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Date Posted: Mon, Jul 29 2002, 04:04am
Rick Hall on Ultima Online: Age of Shadows
A chat with Rick Hall, senior producer at Origin, reveals much about the future direction of UO as well as the AoS expansion.
By James "Prophet" Fudge | July 28, 2002
Editor's Note: Origin recently announced a major expansion to its long standing (almost five years now) online role-playing game called Ultima Online: Age of Shadows. Today we talk to UO Live Team Senior Producer Rick Hall to learn more about this expansion and the recently released UO update known as "Publish 16."
GameSpy:
Let's a get a couple of loaded questions out of the way before we talk about the expansion. How is Publish 16 being received and do you feel that you might have alienated some of the hardcore players in the process of making the game more friendly to new players?
Rick Hall:
While our veteran players initially expressed some valid concerns with the proposed changes, the final release of Publish 16 was extremely well received. One of the reasons we believe it has been well received was the fact that we incorporated constructive feedback from our veteran players through an iterative process on our test centers. We are very proud of the way we have grown to rely on community feedback. This is fitting because UO belongs as much to the community as it does to OSI.
GameSpy:
What's the biggest complaint about publish 16 and what are some of the things that players like about it?
Rick Hall:
There are quite a few new features in Publish 16 including: the addition of the justice virtue, improved combat, improved game balance of bards and tamers, optimization of some housing rules, introduction of the Guaranteed Gain System, as well as a multitude of other additions and improvements.
Ironically, one of the new features that received the most initial criticism ultimately turned out to be one that players have grown to really enjoy. In our efforts to rejuvenate the Felucca facet (the PvP area), we've changed the looting rules for "blues" (innocents) in the dungeons. This was quite a controversial move at first, but players quickly began to take advantage of this change, and now an enormous number of "blues" have started frequenting the Felucca dungeons, and some incredibly exciting PvP battles have resulted. We think we've managed to bring back some of the fun of PvP without the negatives that used to be associated with it.
GameSpy:
Okay onto a broader question about the future of Ultima Online. What are some of the things you have planned to put your game in a position to compete with the likes of EverQuest 2, Shadowbane, and Asheron's Call 2? More directly, do you think UO is going to be going strong enough to hold its player base and attract new players by the time these games come out?
Rick Hall:
It's difficult to comment on games that have not been released and therefore don't yet have a community, and that is what UO is all about. Over the years, we've come to realize that Ultima Online isn't actually a direct competitor with that style of game. We're a beast of a different color, and it's that uniqueness that allows us to retain our share of the online market. Those other worlds are places where players can "do" something different. UO is a place where players can "be" something different. It's a place of belonging. As such it doesn't compete directly with anything else. Our strength of community is something that other companies can't emulate, so yes, I see no reason to believe that we can't continue to grow forever.
GameSpy:
In your opinion what are the marquee features that it will add to the world of UO?
Rick Hall:
UO is a world of tremendous depth and community, allowing players to personalize their characters like no other game. We will be adding to the depth by creating two new professions that oppose one another, the necromancer and the paladin. We will be adding to the community by creating "Malas," a new landmass to explore and settle if you dare.
We will also be adding personalization by allowing all home owners (new and existing) to design and build their own homes, tile by tile, the same way our own designers have constructed them in the past. Wrap all this, and a few dozen new monsters and items, in a blanket of engaging new fiction and you have an idea of what's in store.
GameSpy:
Housing has always been an issue in the game. Most new players would find it next to impossible to own a house short of buying one from another player because there's no real space to place. Publish 16 will free up some space, but what other things are you doing to make housing a more palatable process?
Rick Hall:
When the final phase of the housing changes of Publish 16 is executed, we will be making thousands of houses available to players that don't currently own one. In addition, the new landmass "Malas," (to be added with Age of Shadows), will create room for more than 30,000 new homes worldwide.
GameSpy:
What will players be able to do with the new house designer tool. Give us a basic example and give us an extreme example of some of the things this tool is capable of doing?
Rick Hall:
While UO in the past has allowed players to personalize their characters to an enormous degree, traditionally they were limited to one of the prefabricated house templates. The new house design tool allows players to customize their houses to suit their personalities every bit as much as their character. Interestingly, we had a funny post on our boards with a box comp of Age of Shadows by Bob Vila. We all thought it was funny, but that's not far from the fun direction we are heading with this feature.
