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[Sentenza]

As per title.

Garriott confirmed recently on social media that he was once again attempting to get back the Ultima rights from Electronic Arts.
After that there were rumors going the rounds just recently (and I'm talking last two-three days) about how he actually succeeded in his negotiation.

Then, out of nowhere, he posted this on Twitter just yesterday:



Given in his recent track record I'm not even sure if I should be hyped or worried.
On top of that, while I'm familiar with Swen Vincke's love for the series, I'm vaguely dubious he would be willing to drop whatever they already started working on just to grab this chance.

 

[Jinxed]

Really missing the Ultima online/Everquest days lately.

About this, his latest track record is horrible but oh well, this might be good news

 

[TintoConCasera]

Chances that it's Underworld related? I would love to play a modern take on that.

 

[StereoVsn]

Man, Ultima VII re-imagined for current tech by Larian would be absolutely amazing.

 

[Sentenza]

Chances that it's Underworld related? I would love to play a modern take on that.

I would love to play an Isometric/top down single-player Ultima more than anything. Especially if it would actually come from Larian, which doesn't exactly have a track record with first person immersive sims.

Anyway, right now I'd stress that while I'm pretty confident on the fact that they are "trying to make it happen", there's no guarantee whatsoever that the negotiations will land anywhere.

 

[Gorgon]

I would love to play an Isometric/top down single-player Ultima more than anything. Especially if it would actually come from Larian, which doesn't exactly have a track record with first person immersive sims.

I don't think it would be much of an issue for them if they actually wanted to go from isometric to 1st or 3rd person.

Anyway, right now I'd stress that while I'm pretty confident on the fact that they are "trying to make it happen", there's no guarantee whatsoever that the negotiations will land anywhere.

I don't think they are actually negotiating anything? Larian could just say thanks but no. Is there any evidence that Larian is even interested?

 

[nowhat]

As a disclaimer, I fucking love Ultima. Ultima V is the reason why I have a moderately good grasp of English - my father helped me up to a point, initially (and was way more patient than I would have been), but eventually he just handed me a dictionary and went "there, go look it up". Which I did. Afterwards I've found notebooks that I had forgot - written in poor English, but using the runes. I don't remember the runes now. But I back then I did. (I was a nerd, I know)

And the Ultima series was really great up to 7 and the expansions, 8 if you really want to be kind, but honestly, after that, big nope. As to "Lord British" himself - just google "Shroud of the Avatar" and see how that went. Sorry Mr Garriot, but your ship has sailed, milord. Just give up already. You've tried to make a comeback multiple times, always ending in a disaster.

 

[ReyBrujo]

Remake every Ultima for Switch, gather the monies and then invest everything in a new numbered entry, please.

 

[LordBritish]

<<<<<<<<<-------------------- I am not him lol

Would be funny to kill him again in BG3 if he offered up Lord British as a moongate visitor character...

Lord British - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Sentenza]

I don't think it would be much of an issue for them if they actually wanted to go from isometric to 1st or 3rd person.

I do. I have no particular confidence in their ability to do first person gameplay.
Even if they were to turn out surprisingly competent at it for a first time, it still wouldn't be their area of expertise.
Nor my preferential solution in general, anyway.

I don't think they are actually negotiating anything? Larian could just say thanks but no. Is there any evidence that Larian is even interested?

The man being willing to "sit and talk about it" and Larian not being interested would be EXACTLY what I consider a (failed) negotiation?

 

[Sentenza]

As to "Lord British" himself - just google "Shroud of the Avatar" and see how that went. Sorry Mr Garriot, but your ship has sailed, milord. Just give up already. You've tried to make a comeback multiple times, always ending in a disaster.

That and the Tabula Rasa debacle wouldn't even be his worst recent offenses, given that not so long ago he seemed quite ready to jump on the (derailed) NFT bandwagon.

 

[TheStam]

As a disclaimer, I fucking love Ultima. Ultima V is the reason why I have a moderately good grasp of English - my father helped me up to a point, initially (and was way more patient than I would have been), but eventually he just handed me a dictionary and went "there, go look it up". Which I did. Afterwards I've found notebooks that I had forgot - written in poor English, but using the runes. I don't remember the runes now. But I back then I did. (I was a nerd, I know)

And the Ultima series was really great up to 7 and the expansions, 8 if you really want to be kind, but honestly, after that, big nope. As to "Lord British" himself - just google "Shroud of the Avatar" and see how that went. Sorry Mr Garriot, but your ship has sailed, milord. Just give up already. You've tried to make a comeback multiple times, always ending in a disaster.

Same here. Ultima VII was one of the best gaming experiences I ever had, but Lord British hasn't exactly covered himself in glory since.

 

[nowhat]

Same here. Ultima VII was one of the best gaming experiences I ever had, but Lord British hasn't exactly covered himself in glory since.

Just for the record, both Underworlds are great IMHO. But they're more of a spinoff than mainline entry.

 

[Gorgon]

The man being willing to "sit and talk about it" and Larian not being interested would be EXACTLY what I consider a (failed) negotiation?

