I'll say it without hesitation -
Ultima Online, at one point, was the greatest video game ever.
I was going to post this in the "Games that devour you" thread, but UO deserves its own. Besides.....I have pictures.
This game was my biggest addiction for a little over two years, where I played nothing but UO. No other game has come close to giving me the thrills I got when I played my thief and pirate characters. My highest of gaming highs and lowest of gaming lows were all here.
Nowadays, UO is a shadow of its former self, having reinvented itself as a Diablo/EQ hybrid. In it's earlier versions, the rules were more simple and elegant. The skill system allowed you to completely customize your character to fit your gamestyle, and let you pick any profession that corresponded to your skills.
I joined a bit after the Trammel/Felucca split, which many old timers consider the end of UO's golden age of mayhem and madness. That said, I had a SHITLOAD of fun playing as a thief. I haven't played a single game before or since that had more fully developed thief characters. With the exception of certain safe zones, you can steal anything and everything from other players. Run of the mill PVP and player killing got a bit boring for me, but thieving was where the action was at.
My favorite character was Gioman, my disarm thief. He had absolutely NO offensive firepower, except for some weak magic spells, and explosion potions he carried around as grenades. He started as a regular thief, but I grandmastered both the Arms Lore and Wrestling skills to allow him to disarm any warrior that attacked him (or that he ambushed), then quickly steal his weapon and head for the hills. Even though he couldn't fight for shit, he was REALLY good at two things - stealing and getting away.
Getting to steal valuable stuff from other players without having to kill them was the funnest part of being a thief, along with getting chased through acres of land by a pack of victims and their friends, only to somehow escape through the skin of my teeth. Interacting with the victims was also endless fun, like this guy in black chainmail that I provoked into attacking me (so I wouldn't be tagged as a criminal), who tried to kill me with each one of his half dozen katanas, only to have me to steal each one from his grasp. I offered to sell back his best sword (at a huge markup), and he agreed since we were in a dungeon, and he wouldn't have to go home to re-stock. We completed the deal, and after we exchanged the gold for his sword, he tried attacking me AGAIN, and I stole his sword AGAIN, and ran off rich and victorious.
I even joined a few thief guilds that "roleplayed" around certain themes. One guild was a pacifist society that employed disarm thiefs to confiscate weapons from anyone seen fighting to end the bloodshed and promote peace and harmony. Of course, the confiscated weapons were used to fund our rather luxurious lifestyle. We were thieves, not monks.
I was doing some spring cleaning on my hard drive, and I found a folder of old screenshots that I took back in my pirating days.
Yes, I played a fucking pirate.
Of course, it wasn't really an advertised profession, like mage or animal tamer, but I was able to get the right mix of skills and equipment to play how I wanted. Started with my first character, who was a PvP fencer, and added some Magery and Archery to his skill list. Picked up a boat (stolen of course by Gioman), and I would carry a load of explosion potions, bandages for healing, and a ton of other things you'll see in the screenshots.
Before sailing, I'd hire two additional NPC archers for a few pieces of gold. Nobody ever really did this that much, but I liked having the extra muscle around, especially since they were so cheap.
I used to primary sail along the server lines, looking for other sailors trying to macro their skills up.
After blocking their ship, I'd say some catchy pirate phrases, which mostly went ignored since many of the macroers were leaving their characters unattended. Aside from being against UO rules, it made my job easier. This guy was training either his Hiding or his Magery skill, which is why he is invisible in the above screenshot.
Even though I technically couldn't board their ship (which made my fencing skills a waste), I'd order my archers to attack the enemy, while I hurl a few explosion potions and cast a few spells at them. Even if they tried fighting back (which led to some great sea battles), I'd kill them. Unfortunately, of the few screenshots that I've saved, I can't seem to find any actual battles. Doesn't surprise me since it's hard to remember to hit the screenshot button in the heat of battle.
This was taken right before I unloaded on him with my archers, right after I revealed him from his Hiding position. Also on screen with his own crew and boat is my pal Buonarroti. After meeting in-game and helping me get started (even though he was relatively new himself), I saved his house from collapsing since he was gone for a few weeks, and would have otherwise lost it. To show his gratitude, he made me co-owner of his house and afterward we shared some kickass adventures.
Thanks to a programming quirk, I was able to stand on my plank with my boat next to my victim's and barely manage to loot their corpses. After I'd loot them dry, lots of times they had their boat key on them, so that would let me steal their boat along with everything else.
This post went a little longer than expected, but after finding these screenshots, two years worth of my best gaming memories rushed through my head, and I wanted to share some of that fun with you guys. I've got another screenshot pirate adventure if anyone wants to see more.
