Yes I know we are not a general Ultima news site, for that you go to Ultima Aiera (hi WTF Dragon!) and I also know that those news are not exaclty new but it's important enough for me to put it here:
Lord British interview about his past and his new company:
it's over 40 minutes long but I guarantee you it's worth watching.
He basically announces a new Ultima with a new concept based on his Ultima Online experiences and casual social gaming.
YES he used those two words us "hardcore" or "old" gamers hate, casual and social
But before you think, like I did at first, that this is just some nonsense he does on the side and will have no real value, dig deep and pull out the old confidence you all had in this man a few years ago and listen to him.
I mean, think back when he wanted to make Ultima Online. I was one of those who HATED him for that. I wanted my story driven single player Ultima IX, X, XI and beyond and he comes along with some multiplayer nonsense?
But we all know that he created something amazing, something unique and something that made the MMO market like it is today possible in the first place (calm down Everquest fans, I know that your little game existed too
).
Why shouldn't he be able to do the same thing now?
Anyway, what I am trying to say is, if he pulls off what he is talking about, giving players "roles" they can play, combine all the Farmvilles and Cafe Worlds out there to a New Britannia, then isnt' that exactly what Ultima always was? A world where you can do what you think you should be able to do within this world you see on your screen?
The incredible depth of interaction with the world and the mini games (if you want to call it that) are one aspect of Ultima that made me a fan of the series in the first place (the other big one being the story and the characters of course). So this might even be the next logical step.
What do you think? Can he do it?
I can't tell you why but I am convinced he can and I personally can not wait for his new game.
Being an avid XBox 360 gamer these days, and seeing how popular games like Elder Scrolls and the Fable franchise have been, I am wondering why there hasn't been an attempt to bring the Ultima world over to the XBox or PS3. I am in no doubt they would be extremly successful. I am highly dubious about the whole online gaming thing, and I think that the trend is moving away from UO type games. I would love to see official remakes of the series out on consoles and I hope that one day I do.
The problem I see with his plan is quite simply cost. Most "social" games are small relatively easy to produce games that are then packed with ads, most of which try to get you to pay real money for some minor in-game boost.
Because these games are small and require little money compared to classic games, they can afford to make money this way. However if the game is as complex as he wants, I don't see him being able to make a profit with this method. He'd likely have to switch to the standard MMO monthly subscription fee model, at which point your now paying a monthly fee for what is effectively a stripped down version of Ultima Online.
I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it.
I'd much rather see him develop a game that can be played both single-player and multi-player, somewhat like the Baldur's Gate series. The online part could be joined with your social accounts, automatically pull your friends lists and let you know who else was online. If you choose not to use social accounts you could simply link up via LAN or VPN tunnels with those you want to play with.
Well they made it to port
everyone was ok
they went out to lunch
and felt better.
).
