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50 months and counting

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 18
Date: April 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I recently upgraded to UO:LBR. I look at my account screen and it tells me I've been playing for 50 months. Between the time I signed on I've played Asheron's Call, Everquest, and Dark Age of Camelot, and what do I sit down and play? UO. It's primitive, it's difficult to control, it's dated, and it's still the deepest of the massively multiplayer games.

The game is skill based. It's very easy to get a character started and achieve a reasonable level of competance within a month or so (if you powergame you can actually max your character out in a few weeks). Whether you can go into the most dangerous and interesting areas depends more on your ability to find companions than your ability to "churn xp" for months on end.

When other games have broken tradeskills, UO has a player economy that provides the vast majority of what you use and wear as a player--you can play this game and be entertained by doing nothing but crafting. (You can play other games as a crafter, but I wouldn't say you'd be entertained by it.) Where other games promise horses or have just introduced them, UO features horses, ostards, llamas, dragons, Ki Rin, Ridgebacks, and Unicorns as rideable mounts. You want one of these? You'll have to tame it in the wild or buy it from another player who's done so.

The interface is primitive, the graphics tiny. But it's one of those games that just has lasting power. 50 months after I first heard the UO music play, I can think of hundreds of places I've never gotten around to visit, and types of characters I've never played.

All in all, it's a great game. It may not be for everyone--certainly if you judge a game on graphics, it won't be. But if you haven't experienced it and you're looking for something beyond endless "pulling" and "camping" then give it a try. You might be surprised.

Since there's a lot of confusion about "which UO should I buy?" UO LBR is the complete game, with all supplements and both full 2d and 3d clients. If you buy it, you have everything. If you have UO Third Dawn and play in 3d, there isn't much here. If you play in 2d, this will allow you to visit Ilshenar. In either case it will upgrade some graphics and the music. You get an action figure too, but at 36 years old, this just made me feel silly, YMMV.

best online game by any standards

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: February 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is by far the best online game going. No matter what all the other critics say, they are just saying it out of spite for a few reasons. They are complaining about one or two small issues and then they say they hate the game. If you are new to these types of games, I definitely recommend this over all the rest. You can do practically anything in this game including buy houses and host guilds. In the other online games, they consider roleplaying as just going out and hacking and slashing. If you want a good hack and slash game with no story, buy Diablo. You make your own story up in Ultima Online. The only negative I give it, which is why I gave only 4 stars is the splitting of the world into two and making one world a pking world and nonpking world. As a beginner you may like the non pking world but I am positive once you know the game, you won't like it anymore. The fact that UO never made "safe" zones is what made it great but now I think the game lacks a little. I am not a player killer but it makes the game more realistic if there are murderers around and even when there wasn't a split in the worlds, the pking was never that bad anyway. Now the "safe" world is overpopulated with people just wanted to build stats and not have a story. ...

If you have UOTD, This is just an upgrade to 3D...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: February 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Granted, UO is THE best online game by far. However... there are things they don't tell you. Unless they are planning a whole new world, you DO NOT need LBR to upgrade. If you already have UOTD, then you are playing in 3D mode, and do not need ot buy LBR. The new world of Ilshenar is AWESOME, and can be accessed with UOTD. Many new monsters... most of which are DEADLY!! Believe me, I found out the hard way. Swamp Dragons can be ridden!! As I said, it is an AWESOME game, but be careful of OSI... they change rules in the middle of the game and can ruin characters you have worked long and hard on.

Greatest online game of All time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 13
Date: February 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Ive been playing Ultima online renaisance and third dawn for over a year now and it still amazes me with the complexity and diversification of characters and the unexpected events player created or developer created. The ability to roam over the lands of Brittania whether in Felluca (PvP,Blocking,Guild war) or in Trammel( safe zone..i.e. no player killers) is just flat out addictive. Truly Video Crack!~! dont buy this game if you dont plan on spending most of your free time in front of the computer.Some players of the game complain of lag, bugs and what not ( what games online dont have these probs?) but just the same they are still there because they know its the best out there! A tight community where you can make long time friends and enemies from all over the world. I ve seen the 3d lands (Ilshenar) in the 2d mode and it is great with yet another ruleset to play( no easy escape). In my humble opinion there is only one online game and it is aptly titled ULTIMA!!! See you on the Catskills Shard! signed..The Glorious Lady T'mara:Subjugator of the Vermin Horde; Guildmistress of the Black Label Society.

