From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


It's that time again. What time is that? Time for another overly-long retrospective on Ultima games by long-winded YouTuber Majuular (and
given my own predilection for lengthy diatribes, my calling somebody
else 'long-winded' should be a warning). That said, I appreciated
these deep-dives into nostalgia for the Ultima games, so I'm not
really complaining.

This time the video --over four hours long!-- is focused on "Ultima
Online" (watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35SKawn2SDI),
with the usual side-treks into the state of the industry and hobby at
the time. But given the lengthy history and influence of "Ultima
Online", the video's length is maybe necessary.

This is a very niche series and between its limited subject appeal and
length, not everyone will enjoy the video. But if you fall into that
group, you'll probably love it.

The full playlist of the Ultima retrospectives is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIWyHd3FFFU&list=PL16yfJJxAM6g-4YxKGI-17q-K3nrXuVSd
(it's over a full day of video... but you weren't intending to do
anything else this weekend anyway, were you?)




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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 15:25:44 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote:

It's that time again. What time is that? Time for another overly-long >retrospective on Ultima games by long-winded YouTuber Majuular (and
given my own predilection for lengthy diatribes, my calling somebody
else 'long-winded' should be a warning). That said, I appreciated
these deep-dives into nostalgia for the Ultima games, so I'm not
really complaining.

This time the video --over four hours long!-- is focused on "Ultima
Online" (watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35SKawn2SDI),
with the usual side-treks into the state of the industry and hobby at
the time. But given the lengthy history and influence of "Ultima
Online", the video's length is maybe necessary.

This is a very niche series and between its limited subject appeal and >length, not everyone will enjoy the video. But if you fall into that
group, you'll probably love it.

I already knew about this one but thank you for posting this anyway. I
meant to watch it this weekend but I live in NY and the Nor'Easter we
just had knocked out my internet for most of the weekend. I will watch
it next weekend.

As for the game itself, I never played it. I am not sure why though as
I like Ultima and I like MMOs so it really should have been a good fit
for me.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Mon, 28 Sep 2026 13:09:59 -0400, Mike S. <[email protected]> said
this thing:

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 15:25:44 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson ><[email protected]> wrote:

It's that time again. What time is that? Time for another overly-long >>retrospective on Ultima games by long-winded YouTuber Majuular (and
given my own predilection for lengthy diatribes, my calling somebody
else 'long-winded' should be a warning). That said, I appreciated
these deep-dives into nostalgia for the Ultima games, so I'm not
really complaining.

This time the video --over four hours long!-- is focused on "Ultima
Online" (watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35SKawn2SDI),
with the usual side-treks into the state of the industry and hobby at
the time. But given the lengthy history and influence of "Ultima
Online", the video's length is maybe necessary.

This is a very niche series and between its limited subject appeal and >>length, not everyone will enjoy the video. But if you fall into that
group, you'll probably love it.

I already knew about this one but thank you for posting this anyway. I
meant to watch it this weekend but I live in NY and the Nor'Easter we
just had knocked out my internet for most of the weekend. I will watch
it next weekend.

As for the game itself, I never played it. I am not sure why though as
I like Ultima and I like MMOs so it really should have been a good fit
for me.

The video is interesting. Excessively long (and, again, this is /me/
saying that! ;-), but interesting. It mostly details 'classic' Ultima
Online, as it was at launch and in the first year or two afterwards.
It presents the dichotomy of Ultima Online and later MMORPGs; UO was
much more indebted to its's Multi-User Dungeon roots than its
competitors; far more system based, far more reliant on
player-interaction for its gameplay. Everquest (and others, including
World of Warcraft) put more restrictions on gameplay to enhance
overall player satisfaction... but at a cost to the freedom that
endeared UO to its earliest players.

Of course, that freedom came at a cost: rampant PK, general assholery, counterfeiting, fraud, theft... there was a massive difficulty spike
at the start of UO, with new players constantly getting killed before
they ever had a chance to understand the game. That unfriendliness
drove most people away, and UO's subscriber count in those days was
measured in the mere tens of thousands. It wasn't until Origin started restricting PKing that those numbers started going up.

I tried UO a few times over its lifetime. It never really attracted
me. My recollection is less being turned off by the antics of
player-base and more the lack of lore and story. Video games are, for
me, escapist entertainment, and UO felt too much like work: it
consisted of a lot of grind to get anything done, and that grind was
too much like actual work. As Majulaar -the aforementioned long-winded YouTuber- indicates in his video, you COULD have interesting
adventures... but first you'd have to manually build up your skills
and gear by hand. There is an audience for that sort of thing --and
remains so to this day, based on the amount of 'open-world crafting'
games on the market-- but I've never really been part of it. It all
felt too much like real work... except I'd have to pay for the
privilege.

Still, Majulaar's stories almost make me wish I'd kept at it. The
freeform adventuring isn't completely without appeal, and it can lead
to some interesting stories... if you're lucky. Still, I think
Majulaar came away with an inaccurate impression of what the game was
really like: he played it on a fan-run server, populated mostly by
other players who were largely not interested in being assholes for
the sake of being assholes. I think there was more effort in
roleplaying on that fan-shard run in 2026 than you would have found on
the official servers back in 1999.

