UO on Steam
For those who were unware, or lost the links:
Ultima Online's page on Steam
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=249850626
Broadsword Games' page on Steam
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198128878674
Who knows if they will keep the same pages, or switch them around, or if UO is even going to Steam...
********
But, if UO does go to Steam, let's speculate:
1. Steam launch will probably put you through to the UO patchers, similar to Frontier or any of the other companies on Steam.
2. Will we be able to link our EA Accounts to Steam? (Can you currently link your EA Account to Steam?)
3. Will there be trading cards?
4. Will there be achievements?
5. How will the market place be set up?
Base Game = Free
High Seas = DLC
Time of Legends = DLC
7th Character = DLC
20% Storage = DLC
etc.....
Will the DLC be changed to specific price tiers? I.E. All expansions at $24, all extras at $16? Will they continue to use the Origin prices on Steam?
Will they break Stygian Abyss back out as a paid DLC? (I would!) Will they break playable races out as paid DLC? Will they add in new playable races as DLC? (Dwarves!)
Hmm, lots of options.....
Ultima Online's page on Steam
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=249850626
Broadsword Games' page on Steam
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198128878674
Who knows if they will keep the same pages, or switch them around, or if UO is even going to Steam...
********
But, if UO does go to Steam, let's speculate:
1. Steam launch will probably put you through to the UO patchers, similar to Frontier or any of the other companies on Steam.
2. Will we be able to link our EA Accounts to Steam? (Can you currently link your EA Account to Steam?)
3. Will there be trading cards?
4. Will there be achievements?
5. How will the market place be set up?
Base Game = Free
High Seas = DLC
Time of Legends = DLC
7th Character = DLC
20% Storage = DLC
etc.....
Will the DLC be changed to specific price tiers? I.E. All expansions at $24, all extras at $16? Will they continue to use the Origin prices on Steam?
Will they break Stygian Abyss back out as a paid DLC? (I would!) Will they break playable races out as paid DLC? Will they add in new playable races as DLC? (Dwarves!)
Hmm, lots of options.....
-Arroth
Comments
I have never made a Steam Account and never will.
Sadly, that day will be the day I will stop playing UO for good.
Frontier, Kalypso, Stardock (and numerous other developers), all have games on Steam, but you don't have to play those games through Steam. You can buy games from the Frontier Store, or the Kalypso Store, or the Stardock store, and never use Steam. I would suspect that if UO goes to Steam, you will still be able to buy and access UO in all the ways you always have been, with no effect on your game.
Think of Steam as an optional distribution channel, not a replacement for the way the game currently is.
I purchased Elite Dangerous through Frontier and never played through Steam. A year or so later Frontier allowed you to link your Frontier Account to your Steam Account, which I did, and then my copy of Elite showed up as a purchased game in both the Frontier system and Steam. I have friends who purchased Elite through Frontier and have never played through Steam, and yet Elite is on Steam. I would suspect UO to follow a similar model.
For most of the online games I've played through Steam, you just click the play button on Steam and it loads up the games patcher. I doubt the UO patcher will change much. If UO does go to Steam, clicking the Steam "Play UO" button will probably just load up the patcher for whatever client your using.
I do hope they work on the EC a bit before taking UO to Steam. Right now I would rate the EC as Early Access, Steam language for "not yet ready to be released". I can just see the comments now: the mobiles bars don't work worth a damn...the backpack disappears when I scroll...windows don't stay where I put them!...this game should be an Early Access title...why isn't this game listed as Early Access, it's to buggy for release....etc., etc., etc.
Please make the Grizzled Mare a 5 slot mount, it's incredibly rare and deserves it. Some of us have been waiting a long time for this simple addition.
If people are worried 3rd party apps won't work through Steam,
1. UO probably isn't switching to a Steam exclusive, so people can just play as they are now, ignore Steam, and keep using their "apps".
2. Steam has many games where players use third party apps. So much so that developers still go on ban waves to influence behavior.
3. If somehow third party app use is clamped down on by UO (with or without Steam), the EC moding community will get busier!
***
I see from Margrette's post on Stratics that the DAOC team is talking Steam in 2020. So yeah, looks like UO is headed to Steam. Cool beans.
