Tag: Ultima Online 2

Taco Tuesday: Four MMO Revival Pitches


Welcome to Tuesday, there are trays at the front of the line and plenty of tacos to go around. Due to the past few weeks sucking up most, if not all, of the Greenlight and Kickstarter MMOs, you may be glad to hear we are shifting paradigm to having a real discussion. So on to today’s top 5:

Aventurine today announced Darkfall: Unholy Wars, a total revamp to just about every aspect of Darkfall, from the graphics to gameplay, user interface and beyond. So for today’s topic, let’s take a look at some MMos that could use a fresh facelift, new coat of paint, and perhaps a less rusty engine.

4. City of Heroes 2

Did anyone see that pander bear just walk by? There is a pretty unified consensus among players and the press, as well as hinted from Paragon Studios, that City of Heroes was still quite profitable, and fell victim to corporate restructuring. And since the game isn’t quite buried in the ground yet, let’s discuss digging up its corpose and reviving it via electricity.

The show of support for City of Heroes should be enough for a small (or large?) developer to either pick up the City of Heroes IP or create their own roster of notable villains and heroes, and set to work creating a new super hero MMO with a focus on slower combat and deeper strategy, alongside a deep character creation system. Think Champions Online but not as arcadey.

So what are you waiting for, indie developers? Get off of your generic, WoW-ish fantasy MMOs and listen to the pleas of the internet.

3. Warhammer Online 2

I know what you’re saying, “Omali, EA wouldn’t give Mythic the funding to buy a Snickers, let alone fund a new MMO based on Warhammer Online.” You are correct, and that’s why part one of this plan hinges on someone tearing the Warhammer MMO license from Mythic, not unlike Lucas and Star Wars Galaxies. Nothing personal, and Mythic could even keep Wrath of Heroes.

How do you create a new Warhammer Online? First, by not programming it on the gamebryo engine. This is an important factor, because it will prevent the mass exodus of your players over the engine not being capable of handling basic systems, and you won’t have to worry about disabling certain portions of the game or cutting mass swaths of content.

Who wouldn’t like to see a new Warhammer Online? Perhaps with three faction PvP, open world combat, and territory control perhaps?

2. Earthrise

Tell me you didn’t fall in love with Earthrise…on paper. Of course I’m talking about the version we were advertised, where thousands of players would battle in an epic science fiction sandbox MMO, dictated by one’s skill on the battlefield. Not the one where perhaps a dozen or so players battled the forces of lag, game breaking bugs, and unfinished features in a game that provided little more than quest grinding without a community to provide it purpose.

Imagine, if you will, if Earthrise was more like Darkfall but in a science fiction setting. So instead of swords, spells, and archery, you would have guns, nanotechnology, and big heavy stuff to hit other things with. On the other hand, I’d settle for an Earthrise that just wasn’t

1. Ultima Online 2

That pander bear just won’t go away. I must say that out of the items on this list, Ultima Online 2 is likely the only game with even a wink of likelihood. For that matter, it’s the only one that has officially been mentioned, by Jeff Slaski telling players to show EA that they want a sequel. So I’m being optimistic with this list, but I’m not dense. I know that the odds of most of these games even making it past the drawing board are slim.

I love Ultima Online as it is, but I will admit that the code that the game is built on is likely ancient and very obsolete and likely difficult to work with. If the folks at EA were able to upgrade Ultima’s underlying engine, they would likely be able to push the MMO to do far more than it is currently capable of, without sacrificing much if any of the features that the loyal community has come to love.

So it wouldn’t be as much of a sequel as it is a reboot. Like Funcom upgrading Anarchy Online to the Dreamworld Engine.

Ultima Online Producer: Support Ultima For Ultima 2


It’s easy to forget sometimes that Ultima Online is still with us. After all, the game enjoys a healthy but quiet community, and the idea that Ultima Online 2 could be a reality was mostly given up on some time ago. Still, the reveal of Ultima Forever, the remake of Ultima 4 as a free to play game, has some fans worried about the future of the ancient MMO they love. In order to quell these thoughts, Jeff Skalski has posted a Letter From The Producer on the Ultima Herald. In the letter, he assures players that Ultima Online will remain stead in its tracks, and that neither Ultima Online or Ultima Forever have had an affect on the development of each other.

Finally, Skalski made a point of Ultima Online 2:

Lastly, for those interested in seeing a UO2.  No surprise announcements on that today, but what I will say by everyone continuing to support UO and Ultima Forever this is the kind of ammunition I need to convince the high level execs that the market is ready for more Ultima.

So fans of the much anticipated and oft-cancelled sequel can take solace in knowing that they aren’t they only ones who would like to see the franchise continue. If you want to see an Ultima Online 2, I suggest making your desires known to the executives at Electronic Arts.

(Source: Ultima Online)

Play Richard Garriot’s MMO While It Is Developed…


There are a select few articles here on MMO Fallout that garner attention after, say, six months of their publishing. It’s been ten months since I published the article about Second Star Interactive, a new development studio formed out arguably the greater minds of Ultima Online, Warhammer, and Dark Age of Camelot, and that article is still on the traffic radar. The comments on the article are just a small portion of the attention that my article brought in, and my tease about three factions and full pvp cause more than one urinary incident among fans.

