Film Goblin, a website primarily devoted — get this — to reviewing and analyzing movies, has published an article (with accompanying video) that attempts to recap the history and impact of the Ultima series. And to be fair to it, the article certainly heaps significant praise on the series, and on Richard Garriott as well.

Not content to let lore and adventuring alone define the Ultima games, Ultima IV: Quest Of The Avatar, introduced a brand-new dynamic to the CRPG genre. Garriott implemented this mechanic by redefining not who the Avatar was, but how he interacted with the people (ie, NPCs) around him. Being a paragon of Britannia’s eight Virtues, how these Virtues manifested through the Avatar’s–and so the player’s–actions now affected the actions and opinions of those he interacted with, including the band of followers the player attracted through the course of the game. Each possessed their own set of moral codes; each capable of reacting to the actions and choices the Avatar/player made, including leaving the party if the player behaved in a way contrary to their own code.

This represented a remarkable advance in computer RPG’s, from both technical and immersive standpoints, one that forced players and game developers alike to rethink how they approached the genre.

However, the article also contains more than a few glaring errors. For example, they spotlight Ultima 7: The Black Gate, as being the game which introduced the concept of hunger to the series:

One of Ultima VII’s more significant changes to gameplay was the addition a ‘hunger factor’, where party members complain of needing food or drink if they go without for too long. Now the Avatar–paragon that his is–needs to concern himself with keeping his own flock fed as well as maintaining public opinion. Ain’t management grand?

Ultima 7 also gets credit for introducing NPC schedules to the series:

NPCs throughout Britannia carry out their day-to-day routines. Smiths forge weapons, housewives and children wander the streets. Vendors leave their stalls to return to their homes to sleep. The player can visit stores, pubs and casinos, in addition to the classic adventuring options of exploring dungeons, caves, and the surrounding landscape. As in Ultima IV, every NPC has a distinct personality, able to express joy or horror at different actions taken by the player.

This brief description of Serpent Isle isn’t quite as cringe-worthy, but it too isn’t wholly correct:

Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle continues the Avatar’s Black Gate adventure by tracking the guilty party from the previous installment. The game whisks the Avatar to Sosaria, the last bastion of the previous world before Britannia, last seen in Ultima I-III.

And then there’s this bizarre claim regarding Ultima Online:

Electronic Arts launched the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) Ultima Online in 1997. It was one of the first games of its kind to launch. Garriott would return to work on its sequel but production halted before its release in 2004. While the (aging) Ultima Online servers were closed down by EA, there remains a strong following for the game, which to this day continues to run on private servers, keeping the game alive for a host of dedicated Avatars.

We haven’t reached out to Broadsword Online Games regarding the current status — up or down — of the official Ultima Online servers. But as they’re busy putting together Publish 100 for said game, it’s probably safe to assume that the servers have not, in fact, been closed down…by EA or any other entity.

At least they got this part right:

As fans–of all ages–of computer role-playing games, we owe a huge debt to Garriott’s persistence of vision.

Anyway, you can check out the complete article — and its video — here.