GameSpy:
Necromancy has been hinted at for a number of years, and some of the reagents have been in the game for quite some time. Will this be full-blown death magic like in Ultima 8?
Rick Hall:
Necromancy has been more than just "hinted" at. The current direction of the fiction accommodates necromancy as a new profession. The system is under development and we will be giving more details later.
GameSpy:
How many new spells will you guys implement? Will these require the use of a variety of reagents?
Rick Hall:
There will be approximately 15 new spells for the necromancer. These will require five different reagents, some of which you might have seen in UO before.
GameSpy:
Tell us more about the paladin. He's obviously a warrior like Dupre, but with a bit more power. How many different skills do you have planned for this "class?"
Rick Hall:
Like with necromancy, the paladin class is under development. No doubt about it, both professions represent exciting new directions for UO. However, we will be releasing more information over the coming months and I don't want to spoil the surprise.
GameSpy:
Tell us about the new land mass. Will it be something taken from the history of Ultimas past or is it an all-new land?
Rick Hall:
The landmass of Malas is entirely new. While it doesn't come directly from Ultima fiction, it is being specifically designed to support the storyline that will be unfolding over the next 18 months.
GameSpy:
What kind of rules will this land have? What kind of conduct will be allowed (PVP, etc)?
Rick Hall:
Given that the new land will be accommodating a significant number of new houses, PvP will have to be limited. Besides, there is going to be plenty of excitement revolving around all the new features and storyline.
GameSpy:
Tell us as much as you can about the new magic system. Will it impact the current system in a major way? Will there be new spells?
Rick Hall:
It depends on what you consider "major." There will be some optimizations of the magic system and it will complement the new necromancy and paladin skills. I personally find the addition of two entirely new classes to be "major."
GameSpy:
Will the expansion introduce new scenarios involving both new classes, dark magics, and the new landmass? And, what will happen with the Blackthorn storyline? Will it be completed by the time the expansion hits retail?
Rick Hall:
We will definitely see scenarios involving these two new professions. The scenarios team would kill me if I gave any further details of their evil plans, but suffice it to say, you can expect to be surprised.
GameSpy:
Will this expansion support both 2D & 3D clients?
Rick Hall:
Absolutely. We see it as a big advantage to our customers to be capable of playing on whatever hardware they might own. We have observed that our player base is split fairly evenly between both clients and many play both. As long as players are enjoying both clients then we will continue to support both.
GameSpy:
What are some of the things you'll be doing with the 3D client to make it run more smoothly?
Rick Hall:
We have made considerable improvements to the 3D client in the past year, and our current testing indicates that both clients perform equally well. Whether it is new technology, such as DirectX 9 or new features, we are always investigating methods to improve the experience.
GameSpy:
The virtue system (at least what's been implemented so far) seems to be a hit amongst longtime players. Will we see the virtues play a more important role in the game and the scenarios?
Rick Hall:
Yes. The virtues have a long history within Ultima, as you know, and they provide us with a nearly limitless avenue for growth and enhancement of the fiction, game systems, and overall experience. As you have correctly guessed, the virtues will not be taking an exit stage left any time soon.
GameSpy:
How much work has been done on Age of Shadows at this point?
Rick Hall:
We started preliminary design work shortly after this past Christmas. We were close to a top-line concept during our fan event in January. After a great deal of player feedback, we began full-blown design and implementation right after we shipped Lord Blackthorn's Revenge. We plan to be in beta for Age of Shadows before Christmas.
GameSpy:
Has the subscription rate for this game stayed at the same level, declined, or grown in the first part of this year? What are some of the things you'll be doing with this expansion (and future general changes) to appease the old-school UO players?
Rick Hall:
As always, we have seen growth with the release of a new expansion, Lord Blackthorn's Revenge being the latest. We will be celebrating the 5th Birthday of UO this coming September. That, in itself, is a significant milestone. Over that time, we have pioneered a whole new form of gaming experience and the result is a thriving global community that is unlike any other game. We couldn't have gotten here without listening and learning from our community, and that's exactly what we plan to do going forward.
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