Patrick Dawson @pkd
Reviews
Ultima Online (Windows)
Revolutionary
The Good
Compared to the majority of current MMORPGs, which have become little more than EverQuest clones, the early years of Ultima Online were truly revolutionary. Eight years after UO, I expected games with thriving economies, detailed crafting systems, and great player housing.
The focus of UO was community and player interaction, including PvP. I spent hundreds of hours working on my blacksmithing and mining skills, selling my wares using an NPC vendor, and leading a small guild of roleplayers. In those years, the Catskills Roleplaying Circle (CRPC) was a huge community that united dozens of guilds in everything from tavern nights to wars between elves and orcs. We had castles in the woods, forts, mining camps, and houses.
In EverQuest and its derivatives, the only method of advancement is gaining levels and equipment through PvE combat. There's no player housing, no way to change the world. UO was different. UO dared to be something so much more than a graphical MUD. It wasn't a game; it was an open-ended world.
The Bad
Lag was a constant issue, as was the daily server reset that inexplicably wiped out several hours of progress. There were quite a few exploitable bugs, including dupes and house break-ins.
And as with all online games, it inevitably attracted a huge number of assholes and idiots.
The Bottom Line
I haven't played UO in years, but pre-2000, if you played it with the right people, it was the greatest game in the world.
In my mind, UO is comparable to Daggerfall. Both games were engaging largely because they demonstrated so much potential for games of their genre. They both succeeded in creating the feeling of depth -- that there really was a huge world that you could never fully master. Unfortunately, they're also alike in that their demonstrated potential has never been achieved by subsequent games. And while you can still go back and play and enjoy Daggerfall again, this is sadly impossible with Ultima Online.
By Patrick Dawson on April 21, 2006