Coldren Posted July 13, 2002 Share Posted July 13, 2002 Remember that old guy, Richard Garriott, that long, long ago created the game called Ultima Online? In case you don't know the story, here's a crude, brief summary... ================================================ Richard Garriott (A.K.A, Lord British), founder of a company called Origin Systems, is the creator of the entire Ultima series. When he released Ultima Online, it became a huge success and the first successful MMORPG in the US(Meridian 59 was also out, but it wasn't very popular). Others, noticing the money to be made in online gaming soon joined the bandwagon, most notable of which was Everqrack. Ultima Online was run very well back in the days of Richard's command. To some of the youngin's who dont' remember, there was a time you could place a house ANYWHERE there wasn't a rock or a tree.. Right next to each other with no space between, on any #### flower or hill you watned, or even on top of a tower!!! Tank mages were common, as well as "uber" as precasting ran rampant. Skills weren't impossible to GM, although some more difficult then others. They even had a good economy for crafters, with resources cheap and crafters aplenty. (Granted, the duping fiasco way back when threw all that out the window.. and there was only Iron Ore, but dammit, it was good enough for me then, it's good enough for me now ^_^) Yes people still complained, but by and large, people were happy with it. Well, needless to say, the game grew and grew in subscribers, and Origin did it's best to survive. But for some reason, they decided it would be in the best interest of the company to become part of a larger corporation: Electronic Arts. Once Origin fell beneathe the umbrella of EA, every patch since then just made the game steadly worse then what people remembered as being the "Golden Years" of the game. Granted, there were a few nice things, like new ores, etc., but on the whole, people started giving up on the game and pursuing other interests or games in droves. And thus Richard Spoketh: Richard: "We're loosing players to pretty graphics, and our game system needs to be revamped.. Lets make UO2! (Later known as simply Origin)." EA Guy: "Sure, run with it! More money is always good!" ***1 year passes. The game is litteraly weeks away from a public beta, and everyone is psyched for the game because of great fiction, great graphics and trailers, great music, great skill system, and 2 new races: Fans litteraly drool in anticipation*** EA Guy: "Well, sorry guys, but UO2 is no more. Shelf it. We have The Sims Online to do!" Richard: "Are you SERIOUS??!! It's basically DONE! All of the UO fanbase is waiting for 3D, and great new stuff!!!" EA Guy: "[insert 1 hour of dialogue that basically surmounts to business man BS] and that's why we're shelfing it. While we're at it, destroy the work you've done, take down the website with all the cool stuff that proved it existed, and make UO3D...." [in case you don't know it, orginally the Juka, Meer, and new Lord Blackthron were all rendered in DAoC quality 3D, and you could PLAY as the Juka or the Meer as well as Brittainian in a beautful new landscape, with a great new skill system and stunning motion captured 3D combat.. in UO2....] Needless to say, I'm sure Richard as well as every UO player would have wished Terrorists would have hit the EA headquarters at that point... But Richard felt like letting EA know how much he protested their decision. Many a website told of how exactly Richard destroyed their work.. He had a copy of every single document printed, CD's of all the Code, and all the stuf in the office that related to UO2 brought to his house, where he promoptly invited all the developers who worked on it to come set it on fire and get wasted... They really had a mound of stuff..the pics of it were fantastic. Soon after, half of the orginal Origin System Staff was fired... Richard "The Man" Garriott realized his mistakes, but because of contracts and liscencing could not redo Ultima Online the way it should have done. He left EA, took all of his old buddies from Origin that got fired, as well as some who didn't, and founded a company called Destination Games, and soon entered a partnership with a Korean company called NCSoft. ============================================ Ok, not so brief, but it could have been much longer... Anyway, you may wonder what Richard and his new found company have been up to, or why he went there in the first place? NCSoft makes a game callled Lineage. The game, by current standards, is hideous.. Slow, bad graphics (worse then UO!!), and limited character development plague it. HOWEVER, it is played by MILLIONS OF PEOPLE in Southeast Asia, and all over the world! That's right folks... Millions... EQ can't hold a candle to it in terms of player base.. Well, thanks to Richard's efforts to bring this widely known game to the Americas, you can now buy a copy at EB.. and, since NCSoft and Richard both realized the potential of American/European gamers, they've been working in their secert labs. testing and formulating a masterpiece... Move over EQ2, you've got competition... Asherons Call 2? You stole your #### Vassel system from us... DAoC? Just put the nail in your coffin now... Ladies and Gentlemen, brothers and sister, friends and foes, I'm pleased to be the first to mention, and link to you on these boards so that you may weep in joy and revel in anticipation, Richard Garriott and NCSoft's next creation..... Lineage 2: The Chaotic Cronicle Download trailers and teasers, read the faqs of Lineage 1 and 2, and rejoice! Mediocraty in MMORPG's is coming to an end... Thats right my friends.. The MAN is back.. and he's ready to kick some @$$.... 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Prometheus Posted July 13, 2002 Share Posted July 13, 2002 I have much faith in Richard Garriot, UO was his brainchild, and he made it what it was back in the day. I am sure that any game he DOES come out with will be awesome, even though I am not sure I'm going to play it (I imagine SWG will take most of my time ) but this is a good sign in general that, as Coldren said, the MAN is BACK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martok Posted July 13, 2002 Share Posted July 13, 2002 I am glad Garriott is continuing with the MMORPG's. I figured he'd stop with Lineage 1. So is Lingeage 2 going to be something other than a poor Japanese MMORPG of Pokemon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hothgorn TheBlack Posted July 15, 2002 Share Posted July 15, 2002 I think he'll do fine in whatever he does. He has the experience, and has alot of followers. Computer games are HUGE in some asian countries, not all. I believe the biggest is Korea, where the goverment is involved in education in making, and contest for pc games. I believe this is where Lord brit. has a company agreement with a huge asian distributer. I'm glad that it's getting more global. Lineage 2, from what I've heard will use the Unreal Warfare engine. I have no Idea how that will affect how the game will work with millions of people all at once. Besides, it is alot like the old days of Brit's career. He has ALOT more power over what gets done and how, which is how it should be. If he remained with mostly US distributers, we'd end up with him leaving the market all together. Heh, this is from a guy who has never played UO. --Hothgorn TheBlack-- Visualize industrial collapse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldren Posted July 15, 2002 Author Share Posted July 15, 2002 Aye Hothgorn, the Asian distribution company is NCSoft, the company that built Lineage. As far as Lord British goes, if he has anywhere near the foresight that he used to produce UO, a game that is still played today after 5+ years, and he has any say in the design of the game, I'm sure it's going to be fantastic. How it will work with the Unreal Engine, I don't know. I don't know how it supports a large number of simultanieous (sp) users. But I can tell you, from what I've seen of the previews where there are at least 30 people in clipping range, it still looks gorgeous. I'd say just as good as the Net Impulse (I think that's what it's called) engine used by Morrowind and the new DAoC expansion. It's all in how you code it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hothgorn TheBlack Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Ah, with any luck they'll tighten the code like the fins did with Max Payne. Perhaps relying on smaller info packs, and a tighter server network code to allow huge battles. --Hothgorn TheBlack-- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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