Daoc 2? OMG i got the shivers

I already have my 50 bucks buried in a coffee can, counting the seconds until this happens…

SO longing DAOC2 or summat like it. I almost started to cry

Richard Garriot is talking to Electronic Arts about a relationship to create a spiritual successor to Ultima Online, as mentioned in a Eurogamer article today. Whether or not that deal is struck will place little sway on the direction of this MMO, however, as Garriot points out:

“I actually think it’s time to move on from that regardless, so even if we were to have access to the properties of my historical work, I don’t think I would change my current plans. I’m very confident of the current plans as the right way to evolve my creation, regardless.”

The interview reveals a number of details regarding Ultimate RPG:

  • Fantasy setting, although likely intertwined with science fiction.
  • Will likely preserve Ultima’s isometric view.
  • Ultimate RPG will be free to play.
  • Plans to make the game accessible via browser, client, iOS, and Android.
  • Target release date is 2012, 2013 (one of those two, says Garriot).
  • Ultimate RPG will take advantage of social media.
  • There are 25 people working at Portalarium (Garriot’s company)

Tantalizing readers even further, Garriot goes on to reveal that the game will be released closer to a Minecraft style format, allowing people to play as the game is developed.

“As soon as we have a viable game, we will immediately get it into players’ hands so that they can be a part of that creation process.”

(Source: Eurogamer)

Play Richard Garriot's MMO While It Is Developed…


There are a select few articles here on MMO Fallout that garner attention after, say, six months of their publishing. It’s been ten months since I published the article about Second Star Interactive, a new development studio formed out arguably the greater minds of Ultima Online, Warhammer, and Dark Age of Camelot, and that article is still on the traffic radar. The comments on the article are just a small portion of the attention that my article brought in, and my tease about three factions and full pvp cause more than one urinary incident among fans.

Daoc 2? OMG i got the shivers

I already have my 50 bucks buried in a coffee can, counting the seconds until this happens…

SO longing DAOC2 or summat like it. I almost started to cry

Richard Garriot is talking to Electronic Arts about a relationship to create a spiritual successor to Ultima Online, as mentioned in a Eurogamer article today. Whether or not that deal is struck will place little sway on the direction of this MMO, however, as Garriot points out:

“I actually think it’s time to move on from that regardless, so even if we were to have access to the properties of my historical work, I don’t think I would change my current plans. I’m very confident of the current plans as the right way to evolve my creation, regardless.”

The interview reveals a number of details regarding Ultimate RPG:

  • Fantasy setting, although likely intertwined with science fiction.
  • Will likely preserve Ultima’s isometric view.
  • Ultimate RPG will be free to play.
  • Plans to make the game accessible via browser, client, iOS, and Android.
  • Target release date is 2012, 2013 (one of those two, says Garriot).
  • Ultimate RPG will take advantage of social media.
  • There are 25 people working at Portalarium (Garriot’s company)

Tantalizing readers even further, Garriot goes on to reveal that the game will be released closer to a Minecraft style format, allowing people to play as the game is developed.

“As soon as we have a viable game, we will immediately get it into players’ hands so that they can be a part of that creation process.”

(Source: Eurogamer)

2010: The Blue Moon Year


We enter January as 2009 comes to a close, we look at the year before us, and the year ahead, and remember that life goes on, no matter what happens in the present. I’ve dubbed 2010 the blue moon year because it has the pleasure of beginning with a blue moon, an event that won’t be occurring on New Year’s Eve for a long time to come.

I’m going slightly out of character with this article, if anything just to be the one time a year I get to be a jerk and pick on the same companies I spend the other 364 days vying for the attention of (Thank you Tork, Hasbro, Aventurine, Cryptic). This is a comprehensive list of some questions I have going into the new year, that I hope to get answered by this time next year.

Continue reading “2010: The Blue Moon Year”

2009: Surprise Sequels and Drama Aplenty


2009 in a nutshell...

2009 has come to a close, and has brought us plenty in terms of surprise sequels and drama. Here is a comprehensive list of the surprise sequels and drama that hit this past year.

Continue reading “2009: Surprise Sequels and Drama Aplenty”

Stygian Abyss Ships! And Ultima Online 2?


Ultimaonline

Despite being two years older than Everquest, Ultima Online can only boast half the number of expansion packs. That being said, EA reminds us of the continued investment they hold in the title with today’s release of Stygian Abyss, introducing a new race, new classes, new abilities, and an entirely new facet.

In an interview with Calvin Crowner, he had this to say about the possibility of a new Ultima Online:

Well, I can’t say just yet, but Mythic is always looking at our existing intellectual properties and discussing the best course of action for the franchises.

What do you think? Ultima Online 2 has been tried, and never made it through production. Should Mythic go through with a plan for Ultima 2, they will have to take a good hard look at who they’re going to market the game towards.