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Excellent

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 8
Date: May 07, 2000
Author: Amazon User

While this is the same version as "The Second Age", 2nd Age would just require a download/patch. This is a must buy. It continues the excellence of the Ultima Line, and with the new in-game changes, it has become MUCH more beginner friendly, without detracting from the game.

A Must Have For Anyone Who Loves RPG's

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: May 11, 2000
Author: Amazon User

UO is by far the best thing to happen to RPG's in the past 5 years, at least in my opinion. Renaissance is much more beginner friendly than the previous edition and access becomes simplified. Plus, the gameplay is everything one would expect from a high quality RPG. A definite must have for any RPG fan!

Wow

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is essentially the same as UO the Second Age with some major, friendly changes. This game is excellent, and now very begginer friendly. The Rennaisance version includes a whole new mirror world, Trammell, where new players can learn. This game is very good for roleplayers. You can choose to be a merchant or adventurer, depending on your preference. You can own a ship or a house; the very rich can even own a castle. A very good game. Come say hi to me, Beouvle on the Catskills shard

better than beta

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: May 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I've played this game on and off since UO: Public Beta... it's come a long way and is new player friendly. Wish they would not have restricted player killing (pking) so much on the "evil" side of each shard. If you have T2A you may want to pick it up anyway: it has a MUCH better referance card and there is a NEW intro movie on the cd.

I play as Hank Taggert on Pacific, 4N y35 ! K4n B 4 F14m!N 4$$#013.

If you don't have time, don't even bother.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 65 / 88
Date: May 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you play Ultima Online (UO), it will require a lot of your time. This was how it worked with the original UO, how it continued with the expansion pack "The Second Age", and how it will continue to work with "Renaissance": either you can spend at least 20 hours a week playing the game, or it's a total waste of money. Need I remind those of you who do not know the game that you have to pay a monthly fee, around $10 US dollars (or approximately $15 Canadian dollars) a month for the privilege of playing a game that is not as good as it should be ?

Sure, Ultima Online: Renaissance is supposed to facilitate the building of houses (which was badly needed because of the lack of space prior to Renaissance). A new tutorial is included, which however will not help those people who purchased "The Second Age" recently, and who get the necessary upgrades directly, without having to purchase the new expansion pack. These are minor points affecting trivial elements of the game, yet my main criticism is about the core of the game itself, which remains unchanged with the new upgrade.

Basically this game has no goal, except than that of becoming a Grand Master in whatever skill you choose. This is similar to the level-gaining goals of EverQuest, and even Asheron's Call, probably because the format of these games (online multiplayer games) does not allow the development of a complex plot, otherwise players would literally be waiting in line before receiving a rare object (just read reviews of Asheron's Call or EverQuest for examples of this). So, if you don't like wasting time gaining levels only to ask yourself later: "what do I do now ?", this game might not be for you, unless you like meeting people.

But what kind of people will you meet anyway ? My own experience tells me that unless you already know some people playing the game, you will spend a lot of time alone, because nobody will care about you, and if they do care, it's probably because they're after the contents of your backpack. Otherwise, the other players will simply walk around you without even bothering to answer questions you ask (as any newbie is likely to do). Sure, if you go to Ultima Online's website, there is a list of player-initiated events on the different servers (or shards, as they call the servers), but many of these events do not concern you directly. Some shards have more events than others. For instance, shards such as Catskills and Pacific seem to have many events, while Atlantic (on which I played) has almost none. Sure you can play on another shard, but your characters can't make the switch with you. Furthermore, looking at these player-initiated events from an outsider's perspective makes you wonder if they are even intended for fellow Britannians apart from those who organized the events, since many of these events are organized by guilds. The guild system in Britannia is diverse, and there are many varied guilds, including some professional guilds created by Origin itself (the Bardic Collegium, the Mining Cooperative, etc.). However, most player-created guilds look more like medieval cliques that operate behind closed doors and in which you must know someone in order to join rather than truly open organizations. And in my opinion, joining one of these guilds is probably the key to enjoying the game. Therefore, to fully enjoy the game, you have to already know people playing it, because you won't meet anyone once in the game. And what's the point to befriend someone called "Victoria's Secret" anyway ? Even though it's a bit early to know for sure, I am convinced that Origin's promise that Ultima Online: Renaissance will facilitate fellowships (or parties) will certainly fail to produce the expected results, simply because it is not the game that needs to be changed, it's the players' mentality.

The average player of this game is probably an early teenager (below 16 years old) who somehow got daddy's credit card number. Some of them are simply rude, and will include any possible swear in their comments. If you play this game, you will read a lot of swearing, unless you use the option that replaces the swearing by comic-strip-style censorship, but this option can be very annoying as well. In one instance, part of the word "classic" had been censored because the three middle letters formed another, less-acceptable word. If those players' bad actions were limited to swearing playing the game would still be passable. The problem is that many of them go player-killing just to spoil everyone else's fun. And even though Origin accepts player-killing as lifestyle, one thing must be said here: player-killing is not, and never will be, role-playing, what Ultima Online should be all about.

