At least according to Aaron Cohen

Source - http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/u...Number=7064312

Our Stratics Exclusives Reporter, Tovin, had a great opportunity to attend an Electronic Arts/Mythic press corps meeting in Virginia this month, and she has written this report on her visit with Ultima Online staff who were there. Here are highlights – including more from Darkscribe on the upcoming Kingdom Reborn release.

UO:Kingdom Reborn

Ultima Online is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and lots of changes are about to occur within the world! The EA Mythic press event was held in January for members of the web , online, tv, and magazine media, and we were presented with the newest of information from the Ultima Online team.

Producer Aaron Cohen and Lead Designer Nick "DragonHead" Corea were there to show off the largest investment EA has made to the game since their acquisition, the newest expansion: Kingdom Reborn. Kingdom Reborn is due out sometime spring of '07. As DragonHead showed off the current Legacy client being used on UO servers, Aaron showed the exact same areas with KR. The new client will be distributed free of charge to subscribers and includes a complete artistry redesign of all areas, and effects. Kingdom Reborn also includes upgrades to the inventory system including a "loot all" button. Also, auto-stacking and one click inventory usage will be available.

While KR will make the UO we all know and love come to life in a new way, the client upgrade is both free and completely voluntary, for now. All new expansions, including the summer release UO: Stygian Abyss, will require the KR client to be used. Once enough people have downloaded KR phasing out the Legacy client will commence.

System requirements are being projected at this time as anything bought within the last 5 to 6 years. The goal is not to cause any major disruptions or upgrades to the current playerbase, while still being able to continually grow the world and expand the graphics offered.

The first thing I noticed about the areas we were shown with KR were the earth elementals. Instead of mudmen wandering aimlessly around the Dungeon Despise they were full blown rock creatures!! The orc models were the most stunning of them all. Instead of the tired orc graphics from 9 years ago that of us are familiar with, they were mean looking suckers, completely different, and truly exciting to see!

There are crisper colors, the particle effects are amazing, and though the map will remain more then 99% true to what Legacy currently shows, that small area changed should have no affect on gameplay. The water, textures, and mob design has all been upgraded using the original design documents. This allows the current team to remain as true to the UO world as was the original intent without the technology that is available today.

Kingdom Reborn also adds new a new interface with a more modern design both to streamline current player interaction, and to assist new players with an easier learning curve. This upgrade is not considered an update by the team. It's simply a chance to be true, graphically, to the way the world should look. Plus it will help to move things forward as UO continues to grow and change in an industry where they've not only lasted 10 years, but they continue to set the bar for community interaction and player controlled content.

Written by Rebecca "Tovin" Simpson - Jan. 28, 2007

UO:Stygian Abyss

The UO:Stygian Abyss expansion that will release sometime in summer of '07 will offer a new player race, new skills, new housing designs, new pets, and will open the largest dungeon in UO history. UO:SA will only be available to those who are running the KR client, and will follow the price structure that UO has set in the past with their expansions.

There's very limited information released so far about this expansion, so this coverage will be short and sweet! What we know? The Gargoyle homeland will be discovered. Gargoyles will be a playable race. The way to their homeland takes you through the largest and one of the most dangerous dungeons ever. The foundation for finding the Gargoyle world is being laid even now through in game events and lore.

We were given little information about the Gargoyles other then as a race they are stoic and noble. They're able to shape stone, and their city will be fantastic!!
As summer approaches, we'll hear more and more about this amazing new addition to the world of Ultima Online!

Written by Rebecca "Tovin" Simpson - Jan. 28, 2007

During the EA Mythic media event in Fairfax Virginia during January of '07, interviews with several high level producers and developers were available, and I had a chance to talk to UO Producer, Aaron Cohen. Aaron normally works out of a California office, but when in Virginia he uses a spare office within the EA Mythic area. His officer had a laptop, a whiteboard, a desk and a phone. When I walked into the room, the laptop was running the new Kingdom Reborn client.

After a few moments of explaining my UO history, and oohing and aahing over the new client graphics, we got down to business! My first question was about the phasing out of the Legacy client that's standard among players, after KR is launched. Aaron said it depended completely upon how players adapted it. It will be easier to develop for only one client, so they're hoping it will take a year or less for the majority of players to begin utilizing the recoded engine. Once a large majority of players have downloaded and use the client, they'll begin to phase it out over time.

