes an MMORPG should aspire to make a game that lasts this long!

Its good to see that good old games are still doing good. I used to play this about 5 years ago and I gotta tell you that it has a totally different RP feel to it than WOW. Might even pick this up again, if the new update proves to be good enough. Even though the screenshots look alright, it cant possibly battle wit the new stuff out there, like WoW and Guildwards. When it comes to graphics, that is. Still, its good news, at least for the RP lovers.

gonazlezj1: I've played UO since it came out. Next to WoW the community is the friendliest I've came across for the most part. Give it a try! I'm glad this is happening. I love the old school feel but this would attract more players possibly and keep the game going. Besides if it wasn't for this game, I don't think we'd have as many MMO's as we do. People seem to forget this was the first major player in the genre.

Javielo you dont understand. UO is the best rpg out there. Nothing can be compared to it. lol. Still UO is on of the best games of all time.

I'd really like to give this game a try, but chances are the online community for Ultima is not too keen on newcomers this late in the game.

This is a old game, whe all dont really care...we got WoW!!!

so now EA wants to get back into the mmorpg genre eh? building an upgrade and let me guess, their next move would be repackaging the game and skyroofing their online fees?

I don't really care about this news but, It's my chance to be the first to post a comment !!! ;P Have a Nice Day