Ultima Online Gets Tweaked

As Ultima Online software travels to gamers and retail stores this weekend, the folks at Origin Systems, the makers of Ultima Online, took a breather and answered a few questions GameSpot News had about what the game's producers had learned from UO's beta test.

One Origin spokesperson told us, "We have listened very closely to our beta testers concerns. In fact, at least 75 percent of the revisions and tweaks to the game have come as a direct result of their feedback and suggestions - although not all of the changes were implemented into the beta."

In addition, Starr Long, the game's associate producer (known to all as Lord Blackthorn), addressed a few questions directly.

GS News: Can you comment on players' concerns that the guards in town are overly aggressive?Starr Long: The towns are meant to be safe havens, so if the players are unable to break the law, that means the guards and the justice system are working properly, However, it's pretty much "anything goes" outside of the city limits.

GS News: What about economy loopholes such as allowing a blacksmith to amass huge amounts of money?SL: We made some large economy fixes near the very end of the beta test to address problems like this, and we feel the economy is rather well balanced at this point. However, just as a real society must pass laws each year to keep the economy robust and to prevent unfair business practices (changing the national APR, anti-trust laws, etc.), so must the rulers (support team) of UO make periodic adjustments to this system as players find and exploit loopholes that we may not have discovered yet.

GS News: And sparse animal allocations?SL: What people are experiencing is the virtual ecology at work! Players are having a direct impact on the ecology by over-hunting, thereby lowering the animal populations in certain areas. In order for the animal population to replenish, players will need to travel to new places where the animal population is untouched.

GS News: How did you address the discrepancies between the Ultima Online FAQ and actual game?SL: Unfortunately, because of the pace of changes we were making during the beta test (most of which were from direct player feedback), we were unable to keep the FAQ as current as we would have liked. Instead of documenting these changes in the FAQ, we decided to put them in a page called the Development Journal. The beta testers quickly learned that the Development Journal was the place to find all the latest details on recent changes, and it contained an unprecedented amount of information. Not only did we list any changes we made, but we also explained why we made the change and what the impact would have to the players.