When asked how they plan on improving the new player experience and shortening the learning curve Aaron said that the quest and skill system is being re-looked at. There will be skill building direction so that new players will know what must be done to accomplish increases (chopping trees for lumberjack, etc). Quests that allow faster skill increases through completion are in the works, decreasing the grind and promoting interaction.

We eventually got to some questions that of course couldn't be answered. The new housing designs, new pets, new crafting recipes, new skills, and new pets being offered with the UO:Stygian Abyss expansion are all still under discussion, or under wraps. The theme of the new dungeon is also not being currently released.

As all development companies have learned it's better to say nothing then to say the wrong thing. Development changes so quickly and often design and implementation issues can easily require something to not be added, or to be changed drastically!

The addition of the new dungeon and of the Gargoyle race are also, for the most part, not being discussed. I found out that the dungeon is far, far away, which is why it hasn't been discovered until now. In that theme, it will take quite a while to travel to it. Teleportation to or from the dungeon once it's been traversed is under discussion. If the Gargoyle race will need to be unlocked before it's available as a player race is also undetermined.

Asked how the merge with Mythic Entertainment has changed the development, Aaron positively shined. He said it was such a rare opportunity to get other industry people with a successful MMO to look at your game and give honest feedback, help, and technology that nothing bad could be said about the process. EA Mythic now shares technology for User Interfaces, Artificial Intelligence, sound, and the Gamebryo game engine as well as the experience to utilize them well.
It was made just as clear that the UO team has had input, ideas, and feedback on both the Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning games that Mythic has had out for 5 years and is in development, respectively.

Player vs Player (PvP) is of course, one of the staples of UO, and 25% of players PvP exclusively! Aaron was quite clear on the team thoughts towards PvP. UO's system works. PvP is unpredictable, player controlled content that couldn't be matched by coding or interference from the team. As always, UO's goal is a reason to PvP without breaking the Player vs Environment (PvE) that so many enjoy. Balance for PvE and PvP both individually and against each other is always going on. Tweaks happen all the time to keep it as fair and fun as possible.

The last question was of course, exploiting and the hot story of selling gold. A term against not selling gold never made it into the Ultima Online Terms of Service, and the developers have never seen a reason to come out and add one. They don't intend to add one now, thereby changing the face of the game for many, many players, both for and against the practice. Aaron even mentioned that many players pay for their accounts by selling gold, and the money goes right back into the UO economy.

Of course, the gathering and selling of gold encourages exploits, and I was quite pleased to hear that not only is the UO team very much aware of it, but they're constantly working to prevent exploits both client and server side. The Kingdom Reborn client will make it much harder to exploit, though some will always find a way. The behind the scenes coding allows for quite a bit of control in fixing the exploit, once it's found, and is a priority for the team. The team knows that it's a wonderful feeling to earn what you have, what you get back from the game, and the community.

I'd like to thank Aaron for the wonderful interview, for getting me excited about UO years and years after I've moved on. The team is doing an awesome job, the merge with EA Mythic is not only not slowing people down, but it's expediting the changes and the growth that we all love to see in our MMO's.
Written by Rebecca "Tovin" Simpson - Jan. 28, 2007

Thanks Tovin for all this information! There is lots more coming up from this weekend's Town Hall meeting in Atlanta including videotape of portions of the event! Stay tuned to UOStratics for more information on Kingdom Reborn and the newly announced upcoming expansion package!

Interesting comments re: the sales of gold. Honestly, I think I prefer that response to the possible response of EA banning the sale of in-game items. I certainly don't support obtaining items via exploits/etc, but if legal game mechanics are used... well, as a grown adult who has played UO for the past 9 years of my life, I like the option to use my hard earned cash to buy things that I either don't have enough gold to buy in-game or don't have enough time to invest in getting via in-game means. I play this game for enjoyment, and unlike some people half my age, I don't always have endless hours to dedicate to it.

Wow... Kitiara you took the words right out of my mouth. I too have been playing since UO's conception and I have purchased a few items that either took too much time or gold to obtain in game.

To gather gold honestly takes time and some dont have as much time in UO as they would like, so i see no reason why if people wish to they can buy things with real life dollars.
Its good they are targetting the exploiters though, although tbh i still see a fair few unattended macroers gathering resources in Fel.