Play Ultima Online Again Free - Ultima Shards: Multiverse

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History Of Ultima Online

Ultima Online was one of the first MMORPG's ever created and released in September of 1997. With the emergence of the internet as an affordable commodity in every household, Ultima Online was given the go ahead to begin production. While only expecting several thousand people, Ultima Online quickly became the largest and most highly anticipated game during that time and shortly eclipsed over 100,000 subscriptions, which was during that time, unheard of. Created by Richard Garriott, also the creator of the now being developed and massively crowdfunded "Shroud Of The Avatar" and the original Ultima Series, Ultima Online set the standard for the MMORPG genre today.


A couple years after its successful launch (in terms of numbers) games started to take notice of this and were being released. Lineage, DaoC, Everquest, and others soon managed enormous success following in Ultima Online's footsteps.


In an effort to match the success of these new video games (some of them hitting over a million active subscribers), Ultima Online transitioned itself to stay competitive in the market. It created a clone of its primary world - Felucca - and named it Trammel. This was perhaps the biggest controversy in Ultima Online history in addition to its later transition into fully itemized gameplay. One of the biggest features of Ultima Online was the sheer danger you were in at any moment. Whether it be a thief trying to steal from you or a PK (Player Killer) trying to collect your loot from slaying monsters in a dungeon, you were always at risk. That risk created an attachment to your character and the game. All of your items were at risk anytime you ventured out of the safety of a town.


During the competitive transition and the creation of Trammel, much of that risk faded away, as Trammel provided a no PK world for players to live in if they chose. This divide in the playable world also created a divide between playerbase as well. On one side, was the Trammelites (trammies) who wanted nothing to do with PKs, and on the other side were the players who believed that the the risk involved in all aspects of gameplay in Felucca was what made Ultima Online such an amazing game.


This divide is what ultimately led to the creation of freeshards (freeservers). Talented individuals within the Ultima Online community had reverse engineered Ultima Online to produce server emulators of the classic Ultima Online experience. This allowed for the creation of Ultima Online freeshards that mirrored the experience of before the divide of the world into Trammel and Felucca. The emulation servers have since kept updating as different versions of the original game were released and now almost any version of the original game could be emulated.


This brings us to Ultima Shards: Multiverse.


Ultima Shards: Multiverse

As the UO freeshard market started becoming saturated with Ultima Online freeshards, each with its own vision on where Ultima Online went wrong and what should have been different. Servers have been popping up for all different eras (expansions) of the game, further separating an already separated Ultima Online community.

Ultima Shards: Multiverse was created with the purpose to unite the freeshard community together. With the creation of an entirely new type of server login process, Ultima Shards has the ability to load any expansion, located from a server anywhere in the world, into one shardlist (server realm list). This process allows us to pool all accounts between all servers, but keep the players created within those accounts, separate, allowing us to attract players who prefer specific eras.

Currently we have Age of Shadows (AoS - Released July 2nd. 2016) and The Second Age (T2A - Released 11/11/2017) available from our shardlist, and plan on at least creating UOR and ML versions as well. While we don't go after exact 100% emulation of the game as it was during those eras, we offer an extremely similar feel to it. Combat mechanics and the feel of the game remain similar to how it was during the original game during that specific expansion, but we have improved the overall quality of life, the decoration of the world that you live in (which has gone downhill in the official game), and have provided players with bonus content that are huge successes in today's modern games.

The content we create has a process of being aesthetically pleasing, well crafted, and with an emphasis on keeping players engaged for prolonged periods of time. Ultima Online has come a long way since its inception, but there are many things that its failing to meet the mark on in today's gaming market. Ultima Shards: Multiverse have addressed these issues by providing the feeling of risk vs reward, by designing content that pushes Ultima Online farther than its ever been before, and by maintaining a beautifully decorated world in which every town you visit has its own unique character and story.

Below is a list of just a taste of the unique content we provide. All of this is accessible free for you, Ultima Online fans.


Completely Revamped Guilds

While the original Ultima Online Guilds are outdated visually unappealing, Ultima Shards has completely revamped the look and feel of Guilds. Our Guild System, now as in modern games, are small to large communities that encourage cooperate game-play, lead to unsuspected friendships, and help create a fun and social experience within the world. We've taken the Guild Experience to a whole new level. Guilds can now be leveled all the way until level 25 by completing various Daily and Weekly Quests, killing monsters, and sending Guild Companions on missions that result in Guild XP Resources. These resources can be used to purchase aesthetic items for an individual or powerful buffs meant to power up the PvM experience. Our Guilds also come with a PvP portion called Militias. Any player in the Guild can toggle their militia status on, and in doing so, Militia members from different Guilds can battle each other anywhere in the world at any time to earn special rewards, currency, and help bring their Guild on the of the leaderboards! Militia can even capture Towns and Dungeons. Capturing a town results in a portion of that cities profits going toward the Guild's finances, and capturing a Dungeon increases the yield of all Guild members fighting inside, as well as providing the Guild with experience from any other players in the world killing monsters inside of that dungeon (even non guildies).


