I missed reporting on this last month, but the “big news” about Ultima Online — the development that will ostensibly bring the game to the “largest audience ever” — turned out to be…a new shard. Ultima Online: New Legacy appears — per the explanation given — an attempt to do for Ultima Online what WoW Classic did for World of Warcraft, which is not a bad goal in and of itself…though, personally, I’d been hoping to see either a Steam release or a mobile port announced.

Q: What era will this shard be like?

Our focus is to rethink, rework, and redesign the core Ultima Online gameplay experience and bring it back to its classic roots as an RPG.  It is difficult to specifically state what era the shard will focus on because we are not attempting to recreate a 1:1 copy of any specific time in the lifecycle of the game world.  That being said, the periods including The Second Age and Renaissance showcased a lot the simplistic and intuitive beauty that we are going for.  That also is not to say we will not be including features from other eras as well – but hopefully this provides a way to think about how we want the game world to feel.

Q: I do not want to play a game where another player can kill me or steal from me – is the new shard a place for me?  Is it consensual PvP and can I play without being harassed?  How does Trammel/Felucca fit into the game?

The traditional concept of “Trammel and Felucca” does not apply to a UO: NL shard. There is only one facet (The World) and within that facet we will support those who like to participate in PvP via an updated Vice vs. Virtue framework while those who would rather participate in PvM content can do so without fear of being killed.  That is not to say there will not be areas that will be free from danger – our primary design goal, however, is to give players the choice of participating or not.

Now, even if the news of a new “classic” shard is a bit underwhelming, it does appear that Broadsword Online Games are bringing some interesting innovation to this new aspect of Ultima Online. In their most recent newsletter, one example of this innovation appears in the form of seasonal changes. Check thou this out:

That does, admittedly, look pretty cool, although I have to wonder how well the transitions between seasons will be handled in-game. Still, there are very few games — single-player or MMO — that have attempted to implement seasons; even most of the Ultima games didn’t bother with having seasons change, though some had areas of the map that were, say, winter-like and icy (e.g. Serpent Isle). And on that note, the way Broadsword describe the introduction of changing seasons to the game is interesting:

From the onset, our goal with Ultima Online: New Legacy has been to return UO to its roots as an RPG.  In accomplishing this goal we decided to tackle one of the areas where we felt the game world could go the extra mile to feel more alive and immersive: weather & climate.  Our artists have been busy creating assets to give us the power to create seasonality & weather within the game world.  No longer will Britannia be a continent in perpetual summer with only aesthetic winters, but also a landscape rich in autumn color and springtime renewal.  For the first time we introduce changing seasons as a backdrop for exciting events and unique encounters!  The added dynamic of weather & climate allows us to go even further with presenting players with unique choices as they outfit themselves for the best chance of success while exploring the far reaches of the most extreme climate regions!

Are we to take away, from the comment about “dynamic weather & climate” affecting player choices regarding how they “outfit themselves for the best chance of success while exploring”, that the weather effects seen in the screenshot above won’t just be cosmetic, but will also affect players in other ways? Will everyone have to don warm cloaks and fur hats to journey about in winter?