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EA confiscates 15 trillion gold from Ultima Online

"Dirty money" yanked from gameworld, more than 180 accounts terminated for exploiting the system.
By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot
Posted Jul 7, 2006 2:54 pm PT

The world of Ultima Online just got a little poorer. Electronic Arts has announced the permanent removal of roughly 15 trillion gold from the game's economy and the termination of more than 180 user accounts in connection with the funds, which it referred to as "dirty money."

In a posting on the game's Web site, the company announced that the funds were confiscated in the form of large denomination checks. In-game checks were intended to top out at a million gold pieces, but EA discovered a number of players with checks far exceeding that amount. The publisher said "these inflated checks have been used by exploiters to store extremely large amounts of gold."

A quick survey of eBay found Ultima Online gold sellers typically asking for between $3 and $4 per million gold pieces, with the few auctions that actually had bids on them running closer to $1 per million gold pieces. Even at the low end of that range, the real-world value of the deleted gold would be about $15 million, and possibly closer to the $60 million some online sellers would ask for it.

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113 Comments

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Sylvas87

Gotta love EA. I log in once, to see if anyone still played, and I get labeled an exploiter and banned.

Posted Mar 25, 2007 11:15 pm PT
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Cloud737

Heh, another gold farming case, eh? Oh well, it`s not such a surprise.

Posted Dec 29, 2006 6:26 am PT
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Lyndy62

UO should have died a long time ago. There has been several attempts to bring UO into the 21st century but they have all failed. The game may be fun, yet, when compared to present day MMO's, the archaic graphics and cheats ruin an otherwise enjoyable experience. UO is the model that all other MMO's spawned. It is a bit of history in the computer age. But sadly, I feel it has run it's course and needs to RIP. Maybe one day they will create something that again captures the imagination of gamers like UO once did. However, I think we have become jaded from over exposure and the experience of another UO in its infancy is probably not possible.

Posted Nov 19, 2006 6:48 am PT
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metroidfan220

That's just crappy.

Posted Sep 28, 2006 7:27 am PT
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CrimeMyAntiDrug

Actually, one of the major reasons people still play this game is because out of all of the MMOs out there, including WoW, it has the best PvP of any of them. Not to mention the fact that it is a lot easier to start out in, doesnt require you to completely devote your life to the game if you want to have a useful character, and despite the dated 2d graphics, it is still just downright enjoyable.

Posted Jul 27, 2006 2:44 am PT
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00Rambol00

I only have one thing to say....


HAHAHA!

Posted Jul 18, 2006 5:33 am PT
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SambaLele

that's a great game, but sadly it's really easy to cheat/ exploit in that game...

Posted Jul 17, 2006 7:58 pm PT
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usaokay

Ha ha, owned.

Posted Jul 16, 2006 11:43 pm PT
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theRunninGamer

I wish I had $15 million.

Posted Jul 15, 2006 9:18 am PT
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coltACP

I can see why they did it, people other than EA making lots of money lol. Also crazy-go on GW now they reverted the gold drops and item drops when they introduced factions- its like christmas again

Posted Jul 15, 2006 5:27 am PT
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Cra2y

180 users? lol there goes the UO community. Delete accounts and then nerf the hell out of farming. That'll fix their wagon.

Posted Jul 14, 2006 11:00 am PT
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Cra2y

lol, delete money and accounts and then nerf the game. I remember playing GW and its farming, they nerfed it and the game got tedious and boring as far as making gold. And in GW if you were not farming and running with a group, "your party shares 100 gold". Its just ghey if it takes to long to make money in a game, it loses its "fun factor"

low gold drops, nerfed farming

make items in game outrageous prices

Posted Jul 14, 2006 10:50 am PT
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SoberWarock

What is the best game EA has ever made?!

Posted Jul 14, 2006 2:46 am PT
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evilyoda861

I haven't even heard of this game. EA sucks so bad I wont be surprised when they go under with their **** games resently. Not like this will ruin any lives, or make them better so just something they want attention for. Hell wouldn't doubt they exaggerated some of it.

