The Eight Virtues

The Arcana

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Virtues in Ultima Forever

The Virtues, or references to Ultima Forever being somehow virtuous, were a constant feature of the early social media and other public mentions of Ultima Forever by those associated with it. From these, we were able to glean some basic information about how the Virtues are handled in Ultima Forever:

The game revolves around the Eight Virtues
The gear you carry and use revolves around the Virtues as well
Your rank in each Virtue will be influenced by how you act towards other players
You cannot buy Virtue

Gaining Virtue

Compassion

At present, it is known that players can earn rank in Compassion by choosing compassionate dialogue options when presented with moral quandaries by the citizens of Britannia.

Honesty

At present, it is suspected that players can earn rank in Honesty by choosing forthright dialogue options when presented with moral quandaries by the citizens of Britannia. Players who explore dungeons as part of a group may also occasionally see “Honesty Boxes” that are invisible to the other members of the group at first; players will have to choose whether to share the existence of the box with the group or pocket the loot therein for themselves.

Honour

At present, it is suspected that players can earn rank in Compassion by choosing noble dialogue options when presented with moral quandaries by the citizens of Britannia. Honour can also be gained by completing dungeons in the game with friends.

Humility

At present, it is suspected that players can earn rank in Humility by choosing humble dialogue options when presented with moral quandaries by the citizens of Britannia.

Justice

At present, it is suspected that players can earn rank in Justice by choosing lawful dialogue options when presented with moral quandaries by the citizens of Britannia.

Sacrifice

At present, it is suspected that players can earn rank in Sacrifice by choosing selfless dialogue options when presented with moral quandaries by the citizens of Britannia. As well, higher-level players can gain rank in Sacrifice by assisting lower-level players in dungeons.

Spirituality

At present, it is suspected that players can earn rank in Spirituality by choosing spiritually-minded dialogue options when presented with moral quandaries by the citizens of Britannia.

Valour

At present, it is suspected that players can earn rank in Valour by choosing courageous dialogue options when presented with moral quandaries by the citizens of Britannia. Valour is also obtained by engaging – and not shrinking from – combat.

Developer Comments

Lead Designer Kate Flack discussed the important of the Virtues in an interview with Eurogamer:

The Virtue system is the heart of Ultima Forever. One half of your character sheet is dedicated to recording how well you are progressing at developing your Virtues. As you play the game you are going to have all sorts of chances to earn experience points that go towards leveling up your Virtues. The people of Britannia know that you’re here to help them, so they’ll often come to you for advice. We call these encounters ‘Quandaries’. An NPC will outline a problem and you’ll have three different pieces of advice you can offer.

Each one will correspond to a different Virtue, and very often these will conflict. You might have the choice between doing something kind, something fair or something honest for example. It’s up to you as the player to decide what you think the right course of action is. The choice you make will earn you points towards a Virtue level. If you just play as your conscience dictates you’ll pretty quickly learn what Virtues are strong within you. Likewise with our branching quests. Some key storylines have Virtue choices that have a longer lasting consequence for your character, such as altering future quests.

Throughout the game, there will be NPCs seeking advice and help in dealing with “moral quandaries”, whose outcomes determine your path, and all of this ties into the Virtues.

As an example, Jeff Skalski described a quest in an IGN interview

Jeff Skalski: While travelling through town a woman stops you and asks if you can go find her husband. He’s been missing for 6 days and has not returned from his last adventure to a nearby cave. You accept the quest and go exploring. While travelling through the caves you stumble across a corpse of a fallen warrior and upon searching it you uncover it was this woman’s husband, but also in his pockets is a letter from his mistress. You return to the woman, now widow, and are given a choice. Do you hand the letter over to the woman and tell her, “Your husband has died, but no worries; he was a lying bastard who was cheating on you anyways.” (Honesty) or rip the letter behind your back and tell her, “Your husband died an honorable death. I’m sorry for your loss.” (Compassion) Neither answer is wrong or right, but it’s your choice to decide what virtues you lean towards and ultimately the path you’ll take to prove worthy of Avatarhood.

When the Ultima Forever Twitter account went online in 2011, it opened with the message you see to the right: “Art Thou Humble?”. Several times thereafter, Jeff Skalski, the Franchise Producer over both Ultima Forever and Ultima Online described playing something “virtuous”.

His Twitter description even stated, for a time: “Producer at BioWare Mythic, an EA studio, working on virtuous things.”

More Information

Britannian Virtues at the Ultima Forever Wiki
Virtues at the Codex of Ultima Wisdom
The Eight Virtues at the Codex of Ultima Wisdom
Virtues in Ultima Online at the Ultima Online Guide