Achievements

Similar to other games, we have implemented an Achievement System with hundreds of different Achievements available to complete, for those powergamers that are hungry to make their way to the top of the Leaderboards while obtaining some unique rewards and items along the way.


Automated Battlegrounds + Invasions

For those that want to get into some quick battleground game, Ultima Shards provides players with the ability to queue and join various battlegrounds at certain times in the day, as well as some that are open 24/7. While our primary emphasis is on world PvP, battlegrounds provide players with bonus PvP competitiveness and reward currency that can be used to purchase special aesthetic PvP related items. Plant a "Pwned" flag on a player you just killed's corpse, or equip an item that has a chance to explode your opponents corpse when you defeat them. Available games are Capture the Flag (CTF), Free For All (FFA), 1v1, 2v2, and Automated 1v1 Tournaments.


Defend cities from monster invasions to be rewarded Event Tokens that can be used to purchase PvM aesthetics! Gather your friends and steel yourselves to defend against massive multi-wave invasions that take place every week with awesome prizes.

Completely Player Driven Economy

Boats, Armor, Weapons, Potions, Furniture, Tools, Master Scrolls, and Slayers are all craftable and resources can not be purchased through in game vendors. Ultima Shards throws an emphasis on economy. Players can Collect items, craft goods, and offer their goods for sale on Discord (via our item-sharing addition), in game, and even on vendors that can sell your items for you that can be placed at your house.


Bonus Instanced Dungeons

While we still have the normal dungeons, we do also carry optional "Raid" style dungeons that players can organize and attempt dropping special aesthetic and decorative loot, as well as bonus drop rates. These dungeons have a timer to complete and have a multi-day lockout period before being attempted again.



Improved Crafting And Resource Gathering

We have customized the Crafting UI to be much more intuitive, visually appealing, and easier to use. Some items can be crafted multiple amounts at a time. Whenever a player crafts an item, they can preview what the item will look like as well! We have included an Anti-AFK Resource Gathering Game to prevent automation. This means, the crafting economy will stay relevant, resource gatherers will have a large part in the economy, and crafting resources will always be in high demand. Furthermore, all resources have been removed from NPC vendors including Ingots, Wood, Leather, Cloth, and Wool. Players will have to farm their own resources.


Character and House Customization

Having ventured forth through dungeons to slay monsters and collect their gold, or crafting goods to sell to players, you will be able to place your own house and live in the world. Your house is an extension of your character. Design it how you see fit. From plots of land to majestic castles, to farmhouses and villas, your home is completely customizable. Players are provided thousands of tiles to place to make their home their your own. Have a knack for designing houses? Players can even sell designs of their homes so that other players whom have less design skills but maybe some extra gold in their pocket to pay you for your services.


Referral System For Streamers!

For those of who like to stream their video game experience, we have created an in game referral process that will reward you with IRL $ or in game currency! Simply open our referral menu, and leave it in the corner somewhere while your playing and streaming so players can see your code, or write down your code and put it somewhere on your stream, and get people to play! Those that you refer also receive bonuses that help them progress and skillgain quicker!

Check Out Our Launch Trailer For T2A!


Check Out Our Launch Trailer For T2A!


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[Visit Our Website]

[Download Our Launcher And Play Free!]

[Join Our Discord Community]

[Join Our Forums]
 
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uniqueuser

Vyemm Raider
1,737
4,888
Achievements, battlegrounds, instanced dungeons....when you have to shoehorn such unsuitable shit into UO in a bid to keep the game relevant, it really is better off dead.
 
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Achievements, battlegrounds, instanced dungeons....when you have to shoehorn such unsuitable shit into UO in a bid to keep the game relevant, it really is better off dead.

Well I mean, its all bonus stuff. The problem with UO nowadays isn't that its such an old game, etc. Its that everyone has done everything time and time again. Its not new, there's nothing pushing you beyond the normal gold rush, get a house, farm, kill people, collect some wealth, play less, don't play at all.

Which is what the bonuses and extras we have here attempt to solve.
They take nothing away from the actual combat mechanics of the era itself, but provide a boost of things to do when your not doing the normal boring grind.
 
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Donate <-- this is the only reason

Actually its more a hobby than a means of income.
The server barely generates much profit, and we've had the AOS one running for over 2 years which eats up over 250$ a month.
So if I wanted to make a giant profit for the time invested, I wouldn't be running a UO freeshard.

