Ultima Online Chronicles, or My Adventures on Pacific in 2000 Year. Игорь Бойко

lace in the world of Ultima Online. I also found this moment extremely interesting. In the vast fantasy world of the game the player found something beautiful, which, perhaps, was not intentionally arranged. There was something Japanese about it – the ability to admire simple things. And I decided I had to see it with my own eyes. And not only that.

      In the end, I settled on Pacific, which was the server I had the least lag. And the connection speed with the 14,400 modem wasn't great. In the game any character could outrun me (if he had time, of course), I was just a little bit slower. But these were the little things in life, the very virtual life in a fairy-tale world, where the struggle between good and evil was in the first place. I realized this a bit later, but on the first day I was happy about the most trivial things. For example, that a bird shot with a bow could be gutted, and you can obtain the meat and feathers that can be used to make arrows.

      And then I understood that one short article in the magazine where I was (and still am) the Editor-in-Chief would not be enough for this world. I realized that I had a unique chance to tell the story of a traveler who finds himself in an unknown country. Who every day discovers something new, meets and makes friends with different good people and opposes Evil to the best of his ability. For that was my choice, my philosophy.

      As a result, I hovered in the game for 12 months, giving away an article in each successive issue. That's how the Ultima Online Chronicles came to be. A lot of water has flowed since then. Veterans of the game may say that the author is a noob and remains one. And in some ways I agree with them. But let them remember their first steps in UO. That excitement of exploring and learning a new world. This is what I have tried to convey to readers.

      At E3 2003, I met the creator of Ultima Online – Richard Garriott. I gave him a dagger as a present, and thanked him for the great pleasure I had.

      Later we met a few more times, both in America and in Russia, where he came to fly into space. He is a very active and busy man. That's probably why he didn't respond in any way to my friendly request to write a few lines about his vision for Ultima Online that I could quote in this book.

      Hey, Richard, if you're reading these lines, know that the offer still stands.

      Part I

      What was going to happen happened. I'd had a taste of online role-playing before, and yet I was virtually unprepared for what awaited me in online Ultima. Just as you'll be unprepared when you first get there. It's one thing to read about it in a magazine, while looking at screenshots of graphics squeezed out of a not-so-fresh engine. And it's quite another to feel yourself a part of a beautifully designed fantasy world.

      I won't try to tell you about UO all-in-all, I can't compare it with other online giants for the simple reason that I'm making my first, rather shy steps on this field, supported by my offline RPG experience. Therefore, consider the following material as a kind of report, a report on a trip to an exotic far away.

      There was a time when, while visiting all kinds of computer expos, I was involuntarily seized by the urge to take a double-edged sword and smash it heartily on the so fascinating and at the same time inaccessible wonders of the computer industry. Without elaborating on the topic, I will immediately state that these days the home PC has become quite an ordinary phenomenon. A similar trend can now be seen in the field of paid online games. Judge for yourself: the cost of the boxed edition of Ultima Online: the Second Age – $30. It includes payment for a month of playing time. In the future, those who "get hooked", will have to pay for the pleasure around $10 a month. A lot? Same amount that the peddlers will ask for five pirated CDs. No comment.

      Of course, all this trouble is worth making if you have decent access to the Internet. The system requirements of the game claim a connection of 28.800 and, as practice has shown, this speed is really enough to feel like a master of your own destiny.

      I sell iron ingots. Such luck is rare – on the body of slaughtered troll there were as many as 1325 of them!

We live! And not only twice!

      After registering an account on the corresponding site, the player gets access to a couple of dozen game servers, geographically scattered around the world. The closest to us – Europa, but do not hurry to create a "char" there – the program allows you to sort servers by the communication quality. Choose the one that took the top line, connect and proceed to create a character. In my particular case, Pacific was the best option, which turned out to be played by Europeans, Americans and New Zealanders.

      Think carefully before endowing your character with the three "innate" skills, as your choice will determine how he lives his life. If you are inclined to wander around, exploring the unknown wilderness, measuring by steps the valleys, mountains, dungeons, wondering what it is behind the turn of the road, then do not become a blacksmith or a carpenter. For the latter it is better to stay close to the city, getting the source materials and cautiously listening to the rustles of the surrounding nature, ready at the first sign of aggression from any enemy to run away with shouts of "Guards! Guards!" This is true of any newbie.

      First the harpy fell into this trap, and a few minutes later the orc managed to be lured into it as well

      When selecting skills, your eyes are simply scattered – there are almost five dozen of them. Some are quite standard, while others seem to be too complicated and superfluous, such as Forensic Evaluation. If you apply this skill to a corpse, you will know the circumstances of the deceased's death.

      I've decided that my char should feel like a fish in water in the wild. So I made him an archer/fletcher. On the one hand I can hunt all sorts of wildlife, on the other I can make money quite quickly by selling manufactured bows and crossbows. Not the least factor in choosing this combination was being able to defeat significantly stronger but slower critters.

      And if you decide to change, all avenues are open to you. You can learn any specialty from scratch. If you want to become a tamer, just try, then try again, then again. See at what speed you began to grow the corresponding skill. In just a few minutes you'll be able to charm the rabbit! After a while you can tame a dog, after a sleepless night you can tame a wolf, after a few days you can tame a bear, but how long will it take to learn how to tame dragons, I can't say – I only know that it's a long time.

      I'm afraid I'm in danger of some mutual misunderstanding on the Japanese server

Commodity-money relations

      If you're playing for the first time, choose the main city – Britain – as the place where your hero appears. Here there are all the conditions for the initial "char" pumping – stores and shops of all types, training castle with mannequins on which anyone can hone their skills, and the people in the city hangs out a lot, if you stand around the bank, you can get on the "distribution of elephants" – from time to time there are characters who just stick to the right and left all sorts of things, sometimes – magical. Some simply have nowhere to put the stuff, and to go to the store – a bummer, while others do it from altruistic motives, simultaneously advertising their own guild. Here also come those who need something to sell/buy.

      The local banking system allows the player to store not only money, but also items. And your bank chest can be accessed from a bank in any city. Funds are also taken from the bank at the time of purchase of any items in stores organized by the players. Likewise, payment is made for real estate. All of this makes life much easier, allowing you to do without large sums of cash, which can easily be stolen.

      The gold armor is as if designed for the archer, with +30 protection and only a -3 loss in mobility

      The initial capital of the player is only 100 coins, and he is also given production tools and weapons according to the chosen specialization. The latter will be of low, "training" quality, you will not even be able to sell them.

      From this moment life begins, without the carefree childhood and adolescence,