Ultima Online Chronicles, or My Adventures on Pacific in 2000 Year

By Igor Boyko

Ultima Online was, and still is, one of the most elaborate and beloved game universes online. The adventures described in this book happened to the author 22 years ago. An account of them was published in the Russian magazine Game World Navigator in 2000 – 12 articles in 12 consecutive issues. Many players later confessed to the author that it was after this series of stories that they started playing online. This book is not a guide to leveling up or tactics, it describes the adventures experienced by the author in a beautiful and marvelously detailed game world. Many features of the game have become obsolete or changed over the course of more than 20 years. But unchanged is the battle between good and evil. Albeit even in a virtual world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aegitas
• Release date: Jun 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9780369409188

Book preview

From author

It all started with a short article in a gaming magazine, in which the author came to the delight of the fact that in the game, he just stood on the shore of the pond and watched frolicking dolphins. It took place in the world of Ultima Online. I also found this moment extremely interesting. In the vast fantasy world of the game the player found something beautiful, which, perhaps, was not intentionally arranged. There was something Japanese about it – the ability to admire simple things. And I decided I had to see it with my own eyes. And not only that.

In the end, I settled on Pacific, which was the server I had the least lag. And the connection speed with the 14,400 modem wasn't great. In the game any character could outrun me (if he had time, of course), I was just a little bit slower. But these were the little things in life, the very virtual life in a fairy-tale world, where the struggle between good and evil was in the first place. I realized this a bit later, but on the first day I was happy about the most trivial things. For example, that a bird shot with a bow could be gutted, and you can obtain the meat and feathers that can be used to make arrows.

And then I understood that one short article in the magazine where I was (and still am) the Editor-in-Chief would not be enough for this world. I realized that I had a unique chance to tell the story of a traveler who finds himself in an unknown country. Who every day discovers something new, meets and makes friends with different good people and opposes Evil to the best of his ability. For that was my choice, my philosophy.

As a result, I hovered in the game for 12 months, giving away an article in each successive issue. That's how the Ultima Online Chronicles came to be. A lot of water has flowed since then. Veterans of the game may say that the author is a noob and remains one. And in some ways I agree with them. But let them remember their first steps in UO. That excitement of exploring and learning a new world. This is what I have tried to convey to readers.

At E3 2003, I met the creator of Ultima Online – Richard Garriott. I gave him a dagger as a present, and thanked him for the great pleasure I had.

Later we met a few more times, both in America and in Russia, where he came to fly into space. He is a very active and busy man. That's probably why he didn't respond in any way to my friendly request to write a few lines about his vision for Ultima Online that I could quote in this book.

Hey, Richard, if you're reading these lines, know that the offer still stands.

Part I

What was going to happen happened. I'd had a taste of online role-playing before, and yet I was virtually unprepared for what awaited me in online Ultima. Just as you'll be unprepared when you first get there. It's one thing to read about it in a magazine, while looking at screenshots of graphics squeezed out of a not-so-fresh engine. And it's quite another to feel yourself a part of a beautifully designed fantasy world.

I won't try to tell you about UO all-in-all, I can't compare it with other online giants for the simple reason that I'm making my first, rather shy steps on this field, supported by my offline RPG experience. Therefore, consider the following material as a kind of report, a report on a trip to an exotic far away.

There was a time when, while visiting all kinds of computer expos, I was involuntarily seized by the urge to take a double-edged sword and smash it heartily on the so fascinating and at the same time inaccessible wonders of the computer industry. Without elaborating on the topic, I will immediately state that these days the home PC has become quite an ordinary phenomenon. A similar trend can now be seen in the field of paid online games. Judge for yourself: the cost of the boxed edition of Ultima Online: the Second Age – $30. It includes payment for a month of playing time. In the future, those who get hooked, will have to pay for the pleasure around $10 a month. A lot? Same amount that the peddlers will ask for five pirated CDs. No comment.

Of course, all this trouble is worth making if you have decent access to the Internet. The system requirements of the game claim a connection of 28.800 and, as practice has shown, this speed is really enough to feel like a master of your own destiny.

I sell iron ingots. Such luck is rare – on the body of slaughtered troll there were as many as 1325 of them!

We live! And not only twice!

After registering an account on the corresponding site, the player gets access to a couple of dozen game servers, geographically scattered around the world. The closest to us – Europa, but do not hurry to create a char there – the program allows you to sort servers by the communication quality. Choose the one that took the top line, connect and proceed to create a character. In my particular case, Pacific was the best option, which turned out to be played by Europeans, Americans and New Zealanders.

Think carefully before endowing your character with the three innate skills, as your choice will determine how he lives his life. If you are inclined to wander around, exploring the unknown wilderness, measuring by steps the valleys, mountains, dungeons, wondering what it is behind the turn of the road, then do not become a blacksmith or a carpenter. For the latter it is better to stay close to the city, getting the source materials and cautiously listening to the rustles of the surrounding nature, ready at the first sign of aggression from any enemy to run away with shouts of Guards! Guards! This is true of any newbie.