I started off as a hobby developer not knowing anything about development, but just alot about UO.
From there I built up my skills and eventually managed to make my hobby and passion, my career and got a job as a developer irl.
My experience developing freeshards was basically the deciding factor on whether I got the job or not, having given them copies of some of the code I built for the shard.

So no, I run the server strictly for people to enjoy playing on something built on quality and for me to keep learning and refining my craft and passion.
Donations help pay for the server and advertising, and the rest that's left over (if any) pays for future months of server hosting and maybe a little food/beer.
 

Flaw

Molten Core Raider
678
261
Can you heal through poison?

Are multiple accounts per IP and afk macroing allowed?

Afk macroing resources allowed?

Is that skill BS in such as lumberjacking increases dmg, etc?
 
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Can you heal through poison?

Are multiple accounts per IP and afk macroing allowed?

Afk macroing resources allowed?

Is that skill BS in such as lumberjacking increases dmg, etc?

You can heal through poison.
3 Accounts Per IP.
AFK Macroing is allowed (besides taming and resource gathering)
No, not resource gathering.
Only LJ increases damage by 10%, nothing very major about it.
 

StJesuz

Graybeard Lurker
448
1,485
I might check it out, I never played back in the day. Is multiboxing allowed? That would be a bit of a turn off as it seems you'd never be able to PvP without doing it.
 
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I might check it out, I never played back in the day. Is multiboxing allowed? That would be a bit of a turn off as it seems you'd never be able to PvP without doing it.

Multiboxing is not allowed. You can have 3 clients online at the same time if you want, people usually do this to macro, but controlling movements and actions in sync between all of them is not allowed.
Looking forward to seeing you on, give me a holler here or on discord if you have any questions.
 
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African

Golden Knight of the Realm
121
6
Hope the server works out. I miss IPY and UOAC in their glory days. I'm not sure I have the time to build an account with year end at work being pretty crazy. I'll certainly keep an eye on it.
 
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Hope the server works out. I miss IPY and UOAC in their glory days. I'm not sure I have the time to build an account with year end at work being pretty crazy. I'll certainly keep an eye on it.

Sure thing man.
If it helps, skillgain is relatively easy here. Nothing like IPY's multi-week to GM.

Hope you can make the time to get on sometime and GL with work.
Nice to see you again, I remember you from IPY and UOAC.
 

Flaw

Molten Core Raider
678
261
I remember playing some emu server where I swear there was a command using the word punkte.

I think it was this emu that had like one town, little island for PvP area, and the quest things like the named lich and gold would drop on every tile of the floor or something. It was a fun emu to burn time on with very good PvP. All spell timings we're good, etc.
 
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I remember playing some emu server where I swear there was a command using the word punkte.

I think it was this emu that had like one town, little island for PvP area, and the quest things like the named lich and gold would drop on every tile of the floor or something. It was a fun emu to burn time on with very good PvP. All spell timings we're good, etc.

Well where I got the name Punkte was because in Ultima Online there was a PvP system called Factions, and when you killed eachother you would get points. People used to say the command "Showscore" in game and your points would pop up over your head, but if you said "Punkte" it would do the same. That's because Punkte means points in german as well.

So likely the game you played had some command for points but localized for german or something =]
 

lost

<Bronze Donator>
3,223
3,493
Donate <-- this is the only reason

Yeah shit I still have my castle and stuff on UOF, I knew people who dropped thousands just for their own island ageless compounds with their own stablemaster and shit. It's insane how much people make off private servers. Some people just dropped thousands after thousands just to have a bright ice white outfit. lulz

Myself, I won't be trying this. Yeah I was on UOAC both times but havent had any desire to play uof which I still have healthy stock on.

UOAC was fun with my asian bros and majestic. UOAC was good with donations at first but I think at the end it got out of hand, too many donation items for my taste but I understand they needed the funds. Was fun locking down the lockpick chests thx african!

GL on the server.
 
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Reactions: 1 user

Secrets

ResetEra Staff Member
1,860
1,856
Actually its more a hobby than a means of income.
The server barely generates much profit, and we've had the AOS one running for over 2 years which eats up over 250$ a month.
So if I wanted to make a giant profit for the time invested, I wouldn't be running a UO freeshard.

Of course you wouldn't /run/ it, you'd run it and have a fake Chinese or Russian currency farming operation out of it behind everyone's backs.
Elysium did it and it worked for them!

(I guarantee Light's Hope is in on that shit too.. why else did Blizzard agree to make a Vanilla server? It sure wasn't just for 'appeasing the fans!')