Ultima Online is considered, alongside Everquest, the progenitor of modern MMORPGs and was in many ways more open and advanced than the modern theme park MMORPGs that appeared 25 years later. The creator of the masterpiece, Richard Garriott, reflects on a possible sequel.
What kind of game is this?
- The “Ultima” series was groundbreaking for PC gaming in the 80s. It is the brainchild of Richard Garriott, who appeared in the games as the fictional character “Lord British”. The developer also presented himself as a leading figure of the role-playing series outside the ship.
- Ultima Online was released in 1997 and was known for its extensive PvP system and an economic system that gave players a lot of freedom. At that time, MMORPGs were uncharted territory, there was nothing to orient oneself to.
- Today, Ultima Online is considered a progenitor of the MMORPG boom that we have been experiencing since WoW in 2005. Together with Everquest, it stands as one of the two pillars upon which MMORPGs in the West are built. Ultima Online was the first MMORPG to reach 100,000 subscribers, as EA once proudly announced.
“Never has there been anything comparable after Ultima Online”
This is what Garriott says now: According to the website Gamesradar , the father of Ultima, Richard Garriott, has been thinking for a few years about the idea of developing a sequel to Ultima Online: It is said that he has internally pitched ideas at EA and publicly announced them on Twitter.
His plan probably includes:
- To largely maintain the PvP experience from the original game
- But to make an Ultima Online 2 more accessible through technological innovations
A fan gushed on Twitter on July 19: Ultima Online is the greatest game that ever existed. It had a perfect PvP balance, great skills, and incredible freedom. Nothing comparable has appeared since.
Garriott is immediately on hand and ponders:
“A new Ultima Online, brought up to date, but with pretty much the original rules – and a new Ultima 4/10 for single player … Now we just need to buy EA.”
“EA abandons Ultima”
What does Garriott think of EA? However, EA, which has owned Ultima for eternity, seems to be the problem. Ultimately, Garriott is disappointed with how EA, which took over Ultima Online in 2004, is treating his masterpiece. From his perspective, it is treated poorly at EA and kept alive by a small team at Broadsword.
When the fan tells him: It feels like you could do more for Ultima Online than EA or Broadsword are currently doing, Garriott replies:
Broadsword is doing the best they can under the circumstances, but EA abandons Ultima.
A similar accusation was made by a former lead developer of Star Wars: The Old Republic against the large gaming publisher: EA has no clue and no interest in MMORPGs.
Marc Jacobs is also not very pleased with EA regarding “MMORPG Warhammer Online”.
If you also consider Anthem, it seems that EA truly does not have a knack for MMOs and MMORPGs.
Ultima Online 2 was announced 24 years ago, discontinued 22 years ago
Were there plans for an Ultima Online 2? Actually, yes. Already in 1999, an Ultima Online 2 was announced that was supposed to bring Steampunk elements. However, the game was discontinued in 2001 due to fears that a sequel could reduce the subscriber numbers of Ultima Online. The MMORPG market suddenly became too tough for EA.
A second planned MMORPG set in the Ultima universe failed due to the closure of Garriott’s company Origin Systems and the dispersal of the development team.
Fairly speaking, it must be said that even Lord British lost a lot of fame and glory after the Ultima era: with his MMORPG project “Shroud of the Avatar,” many lost their faith in the king of MMORPGs. According to Garriott, others were to blame for the bad reputation of his MMORPG:
Shroud of the Avatar: We are the target of an organized hate campaign
