Nice interview with Aaron Cohen

Tukaram · 7th December 2006, 08:21 PM

I haven't seen this posted here yet. Sorry if someone else already posted it.

mmorpg.com did a nice interview with Aaron Cohen.
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm?s...meID=12&bhcp=1
Here is a small quote. I bolded the part I liked.

Quote:

The Producer of Ultima Online answers questions on the game's past, present and future and EA Mythic's role

Aaron Cohen is the Producer of Ultima Online. With the announcement of Electronic Arts buying Mythic, the MMO vets have been lending experience to the grand-father of all games, and the young development team at EA is hard at work putting their stamp on this game. We spoke to Cohen about it.

MMORPG.com: Ultima Online is approaching a decade old, yet it still seems to be going strong. Can you talk to us a bit about the health of the game over the last few years?

Aaron Cohen: Ultima Online is still quite a healthy game with a very passionate community. It's out-lived quite a number of newer MMORPGs, most of which launched with bigger budgets, better graphics, and long lists of world-changing features that never quite changed the world.

It is amazing to read emails and old message board archives from six or seven years ago because it seems like almost every year of UO's existence there were predictions of doom. With each new MMORPG, experts tried to set an end date for the Ultima franchise. Yet every time the experts were wrong.

And yes, the subscriber base has grown smaller over the past three years, as have many MMORPGs. I am proud to say that UO maintains a spot on the top-10 list in North America and the top-3 list in Japan.

I also think that concerns for UO's health will soon become a thing of the past. If the early responses to Kindom Reborn are any measure, I think it's safe to say that 2007 will be a good year for UO.

**DiP** · 9th December 2006, 06:28 AM

Sounds good to me.

**Silverfoot** · 9th December 2006, 08:10 AM

LOL, was just going there Tuka! Excellent interview.

Long live UO!!

Deraj · 9th December 2006, 01:48 PM

I have an issue with this interview, and this issue is expressed in two statements:

Quote:

Players new and old have a hard time getting to "the good stuff" because of two big barriers: the aging UI and the dated graphics.

Quote:

And then I had some kind of epiphany. Suddenly I couldn't stop playing. Somehow, the graphics began to look better and I realized that the interface, while not initially intuitive, was supremely flexible and surprisingly powerful.

Yeah, I see the obvious point he's trying to make, that is, the UI and "dated" graphics were a barrier for him, too, and that he's trying to make it easier for other players so they don't need an epiphany, blah blah blah....

But is this really a reason to completely phase out 2D? You say that the graphics looked better to you, yet you're the one that wants to get rid of them. I don't know... when I look at this, I see a huge contradiction. I wouldn't have much of a problem with KR if I knew that what I enjoy about UO wasn't being phased out.

**DiP** · 9th December 2006, 01:56 PM

Good point, my opinion is they are taking a calculated risk in doing this.

Mostly because:

A. Current subscribers basically say they stay/play for the game content, etc. not much on graphics and they could care less that it's not "flashy" (so what's the harm of making it flashy?)

B. Newer players basically say they like "flashy" graphics and the UI is awkward. (upgrade those to at minimal risk to losing the current subscribers seems logical.)

9th December 2006, 06:28 AM	#2
DiP Ronin<br>UOForums Bouncer Join Date: Jan 2006 Shard: Black Water Raiders, Azeroth Posts: 9,141 Gold: 19,464 My Mood: Thanks: 141 Thanked 100 Times in 84 Posts	Re: Nice interview with Aaron Cohen Sounds good to me. Thanks again Maddux! Adri: women don't discuss men while in the bathroom, we sacrifice small animals and smoke tampons rolls eyes

9th December 2006, 08:10 AM	#3
Silverfoot Mith'quessir Join Date: Mar 2005 Shard: Chesepeake Posts: 2,282 Gold: 10,861 My Mood: Blog Entries: 7 Thanks: 169 Thanked 138 Times in 80 Posts	Re: Nice interview with Aaron Cohen LOL, was just going there Tuka! Excellent interview. Long live UO!! "Careful what you wish for, You just might get it all.... And then some you don't want"

9th December 2006, 01:56 PM	#5
DiP Ronin<br>UOForums Bouncer Join Date: Jan 2006 Shard: Black Water Raiders, Azeroth Posts: 9,141 Gold: 19,464 My Mood: Thanks: 141 Thanked 100 Times in 84 Posts	Re: Nice interview with Aaron Cohen Good point, my opinion is they are taking a calculated risk in doing this. Mostly because: A. Current subscribers basically say they stay/play for the game content, etc. not much on graphics and they could care less that it's not "flashy" (so what's the harm of making it flashy?) B. Newer players basically say they like "flashy" graphics and the UI is awkward. (upgrade those to at minimal risk to losing the current subscribers seems logical.) Thanks again Maddux! Adri: women don't discuss men while in the bathroom, we sacrifice small animals and smoke tampons rolls eyes

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