I mentioned this before but IPY 2 is finally scheduled to launch on January 21st.

Quick Summary: Ultima Online was the greatest mmorpg ever. But many of its players feel that its expansions after 2000 took a wonderful game in the wrong direction and caused many to quit. But for some reason, at about the same time, EA Games let people run their own Ultima servers as long as they didn't charge money. IPY was the most famous Ultima free server because it recreated the 1998-2000 UO world that many people loved. Unfortunately, after years it shut down because basically the bad guys won and ruined the game for everyone else.

But as we all know, classic games die hard. Since IPY closed, there has been constant demand for a classic Ultima server. Now the creator of IPY is giving it another shot and he's added a lot of new features to prevent the earlier problems. You can read about them here:

http://azaroth.org/

You can ask questions or monitor the status of server launch here:

http://inporylem.com/

I did notice they already have a guy with a Bob Ross avatar... its not custom made though.

If you played UO back in the day then this is your chance to relive the glory days. And if you've never played Ultima Online, I highly recommend IPY 2. UO and IPY were probably the most fun I've ever had playing video games. And IPY 2 is FREE!

I'll be playing and I invite you all to join me!

Hell yea guys! Launch weekend should be pretty exciting with tons of new players getting killed by orcs and skeletons!

I'm sure macing + alchemy is just as effective as it used to be

I've been reading a lot about the new features and it sounds pretty cool if it works... elected kings that set the tax rate of vendor goods and use the funds to hire guards that protect the city from enemies who can raid your treasury. Just that addition has a lot of meta-games involved:

-Which city do you join?
-How will politics play out?
-Is your king good or corrupt?
-Do you want cheaper taxes or more protection?
-Are you the type to raid enemy treasuries or protect your own?

Not to mention the paladins, detective, pirates, new crafting possibilities, lower dungeon levels and all the other stuff. I've been a UO fan forever and I'm really excited to try these new features!

Anyone who is interested should get together in-game for some mutual protection.

Haha, from some reason I really like it!

Atma wrote:

I'm still playing on Hybrid. But I'm completely bored with it. I would be willing to kick to IPY shards. EDIT: What do we need? I looked around to see what Client of UO would be needed, and didn't see it. Also, I already have Razor, so I should be good on that right?

Hell Yea! Jump to IPY 2! I played on Hybrid awhile and I got bored with it too. Skills and money came too easily and you got as good as you could get very quickly and then there wasn't much left to accomplish. IPY 2 is supposed to take longer to climb to the top which is what I'm looking for. And their new features should add a lot more to do when you get to the top.

As far as clients go, I've heard that IPY 2 will release their own modified client because they're adding so many custom features. So you'll most likely have to uninstall your client and get the IPY 2 version.

You should be good on Razor. You'll just have to change the Hybrid server info to IPY 2.

Haha, there's not much left to do when you have all that. I can't imagine what the people who have been there for years have?? Probably 30 7xGMs and every house and item possible. Although winning 3 million in Texas Hold'em is pretty impressive. I'll know not to play against you if IPY 2 has it

IPY 2 is all Feluccia.

I love that fear... no other game has given me that rush like UO does when those red names appear. That's probably why its one my favorite games of all time.

Atma wrote:

Sorry for the double post, But Hippo, I was just seeing some of the new stuff, ship crafting, quests, naval battles, kings, order/chaos re-vamped, PvE Titles. I am fucking Excited. 10 days.

I'm fucking excited too. The biggest problem is deciding which new feature to focus my energies on first? The new order/chaos with invading other cities sounds really interesting to me. But I'm sure I'll be hacking at skeletons on day 1 no matter what.

And if anyone else is curious about Ultima Online, don't hesitate to ask questions. Its an awesome game! Its a ruthless, cut throat world which makes it more exciting than most games because the stakes are so high. You can actually kill someone, steal all their belongings, mutilate their corpse, turn parts of their dead body into jerky and then eat it. That's gotta be worth some cool points right?

What do Zelda and Ultima Online have in common? Its dangerous to go alone! So for all of you who are interested, we should team up and kick ass.

9 more days!

The skill cap is 700 points with a max of 100 for any single skill.

Hmmm, getting started hints? Well alchemy isn't very profitable on a new character so you'll need some way to make money to pay for your alchemy supplies. If you want to smash monsters you could start with the Warrior template and use your profits to work on alchemy. Or if you like crafting... blacksmithing, carpentry or bow crafting are all pretty profitable right away.

If you just start doing alchemy you'll run out of money real fast

Haha! Go for it! IPY 2 is all about re-living the glory days!

And there is a nice benefit to your character... I once made a pure alchemist but eventually I had tons of heal potions and I had to figure out a way to use them all so I could get the empty bottles to make more potions. But on an AlcheMACE you can make a bunch of heal potions then use them while fighting monsters then repeat

BlazingGlory wrote:

Well Mr. Hippo, if you don't mind, I would enjoy crashing this little meeting of the MMO gaming minds and ask if you see a problem with me joining the hypothetical group that could form from Sydlexia. I ask this mostly because I am honestly not familiar with Ultima, but from the screenshots I saw and from what I read, it really seems like a game I could really get into.

Welcome aboard! Ultima is great! Although it attracts some assholes so be careful who you trust

I'll give you a quick rundown. If you want to jump right in and be moderately effective on day 1, start with the Warrior template for your first character. That's probably what I'll start with. A warrior starts with the following skills:

Swordsmanship (35)- determines % chance to hit with a sword
Tactics (50)- increases weapon damage
Healing (45)- determines your ability to heal with bandages
Anatomy (30)- increases bandage healing and slightly increases weapon damage

Its skill based so there are no levels. If you whack stuff with a sword then your swordsmanship slowly increases with a max of 100 for any skill. Double click a bandage then click yourself to attempt to heal. Those are the basics

Atma wrote:

EDIT: Hippo, seen any word on Powerscrolls for this Shard?

They didn't have them in IPY 1 and I haven't seen them mentioned at all in the forums or blog so I'd guess they don't have them.


Also, for anyone who is interested, we should get some IM going so we can assist each other in game.