Massively

Ultima Online (1997)

Richard Garriott, the renowned creator of the explosively successful Ultima series of computer RPGs, had a passion for an idea: a Britannia (the world of Ultima) inhabited simultaneously by thousands of RPG fans.

Garriott, Starr Long, Raph Koster, and other designers made that idea a reality with Ultima Online, which was released by Origin Systems on September 25, 1997. UO was a smash hit; it was the first MMO to attract subscribers by the hundreds of thousands instead of the tens of thousands. It's still going today, and has seen seven expansion packs over the years.

The game is played in an isometric -- or bird's eye -- perspective, is skill-based rather than level-based, and features player-built communities, a wide range of trade skills, and brutal player vs. player combat.

The designers of UO broke new ground in dozens of ways, but they didn't have a large back catalog of previous successes to look to for dos and don'ts. For that reason, UO is arguably a work of flawed genius. Origin had to find ways to deal with unanticipated forms of griefing and player-killing, technical problems, and even urban over-development!

Still, UO almost single-handedly opened the door to a future full of successful MMOs -- for the West, at least.

uotreasures.com

31/03/08