BREAKING NEWS: EA Announces Ultima Forever (July 12, 2012)

Bandit LOAF

Bandit LOAF

Long Live the Confederation!
Bioware Mythic's Ultima forever website has been updated with the first details about the expected Ultima Forever game. Further information is expected later today.
The first great Western RPG has been lovingly restored in Ultima Forever - return to the Ultima series in BioWare's new cross-platform action RPG. Accept the challenge from Lady British and save the land of Britannia. Play as the Fighter or the Mage and travel alone or with friends, restore virtue and become the Avatar!
[*]Fighters are one-man armies, trained to engage multiple opponents with a wide variety of attacks. Protect your allies and rain down a barrage of deadly attacks on enemies.
[*]With a staff in hand and a spell on their lips, Mages are ready to engage in battle from afar. Use your magical know how to vanquish enemies and assist your allies.
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Lady British, huh?




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Original update published on July 12, 2012
 
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Lady British indeed... that's just really weak. I assume that either they couldn't, or didn't want to get permission from Richard Garriott to use Lord British in the game. Disappointing.
 
Yes, Garriott retained the rights to the Lord British name when he parted ways with Electronic Arts.

While I understand the need to not have Lord British in the game, I absolutely do not agree with this way of doing it. It comes off as petty instead of clever, and that's to someone who knows that there's a legal issue behind it. Instead of highlighting the fact that he's not in the game, just use some other monarch (like... one of the other three kings from the original Ultima.)
 
Wow. That's... <sigh>

Apart from the fact that I almost get a heart attack every time a thread is called "BREAKING NEWS: EA Announces... xyz" because I hope for a new WC game and it is something lame like Ultima (lame compared to Wing Commander, I actually like Ultima) every time, I read the news and my thoughts were "WTF? action RPG? Just two classes? LADY British???"

Does getting older (I'm not even 30 yet, albeit close) involve that everything you loved and were once excited about becomes disappointing? I hope the news get better. And I really hope that one will not be as gay lame as I imagine it now.
 
Do you know something I don't? Any secret plans? Any Wing Commander fans EA keeps in cryostasis that would buy the game when it is released?
 
Oh, the secret plans have already been exposed on the CIC main page in the past. I know nothing more. I am just confident it will someday happen.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
While I understand the need to not have Lord British in the game, I absolutely do not agree with this way of doing it. It comes off as petty instead of clever, and that's to someone who knows that there's a legal issue behind it. Instead of highlighting the fact that he's not in the game, just use some other monarch (like... one of the other three kings from the original Ultima.)
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That would definitely have been better - but I just wish they sat down with Richard Garriott and negotiated a deal to get his trademark into the game. Then again, maybe they did negotiate, and maybe his demands were too much. Either way, it's unfortunate.

On the other hand, you also gotta admire the foresight Richard Garriott had in retaining for himself the Lord British trademark, which arguably these days may carry more weight than Ultima as a brand.
 
I can't help but feel the Lady British thing is more of a swipe at Garriott than a tip of the hat to the series.
 
That would definitely have been better - but I just wish they sat down with Richard Garriott and negotiated a deal to get his trademark into the game. Then again, maybe they did negotiate, and maybe his demands were too much. Either way, it's unfortunate.
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Garriott actually contacted EA to see about licensing Ultima for his RPG; they have a copy of his letter on the wall at the studio that's doing this game. There is some bad blood...

On the other hand, you also gotta admire the foresight Richard Garriott had in retaining for himself the Lord British trademark, which arguably these days may carry more weight than Ultima as a brand.
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Certainly, it's a major part of his personal identity (genuinely so)... but it was also business at the time, as NCSoft wanted 'Lord British' to appear in Lineage (apparently the gaming community in Asia knows Lord British very well.)

I can't help but feel the Lady British thing is more of a swipe at Garriott than a tip of the hat to the series.
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I can't help but agree, but the joke's on them: Garriott's daughter was born last week!
 
Don't know why, but these news (and especially the first picture) make me glad i'm no Ultima fan.
Maybe it's just that everything EA tends to slap the "Bioware" name on nowadays makes me raise an eyebrow in scepticism, even though this time it even is something related to their profession.
 
PopsiclePete said:
Not only am I still hoping we'll see a "BREAKING NEWS: New Wing Commander announced !!!" before I loose what's left of hairs on the top of my head, I am confident we will.
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I agree, but wonder if we would get something in the line of Enemy Unknown or more in the line XCOM and Syndicate – and, it seems, Ultima Forever.
 
The formal announcement says Ultima Forever is for the PC and *iPad*... that makes a LOT more sense, given how it plays. I actually think it'll be a very good iPad Ultima.
 
Well, it's not like you could preserve all the esoteric elements of Ultima (like the eight virtues) while making an action RPG that defines a new sub-genre and becomes a beloved classic in its own right.

Why do they take the time to specify "Western RPG"? Yes, I'm aware that certain game mechanics first appeared in "Western" or "Eastern" games, that Dungeons & Dragons and its tabletop relatives defined many "Western" mechanics, and that the early Ultimas were among the pioneers in adapting tabletop RPGs to the computer.

But, mechanics get observed, copied, refined and merged. This is a good thing. The moment you make an "Action RPG", some of your mechanics first appeared in Zelda. This is also a good thing, but you're hardly "lovingly restoring" a "Western RPG" any more. You're taking 30 years of examples of good and bad game design, selecting mechanics that work, and implementing them in a familiar world. If you're clever, you'll choose mechanics that reinforce the atmosphere of that world.

Bioware have made some clever games, so I won't judge the quality of this game by the quality of their advertising. On the other hand - Bioware PR people? Learn to speak like a Britannian. It's only the first step towards creating that Ultima atmosphere, but it's a good step.
 
Quarto said:
Lady British indeed... that's just really weak. I assume that either they couldn't, or didn't want to get permission from Richard Garriott to use Lord British in the game. Disappointing.
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In Ultima Forever, players are able to fly in hot air balloons over mountain ranges, sail across oceans, survive storms, fight against sea monsters, and collect the eight Virtues.
 
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