Ultima Online, at one point, was the greatest video game ever.
I was going to post this in the "Games that devour you" thread, but UO deserves its own. Besides.....I have pictures.
This game was my biggest addiction for a little over two years, where I played nothing but UO. No other game has come close to giving me the thrills I got when I played my thief and pirate characters. My highest of gaming highs and lowest of gaming lows were all here.
Nowadays, UO is a shadow of its former self, having reinvented itself as a Diablo/EQ hybrid. In it's earlier versions, the rules were more simple and elegant. The skill system allowed you to completely customize your character to fit your gamestyle, and let you pick any profession that corresponded to your skills.
I joined a bit after the Trammel/Felucca split, which many old timers consider the end of UO's golden age of mayhem and madness. That said, I had a SHITLOAD of fun playing as a thief. I haven't played a single game before or since that had more fully developed thief characters. With the exception of certain safe zones, you can steal anything and everything from other players. Run of the mill PVP and player killing got a bit boring for me, but thieving was where the action was at.
My favorite character was Gioman, my disarm thief. He had absolutely NO offensive firepower, except for some weak magic spells, and explosion potions he carried around as grenades. He started as a regular thief, but I grandmastered both the Arms Lore and Wrestling skills to allow him to disarm any warrior that attacked him (or that he ambushed), then quickly steal his weapon and head for the hills. Even though he couldn't fight for shit, he was REALLY good at two things - stealing and getting away.
Getting to steal valuable stuff from other players without having to kill them was the funnest part of being a thief, along with getting chased through acres of land by a pack of victims and their friends, only to somehow escape through the skin of my teeth. Interacting with the victims was also endless fun, like this guy in black chainmail that I provoked into attacking me (so I wouldn't be tagged as a criminal), who tried to kill me with each one of his half dozen katanas, only to have me to steal each one from his grasp. I offered to sell back his best sword (at a huge markup), and he agreed since we were in a dungeon, and he wouldn't have to go home to re-stock. We completed the deal, and after we exchanged the gold for his sword, he tried attacking me AGAIN, and I stole his sword AGAIN, and ran off rich and victorious.
I even joined a few thief guilds that "roleplayed" around certain themes. One guild was a pacifist society that employed disarm thiefs to confiscate weapons from anyone seen fighting to end the bloodshed and promote peace and harmony. Of course, the confiscated weapons were used to fund our rather luxurious lifestyle. We were thieves, not monks.
I was doing some spring cleaning on my hard drive, and I found a folder of old screenshots that I took back in my pirating days.
Yes, I played a fucking pirate.
Of course, it wasn't really an advertised profession, like mage or animal tamer, but I was able to get the right mix of skills and equipment to play how I wanted. Started with my first character, who was a PvP fencer, and added some Magery and Archery to his skill list. Picked up a boat (stolen of course by Gioman), and I would carry a load of explosion potions, bandages for healing, and a ton of other things you'll see in the screenshots.
Before sailing, I'd hire two additional NPC archers for a few pieces of gold. Nobody ever really did this that much, but I liked having the extra muscle around, especially since they were so cheap.
I used to primary sail along the server lines, looking for other sailors trying to macro their skills up.
After blocking their ship, I'd say some catchy pirate phrases, which mostly went ignored since many of the macroers were leaving their characters unattended. Aside from being against UO rules, it made my job easier. This guy was training either his Hiding or his Magery skill, which is why he is invisible in the above screenshot.
Even though I technically couldn't board their ship (which made my fencing skills a waste), I'd order my archers to attack the enemy, while I hurl a few explosion potions and cast a few spells at them. Even if they tried fighting back (which led to some great sea battles), I'd kill them. Unfortunately, of the few screenshots that I've saved, I can't seem to find any actual battles. Doesn't surprise me since it's hard to remember to hit the screenshot button in the heat of battle.
This was taken right before I unloaded on him with my archers, right after I revealed him from his Hiding position. Also on screen with his own crew and boat is my pal Buonarroti. After meeting in-game and helping me get started (even though he was relatively new himself), I saved his house from collapsing since he was gone for a few weeks, and would have otherwise lost it. To show his gratitude, he made me co-owner of his house and afterward we shared some kickass adventures.
Thanks to a programming quirk, I was able to stand on my plank with my boat next to my victim's and barely manage to loot their corpses. After I'd loot them dry, lots of times they had their boat key on them, so that would let me steal their boat along with everything else.
This post went a little longer than expected, but after finding these screenshots, two years worth of my best gaming memories rushed through my head, and I wanted to share some of that fun with you guys. I've got another screenshot pirate adventure if anyone wants to see more.
