The latest Ultima Online newsletter tells of ongoing work on Publish 109, the next content update for the long-running MMORPG:

The UO Team is doing well and continues to work from home and we hope you and your families are safe and well. We have seen a surge of players returning to Britannia and would like to take the time to welcome back a lot of old friends! It is always nice to see familiar faces and to welcome new ones! Britannia has been a second home to many of us over the years. We invite you to share your Britannian legacy with us! Share your favorite stories from your time in Britannia!

We are currently working hard on Publish 109 which we are planning a worldwide release in July. We have talked about new tool upgrades that will be included for Event Moderators in Publish 109 which will offer us exciting new ways to deliver content. We are also preparing new rewards for seasonal favorites like Halloween, our 23rd Anniversary, and more! Keep an eye on UO.com for our TC release schedule, we look forward to your feedback!

And if you were hoping that this update would contain an indication as to what the impending big change was that will bring UO to its “largest audience ever”, prepare to be underwhelmed:

Once we release Publish 109 we will be full steam ahead on our next project – we know you are excited to know what we have in store for Ultima Online and we are excited to share it with you! Keep an eye out for this big announcement!

Outside of that — and an amusing admonition not to utilize Game Masters as a de facto taxi service in-game — this update also includes a new piece of lore fiction written by EM Malachi, which features a conversation between Shamino and the Time Lord…and which reads like a prelude to Shamino’s undertaking the quest that led him to become disembodied and trapped in the Well of Souls prior to the events of Ultima 9.