Front Porch Chat: Lord of Ultima

Lord of Ultima is a new game (just released in April 2010,) but the Ultima franchise has been around since the early 80s and there have been die-hard fans ever since. We moseyed over to UO Stratics, which has been the place to go for information on Ultima Online for around ten years now, to see if anyone there had an opinion on this new claimant to the throne. Thanks so much to the UO Stratics staff, particularly Airmid Cecht, for helping us coordinate this!

We got responses from two players, Jonathan Dupuis and Bazer/Gaomon, who are both long-time Ultima Online players and came to Lord of Ultima with very different expectations and responses. Check it out!

Tell us a little about your history with the Ultima series. What was the first game you played? How did you get started?

Jonathan Dupuis: I found a box of Ultima Online: Renaissance in a bargain bin at the local game store, and the word “Renaissance” kinda drew my attention. I did a bit of research before deciding to pick up the game and discovered “online” meant there was a huge community behind the sprites one encountered behind the game itself. Curious, I decided to buy it and entered another world where people could be things they couldn’t in this world. A place where you didn’t have to beat the monster to reach a new level. A place where meeting someone didn’t mean an instant deathmatch. A game where being dead didn’t necessarily mean a game over.

Bazer/Gaomon: I started playing about 10 years back, mainly playing on my brother’s friend’s account, pretty much making a character on another server and just wandering around and fighting and dying from everything. Even remember walking into a moongate and not knowing where I was and how to get back to a city.

What attracted you to the Ultima games you’ve played?

Jonathan Dupuis: What attracted me to UO was not the game itself, but the people behind (and around) it. I love being able to just hop in, sit back, and just chat away until someone calls for help defeating a monster or looking for one special item or other. There’s no pressure to finish anything, no need to get there before someone else.

Bazer/Gaomon: Well pretty much when I first laid my eyes on it I fell in love with it just from the looks and play style.

What did you expect when you heard about a new online Ultima game being released?

Jonathan Dupuis: In all honesty, I did not know a new Ultima game was being released until I heard it from a fellow player. By then, the game’s goals and outlines were already public knowledge and thus I simply soaked in that knowledge, rather than make baseless assumptions of my own.

Bazer/Gaomon: Pretty much was wondering if it was gonna be the announced but never came-forward-with Ultima [Online] 2.

When you started to play Lord of Ultima, was it what you expected?

Jonathan Dupuis: As previously stated, I used the knowledge that was already public to make my own image of what Lord of Ultima was like, and I must admit, my idea of the game was very close to what it turned out to be. At least, in so far as the time I’ve played the game itself (12 days). The game seems to revolve more around city development than actual inter-player relationships though. That could maybe use some more work.

Bazer/Gaomon: Not really, was sorta expecting/hoping the graphics would have been more like the Ultima Online we all came to know and love.

What do you think about the Ultima name used in a game like this? Does it fit? Does it matter?

Jonathan Dupuis: For this game, at the moment, the name Ultima seems to be used more like a trademark than making it an actual part of the series. It allows the use of others identifiers such as Moonglow Towers and Trinsic Temples, but there’s no real feel (at least to me) of anything “Ultima” for the game yet. The general feel of the game is still too vague to make it anything more than a simple medieval kingdom-building game.

Bazer/Gaomon: Sorta wish they would have come up with another name for it since only revalance to Ultima Online is pretty much the names of cities like Trinsic and Sosaria. But pretty much the rest is just too different.

What do you think of Lord of Ultima overall?

Jonathan Dupuis: Lord of Ultima is an addictive, fun game where the player doesn’t have to be glued to his screen for hours on end to play (although that option is still available). It’s a relaxing game where strategy in city development and forethought in terms of ressource-building is necessary. If a few more Ultima elements could be added to the game to make it more “Ultima-ish”. I’ll also note the lack of a means to directly log out of the game from the browser, short of shutting down the browser window: perhaps an unconscious wish from the developers to keep their players forever?

Bazer/Gaomon: Eh its ok, not what I really hoped for, but does fill in the dead time while I’m waiting for something fun to happen on Ultima [Online].

Thanks to Jonathan and Bazer for taking the time to answer our questions – if you want to know more about the UO community’s reaction to Lord of Ultima, Stratics has a no-holds-barred discussion going on here!

What do you think? Is it worth it to use a name like Ultima for a totally different genre of game? Do the expectations created work for or against the game? We’d love to chat with you!