Welcome to Sosaria… So you’re browsing the internet or maybe you’re searching for something specific – but somehow you’ve arrived here at UO Renaissance. I can imagine the thoughts going through your head right about now whether you’re a former player, new player, or maybe a current player from elsewhere. What is Ultima Online? Why Ultima Online? Why Renaissance? Why should I play a 20 year old game? So let me help you with some possible answers to those questions… What is Ultima Online? Ultima Online is a massively multiplayer online game that was first released in the 90’s by Origin and later purchased by Electronic Arts. Within the game, you control your Avatar in the world of Sosaria. Why Ultima Online? Ultima Online is a sandbox multiplayer game. Meaning, while it is similar to other MMOs, it is quite different because there is no clearly defined progression path. You do not simply start your character and quest grind to max level in UO. Here, the world is open and your options are nearly limitless. You can fight monsters in the traditional mmo fashion, run a player vendor, be a thief and prey on other players, or you can collect rare items and showcase them in your museum. The main thing is there is no hand holding here. From the stats and skills your character has to the type of equipment they use, to the activities you engage in, the world is wide open. This might seem vague but let me elaborate. In other games you generally select a class and/or race and that choice immediately and permanently restricts you to types of spells, abilities, and items your character can and cannot use. Not the case in Ultima Online. If you want to be a mace wielding mage or a bard with a pet wolf, that is up to you and how you want to design your character and how your character grows through in-game experience. This wide open world is what makes Ultima Online unique and still exciting to play after nearly 20 years. While other games can become stale and repetitive, Ultima Online provides truly unique opportunities for player and community interactions. Why Renaissance? Renaissance is a privately run Ultima Online server based on the mechanics of the “Renaissance Era†(circa 2001 to 2001). The goal here, as I understand it, is to explore what could have been in Ultima Online. To understand what this means, let’s revisit what happened with Ultima Online in its infancy. UO was essentially the first mmo and the developers created it with completely open player vs. player combat with full loot enabled. The idea was to create a true sandbox world where players had to police themselves. This, predictably to some, resulted in a disaster as veteran players preyed on new players and ‘griefing’ became rampant and the game experience for many, suffered. With the release of Everquest, a game with no nonconsensual pvp and fear that UO would lose its customer base to EQ, the developers of UO decided to split the world of Sosaria into 2 sides: Felucca and Trammel. In Felucca, full nonconsensual pvp under the existing rules existed and in Trammel, no nonconsensual pvp existed. This proved disastrous in the long term. The community became divided and to many, the charm and danger of UO was lost. With more and more MMOs entering the scene, the uniqueness of Ultima Online seemed to fade. What was unique about killing orcs in the safety of Trammel vs. the safety of Northern Ro? To some this was the death of Ultima Online but for others, it was the spiraling inflation that no-risk gold farming allowed. To still others, the continued adding of elements by the developers that mimicked other MMO’s features – features they felt were not needed in UO like Paladins and Necromancers – diminished the quality of the game. So back to Renaissance… For many this era truly was the “renaissance†of Ultima Online. Following the dark times of Ultima Online’s birth and the developers’ struggle to reign in player behavior and exploits, the game grew and features were added that enhanced the game. Players with vastly different play styles were all enjoying new, polished content additions that fit nicely into the sandbox world of Sosaria – providing options but not limiting choices. Examples of these content additions were: The housing revamp which created more secure housing ownership and trading with additional housing types. Faction pvp system which incentivized player vs. player combat. Combat overhauls which made a variety of templates viable like Poison Fencers, Fencer Mages, Parry Macers, Stun mages, and others. Additional changes included: Crafting Menu improvements, taming improvement, house addons, Bulk Order Deeds, etc. Most importantly, for most players, these improvements all seemed to synergize well. The skills that existed in the game complimented each other and you saw a diversity of templates, play styles, and experiences emerge as a result. Rather than picking up skills as an automatic (ex. Wrestling), players now had to weigh the pros and cons of investing 100 points into that skill versus picking up Inscription, Poisoning, or Anatomy/Eval/Healing. Hybrid templates now had room to thrive and pure templates of the past were no longer automatic picks. UO Renaisance seeks to take what was happening in this time period and build on it and make the Ultima most of us feel could have been and should have been. Through player input and impressive coding, the developers are building entire systems to improve the game in new ways, but without threatening the integrity of the existing mechanics or flavor. With a focus on maintaining a stable server economy, promoting player interaction and active play (vs. inactive, unattended play, a long running problem for MMOs, particularly UO), the devs hope to foster a community and world that not only fulfills the nostalgia seeker but also the veteran looking for a more complete game experience. Why should I play a 20 year old game? Ok so you've made it this far which means you're asking the important questions now - why this game in a time when you have so many options. In a nutshell: Challenge Few games now offer the user the simultaneous experience of both great challenge and great openess. Most games today are both narrow and easy. Even games like Assassin's Creed or Skyrim - with all of the appearance of openness - are truly narrow in scope. The story line is linear; the choices not truly meaningful. Here, you define your own story and make your own challenges. Here, other players can help you on your path or make you rethink your objective. ** This is a work in progress. Let me know what you guys think.