People who haven't a clue shouldn't write reviews

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Sorry, just feel the need to rant a bit here. Would all of you who have no idea how MMORPGs work please just stop buying them and then complaining about your own inability to understand the ins and outs of how to play? Of course they charge a monthly fee, that's how they pay the support and design people, and that monthly fee, in turn, is what makes the items in the games worth money. How difficult is it to grasp the concept that the large tower you want took someone else several months, or even years, of playing the game to acquire during which time they paid their monthly fee, not to mention the value of their actual hours spent playing, which is reflected in the real cash value of said tower? You do not need to spend real cash to acquire the items in the game, however. If you prefer, you can spend the hours and months required to accumulate the gold needed to purchase what you want. As for the housing situation, join the rest of us in urging EA to reinstate the housing decay system so the houses of players who are no longer active will drop and you can buy a deed and place a house of your own. In the meantime, any 12 yr olds with systems that aren't fast enough to support the program properly and the inability to understand the need for EA to continue making money, and everyone who believes they should be handed the wealth that others have spent considerable time and money accumulating should cease and desist with their inane commentaries on things about which they clearly have no knowledge.

Waste of time, money and effort

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: November 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

...For a few months, I enjoyed the game. I convinced some friends to play as well... we formed a guild and all was nice and happy. During this time; however, the company seemed to experience an unusual amount of server problems and crashes. (leading to character deaths) This became a nightly frustration. Pleas for help went un-noticed and several e-mails directly to the company went unanswered. Hours and hours of game time were going to waste, with no compassion from the company causing these problems.

On top of the server issues, as we advanced in the game, we were forced to deal with an usually large number of "griefers". These are people whose sole mission in the game is to make your playing experience less enjoyable. They will intentionally lead hostile monsters to your location to get you killed, attack creatures you are trying to tame, or just interfere enough in your combat sequence to make it impossible for you to win. Despite the fact that the game has a supposed strict "no harassment" policy, don't expect any help. You will get the answer that they must witness the harassment in person, which is putting the cart before the horse as the moment a GM (game master) shows up to witness the event, the harassment stops. However, if someone uses a bad word (which is kept in a journal system) they will suspend the account. Despite the fact that it seems to me that physical in game harassment is far worse than someone swearing at me, there is nothing they are willing to do to enforce their own rules.

Presuming you endure the server crashes and are willing to put up with the "griefers" you will very quickly max out your character and experience all the game has to offer.
You have the ability to create up to 5 characters on one account, which is nice, but very little separates the majority of character classes. Ultimately, all of the "craft" characters (blacksmith, tailor, alchemist, scribe, tinker, carpenter, etc..) involve a boring series of repetitive keystroking to master. (You click on the sewing kit, choose the item to make, repeat until mastered) (click on smith hammer, choose the item to make, repeat until mastered).

The last obstacle for most people is crossing into the land of Feluca (the game is divided into 3 worlds... in Trammel and Ilshenear you can only play PvM (player vs monster), but in Feluca, you can play PvP (player v player) to try and get some of the "power scrolls" which allow you to build your character a bit stronger. Unfortunately, once in Feluca you are forced to deal with a force much worse than griefers (PKers and Thieves).
These are other players who get their kicks out of killing your character and/or stealing your items. I ultimately learned that many of these players use (sometimes illegal) third party programs to gain advantages, making them nearly impossible to avoid or survive in a fight. Unless you are willing to spend more money on a legal third party program (such as UO Assist) or are willing to risk your account by cheating, you will not be able to advance in the PvP world.

In-game quests and scenarios are poorly thought out and dull. There is very little offered in the way of in-game "events" that could produce a greater community feel. Scenarios don't seem to connect in any meaningful way, making in game stories impossible to enjoy.

