Ultima X Odyssey
Setting: Fantasy | Developer: Origin/EA | Announcement: 2003 | Cancellation: 2004 | Planned Platforms: PC
What kind of game was it? Ultima X Odyssey was supposed to be a successor to Ultima Online and focused on an interesting virtue system. Instead of defeating the next big villain, players were to perform actions and quests to demonstrate virtues such as compassion, honesty, and humility.
New abilities would then be unlocked based on these, which would dictate the character’s direction. Players would also be constantly faced with moral challenges: Do you let the caught thief live because he was starving and saw no other option, or do you punish him appropriately?
The first trailer showed some areas, enemies, and especially a third-person view that was, unlike today, not the standard in MMORPGs back then.
Ultima X Odyssey offered the choice of 12 different classes and was supposed to implement a dynamic combat system featuring blocking and dodging. The game also took some new paths in terms of equipment, as players were to be able to equip items that leveled up with them and/or were improved through crafting.
In the endgame, PvP was supposed to play a significant role, with battles occurring only in specific areas and being linked to a ladder.
The MMORPG was developed in the Unreal Engine and was to operate under a monthly subscription model.
What did it fail at? The official statement said that Odyssey was canceled because most of the team preferred to focus on the next expansion of Ultima Online.
Unofficially, it is said that part of the team simply did not want to relocate with EA from Austin, Texas to California.
