The Six Month Plan
The Six Month Plan was a major plan announced on September 22, 1999, outlining the future goal of releasing large, regularly scheduled publishes. This plan was in preparation for the lead up to the announcement and release of the Ultima Online: Renaissance expansion, and set off the practice of numbering major publishes.
Official Announcement
Origin is incredibly excited to be able to announce to you the latest plans for Ultima Online. Over the next 6 months, we will be expanding and improving UO. As features become ready, they will be rolled out to the existing playerbase in regularly scheduled updates.
We’ve detailed an assortment of our plans below, and will be providing extensive information on each as they are implemented over the next six months.
- Land Expansion
While the specific details of these lands are still being formalized, they will undoubtedly bring new opportunities for housing and adventuring.
- Options for PvP
The addition of this land will allow us to geographically separate play styles within UO, meaning we can create areas for engaging, adventuring experiences without the element of player versus player combat. There will, of course, still be plenty of room for player versus player combat. In fact, PvP will be expanded and improved in the future.
- Party System
A party system is being designed to allow group adventuring. We plan to allow you to easily share profits and resources with your party while hunting.
- Improved Monster AI
We will be upgrading monsters with an improved AI to enable them to react to players in new ways, in addition to making them more challenging to defeat overall.
- Increased Veteran Player Volunteer Programs
We expect to have over 3,000 trained Counselors, Companions and Seers in place by February 2000 to support and enhance the world of UO. Interesting in joining us? Visit our Counselor Application area for details.
In addition to these upgrades, we’ve planned a variety of other smaller improvements and systems for UO and will release details on these as they are finalized.
Press Release
AUSTIN, Texas, September, 22, 1999-ORIGIN Systems™, the creator of online worlds, is taking its successful Ultima™ Online (UO) franchise to new heights. New features currently under development will dramatically improve gameplay and increase service quality for the thousands of people worldwide who live and play in UO’s fantasy world. The ambitious development schedule over the next six months will deliver constant feature upgrades to current UO players and provide easier access for those just getting started.
The feature upgrades under development will make Ultima Online a better place to live. Additional land mass will provide more opportunity for players to become home owners in UO. The additional land will also allow for the geographical separation of play styles in UO-areas for improved player versus player (PvP) combat and areas for compelling adventures without the element of PvP. This will allow dedicated role-players, beginners and peace-loving players an environment separate from the sometime hostile world of the old Ultima Online.
The future upgrades will make UO more fun to explore. A new party system will provide players with a vehicle that facilitates group adventuring, including group communication, movement, combat, resource sharing and profit sharing. Improved monster AI will dramatically increase the excitement of player vs. monster encounters.
Finally, the new additions will make it easier to get started in UO. New training areas are being created in Ultima Online where thousands of experienced UO players will help new players get their feet on the ground and have fun. More than 3,400 trained volunteers are expected to be on board by spring 2000, helping people enjoy the world of Ultima Online.
The new features announcement comes as UO, celebrating its second anniversary this month, enjoys unprecedented growth and popularity. Currently UO has more than 134,000 active players, each one paying $9.95 a month to participate. The global network infrastructure now exists on 17 server sets located on three different continents. UO still attracts thousands of new users each month. People are playing in every one of the world’s time zones and represent more than 50 countries. In recent months Ultima Online has been featured in Fortune magazine, The New York Times Magazine, the Boston Globe and on CNBC. And the UO web site, http://www.uo.com, gets two million unique user sessions each month.
ORIGIN Systems develops and publishes state-of-the-art entertainment software. To date, the company has released more than 60 titles, including the award-winning Ultima, Wing Commander™, Privateer™ and Crusader series of games. ORIGIN™ is based in Austin, Texas and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS). More information on ORIGIN products can be found on the Internet at http://www.origin.ea.com.
Electronic Arts, ORIGIN Systems, ORIGIN, Ultima, Britannia, Wing Commander and Privateer, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.