Update: Thanks to the MMORPG.com interview with Broadsword, some of the following questions have been answered, or at least hinted at.

I will probably have more questions in the future, but for now I hope these are a good start. For those existing/vet players wondering why I’m asking so much about new players, Ultima Online needs new players. Our Producer’s Letter may not have been as blunt as the The Dark Age of Camelot’s letter was, but between the layoffs over the past few years, as well as other changes, it’s been clear that UO was not doing as well as it needed to be doing.

Question #1 Does Broadsword truly control UO?
We know that EA will still handle billing/payment, and we know that EA still owns the IP (intellectual property). The question is, does Broadsword (and the UO team control) UO’s direction, or does EA exercise some control over content and/or clients? There is still a nagging doubt among some in the community that EA will have to approve everything, and that UO will somehow be held back for one reason or another. I’m inclined to believe that Broadsword is making the major decisions and that EA has nearly washed their hands of UO (and DAOC), which leaves me hopeful.

Update: Implied that they are still working with Mythic on some level (MMORPG.com interview).

Question #2 Will UO be modernized as well?
With all of the talk about Dark Age of Camelot being modernized (see the commentary), what about UO? This does not necessarily mean abandoning the original client or perspective. It means having a client that is recognizable to new or returning players who are familiar with other MMORPGs, and not a clunky 1990s-style client that maybe endearing to many of us, but isn’t doing UO any favors. It should take advantage of modern hardware (sold within the last 5 years). A lot of effort was put into a planned high resolution update for UO in 2012 and 2013. Last I heard, it was still planned. New players are not currently flocking to UO by the tens of thousands, and we can debate why all day long, but at the end of the day, you have to reach out to them.

Update: High-resolution artwork specifically mentioned in the MMORPG.com interview

Question #3 Focus on New Players?
Will there be a concentrated effort on bringing in new players? We’ve heard of plans in the past for new players, only to see those be discarded or reduced. As for former players, chasing after former players is not a bad idea since they are familiar with UO, but as I said back in April of 2012, those are players who have already tried and quit UO at least once, and it’s a risky strategy. As others have said, there are millions of people who have tried various MMORPGs and they are not happy, and they have never played UO. This is a great chance to bring them in.

Update: Improved New Player Experience specifically mentioned in the MMORPG.com interview

Question #4 Will UO have an official community?
A new Community Lead was hired for DAOC. It’s been over 10 years since EA closed down the UO.com forums, which drove players to third party fansites, and effectively divided the community. You have to support the game with good communication and you have to have an official community, not a bunch of factions spread among multiple fan-sites. Every major MMORPG, with the exception of UO and DAOC, has an official community (Twitter and Facebook do not count). A lot of new players got lost in the cracks of a divided UO community. If you are going to have new players, you are going to have to have an official community.

Update: Broadsword claims to want a stronger community interaction with the players (MMORPG.com interview).

Question #5 How is UO Japan Affected?
UO Japan had their own team members, localization, etc. How are they affected? Update: EMs are being retained.

Update: Partly answered with the job posting for an Associate Producer fluent in English and Japanese.

Update #2: Broadsword is looking for four Japanese Event Moderators (contract positions) –

Question #6 How are the EMs and GMs Affected?
How are Event Moderators (EMs) and Game Moderators (GMs) affected? EMs (and possibly GMs) were contracted employees. Also, will we only share GMs with DAOC now? In the past, we shared GMs with other games, and it could be frustrating when a lack of knowledge about UO/DAOC presented itself while dealing with a GM.

Question #7 – Improving UO.com
Will we see an upgrade for UO.com, and will we see the return of features such as MyUO (looking up characters, guilds, etc.)? DAOC’s letter specifically mentioned an improvement in the DAOC website, and additions “in-game and out.” It’s one of those things expected by new players, but more importantly, it’s something that we existing players used to have. It frustrated many of us a great deal to see the UO website lose functionality over the years. How is that we had a more advanced website in 2003 than we do in 2014?

Update: MyUO specifically mentioned in the MMORPG.com interview

Comments, questions? Leave a comment below, or email me – uo at ultimacodex.com