You could put it that way sure, although I'd say that if you didn't even agree to sit and talk about it then there was no negotiation to begin with. Anyway, I was just trying to undertand if you knew if they were actually talking about it or was it really just interest shown by Garriott in a tweet. Thanks for clarifying that.

 

[Sentenza]

Just for the record, both Underworlds are great IMHO. But they're more of a spinoff than mainline entry.

They were also from a different studio entirely (Looking Glass Studios, or Blue Sky Productions, as they used to be named at the time of UUW1).

 

[RafterXL]

If he only has a consultant role, this would be great, but he is washed as a developer and I honestly wouldn't want him touching Ultima again.

I backed Shroud of the Avatar and that game was not only dogshit, but he ruined it with the crazy excessive RMT and the community it created. Then he went from that to a fucking NFT games that was cancelled a couple years later. And both of those happened after Tabula Rasa, which was a huge disaster. Nah, I'm good.

 

[dispensergoinup]

Yeah....I think those days are long gone. Kept an eye on Shroud but noped out as soon as the housing shit was announced.

Don't know if anyone can recapture that single player Ultima magic. Maybe Larian if this were to move forward.

Long shot for sure, though.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Larian is surely balls deep in their next project whatever it is. Obviously I would love an Ultima game from Larian, but Owlcat feels more realistic and would also do a great job.

 

[Sentenza]

Larian is surely balls deep in their next project whatever it is. Obviously I would love an Ultima game from Larian, but Owlcat feels more realistic and would also do a great job.

wel, Owlcat allegedly has three new projects going on at the moment. Of which at least one is supposed to be a big step up in production value from their past production (basically, their BG3).
So I'd say they are every bit as swamped as Larian on this front.

Frankly the only thing that makes Larian a credible option is that VIncke has been a very VOCAL fan of the Ultima series for decades and he MAY be tempted by the offer on that basis alone.
Under any other metric it would easily to imagine they would just give Garriott the middle finger without a second thought.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

A new Ultima game? I am sure the people at the geriatric ward are excited.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

A new Ultima game? I am sure the people at the geriatric ward are excited.

Damn right.

 

[Sgt.Asher]

No thank you, all you old celebrity devs are way past your prime.

 

[StereoVsn]

As a disclaimer, I fucking love Ultima. Ultima V is the reason why I have a moderately good grasp of English - my father helped me up to a point, initially (and was way more patient than I would have been), but eventually he just handed me a dictionary and went "there, go look it up". Which I did. Afterwards I've found notebooks that I had forgot - written in poor English, but using the runes. I don't remember the runes now. But I back then I did. (I was a nerd, I know)

And the Ultima series was really great up to 7 and the expansions, 8 if you really want to be kind, but honestly, after that, big nope. As to "Lord British" himself - just google "Shroud of the Avatar" and see how that went. Sorry Mr Garriot, but your ship has sailed, milord. Just give up already. You've tried to make a comeback multiple times, always ending in a disaster.

Yes, if Gariott does that himself. But if Larian gets Ultima IP and basically revives Ultima VII + Expansions with modern systems and graphics, that would be glorious.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

No thank you, all you old celebrity devs are way past your prime.

Yeah, you're not wrong.. Richard's more recent resume is not ideal - but if he is merely the vehicle for an Ultima revival by some folks with talent.. I'm all for that and immediately.

 

[StereoVsn]

Larian is surely balls deep in their next project whatever it is. Obviously I would love an Ultima game from Larian, but Owlcat feels more realistic and would also do a great job.

IMO Larian would be a better fit. Owlcat is actually better vs Larian (IMO of course) in their character building and magic/combat.

But Larian is better with reactivity and all kinds of possible combinations based on actions. Which is where U VII shined.

That said either would be Day 1. I just don’t see Owlcat having any sort of bandwidth right now.

 

[Gp1]

Divinity original sin first chapter is clearly a inspired by Ultima 7 first few hours.

Larian always expressed that Ultima 7 was a big influence to them.

Ps. Wasted a few good hours in Ultima Ruin to riches this week. UO has such a awesome vibe.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Divinity original sin first chapter is clearly a inspired by Ultima 7 first few hours.

Larian always expressed that Ultima 7 was a big influence to them.

Ps. Wasted a few good hours in Ultima Ruin to riches this week. UO has such a awesome vibe.

Ruins and Riches is absolutely awesome.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

I think I have several thousand hours in Ultima Online

Been playing on and off for +20 years

UO at its peak was magic

 

[Dorfdad]

Really missing the Ultima online/Everquest days lately.

About this, his latest track record is horrible but oh well, this might be good news

Id be interested if this was going to be a AAA single player experience or even a co-op game. I don't think he can make a modern GAAS Ultimate in this day and age. Though I would love one. Hell I would love a modern LOTR mmo with modern UI and graphics.

 

[Moonjt9]

Man, Ultima VII re-imagined for current tech by Larian would be absolutely amazing.

literal dream game.

Ultima is SORELY under-appreciated by modern gamers. It makes me sad. I grew up with Ultima, lived in Ultima Online. It’s such an important, amazing series.

