Massively multiplayer games typically let you create a single character, then go out and fight monsters and acquire treasures in a colorful, persistent world with other like-minded players. While these games have their roots in text-based multiuser dungeon (MUD) games, some years ago developers had the bright idea to make games that add graphics to create a visual online world. One of the first such games was Ultima Online, which was launched in 1997 and continues to draw in devoted adventurers night after night, even to this day. EA Games and the recently relocated Ultima team are now hard at work producing the next expansion pack for the game. Samurai Empire will add all-new character classes, housing options, and lands to explore. Associate producer and team lead Jessica Lewis explains.

The mighty samurai will join the ranks of Ultima Online.

GameSpot: Tell us what the team hopes to accomplish with Samurai Empire. We know the expansion has several new features, but are the new character classes, housing options, and other content intended to just give players more to do, or is there a specific direction in which Samurai Empire is intended to bring Ultima Online?

Jessica Lewis: With each expansion, we want to build on the concept of Ultima Online being a virtual world, a place as vast, complex, and mysterious as the real world. Samurai Empire gives us the chance to add an entirely new culture complete with new clothes, weapons, monsters, mythology, and even food. We hope that players who visit Tokuno Islands for the first time have the same feeling one gets when visiting a new country for the first time--a feeling of everything being foreign and exotic, a sense that surprises and new experiences are around every corner.

GS: Tell us about the new character classes, the samurai and ninja. What will their defining abilities be, and what roles does the team expect them to play? (For instance, the ninja's animal form ability sounds like it could be very useful for scouting hostile territory.)

JL: Honorable execution, weapon parry, confidence, momentum strike, and lightning strike are just some of the new samurai special abilities. Fighting a samurai may change the dynamics of a battle. Many of their strengths come with fighting in numbers.

As one would imagine with a ninja, having excellent stealth skills is a must. Shadow jump, mirror image, and surprise attack are some examples of the ninja's special abilities that improve with being stealthy. Being a ninja is going to give players a chance to sneak around and fight in ways they've never been able to, as well.

GS: The new classes sound intriguing, and they also sound like they will be extremely powerful. Will they be the new must-have classes that everyone plays? How will they be balanced against existing character classes and players who already have advanced characters and may not want to start over?

JL: Designer Jennifer "Niobe" Lane offered to answer this question. "No matter the game, the newest shiny [thing] will always be the 'must-have' when it first goes live. Our goal is not to force players to switch characters, but to offer more variety and gameplay styles. With that said, the ninja and samurai will have the advantage when wielding the new Samurai Empire weapons, though they will need significant skill before attempting the special abilities only they can perform.

Though the samurai and ninja professions have their own abilities and skills, they should not make other professions less valuable or eliminate the need for them. We will continue to test and tweak these character types to balance them against existing professions.

Advanced players who would like to try out one of the new professions, but do not want to start from scratch, will be able to partially train ninjutsu or Bushido skills from a select number of characters in Zento City. This will allow veteran players to hone existing characters for the new professions."

The expansion will add plenty of equally mighty home furnishings as well.

GS: Tell us about the new housing features in the expansion. What kinds of things can players expect to be able to put in their houses--and will they have all-new kinds of houses to build? Will these new features serve merely as decorations, or will they serve other purposes in the game--an important market for the economy or perhaps granting some kind of bonuses to players in the same house?

JL: Samurai Empire has new floor, wall, and roof tiles; over two dozen new decoration items that are also rare items; plus over 60 new craftable items. We really wanted players to be able to create a dojo or pagoda from top to bottom. There are new sword racks, lanterns, Japanese garden tiles, fans and scrolls to hang on the wall, and food items to craft. Players will have to find the rare items or buy them from a vendor or another player. Having thief skills will be a great advantage in acquiring these sought-after articles. The bonsai tree seeds are offered as rare loot items--only found on Samurai Empire creatures.