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2655124Ultima Online: Third Dawn , Ultima Worlds Online: Origin will be the next online role-playing game to bear the Ultima name, and though it's officially a sequel to the original Ultima Online, it'll be a decidedly different game. It will still be a massively multiplayer game that will let thousands of players explore a persistent world simultaneously, but it will feature a number of changes from the previous game. For starters, Origin, as it's called, will feature a fully 3D graphics engine, and it will use motion-captured animations to animate its detailed polygonal characters. Many of its characters and monsters won't copy standard fantasy archetypes, but will instead be completely original creations inspired by comic artist Todd McFarlane, who is acting as an artistic consultant on the project. Origin will also feature a new, simpler interface, multiple character races, and more and more complex character skill sets. Furthermore, the game's timeline is decidedly different from that of the traditional Ultima universe.

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Ultima Worlds Online: Origin will take place on the planet of Sosaria, but in an alternate timeline than Ultima Online or any of the previous Ultima games. A terrible cataclysm has befallen the realm, and in the wake of it, some have embraced the ways of technology over magic. In some parts of the land, huge, steam-powered cities have replaced Brittania's customary stonewalled townships. This land of technology will be governed by Blackthorne, a powerful non-player character knight and the villain of the original series. However, Blackthorne was never corrupted in Origin's timeline, and will instead serve as a seemingly peaceful ruler of the new land, though he - like many of the other non-player characters in Origin - may have a hidden agenda that won't be readily apparent.

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One of the most widespread complaints about the original Ultima Online was the fact that it only had one playable race - humans. There will be three different player races in Origin, each of which is native to the world's the three continents. Blackthorne's technocrat domain is Logos, and is the home of the Juka race, a breed of proud, stoic warriors that live and die by their own strict code of honor. Because they hail from a land in the midst of an industrial revolution, the Juka are the most technologically inclined of the three races, and will be skilled at the use of both technological weapons and the more technical artisan crafts. The Meer race is a line of slender, graceful humanoids whose slanted eyes and pointed ears grant them an unmistakable resemblance to cats. Meer hail from ancient Sosaria, and are adept in the ways of magic, including the dark art of necromancy. Humans are from the land of Brittania, which will likely seem the most familiar to most players, as it's most similar to the pastoral high-fantasy lands of Ultima Online and previous Ultima games. Humans lack certain of the special abilities and innate racial proficiencies of the other two races, but are more balanced than the others with respect to their ability scores and base set of skills.

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