Azaroth

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.