Ultima Forever in PC PowerPlay

Akalaupdate: After some discussion on Twitter, I’ve removed all but the first two images of the article from the Ultima Forever subdomain. Once the next issue of PC PowerPlay comes out, I’ll post the remainder of the images. In the meantime, you can join in the discussion about the latest issue of PC PowerPlay over at their forums, and if you like you can even subscribe to PC PowerPlay proper. You can also grab individual issues here.

The Ultima Codex wishes to apologize to PC PowerPlay and Meghann O’Neill for getting a bit too enthusiastic about publishing the materials we were given. It was…not virtuous.

Original Post: Meghann O’Neill’s article about Ultima Forever in Australian gaming magazine PC PowerPlay doesn’t contain all that much in the way of new information about the game, at least not based on what we learned of it from Paul Barnett’s GDC Online talk. Indeed, the article — which is a hybrid of an interview with Barnett and an opinion piece by O’Neill — sees Barnett covering many of the same talking points that he went over in his Ultima Forever presentation.

Here’s the opening of the article:

The article does go into a bit more detail about the game’s free-to-play implementation (which, in addition to paid vanity items, will seem to limit the number of keys free players have access too in a certain time period; keys can be used to open chests to obtain high-end loot). She also highlight’s Barnett’s explanation — which was in his GDC talk — of why certain mechanics (wind, food, etc.) that were present in Ultima 4 are absent from Ultima Forever: to avoid the appearance of wanting to monetize these gameplay elements.

There are also a handful of soundbites from Barnett later on in the article, which offer some additional insight into the game’s mechanics and contain a few amusing quips. Like his labelling of Britannia’s main continent as a “Croissant of Joy”.

O’Neill also penned what amounts to a second article, in which she attempts to explore Barnett’s claim that Ultima Forever is his attempt to tailor the best parts of Ultima 4 for the modern gamer, and his concern that too many modern gamers are unwilling to embrace the more punishing mechanics and lengthy grind of Ultima 4 proper. To do so, she enlists the help of her five year-old son, with amusing and frankly charming results.

(Many thanks to reader gianstein for sending these in!)