21–30 of 164 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why not ultima 7? Ultima8 wasn't as interactive as ultima7 imho.
I agree, graphics were prettier, but controls were sluggish and unresponsive. Jumping mechanics were a nightmare. The series really started its downward slope from there.
[1]: http://spoonyexperiment.com/category/game-reviews/ultima-ret...
> Since then, most every other RPG has focused more on level grinding then “role playing”, which has been reduced to a few initial character choices... Less open. Less immersive. I don't think this team has played any RPGs over the past decade. Non of them are like this other than JRPGs. It lessens his project's credibility.
> Multiplayer Online Game - which can also be played solo player / offline I remember when UO came out...I never played it but I wondered if it would be the end of good single-player RPGs. Luckily, it wasn't, but it was basically the end of Ultima as a series, though arguably it wasn't a causation. In any case, it's hard to imagine an RPG world that could be designed successfully to be a MMO and a good single player…
I am excited to see if anyone takes up the idea of making something akin to the elder scrolls franchise and adding small scale multiplayer into it. Not specifically co-op but just where multiple people are dropped into the world together and then left to their own devices. In a game where up to say 10 people were allowed to wander free it would be fun to have rivalries and alliances arise as people try to further their own goals.
What saddens me is that this sort of idea seems to be forgotten completely in lieu of the industry direction that seems to suggest the only multiplayer fantasy rpg games we'll ever get are shameless wow clones.
I would love to be wrong by the way, if anyone does know of any of these sorts of games feel free to correct me.
> Since then, most every other RPG has focused more on level grinding then “role playing”, which has been reduced to a few initial character choices... Less open. Less immersive. I don't think this team has played any RPGs over the past decade. Non of them are like this other than JRPGs. It lessens his project's credibility.
The first Fallout had terrific role playing already, and then all the Black Isle, Bioware, Bethesda titles, the Gothic, Witcher series...
I grew up on the Ultima series - in fact it is exclusively the reason I became a programmer and game developer. I do not know how good this recent iteration will be, but at least it looks like Richard is keeping a close ear to his community. In all honesty though I would have settled for a 2D/isometric non-MMO (in the spirit of Ultima 7) -- I think that's where his original fans lie.
Ultima VI is was really got me into coding world simulations, but Ultima VII really showed the potential of the genre. I think that's why Ultima VIII and IX were such a disappointment.
The interactions, exploration and focus on virtues that hooked me into these games. I could care less about the graphics if these elements are well done in the new game.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree, graphics were prettier, but controls were sluggish and unresponsive. Jumping mechanics were a nightmare. The series really started its downward slope from there.
I think it was the kind of game that was so bad that looking back I have fond memories.
Ultima 9 was the really stinking blob of pus.
Kickstarter page is not up yet, but there is a live streamed announcement via http://www.lordbritishpresents.com/ .
Odd. I'm seeing the kickstarter page myself. Already 200+ backers.
In parts of the world (Felucca[1]), UO was a rare RPG where anyone could kill anyone, for any reason, but with the repercussion that they would be branded a "Bad person" (visible with a gray or red name instead of blue). Stealing from good people corpses also did this. Anyone can attack and kill bad persons, and if you killed even more people you were a murderer and it took a very long time to return to normal.
You want to use super awesome powerful gear? None of this sissy MMO stuff. Die and you lose it, and your enemy (or his enemy!) gets the spoils.[1]
Those are the two criteria by which I think "meaningful PvP" should be judged:
1. Can I kill anyone? (ie, in WoW you can't kill 90% of the people you see, they have to be in an arena/faction/alliance).
2. When you kill someone do you actually win something? (preferably something of theirs), and when you die do you actually lose something (preferably the equipment you risked to try and have a more favorable fight).
Ultima and UO were very big into morality and moral dilemmas, which is a thing I love in both single and multi-player games. Some of the Ultima games featured very interesting choices, like whether or not you should kill "evil" (possessed) children or leave them alone.
In UO, if you did have a "bad person" title and wanted to know how much time you had left before you would be considered blue again, you had to type:
"I must consider my sins"
The other problem I have with a lot of MMOs is that the power of your character is simply how much time you sink into the game. Essentially, MMOs are games that reward wasting time.
UO had so much more than that. The class-less system definitely helped, and UO was a game where treachery and sneakiness really paid off, if you wanted them to. Lots of ways to nearly instantly kill or entrap people lead to a lot of very exciting plots where guilds might be laden with spies. Absolutely nothing like the limited PvP found in many modern MMOs.
In a lot of ways UO was the Diplomacy (diplomatic back-stabbing board game) of MMOs. And it was great.
See also outworlder's wonderful comment explaining UO 90 days ago[2]. Also considerably interesting was the economy of UO[3], which was wrought with a good deal of experimentation.
~~~
Also, if you played UO, you'd know that property taxes are a wonderful idea. So many people land-rushing to get the largest properties possible, who then sat on them and never built anything! (Or never played, while newcoming regulars had zero chance of ever finding a home at a reasonable price)
~~~
[1] In the beginning there was only Felucca. And an insurance system was added later (2005ish?) where you could pay a certain amount per item to not lose it on death. Both were attempts to make the game less harsh. Like a lot of later patches, this was unpopular with older players and popular with newer players. Over its lifetime, UO did a lot of things to make the game world less cut-throat, which will always be controversial. Some realms rules stayed more "hardcore" than others as a compromise.
Hmm.. Kickstarter Estimated delivery date: Oct 2014 Amazon authorized payment window: July 2013 This should be interesting...
Kickstarter has been really great so far for people, like myself, who were and are very fond of the "old school" type of RPGs.