UO was never anything that really captured my interest, beyond the
basic concept and the tenuous connection to the Ultima source
material. But it was an impressive experiment that resulted in some
interesting sociological results, and was majorly influential on the
industry. I can intellectually understand why people adore it so even
to this day, even if I myself can't share in that excitement.


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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Mon, 28 Sep 2026 16:02:24 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote:

Of course, that freedom came at a cost: rampant PK, general assholery, >counterfeiting, fraud, theft... there was a massive difficulty spike
at the start of UO, with new players constantly getting killed before
they ever had a chance to understand the game. That unfriendliness
drove most people away, and UO's subscriber count in those days was
measured in the mere tens of thousands. It wasn't until Origin started >restricting PKing that those numbers started going up.

I tried UO a few times over its lifetime. It never really attracted
me. My recollection is less being turned off by the antics of
player-base and more the lack of lore and story. Video games are, for
me, escapist entertainment, and UO felt too much like work: it
consisted of a lot of grind to get anything done, and that grind was
too much like actual work. As Majulaar -the aforementioned long-winded >YouTuber- indicates in his video, you COULD have interesting
adventures... but first you'd have to manually build up your skills
and gear by hand. There is an audience for that sort of thing --and
remains so to this day, based on the amount of 'open-world crafting'
games on the market-- but I've never really been part of it. It all
felt too much like real work... except I'd have to pay for the
privilege.

Grinding never bothered me. But the player killing would have pushed
me out very quickly. I had no idea it was that bad. I don't want to be
on edge all the time when playing a video game. I want to relax.
Ultima Online, at least not at the beginning of its run, was probably
not for me.

I am really looking forward to watching this video when I have the
time.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 9/29/2026 11:02 AM, Mike S. wrote:

On Mon, 28 Sep 2026 16:02:24 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote:

Of course, that freedom came at a cost: rampant PK, general assholery,
counterfeiting, fraud, theft... there was a massive difficulty spike
at the start of UO, with new players constantly getting killed before
they ever had a chance to understand the game. That unfriendliness
drove most people away, and UO's subscriber count in those days was
measured in the mere tens of thousands. It wasn't until Origin started
restricting PKing that those numbers started going up.

I tried UO a few times over its lifetime. It never really attracted
me. My recollection is less being turned off by the antics of
player-base and more the lack of lore and story. Video games are, for
me, escapist entertainment, and UO felt too much like work: it
consisted of a lot of grind to get anything done, and that grind was
too much like actual work. As Majulaar -the aforementioned long-winded
YouTuber- indicates in his video, you COULD have interesting
adventures... but first you'd have to manually build up your skills
and gear by hand. There is an audience for that sort of thing --and
remains so to this day, based on the amount of 'open-world crafting'
games on the market-- but I've never really been part of it. It all
felt too much like real work... except I'd have to pay for the
privilege.

Grinding never bothered me. But the player killing would have pushed
me out very quickly. I had no idea it was that bad. I don't want to be
on edge all the time when playing a video game. I want to relax.
Ultima Online, at least not at the beginning of its run, was probably
not for me.

I am really looking forward to watching this video when I have the
time.

time.

I too played UO (briefly) when it came out. I do remember getting PKed
once. But mostly I remember how there were endless player stalls
selling their loot. And how no one wanted to team up.
--
-Justisaur

ø-ø
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
¶¬'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 29 Sep 2026 14:02:57 -0400, Mike S. <[email protected]> said
this thing:

Grinding never bothered me. But the player killing would have pushed
me out very quickly. I had no idea it was that bad. I don't want to be
on edge all the time when playing a video game. I want to relax.
Ultima Online, at least not at the beginning of its run, was probably
not for me.

I don't recall the player-killing being that bad... which isn't to say
it wasn't. Just that's not the memory that sticks with me. It could
have just been luck on my part (maybe I logged-in when the PK players
were napping?), or maybe it was after Origin throttle some of the player-killing, or (and I think this is the most likely) I just
accepted it as part of the gameplay to the point that it didn't really
stand out. I know I got PK'd at least a few times, but it didn't
really stand out as something too unusual or excessive, any more than
getting killed by some random mob of enemies.

(Certainly I didn't experience the same gamut of emotions as the
Youtuber did.)

The problem with PKing wasn't so much it was the players doing it, as
it just emphasised the grind. "Well, now I have to re-do all the same
questing I did to get to the point before I was killed". I've a low
tolerance for repetition.

I am really looking forward to watching this video when I have the
time.

It took me four days to get to the end, even with it just playing in
the background. I don't mind the time I spent with the video (I mean,
it's nerds talking about Ultima!) but it could have been a lot
shorter.


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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 29 Sep 2026 13:09:55 -0700, Justisaur <[email protected]>
said this thing:

I too played UO (briefly) when it came out. I do remember getting PKed >once. But mostly I remember how there were endless player stalls
selling their loot. And how no one wanted to team up.

That's always been a bigger turn-off to me than the PK; the
immersion-breaking behavior of the other players. The constant calls
of "looking for group" or setting-inappropriate chatter, or whatever.
I can't recall clearly how bad UO was in regards to that sort of
thing, but it's a general reason I have problems engaging with MMORPGs
in general.

And I get that for a lot of people, it's the social aspect of the
genre that appeals to them, and staying constantly in character isn't
what they want (or even something I necessarily would do). But it just
made the games a lot less interesting to me. I much preferred the
consistency of the single-player experience.
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