Potential Steam Achivements:
Other White Meat = Kill 100 Cats
Kill 10 Rats = Kill The Piper 10 Times
DragonSlayer = Kill 10,000 Dragons
Through the Heart = Kill a Vampire while wielding a Pitchfork
You Little BASTA…… = Kill 1000 Imps
Welcome to Sosaria = Die for the first time
Eh, it's UO = Die for the 500th time
It's not like other games = Suffer your 1000th death
De Ja Vu = Be Resurrected for the first time
THIS!!!
I never made a Steam Account nor played any game that needs Steam to run because I like to own the software that I spend my money on.
For example, I also refuse to do the 365 days, Yearly subscriptions because I just do not like that idea.
The only exception to this, is Antivirus software because I do not have an alternative. I have to pay for the Yearly subs in order to get the updates which are necessary to keep the Antivirus current.
But for anything else, I stay out of it because it is a marketing channel that I do not want to support with my money.
I am of the idea that the software I spend my money on, I own it, and I do not want my money to go to support other ways of marketing software.
There have been games that I would have liked to play and, yet, I have renounced to playing them because they could solely be played through Steam.
And, as much as I like playing UO, if Steam will become the only way to play Ultima Online, I will stick to my principles and thinking, and will give up playing UO for good, rather then make a Steam Account in order to play it.
Personally, I am of the opinion that a buyer spending money on an item, even though a digital item, then, because of that purchase, should get to own the software purchased. Therefore, I like to spend my money on software which I then feel that I own.
At least, that is how I personally see it.
I'm not playing EC. I just don't like the way it looks at all. If I can't use UOAssist or Automap it may be a deal breaker for me. That or they need to update the cc to integrate more features that UOA has such as mouse macros.
Probably be better if they got it squared away on Origin first though.
It would be kind of odd if UO was on competing digital platforms, but not on the one of the company which owns UO.
'Course, it is EA...…..
Potential Achievements (PvP Style)
Potential Achievements (Theives)
If we have to use Steam, can we play on more than 1 account at a time?
Lots of unknowns.
I hope I'm remembering right, but someone who actually knows would have to confirm that.
I've seen this too. It sounds like nonsense to me. There are other games on Steam with multiple clients or versions, you just click "play" and you can choose which version to load, or you can select "always load" a specific version.
I don't think UO being available through Steam will effect the clients in any way.
I realize some of this fearmongering is because of the cheats used mostly with the CC and that Steam does offer developers some tools to curb cheating, so people using CC to cheat are freaking out.
However, you'll probably still be able to load UO as you do now, without Steam at all, so any Steam anti-cheating stuff could just be ignored anyway. Plus, lots of games on Steam have 3rd party programs. Hell, steam has a workshop page for each game where the community can upload mods for each game. UO's workshop will probably be filled with 3rd party apps.
So, Steam or not, CC, third party apps, and all the scripting is most likely to continue on as normal.
I think one of the problems is the language we've all been using. As player's we've all been saying "UO is going to steam" or something like that. It's probably more correct to say "UO will also be available through Steam". As in, UO will still be available through UO.com, but it will now also be in the Steam marketplace.
You're a smart guy Pawain, do you really think that EA is going to take UO stuff away from Origin, EA's own service, remove the game from UO.com, it's own domain, and make it only available through a direct competitor (Steam)? Seems doubtful doesn't it? (The brand new Chevy Corvette, only available through Ford dealers! Get yours now!)
It seems more likely UO will still be available from UO.com, and you'll be able to load and play as always. For those who use Steam (which is like 15 million people daily), UO will now also be available through Steam.
I think of it like having a small shop in a small town. You do a decent business, but your market is the local area. Then you put your wares on Amazon. Now you have two ways to sell, your shop, and Amazon. You don't tell people who come in the shop, "Sorry, we only sell on Amazon".
This is all assuming that UO is even going to be available on Steam. Maybe they are just re-working the Origin site and are going to put a link to UO on EA's own site? Crazy right? That'd still expose UO to it's Largest Audience evarh!
You know, if they really are looking at Steam (or digital marketplaces in general) it'd make sense to launch with a bright shiny new thing to catch that new market's attention. Like playable Orcs.
Other than that, just having fun!
Could be a lot of population changes.
I think they just start a new server when this goes to Steam.