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Ultima Online 2 logo

original Ultima Online 2 logo.

Ultima Online 2 was to be the sequel to the popular 1997 massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Ultima Online. It was in development by Origin Systems (Origin) and would have been published by Electronic Arts (EA). Origin revealed that they were developing Ultima Online 2 in September 1999, but development was cancelled by EA in March 2001.

Development[]

Ultima Online 2, billed as a "second generation MMORPG", was to improve upon Ultima Online and previous MMORPGs. The most noticeable advancement was the competitive 3D engine that replaced Ultima Online's aging isometric view. The design also changed several aspects that players voiced dislike for in the original Ultima Online. In Ultima Online 2, player vs. player combat was to be disabled by default (except in special areas, such as arenas). The game also would have emphasized grouping, including groups of 20-30 players, and reduced the ability of single players to become all-around grand-masters (i.e., prevent the notorious "tank-mage" characters that appeared in Ultima Online).

In March 2001, EA announced that development on Ultima Online 2 would cease in order to provide additional support for Ultima Online. Shortly after, EA announced it had laid off 200 employees including some at Origin Systems. About a third of the team that worked on Ultima Online 2 joined Destination Games to work on Richard Garriott's MMORPG, Tabula Rasa. Just a few years later, history repeated itself when EA cancelled Ultima X: Odyssey in 2004.

Story[]

Ultima Online 2 was to be set in Sosaria (Britannia), but in an alternate timeline where a failed attempt by Lord British to re-combine the shards of the Gem of Immortality resulted in a cataclysm that collided the past, present, and future of Sosaria into a single world, thus bringing Industrial Revolution and Steampunk elements to the medieval fantasy world of the Ultima universe. The new locale was titled New Britannia; players would be able to choose from three playable races:

  • Juka - humans from the Logos, the land of technology governed by Blackthorn
  • Meer - magically adept humans from ancient Sosaria
  • Humans - from Sosaria
Uwoo-group combat

A group of players fighting a lich in Ultima Online 2.

Trivia[]

Continuity[]

Trivia[]

  • In Ultima IX: Ascension, the televisions in the Avatar's home on Earth show advertisements for Ultima Online 2.
  • The novel trilogy The Technocrat War takes place in Ultima Online 2's world and was meant as a big advertisement; ironically the novel trilogy was released while the game was scrapped. Even more ironically, the game was cancelled by EA a mere month before the first book was published. In addition to the novel trilogy, there were plans to craft an animated film based upon the game's setting which would have told the quest of a group of heroes to destroy the "Blood Stone" and banish Necromancy from New Britannia. However the project ended up being cancelled due to budgetary constraints.

See also[]

External links[]


This article includes material originally taken from Wikipedia article Ultima Worlds Online: Origin. Wikipedia material is licensed under GNU Free Documentation License.



Ultima Games
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Age of Armageddon The Black GateLabyrinth of WorldsSerpent IslePaganAscension
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Others Escape from Mt. DrashRunes of VirtueRunes of Virtue IILord of UltimaUltima Forever: Quest for the Avatar
Canceled Arthurian LegendsThe Lost ValeUltima Online 2Ultima X
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