Ultimately, after a few months you find yourself wondering why you are still playing and paying a monthly fee for it. ...The nature of the game is such that there is no ending... no completion... no feeling of actual accomplishment. You always feel as if you are reaching for a goal, but are not sure what that goal is or why you are reaching for it.

Overall, if you are a fan of D&D and/or RPG games, this game will not keep you entertained very long and will ultimately leave you feeling as if you wasted tons of time and money.

HUGE waiste of money!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 12
Date: August 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Ok, I've been playing UO for 4 months-It was absolutely THE FUNNEST GAME EVER for the first 3! So much to do....sadly, once you hit 4 months-you realize there isnt anything to do on it anymore. It's just plain too easy to get a poweful character and can fight DRAGONS alone with no difficulty AT ALL. There is absolutely NO challenge-the new land adventuring area "Ilshenar" is awesome the first 10 times you go-then its soooo boring. It's tiny-they hardly added ANY monsters (even though they told us they were GOING to)-all you can be is human-graphics in 3d are terrible-2d gets old-the screen is tiny-hardly any equipment. The world is sooo dull and boring-all the dungeons look the same(caves) only wiht a couple different monsters. EVERYTHING about this game is dull-you'll realize it in 3 months :).So if your looking for a stupid game to waiste 10 bucks a month on for 3 months go for it. If you want to play a game which will keep you at your computer and give you the adventure and fantasy you desire. BUY EVERQUEST. DONT buy this game...trust me!

New UO Enhances Online Gaming

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: February 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This version differs little for longtime players of UO: The Third Dawn (at least so far as I can tell). There are however additional themes, monsters, etc. The new story lines and incrementally released virtue system really hone what is developing in the online gaming world, viz., creating a community "to game" in as opposed to just killing with little more. I must say that having played it during the first day, that this enhancement has made things which were already great even better. The musical additions complement the game in a way that must be heard and experienced in order to appreciate...these alone make the [price] worth it. I must also admit that it is great that now my guild members can join me in Ilshenar regardless of 3D/2D. As regards complaints about a "safe zone" and a "PvP zone," I must say that having both worlds allows gaming to be a lot more fun for everyone. I have been playing for over two years and still prefer the safe zone regardless of my abilities. The fact that this game accomodates diverse playing styles it what makes it so great. Want to kill your fellow humans? Go for it! Want to live peacefully? You can do that to! Origin has provided me with excellent gaming experiences for over 20 years and I manage to be even more impressed with every release. I will agree with a previous reviewer who said that you should only buy this game if you're interested in spending most of your freetime at the computer...you'll never want to log out! Sincerely, Alphonse of Britain, Second in Command: Flier's Band of Slayers.

Great Stuff, My Rock in the world of Games.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: September 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I had to write this because of the couple of poor reviews that might put you off.

Were talking about a game here that has over 200,000 people PAYING to play, ontop of buying it. It is by far the best game i have ever played, I've been playing now, for over 3 years and theres still so much i want to do, and i'm talking about playing, 8 hours a day, even now after three years.

Theres are hundreds of character types you can choose from the sensiblem to the damn right werid and Unique - meet my Sleath Miner Thief Scout character.

Bored with a character or a skill or want to try another, or even a whole new skill set, no need to delete your character, just mark your old skills as down and mark your new ones as up.

With new stuff, skills, monsters being added all the time (5-6 Major updates a year, plus lots of minor) You never run out of things to do.

The graphics are great, they do they job, they look a little outdated at first, but you will love them once you start playing, no clunkly 3D, but nicely drawn sprite and cell animation.

Sure i play less for a while when Squaresoft or Blizzard release a new game, but after a few weeks, when i've finished the game i'm back upto 8 hours a day, or what time i can spare.

The Day i lose interest in UO, i have no idea what i will do, it really is my rock, the game i keep coming back to. Just don't bother playing if you have to have a linear game or goal, there are no goals or paths in UO, other than Life.

The thinking man's Everquest

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: February 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

"Lord Blackthorn's Revenge" is the perfect place for new players to join Ultima Online. This is the best version of UO yet -- the problems of the past are gone. Best of all, the game is now being updated almost constantly - new monsters, skills, areas, items... all being introduced through the ongoing storyline.

UO has become the best of the online RPGs.

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