Ultima Online

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Original post by Instruo This is just an information post for anyone that enjoyed UO before EA decided to put it in the dumpster (personal opinion, anyway ;) Just the other day, I found a free server that is setup to basically be the ruleset of UO Renaissance Anyway, this is something that interests me and my friends, and we'd like to see the server grow, so I figured I'd drop this out there for anyone interested :) The server is called An Corp and its page can be found at: http://www.an-corp.us/ Thanks and we hope to see a few of you in the game!

EA just released UO Mondain's Legacy, it's not supported by any free server software yet.

I'm sure this is true, but it doesn't really apply to this server, as it basically disregards the changes that EA has made to the game since UO:R

The reason that it disregards these changes is because the people that made the server believe that EA basically screwed up the game after this point, so they made there own place to play with the last "good" ruleset.

Despite the server's rules being set to basically UO:R, the more modern clients seem to work fine (I know this to be the case first hand with Age of Shadows, anyway, since that's the last version I purchased). AoS, fully patched, works great with this server.

Thanks for the input : )

Can I cast a spell with a weapon in my hand other then a spellbook? If so - I'm so in.

I quit just after Trammel and Feluccia. *sigh* Such a great game back in the day.

Erm, as far as I can remember UO:R is where casting of spells while equiped with a wep was removed. It's back in nowerdays. Everyones a tank mage again :/

I don't know about the spellbook thing for sure (there seems to be a combination of UO:R and pre-UO:R rules), but there is only Felucca on this server (yay!) :)

Does anyone know of a free shard where skill gain is as hard as it used to be with no power hour, but they have some of the current stuff like factions? Or is there any shard that allows you to tame a wyrm?

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Original post by ManaStone Does anyone know of a free shard where skill gain is as hard as it used to be with no power hour, but they have some of the current stuff like factions? Or is there any shard that allows you to tame a wyrm?

There are lots of OSI style shards out there for AOS through ML, check gamesites200.com.

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Original post by ManaStone Does anyone know of a free shard where skill gain is as hard as it used to be with no power hour, but they have some of the current stuff like factions? Or is there any shard that allows you to tame a wyrm?

Hmm sounds cool. Never played UO so that might be a good startingplace.
Please post a link if you find one. Thanks!

There are hundreds of "free" shards out there. I know a lot of them are listed on the topsites200 list. Or a google search for ultima online shards will bring up some links.

Being a game development community is odd that this activity would be supported as it is . . .

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ULTIMA ONLINE SERVICE RULES OF CONDUCT . . . 16) You will not attempt to play Ultima Online on any service that is not controlled or authorized by Origin Systems. 17 ) You will not create, use or provide any server emulator or other site where Ultima Online may be played, and you will not post or distribute any utilities, emulators or other software tools related to Ultima Online without the express written permission of Origin.

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Original post by IronGryphon There are hundreds of "free" shards out there. I know a lot of them are listed on the topsites200 list. Or a google search for ultima online shards will bring up some links. Being a game development community is odd that this activity would be supported as it is . . . Quote: ULTIMA ONLINE SERVICE RULES OF CONDUCT . . . 16) You will not attempt to play Ultima Online on any service that is not controlled or authorized by Origin Systems. 17 ) You will not create, use or provide any server emulator or other site where Ultima Online may be played, and you will not post or distribute any utilities, emulators or other software tools related to Ultima Online without the express written permission of Origin.

I hate to say this but thats really - really old since EA now owns Ultima Online, and in many magazines has promoted IPY, a player ran shard, I doubt its going against any rules of conduct, but I do play player ran shards so I could be biased.

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Original post by JeffDesrosiers I hate to say this but thats really - really old since EA now owns Ultima Online, and in many magazines has promoted IPY, a player ran shard, I doubt its going against any rules of conduct, but I do play player ran shards so I could be biased.

Actually the UO site is up to date. But if you must see it, the EA Online Terms of Service include this:

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You will not attempt to play your EA game on or through any service that is not controlled or authorized by Electronic Arts. You will not participate in any online service that provides online features or game play for your EA game that is not authorized by Electronic Arts. ·

I eat my words :)

JeffD

I, personally, I don't feel very bad about not abiding by this particular piece of the TOS, since there's no chance I'll ever play on their servers again after what they've done to the game. They're not losing out on a single cent from me for me playing on an emulated server ; )

I think I may have a problem.

I downloaded that UOGateway thing and the AOS free 15 day trial. I could not log on unless I used my OLD (from 2000) OSI UO name that was inactive. I logged on and created a character on the free shard Angel Island, but did I accidently reactivate my old account? Will they bill me?

I can't even get into my old account on the website. I don't know if my player account is different than the game account or if I just forgot my game account name and password. Basicaly on the website,I can get on the MyUO part, but I can't do anything with my account. According to the MyUO part though, I haven't logged on since December 2000. I can't get to anything that reveals my billing status.

The same logic used when justifying software piracy. . .

As long as you don't like the owner, it is ok to exploit their product. . .

you should be fine Mana stone.

I understand that line of thought, IronGryphon, but it's not as if I've never paid for the game. I played UO on the OSI servers for the better part of 6 years and purchased all of the expansions through AOS. I don't really feel like I'm cheating them in any way by using the client, which I purhcased, to play on a different server because I don't like what they've done with theirs. I don't think that piracy is a good thing at all, but I'm not going to let their TOS keep me from enjoying a game that I've paid for that I would not be willing to play in the context they offer. If they offered a server that didn't have a ruleset that completely sucked, I'd be paying to play there in a second : )

Instruo, I definately understand how you feel. The change in the rule set is why I stopped playing after 3 1/2 years on OSI. Regardless of how we "feel" about playing non-approved servers, it is still against the TOS for the client and thus illegal.

It isn't going to change my life one little bit if you play on the "free" servers. I just had to chime in against piracy since one day I would like to sell my own. Enjoy.

I've seen this same discussion a hundred times.. Here are a few things that are pointed out, which havent been.

- The TOS is not a legal contract.
- Amusingly the TOS is only relevant to a subscribed UO account. If you're not subscribed you're not bound by it.
- Purchasing a copy of UO and paying a subscription are not the same thing... By purchasing a copy you have the right to access the content on the CD, wether its playing on an EA server or FREE.

Things get a little more hazy for the server admins themselves, but essentialy they have the same rights.