Rating: 
Summary: HURRY UP AND LET US PLACE OUR HOUSE
Review: If you are just starting this game and trying to make a mere living off of whatever proffesion you selected you will probably not fel this way. But if you do manage to get enough money for a house then you will see what I meen, especially if you had the Second age version. My friends and I waited over two months so we could place our houses that had been sitting in our bank box for who knows how long. FINALLY, the day came when the it started updating. I was SOOOOOOOOOOOO happy until I logged on and discovered that the patch haddent even been applied to the shard (server) I was playing on! This was cool, maybe just another day and I could place my house.But NO I hd to wait another TWO WEEKS before the patch was applied. I was soooooo happy when I found this out. I tried to place my house but LORD BRITISH declared a no house build time. COME ON! people waited so long for the new patch, then they had to wait longer for the patch to be applied to there shard. And one of the whole reaseons for the new patch was more house placeing room! Geeeez Origin systems has problems and they will do it again, this is only one example, from what I undrstand people waited just as long for the 2nd age patch. But still, overall it is a really good game.
Rating: 
Summary: Ultima Online's Greatest Incarnation to Date
Review: If you have ever wanted to try Ultima Online, but were scared off by the horror stories of horrible lag, P(layer)K(illers)s around every corner, and buggy, incomplete programming, UO:Rennissance is your chance to give this game a shot. This latest version of UO is probably as good as the game has ever been, or ever will be. Origin has solved the PK problem by dividing Brittania into two different "dimensions": The safer (and IMO, more enjoyable) Trammel, and the PK haunted, monster-ridden Felucca. You don't have to worry about being PK'd any more, if you don't want to be. Lag is much better recently than it has been in the past. I get on even at peak hours of usage and have a usually smooth playing experience. You will be playing this game a lot becuase it is addictive. You get a tremendous sense of satisifaction watching your newbie character grow and gain power. The only characters that I am positive are essentially "second jobs" are the GM Blacksmiths, and they seem to have a blast. The nice people are there, you just need to find them. If you roleplay a character that is different from yourself, and are not afraid to introduce yourself to others, making friends is easy in this game, unless you are a PK.
I recommend trying this game at least once. This is probably the last major upgrade UO will have before UO2 is released sometime next year, and this is about as good as its going to get in terms of gameplay. You pay a monthly fee, but the first month is free, so if you find it's not for you, you haven't wasted much of your money.
Rating: 
Summary: If you don't have time, don't even bother.
Review: If you play Ultima Online (UO), it will require a lot of your time. This was how it worked with the original UO, how it continued with the expansion pack "The Second Age", and how it will continue to work with "Renaissance": either you can spend at least 20 hours a week playing the game, or it's a total waste of money. Need I remind those of you who do not know the game that you have to pay a monthly fee, around $10 US dollars (or approximately $15 Canadian dollars) a month for the privilege of playing a game that is not as good as it should be ?Sure, Ultima Online: Renaissance is supposed to facilitate the building of houses (which was badly needed because of the lack of space prior to Renaissance). A new tutorial is included, which however will not help those people who purchased "The Second Age" recently, and who get the necessary upgrades directly, without having to purchase the new expansion pack. These are minor points affecting trivial elements of the game, yet my main criticism is about the core of the game itself, which remains unchanged with the new upgrade. Basically this game has no goal, except than that of becoming a Grand Master in whatever skill you choose. This is similar to the level-gaining goals of EverQuest, and even Asheron's Call, probably because the format of these games (online multiplayer games) does not allow the development of a complex plot, otherwise players would literally be waiting in line before receiving a rare object (just read reviews of Asheron's Call or EverQuest for examples of this). So, if you don't like wasting time gaining levels only to ask yourself later: "what do I do now ?", this game might not be for you, unless you like meeting people. But what kind of people will you meet anyway ? My own experience tells me that unless you already know some people playing the game, you will spend a lot of time alone, because nobody will care about you, and if they do care, it's probably because they're after the contents of your backpack. Otherwise, the other players will simply walk around you without even bothering to answer questions you ask (as any newbie is likely to do). Sure, if you go to Ultima Online's website, there is a list of player-initiated events on the different servers (or shards, as they call the servers), but many of these events do not concern you directly. Some shards have more events than others. For instance, shards such as Catskills and Pacific seem to have many events, while Atlantic (on which I played) has almost none. Sure you can play on another shard, but your characters can't make the switch with you. Furthermore, looking at these player-initiated events from an outsider's perspective makes you wonder if they are even intended for fellow Britannians apart from those who organized the events, since many of these events are organized by guilds. The guild system in Britannia is diverse, and there are many varied guilds, including some professional guilds created by Origin itself (the Bardic Collegium, the Mining Cooperative, etc.). However, most player-created guilds look more like medieval cliques that operate behind closed doors and in which you must know someone in order to join rather than truly open organizations. And in my opinion, joining one of these guilds is probably the key to enjoying the game. Therefore, to fully enjoy the game, you have to already know people playing it, because you won't meet anyone once in the game. And what's the point to befriend someone called "Victoria's Secret" anyway ? Even though it's a bit early to know for sure, I am convinced that Origin's promise that Ultima Online: Renaissance will facilitate fellowships (or parties) will certainly fail to produce the expected results, simply because it is not the game that needs to be changed, it's the players' mentality. The average player of this game is probably an early teenager (below 16 years old) who somehow got daddy's credit card number. Some of them are simply rude, and will include any possible swear in their comments. If you play this game, you will read a lot of swearing, unless you use the option that replaces the swearing by comic-strip-style censorship, but this option can be very annoying as well. In one instance, part of the word "classic" had been censored because the three middle letters formed another, less-acceptable word. If those players' bad actions were limited to swearing playing the game would still be passable. The problem is that many of them go player-killing just to spoil everyone else's fun. And even though Origin accepts player-killing as lifestyle, one thing must be said here: player-killing is not, and never will be, role-playing, what Ultima Online should be all about. In summary, Ultima Online: Renaissance will fail to change the game, because what needs to be changed first is the mentality of the people playing the game.
