“Now we just have to buy EA” – MMORPG legend reflects on part 2 of his masterpiece

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Along with Everquest, Ultima Online is considered the forefather of today’s MMORPGs and was in many ways more open and progressive than many modern theme park MMORPGs that appeared 25 years later. The developer of the masterpiece, Richard Garriott, ponders a possible part 2.

What kind of game is this?

  • The “Ultima” series was considered to be groundbreaking for the PC in the 80s. She is the child of Richard Garriott, who appeared in the games as the fictional character “Lord British”. The developer also presented himself outside of the ship as a leading figure of the series.
  • Ultima Online appeared in 1997 and was known for an extensive PvP system and an economy system that gave players a lot of freedom. At the time, MMORPGs were completely new territory, there was nothing to go by.
  • Today, Ultima Online is considered a forefather of the MMORPG boom that we’ve been experiencing since WoW 2005. Along with Everquest, it’s one of the two pillars on which MMORPGs are built in the West. Ultima Online was the first MMORPG to reach 100,000 subscribers, as EA proudly announced.

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    “There has never been anything like it since Ultima Online”

    This is what Garriot says now: According to Gamesradar, Ultima’s father, Richard Garriott, has been considering the idea of ​​developing a sequel to Ultima Online for a number of years.

    His plan is probably:

  • Keep the PvP experience from the original game as much as possible
  • But to make an Ultima Online 2 more accessible through technical innovations

    • A fan gushed on Twitter on July 19: Ultima Online is the greatest game that ever existed. It had perfect PvP balance, great skills, and insane freedom. Nothing comparable has ever appeared again.

    Garriott is there immediately and ponders:

    “A new Ultima Online updated but with pretty much the original rules – and a new Ultima 4/10 for single player… Now we still have to buy EA.”

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    “EA lets Ultima down”

    What does Garriott think of EA? But EA, which has owned Ultima for ages, seems to be the problem. Ultimately, Garriott is disappointed with how EA, who took over Ultima Online in 2004, is handling his masterpiece. Because that is kept alive at EA by a small team at Broadsword.

    When the fan tells him: It feels like you can do more for Ultima Online than EA or Broadsword are doing right now, Garriott replies:

    Broadsword is doing the best they can under the circumstances, but EA is letting Ultima down.

    A leading developer of Star Wars: The Old Republic made exactly the same accusation against EA. EA has no idea and no interest in MMORPGs.

    Marc Jacobs is also very bad at EA when it comes to “MMORPG Warhammer Online”.

    Ultima Online 2 was announced 24 years ago, canceled 22 years ago

    Any plans for an Ultima 2? Actually already. Already in 1999 an Ultima Online 2 was announced, which should bring steampunk elements. However, the game was discontinued in 2001 because it was feared that a second part would reduce Ultima Online’s subscriber numbers. The MMORPG market had suddenly become too tough for EA.

    A second planned MMORPG in the Ultima universe failed due to the closure of EA Origin and the scattering of the development team to the four winds.

    It’s fair to say that Lord British has also lost a lot of fame and glory after the Ultima period: With his MMORPG project “Shroud of the Avatar” many people lost their faith in the king of MMORPGs. According to Garriott, the bad reputation of his MMORPG was due to others:

    Shroud of the Avatar: We are the target of an organized hate campaign

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