In summary, Ultima Online: Renaissance will fail to change the game, because what needs to be changed first is the mentality of the people playing the game.

If you are new to RPG you will love it ,if your not ,well..

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: May 16, 2000
Author: Amazon User

As the Ultima series grew the land became smaller so out comes UO Renaissance. A fix for such things as land shortages for houses and a people that wanted to just enjoy the game without the worry of getting player killed (PK'D) What is not mentioned is that the game was released before any of the bugs could be worked out so it basicly is the same game with a huge land of emptiness and when houses are allowed to be placed , Orgin has dragged their feet so long that 1000's of players have been able to afford large houses and even castles So the day UO releases the new lands for house placement it will be right back to where it started No lands for No houses

HURRY UP AND LET US PLACE OUR HOUSE

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 10
Date: May 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you are just starting this game and trying to make a mere living off of whatever proffesion you selected you will probably not fel this way. But if you do manage to get enough money for a house then you will see what I meen, especially if you had the Second age version. My friends and I waited over two months so we could place our houses that had been sitting in our bank box for who knows how long. FINALLY, the day came when the it started updating. I was SOOOOOOOOOOOO happy until I logged on and discovered that the patch haddent even been applied to the shard (server) I was playing on! This was cool, maybe just another day and I could place my house.But NO I hd to wait another TWO WEEKS before the patch was applied. I was soooooo happy when I found this out. I tried to place my house but LORD BRITISH declared a no house build time. COME ON! people waited so long for the new patch, then they had to wait longer for the patch to be applied to there shard. And one of the whole reaseons for the new patch was more house placeing room! Geeeez Origin systems has problems and they will do it again, this is only one example, from what I undrstand people waited just as long for the 2nd age patch. But still, overall it is a really good game.

If you want to feel like your workday never ends buy this

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 20
Date: May 24, 2000
Author: Amazon User

UO, in any of its online forms, is not an Role-Playing experience...it's a second job. People new to this game may get the idea that it is a seamless multiplayer environment producing adventure, fun, and numerous interactions with other players--nothing could be further from the truth. The new player will likely see this "game" as a second job. One in which they log onto from 10 to 40 hours a week, to make clothes, bake bread, and build chairs. Then they take the proceeds buy equipment and adventure for one hour. Whereupon they usually lag on the system, their characters freezing. Only to be finally hacked apart by a pig or a cow. For this wonderful exercise, they get to pay the creators of UO a monthly service charge. Don't make the investment. Don't play this game

Ultima Online's Greatest Incarnation to Date

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: May 26, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you have ever wanted to try Ultima Online, but were scared off by the horror stories of horrible lag, P(layer)K(illers)s around every corner, and buggy, incomplete programming, UO:Rennissance is your chance to give this game a shot. This latest version of UO is probably as good as the game has ever been, or ever will be. Origin has solved the PK problem by dividing Brittania into two different "dimensions": The safer (and IMO, more enjoyable) Trammel, and the PK haunted, monster-ridden Felucca. You don't have to worry about being PK'd any more, if you don't want to be. Lag is much better recently than it has been in the past. I get on even at peak hours of usage and have a usually smooth playing experience. You will be playing this game a lot becuase it is addictive. You get a tremendous sense of satisifaction watching your newbie character grow and gain power. The only characters that I am positive are essentially "second jobs" are the GM Blacksmiths, and they seem to have a blast. The nice people are there, you just need to find them. If you roleplay a character that is different from yourself, and are not afraid to introduce yourself to others, making friends is easy in this game, unless you are a PK.
I recommend trying this game at least once. This is probably the last major upgrade UO will have before UO2 is released sometime next year, and this is about as good as its going to get in terms of gameplay. You pay a monthly fee, but the first month is free, so if you find it's not for you, you haven't wasted much of your money.

Game, costly IRC...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: May 31, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I don't know that anyone else has said this. If you don't feel like adventuring and exploring, you can just meet lots of people. Basically you can pay $10 a month for a fancy IRC client. I love the openess of this game. The ability to be anything from a taylor to a begger or theif. I even managed to tame an ape, a rabbit, a raven and a mongbat (bat looking thing that walks around). I didn't know anyone in the game to start out with but a few conversations and hours later I had friends and 5k in gold peices (advanced players get karma points for giving away money to newbies). I joined the baja shard where the player city of avalon is located. It was real easy to join this guild. Sparing with guild members improved my stats quite effectively. Being able to travel with advanced players to kill monsters and gain lots of points is really fun. Riding horses also adds a new dimenion to the game. The "path find" feature is also good in frustrating situations. And it actually works to boot.

One thing I didn't like was being auto-patched to upgrade from second age (what I bought) to Renaissance. I don't have DSL so it takes about 15 minutes to finish (I re-install my system more than most people) downloading. There's no way to save the patches for applying yourself (that I know of). If you need help or money you can ask me, AlexExplorer of the Baja shard.

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