Rating:
Summary: If you don't have time, don't even bother.
Review: If you play Ultima Online (UO), it will require a lot of your time. This was how it worked with the original UO, how it continued with the expansion pack "The Second Age", and how it will continue to work with "Renaissance": either you can spend at least 20 hours a week playing the game, or it's a total waste of money. Need I remind those of you who do not know the game that you have to pay a monthly fee, around $10 US dollars (or approximately $15 Canadian dollars) a month for the privilege of playing a game that is not as good as it should be ? Sure, Ultima Online: Renaissance is supposed to facilitate the building of houses (which was badly needed because of the lack of space prior to Renaissance). A new tutorial is included, which however will not help those people who purchased "The Second Age" recently, and who get the necessary upgrades directly, without having to purchase the new expansion pack. These are minor points affecting trivial elements of the game, yet my main criticism is about the core of the game itself, which remains unchanged with the new upgrade. Basically this game has no goal, except than that of becoming a Grand Master in whatever skill you choose. This is similar to the level-gaining goals of EverQuest, and even Asheron's Call, probably because the format of these games (online multiplayer games) does not allow the development of a complex plot, otherwise players would literally be waiting in line before receiving a rare object (just read reviews of Asheron's Call or EverQuest for examples of this). So, if you don't like wasting time gaining levels only to ask yourself later: "what do I do now ?", this game might not be for you, unless you like meeting people. But what kind of people will you meet anyway ? My own experience tells me that unless you already know some people playing the game, you will spend a lot of time alone, because nobody will care about you, and if they do care, it's probably because they're after the contents of your backpack. Otherwise, the other players will simply walk around you without even bothering to answer questions you ask (as any newbie is likely to do). Sure, if you go to Ultima Online's website, there is a list of player-initiated events on the different servers (or shards, as they call the servers), but many of these events do not concern you directly. Some shards have more events than others. For instance, shards such as Catskills and Pacific seem to have many events, while Atlantic (on which I played) has almost none. Sure you can play on another shard, but your characters can't make the switch with you. Furthermore, looking at these player-initiated events from an outsider's perspective makes you wonder if they are even intended for fellow Britannians apart from those who organized the events, since many of these events are organized by guilds. The guild system in Britannia is diverse, and there are many varied guilds, including some professional guilds created by Origin itself (the Bardic Collegium, the Mining Cooperative, etc.). However, most player-created guilds look more like medieval cliques that operate behind closed doors and in which you must know someone in order to join rather than truly open organizations. And in my opinion, joining one of these guilds is probably the key to enjoying the game. Therefore, to fully enjoy the game, you have to already know people playing it, because you won't meet anyone once in the game. And what's the point to befriend someone called "Victoria's Secret" anyway ? Even though it's a bit early to know for sure, I am convinced that Origin's promise that Ultima Online: Renaissance will facilitate fellowships (or parties) will certainly fail to produce the expected results, simply because it is not the game that needs to be changed, it's the players' mentality. The average player of this game is probably an early teenager (below 16 years old) who somehow got daddy's credit card number. Some of them are simply rude, and will include any possible swear in their comments. If you play this game, you will read a lot of swearing, unless you use the option that replaces the swearing by comic-strip-style censorship, but this option can be very annoying as well. In one instance, part of the word "classic" had been censored because the three middle letters formed another, less-acceptable word. If those players' bad actions were limited to swearing playing the game would still be passable. The problem is that many of them go player-killing just to spoil everyone else's fun. And even though Origin accepts player-killing as lifestyle, one thing must be said here: player-killing is not, and never will be, role-playing, what Ultima Online should be all about. In summary, Ultima Online: Renaissance will fail to change the game, because what needs to be changed first is the mentality of the people playing the game.