Posted Jul 13, 2006 9:35 pm PT
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superkhy

sounds more like a desperate cry for attention to me ("GUYS! CHECK OUT THIS HUGE NUMBER THAT MEANS NOTHING TO ANYONE! YES! SOMEONE IS LOOKING OUR WAY!")

Posted Jul 13, 2006 12:33 am PT
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joehead

Do people still play this game?Wasn't this like from 1969?Whats a MMO?How many licks to get to the centre of a tootsie pop?Why does it hurt when I pee?Do people still play this game?

Posted Jul 12, 2006 6:25 pm PT
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chemnikk

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

Posted Jul 12, 2006 11:22 am PT
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Star67

aww man, it looked like this was gonna be about spore.

Posted Jul 12, 2006 10:52 am PT
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jsambeckwith

I don't even know what Ultima online is... nor do I care...

Posted Jul 12, 2006 8:06 am PT
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cayne_phoenix

are people still playing this game?! :-p

Posted Jul 12, 2006 2:12 am PT
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TheVelvet

I also thought this article would be about Spore from the picture posted.

Posted Jul 11, 2006 4:30 pm PT
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Sino21

Haw, from the pic that they posted on the last word, I thought it was about 15 trillion possible beasts in Spore, but this is intresting too.

Posted Jul 11, 2006 3:53 pm PT
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nametaken

It'd be interesting to hear from a cheater. Their motivations, what they gained, how much they lost, was it worth it to get their account canceled, etc.

I think it's strange how we play so many games implementing a life of crime and violence, but we absolutely admonish anyone that partakes in any game-centric criminal activity.

Hey, I hate the idea of gold farming, too. I just want to hear from some of these people.

Posted Jul 11, 2006 10:11 am PT
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rlsmith42

EA pwns the cheaters! And saying "Who plays UO?" is like saying "Who plays the original Final Fantasy?"

They were the diffinitive start of a genre, and they can't be forgotten.

Posted Jul 10, 2006 8:11 pm PT
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Kanaric

:
Ultima Online? I'm sorry, people are still playing this game?

Why not? Its a good game and still has a high population.

The reason is that is has decent PVP something that every single new MMORPG lacks. Also it doesnt require you to have no life to play.

Just because it has old graphics doesn't mean nobody plays it, lol.

btw: WoW pvp doesn't classify as decent, its well below average.

Posted Jul 10, 2006 6:43 pm PT
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Admiral_T

Just because EA didn't find an exploit that allowed people to save more gold than allowed, they ban 180 accounts?
Money caps should be banned, people should have the right to save as much gold as they can.
Unless they are completely abusing farming. (which most of these people probably were, but still...)

Posted Jul 10, 2006 5:07 pm PT
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chickenslave

Vamroc, Im sorry, but thats the dumbest thing Ive ever heard. Im sure if you ever worked on any project like an MMO, you'd not be saying that right now. Peoiple aren't Gods, they can't just smell out glitches before players find them.

Posted Jul 10, 2006 2:42 pm PT
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vamroc

They found a bug and exploited it its not the players responsiblity to play FBI and NARC on other players. The program writers for Ultima should have seen that kind of abuse potential coming from a mile away.

Posted Jul 10, 2006 12:15 pm PT
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TheSergeant

Ultima Online? I'm sorry, people are still playing this game?

Posted Jul 10, 2006 12:11 pm PT
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runstalker

Between SOE's peak era on EQ and SWG where they flubbed multiple expansions (shipped incomplete, etc.) and the rise to prominence of gold farmers, the MMO image has been tarnished for years. All we needed was a tipping point, and that point happened via saturation--thanks to dozens of substandard efforts from Asia. Many of these titles, painfully mediocre games to begin with, have a style overwhelmingly geared towards Asian gaming culture and tastes: we're talking internet cafe business-friendly stat grinding, thousands of FedEx quest 'narratives', non-consensual PK w/ item/exp loss, point & click character movement, irritating website plug-ins and 'anti-hack' agents. All the kind of stuff that 'grinds' against western sensibilities--and it's built-up to this MMO backlash we're now seeing. Who wants to pay a monthly fee for that kind of experience?