It deserves something. It deserves a beautiful recreation, and Larian is the only studio that could do it justice. Please gamer god here us. Make it happen.

 

[DeepEnigma]

You have my attention…

 

[Hudo]

Ngl, Larian making a new Ultima would be the best case scenario. Swen is already a big Ultima fan and EA aren't doing anything with the IP and could use a good RPG in their portfolio; they hadn't had one since 2009 or so.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

There's always time to pray future iterations of a franchise are not shit. Never give up hope. That's coming from a Turok enjoyer

 

[Wildebeest]

Forget Ultima, nobody under 40 knows what it is anyway, Larian should make a Moonring game.

 

[Sentenza]

For the record, here's some things Garriott posted on social media in the past weeks:

These were all posted before that tweet about having a chat with Larian, so it's not that hard to make a 2 + 2 here.

 

[thief183]

Would be a dram come true for me

 

[old-parts]

Cool if it pans out, an Ultima reboot would be interesting.

But Ultima is very crusty at this point, forgotten by most, it's heydays were the 80s and 90s, Ultima was even big in Japan back in the day.


Fingers crossed it happens.

 

[Sentenza]

Cool if it pans out, an Ultima reboot would be interesting.

If i were given the task to revive the series today, I'd probably opt for a reboot/remake, with Ultima IV as the starting point (as what came before is frankly easily ignorable in terms of lore)
It was the game that introduced a bunch of core themes (i.e. Virtues) that lived through the whole saga.

 

[SlyDoughnut]

Ultima IV on the Amiga 500 was just about the first RPG I fell in love with. I still have such fond memories.

 

[Nikodemos]

Larian was puttering along, doing generic contract programming in the mid-90s. Swen Vincke decided to go full-on into making their own games due to his love for the Ultima universe. Him getting the license for an official title in the series would be the culmination of his 30+ year career as a dev.

 

[CliffBronger]

Really hope this happens.

Ultima VII is a GOAT tier game.

 

[Kadve]

Chances that it's Underworld related? I would love to play a modern take on that.

Reminds me of a nice fun fact. These games are direct successors to Ultimate Underworld. Arx Fatalis starting out as Underworld III and Dark Messiah as Arx Fatalis 2.

But on an actually related note.

We already got a new Underworld game. Just without the Ultimate name and Richard Garriott and i heard it sucked.

 

[Sentenza]

We already got a new Underworld game. Just without the Ultimate name and Richard Garriott and i heard it sucked.

It was awful on a level I'm not even sure it should be acknowledged.
it wasn't just a poorly made game. It was so sloppy and half-baked that people would be justified to presume the deliberate malicious intent to scam the customers.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Wish I could think of other developers that could pull off reviving Ultima besides Larian but they all suck so bad these days

 

[amigastar]

I remember Videogame magazin journalists debating about the groundbreaking graphics in Ultima IX if they are too demanding and looking very good.
Hard to imagine nowadays looking at the games graphics.

 

[StereoVsn]

It was awful on a level I'm not even sure it should be acknowledged.
it wasn't just a poorly made game. It was so sloppy and half-baked that people would be justified to presume the deliberate malicious intent to scam the customers.

I am pretty sure I got in on the Kickstarter. It was awful alright. At the time though seemed lien a sure bet!

 

[StereoVsn]

Wish I could think of other developers that could pull off reviving Ultima besides Larian but they all suck so bad these days

Warhorse Studios could do it or as mentioned above, Owlcat. It’s just they got their hands full of other things and I don't see them being interested.

Larian is only even potentially possible because Sven loves Ultima.

 

[Wildebeest]

Reminds me of a nice fun fact. These games are direct successors to Ultimate Underworld. Arx Fatalis starting out as Underworld III and Dark Messiah as Arx Fatalis 2.

If you are talking about which big video game RPG franchises are influenced by Ultima it is easier to list the ones that are not. Any classic JRPG or Zelda type game with top-down view is, all Bioware games are, all Larian games are from the original divinity, Fable is. Witcher probably is indirectly, at least, but I don't know how much they care. Diablo is basically an Ultima clone. It is mind-boggling that it is so deep under the radar for millenial gamers and younger.

But more people should still play Moonring.

 

[Sentenza]

If you people are looking for an UUW-like, keep an eye on Monomyth:

 

[Hudo]

A new Ultima game by Larian (with Richard Garriot as consultant)
A new Burnout game by Three Fields Entertainment with support from Criterion Games
A new Sim City by Maxis (because Cities Skylines is not a proper replacement and never was)
A new Titanfall by Respawn Entertainment
A new Command & Conquer game (or a Remaster of Tiberian Sun) by Petroglylph and support studio(s)
A new Wing Commander game, that could be made internally by EA Motive
A new Dungeon Keeper game Two Point Studios (would need to reach an agreement with Sega)
A new Ultima Underworld game by Arkane (would need to reach an angreement with Microsoft)
A new Syndicate game by Mimimi would have been cool... Sad that they shut down.


Imagine if EA actually did something with their IPs instead of letting EA Sports carry the whole company.