Rating:
Summary: One of The greatest games ive ever played
Review: Ive had this game for 5 months now and since then i havent been able to leave my computer. You can be anything you want to be not like diablo 2 which you dont have much freedom. The areas to explore are almost endless. If you buy this game you will get hooked. Trust me.
Rating:
Summary: The most in-depth game ever
Review: Like Diablo? You're likely to find UO:REN just as enjoyable if not more so. One of the other reviews complained that there was no goal to the game. To me, that's a plus, not a minus. When I played Diablo on Battle.net, I was frustrated by how easy the game was in an online scenario. Dupes, hacks, PKs, and not-so-rare rare items made the game a waste of time. Give me an hour, and I'll build the most powerful Diablo character you've ever seen. On the other hand... UO:REN offers a game that is very similar to Diablo in it's format and style, but very different in the gameplay. Gone are the dupes and hacks, you've got more options for skills and stats, your character can look exactly the way you want it to look (you can dye fabrics). A touch of realism is never a bad thing... if you're an archer, you'll run out of arrows. If you're a wizard, you'll run out of spell components. Armor and weapons break down and need repairing. Horses, ships, and player-owned houses add to the fun. If you get bored with adventuring, retire and open a shop. When you get bored with that, go back on the road. Blizzard shouted that with Diablo II comes 4 new towns and dungeons beneath each, with some wilderness in between. The game supports 8 people in multiplayer games. UO:REN offers more than 10 major cities, half a dozen dungeons, a continent of unexplored wilderness, and the ability to play with a few thousand people at a time. Times 2! You've got 2 dimensions (Trammel and Felucca) on each server. I was looking forward to Diablo II until I discovered UO:REN - and I don't need 950MB of free disk space like D.II requires. Look for me on the Chesepeake shard, I have two characters there, Riverwind and Raistlin. I usually hang around the town of Vesper.
Rating:
Summary: THis is a good game
Review: Ok Ultima is the best online game out there. There is a little lag sometimes but its still fun. Theres hundreds of thousands of friends to meet and places to see and things to do. Theres a bunch of proffesions u can be and lots of skills to gain and reach peak gm status. I reccomend this game to anyone if u like diablo or games like diablo. Sure its 10 bucks a month but the first month is free. Dude 10 bucks a month is like a pizza a month COME ON! BUY IT
Rating:
Summary: THIS GAME ROCKS
Review: Okay UO rocks. Totally. I have been playing almost for a year and I am not getting tired of it. By the way if you want to meet me in the game my name is Sling Blade and I hang out around Britain. : ) anyway, the only reason this gets 4 stars instead of five is because of the lag which is good for the most part but can be really bad when tons of people get on, and because of the overcrowding, which resulted in me being unable to place my house which I saved all my character's life for. I also camped at a spot for five hours waiting for placement to start and some punk took my spot. So now I have no house thanks to their overcrowding. THanks a lot! BUt it is still a fun game and very much worth your money. Quit your Everquest account and start up your Swordsman or Mage or whatever, UO is the FIRST and BEST online RPG.
Rating:
Summary: Forget all other onine games and RPGs, UO is where it's at!
Review: People are still screaming Everquest, but it's nothing compared to UO. Sure, the graphics are a little better. Whoopie. UO is easier to get started in, has alot less lag, and is simply more fun. After playing for 7 months, i still haven't lost intrest in this great game. You have to determine the game flow for yourself. There is no real goal (except to have fun), and you can do virtually anything. From being a fisherman to a mercenary to a fearless warrior, the choice is yours. It's a virtual world, and you can carry on another life online. This is a great game, bottom line. By the way, If you play on the Lake Superior shard and see a guy named Azrail, that's me. BUY THIS GAME NOW.
Rating:
Summary: Limited only by your imagination
Review: There have been many criticisms of this game, but the hundreds of thousands of people that play it on a daily basis will (most likely) tell you the same thing : It is simply the BEST RPG available. Sure there are those rude people, player-killers and thieves, but that is to be expected. I have found that most players range from about 23-50 for the majority. This game is limited only by one's imagination, and it is not all about gaining skills and joining guilds. I have met many new friends just wandering around the diverse lands offered in UO. We have set up poetry readings, done plays within UO, we go on hunts to wild new places, and you can role play to your heart's desire. Furthermore, although this game is very complex, there is TONS of help available both in the game, from other players, Counselors within the game who volunteer their time, and numerous websites such as uo.stratics.com Some people enjoy rare hunting as well - but there is so much more to it than that. With just a little creativity this game has replaced all others for me!
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