A little while back I remember some THQ exec said (paraphrased): "There's no way we're getting into MMOs now"--referring to the climate of the genre, with Blizzard's WoW riding so high. That brief window when all the lesser MMOs popped out and enjoyed their ride aboard WoW's tail feathers (late '04-05) is now over and closed. The backlash against MMOs is here. Only a couple of Korean MMOs, WoW, and Guild Wars have escaped alive and well. The rest are online to serve small cult-like subscriber communities, while casual online game portals rake in more revenue in ads from raw visits alone. It comes down to this, developers: unless you're a clearly different online experience, a persistent game like Huxley let's say...forget about challenging the MMO leaders right now. Unless you have something really new to offer, just kick back and catch the next wave. Or god forbid, start it yourself. Bit more evolution, 'lil less imitation.

Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:22 am PT
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nemes1s3000

I remember this game.

Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:20 am PT
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jaefrmbk2k

shuttup

Posted Jul 10, 2006 10:52 am PT
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Greatwasabi

Those people who are saying EA is taking it too seriously need to read. 180 accounts doing that, if they sell the gold at 1$ per Million, and 15 trillion was confiscated, thats about 15 million dollars. Split between 180 accounts, they'd get around 90,000 dollars for cheating. And that's called illegal.

Posted Jul 10, 2006 10:29 am PT
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Pablo620

Its sad that something as awesome as online gaming has to be ruined by cheaters

Posted Jul 10, 2006 9:15 am PT
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Flan_Man

You realize that this will lead to a depression in Ultima Online. 1929 all over again. Oh wait. It is a game. Only 180 accounts toasted? How could 180 rake in 15 trillion gold and not be stopped before now?

Posted Jul 10, 2006 8:54 am PT
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chrisdojo

wow. a lot of wasted time for those users that got their acct deleted!

Posted Jul 10, 2006 8:18 am PT
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Thanos_of_MW

Cheaters online ruin the experience for others. Good that they kicked them out and got rid of the fake money.

Posted Jul 10, 2006 8:01 am PT
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AceCometh

Does anyone even play that game anymore? With FFXI and WoW around, who needs such dated software like UO?

Posted Jul 10, 2006 6:51 am PT
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LosDaddie

Good job, EA!

Posted Jul 10, 2006 6:04 am PT
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The_ruller

Stupid cheaters...

Posted Jul 10, 2006 4:27 am PT
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rynmls

bad for you

Posted Jul 10, 2006 12:35 am PT
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Connor24

I hate it when people ruin mmos by causing inflation.

Posted Jul 9, 2006 11:45 pm PT
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ForlonHope

its called farming

Posted Jul 9, 2006 10:31 am PT
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Safe_Bet

Who would have ever guessed that "cheating" was such a basic human instinct...


Posted Jul 9, 2006 8:59 am PT
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evolutiontapped

Haha, if you havent played UO recently you may not understand this article fully.. I quit UO in part, not fullly because, gold farmers would block dungeons and kill anyone who came in so they could sell the gold for cash. A very frustrating situation, especially when they would release a dragon on the first floor.

Posted Jul 9, 2006 7:20 am PT
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Carpe_Noctum

Maybe it's time to have a EA section? There vomit litters this news area daily.

Posted Jul 9, 2006 3:53 am PT
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jeebs213

anyone lame enough to be playing Ultima Online AND to be cheating on it deserves to have thier account terminated. As I see it, EA did them a favor. Welcome back to the real world!

Posted Jul 9, 2006 12:44 am PT
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slickr

Who the **** playes this game anymore!?!?!!?!?!

Posted Jul 8, 2006 6:28 pm PT
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SemiMaster

MMO games are totally stupid as the economy is so screwed up after the first two or three years making it nigh impossible to start as a newbie, let alone keep afloat as a regular. Isn't Ultima Online like 11 years old now too?

Posted Jul 8, 2006 5:01 pm PT
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