First the harpy fell into this trap, and a few minutes later the orc managed to be lured into it as well

When selecting skills, your eyes are simply scattered – there are almost five dozen of them. Some are quite standard, while others seem to be too complicated and superfluous, such as Forensic Evaluation. If you apply this skill to a corpse, you will know the circumstances of the deceased's death.

I've decided that my char should feel like a fish in water in the wild. So I made him an archer/fletcher. On the one hand I can hunt all sorts of wildlife, on the other I can make money quite quickly by selling manufactured bows and crossbows. Not the least factor in choosing this combination was being able to defeat significantly stronger but slower critters.

And if you decide to change, all avenues are open to you. You can learn any specialty from scratch. If you want to become a tamer, just try, then try again, then again. See at what speed you began to grow the corresponding skill. In just a few minutes you'll be able to charm the rabbit! After a while you can tame a dog, after a sleepless night you can tame a wolf, after a few days you can tame a bear, but how long will it take to learn how to tame dragons, I can't say – I only know that it's a long time.

I'm afraid I'm in danger of some mutual misunderstanding on the Japanese server

Commodity-money relations

If you're playing for the first time, choose the main city – Britain – as the place where your hero appears. Here there are all the conditions for the initial char pumping – stores and shops of all types, training castle with mannequins on which anyone can hone their skills, and the people in the city hangs out a lot, if you stand around the bank, you can get on the distribution of elephants – from time to time there are characters who just stick to the right and left all sorts of things, sometimes – magical. Some simply have nowhere to put the stuff, and to go to the store – a bummer, while others do it from altruistic motives, simultaneously advertising their own guild. Here also come those who need something to sell/buy.

The local banking system allows the player to store not only money, but also items. And your bank chest can be accessed from a bank in any city. Funds are also taken from the bank at the time of purchase of any items in stores organized by the players. Likewise, payment is made for real estate. All of this makes life much easier, allowing you to do without large sums of cash, which can easily be stolen.

The gold armor is as if designed for the archer, with +30 protection and only a -3 loss in mobility

The initial capital of the player is only 100 coins, and he is also given production tools and weapons according to the chosen specialization. The latter will be of low, training quality, you will not even be able to sell them.

From this moment life begins, without the carefree childhood and adolescence, but you can do whatever you want. It's logical to develop the abilities that you have thought of when generating your character. The more often and more successfully you will perform some operation, the faster the corresponding skill will grow. Over time the quantity will pass into quality, blacksmiths, for example, will learn to forge magical weapons and armor, whose value is comparable to the cost of real estate.

Buying your own house is one of the player's first goals. This is a completely safe haven, and a warehouse, and, if desired, your own business. The price of the simplest house is approximately 12 thousand coins, for comparison: a simple bow carved with a dagger you can take to a store for 25-30 GP.

It's a shame: there's an unclaimed chest right on the road, but it's locked, and you can't open it

Man to man

In online Ultima, depending on how well the player behaves towards his neighbors, his name will be written in blue, gray or red. True, if the sneaky PK, I mean player-killer, will in between the killings of innocent travelers or workers to deal with all sorts of demons, skeletons, evil-mages, and negative NPC, then he may well return to the blue coloring. Gray character becomes such as a result of some initial evil deeds, for example, he might try to see what's in the neighbor's backpack, or killed a couple or three pets – cats, dogs or cows.

If the crime is committed in the city, the victim can call on the help of the city guards, who, sometimes appearing just out of nowhere, kill the offender with a single blow.

A gray or red character can be killed by anyone who wishes to test the sharpness of his blade on their neck, without affecting his reputation or karma. If he manage, of course.

And here is the first quest I have to give up as I have no bolts for the crossbow

In general, the PK'illerism is worth a special discussion. The possibility of becoming a bad guy is in the game itself, and at different levels. For example, you can become a thief and stealing on a grand scale. Play the role of scoundrel, which you will never be in life. Can you imagine how difficult it is to reach the top level of thievery skill in a game like this? After all, it is enough for someone in the crowd to notice that the thief is trying to examine the insides of someone else's backpack, and one can start killing him immediately.

It seems that the most competent PKs are ours, the Russian ones. I assert this, having experienced on my own skin how they and their overseas counterparts operate. Our guys will first process you with a couple of spells, depriving you of the ability not only to cast in response, but also to move in general. Only then they kill you. Professionals at their job :). Not ours – stupidly apply brute force and attacking spells usually.

At first, it pissed me off that some bastards, instead of going to crush the monsters, stand on the high road and bully everyone to the right and left. But as time passed, I realized I was wrong. Without PK, the game would have lost the lion's share of its appeal. After all, PK is Evil personified, and it's good that it exists, that you can fight it, serve justice, protect the weak, etc. The good characters have a constant opponent, and it is not dumb monsters, but often an enemy superior to you in many ways.