Ultima Online Released by Origin Systems (1997)
Ultima Online (UO) is a popular graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), released on September 25, 1997, by Origin Systems.
It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today. The game is played online, in a fantasy setting similar to that of the other Ultima games that preceded it.
The success of Ultima Online opened the door for the creation of many new massively multiplayer games. Ultima Online is a fantasy role-playing game set in the Ultima universe. It is online-only and played by thousands of simultaneous users (who pay a monthly fee) on various game servers, also known as shards. It is known for its extensive timing-based player versus player combat system. Over a million paid accounts have been created in the game. To maintain order in the online community, there are Game Masters who resolve player disputes, police the shard for terms of service violations, and correct glitches in the game.
Several expansions have been released, but its aging game engine and graphics make it outdated compared to competitive, new massively multiplayer games. This changed with the release of Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn in 2007, which features a new game engine. Since Ultima Online's prime in 2003, the overall subscriber base has seen a steady decline. Subscriber numbers peaked at around 250,000 in July of 2003, and to date sit around 135,000 subscribers (approximately 70,000 of whom are Japanese). As of June 2006, Ultima Online held a 1.1% market share of the massively multiplayer online game subscriptions.
Quoting directly from the Electronic Arts press release announcing the Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn expansion, Ultima Online was "the first MMORPG to reach the 100,000 subscriber base, far exceeding that of any game that went before it. Since then, it has added seven expansion packs and dozens of free content updates, making it one of the deepest, largest MMORPGs ever created. It is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest continuously running MMORPG in history."
Source: encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com
Other Links:
The Day in History: Teens Stumble upon Ancient Cave Paintings in Lascaux, France (1940)
This Day in History: Los Niños Héroes Die Defending Mexico Citys Chapultepec Castle (1847)
This Day in History: Tragedy at Opening of Liverpool and Manchester Railway (1830)
