Ultima Stays Online, Not Off

Origin Systems, which was founded in 1983 by Richard and Robert Garriott in their parents garage, has put an end to the home-brew product of a kindred spirit.

Marcus Rating, a 19-year-old German lad about to enter his first year of college, certainly got his fair share of attention this past week when it was learned by the Ultima Online gaming community – as well as Origin Systems – that he was about to co-op with a Toronto, Canada, computer concern and open up non-Origin servers for UO gameplay.

Rating and Toronto's RyNet Computer Co. were all ready to open up their own servers and, through the magic of server emulation, provide an Ultima Online-like gaming environment appropriately called The Ultima Offline eXperiment.

Well, push came to nudge in the past 36 hours, and Rating and RyNet have called off the experiment.

For the time being, at least, it appears that Rating and Rynet made the right choice.

Christopher Yates, an Origin vice president and its chief technical officer, was just a half step away from letting the Electronic Arts legal department loose to address what likely appeared to him as a violation of copyright.

But while Yates was successful in persuading Rating to call off the experiment, he opened up the possibility that Origin, Rating, and RyNet might in fact work together in the near future.

"Marcus' experiment caught us by surprise," Yates said on Tuesday. "My first reaction was is a big, high-risk investment I don't want to see endangered."

In a conversation with GameSpot News, Yates expressed genuine concern, if not a sizable amount of awe, at Rating's audacious act of developing a server emulation program supposedly capable of providing a near-authenic Ultima Online experience.

Yates was happy to report that "Ultima Online has not been pirated to death," and he obviously wants to keep it that way. But he said that Origin is "try to create a way to work with external people who add to the Ultima Online experience - and do it in a controlled way."

With millions of dollars invested in the Ultima franchise, Yates was clear that any attempt to "add value to the Ultima Online universe" must be approved by Origin and at minimum pose no threat to the investment and current revenue stream generated by monthly UO user fees.

"We'd like to try to bring those people close to the organization," Yates said.

He added that "in the near future might work with us" and that Origin might even consider "helping Marcus" develop his UOX3 server emulation program.

Yates offered no other specifics as to when any collaboration might actually take place, but wanted to make it clear that the Origin team was interested in maintaining close contact with gamers like Rating and O'Sullivan, gamers Yates described as "talented, avid supporters of the Ultima Online environment."

While O'Sullivan seemed disappointed by the recent turn of events, he emphasized that the Ultima Offline eXperiment was never intended to drive revenues toward either Rating or Rynet. He added, however, that he and Rating would "stick with it and stay in touch with Origin."

In related Ultima Online news, Origin will announce on Thursday the introduction of Ultima Online Game Time, a program that will give gamers the opportunity to purchase three-month blocks of time on Ultima Online at selected retailers. Origin hopes Game Time will address the needs of gamers who either can't provide a credit card number to register and play or for whatever reason prefer not to provide credit card information to Origin.

Currently, Babbages, Egghead, and Electronics Boutique will be participating in the program. Gamers can pay by either cash or check and will receive a hints and tips booklet and a subscription code to complete online registration. Of course, gamers must already own the retail version of the game and have Internet connectivity.