Happy Birthday UO
Apparently Ultima Online celebrated its tenth birthday on the 26th of September. I have to wait another month to mourn ten years since I first stepped foot into Britannia and went on an incredible, multiple-year-wasting journey that never actually saw me finish GMing any of the smiths I started. I did come pretty close once or twice, though.
But for better or worse, the game certainly changed my life.
They’re just lucky that the closest thing to an online game I had ever played to that point was Duke Nukem 3D on a LAN. I don’t think anyone with any expectations at all would have put up with 45 minutes waiting for the “verifying account…” screen, and 3 seconds of lag between each. and. every. step. But I loved every minute of it.
I did manage to win my first ever PvP fight only minutes into my UO life against a naked guy with a skull helm on. However, I was soon slain by a hind. But not before figuring out the hard way that going around killing NPCs for a living would make you red.
So unfortunately my first character was doomed to deletion. Note to designers ten years later: Dropping players in with no idea of what’s going on - probably not the best idea. Well, unless you’re UO in 1997.
You boys sure got away with a lot. And we all love you for it. And loved being a part of it.
Here’s to the original devs and the original players of the most innovative, immersive, groundbreaking video game of all time.
Happy Birthday Ultima Online.
-Az
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:12 am
Its sad to think that the best days of your life are gone, but thats what I and my little clique have been saying since about ‘01. Of course it was a joke, but one that stung a little too much.
I, too, will never forget death by hind.