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Ultima Online Developer: Origin Systems Publisher: Electronic Arts Year: 1997 So-called massively multiplayer online games probably wouldn't be what they are today without Ultima Online. In its own right, Ultima Online is a remarkable game - it's the most innovative and dramatic departure that the venerable Ultima series has ever taken from its single-player roots, it's the most successful and popular Ultima game in the entire series, and it's one of the most infamous games in history.
Unlike the previous games in the series, Ultima Online wasn't a single-player game; it was massively multiplayer. Even though Meridian 59 - 3DO's graphical online role-playing game - preceded it, Ultima Online really was the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game to create a virtual, graphical world for thousands of eager adventurers to explore. It was Ultima Online that created the model of an online kingdom in which adventurers could fight monsters not only to gain treasure and experience points, but to also congregate with others, form player guilds, and even stake out their own territory by building player houses. And they could do so in real time through the graphical avatars that represented them onscreen. Ultima Online also integrated productive, noncombat trade skills into its world - trades that let players cook nourishing meals and make clothing and armor out of animal hides. Subsequent games of this sort have borrowed much from the precedents that Ultima Online originally set - with the exception of its player-killing policy.
That's because it was also Ultima Online that made player-killing - the act of using your character to kill and rob another player's character - so infamous. At one point, player-vs.-player conflict was widely considered to be the biggest problem in online role-playing games. As such, the current generation of massively multiplayer role-playing games has taken drastic measures to address the issue - and it's remained a very important issue for games of this sort.
In addition, Ultima Online is one of the most controversial games ever. In fact, it was the subject of a class-action lawsuit. The plaintiffs - a group of disgruntled players - lodged a legal complaint against Origin for misrepresentation and breach of contract. Specifically, these players were so dissatisfied by the original Ultima Online's unstable, lag-ridden performance and monthly price tag that they decided to sue. The lawsuit itself drew a great deal of attention and put pressure on the developer to improve the game - and they did, in steps. In fact, Ultima Online is still being improved gradually to this day by means of patches and continual content additions. It's a practice that seemed deplorable at first; players wanted feature-complete games right out of the box. But these days, all online role-playing games such as EverQuest, Asheron's Call, and others have adopted this practice. They aren't considered to be completed games, but, rather, works in progress - and the many online role-playing games in development will likely continue this practice as well.
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