EVERYONE FREAK OUT

It's not uncommon for players to ask Richard Garriott about Ultima Online. Some even ask if there's any possibility of him getting the rights and IP back from EA, occasionally going as far as suggesting a crowdfunding campaign. Generally, these are just wishes into the ether, but yesterday, Garriott’s response was a little surprising.

[...]

“I believe I will get it back “soon””- he posted. When asked if he could speak more about it by the surprised user, the one word answer was clear: “Nope”.  So, if there's anything happening behind the scenes this time, we'll have to wait to see if anything comes of it. The fact that the possibility has been raised by Garriott himself is something different, particularly by using the word soon.

I don't see EA selling it.  Sounds like Garriott is bored.  But, I also do not know how much $ he has to offer.

Also I did a search to see what games EA has sold in the past.  The results are acquisitions, not divestitures.

It goes on further:

a user says””soon” as in sarcastic or “soon” as in like maybe this could happen “soon”

in which Richard Garriott replies:

“I have reason to be honestly hopeful.”

this is good!

MacroPlanet said:

It goes on further:

a user says””soon” as in sarcastic or “soon” as in like maybe this could happen “soon”

in which Richard Garriott replies:

“I have reason to be honestly hopeful.”

this is good!

Hopefully this can bring real change to this game and I honestly hope it goes through.

I doubt he would recognize the code or the game. 
And he has done so well with games he has made after UO. /sarcasm

Pawain said:

MacroPlanet said:

It goes on further:

a user says””soon” as in sarcastic or “soon” as in like maybe this could happen “soon”

in which Richard Garriott replies:

“I have reason to be honestly hopeful.”

this is good!

Hopefully this can bring real change to this game and I honestly hope it goes through.

I doubt he would recognize the code or the game. 
And he has done so well with games he has made after UO. /sarcasm

People acting like Broadsword has done so well with UO

Personally, I'd be more hype to see Raph Koster in charge of the UO team at broadsword.. Since SotA I don't trust Lord British nor Starr Long.

Edit: the only way u see garriot back on UO is if he gets a licensing right for the web 3.0.. he badly wants to get in on that web 3.0 crypto MMO and UO would be the best choice possible at the moment for garriot (he fail his last 3.0 project before it even crack out of it's shell)

MacroPlanet said:

People acting like Broadsword has done so well with UO

They've kept the lights on when EA has been notorious for closing games.

I don't see him being able to get UO away from EA. Could he possibly be buying Broadsword?

EA were notorious to buy studio and shut them down (killing the competition) while keeping the license/game alive (in a worst state)

And no way on earth Garriot has the money to buy Broadsword.. BS just inherited their third MMO the failed "bioware" Star Wars.. All he talks now a day is the web 3.0 MMO he badly wants his 3.0 MMO and UO would be perfect for that and EA ain't the company that scares away from bad reputation decision.. like creating  their own EA crypto Token for the 3.0 on games like UO (another version of UO made for 3.0)

NCSoft were notorious (still are) for closing game.. look at tabula rasa and many more recently (ex: wildstar) if they don't 1000% profit the first year.. they shut it down type of stuff.

Urge said:

MacroPlanet said:

People acting like Broadsword has done so well with UO

They've kept the lights on when EA has been notorious for closing games.

I don't see him being able to get UO away from EA. Could he possibly be buying Broadsword?

Is that all you want for UO though? Just to keep the lights on?

Ultima Online can be just as successful as EQ, WoW or any other old MMO when it comes to further developing the game. And I mean more than a new shard, but furthering the game with more expansions, classic experiences similar to WoW’s SoD or EQ’s progression servers. 

KroDuK said:

Personally, I'd be more hype to see Raph Koster in charge of the UO team at broadsword.. Since SotA I don't trust Lord British nor Starr Long.

Raph is busy with Stars Reach, and has quite the vision going for that game.

SotA was definitely a bummer for everyone. The game might be in a better state now, but it’s just proof that crowd funding games, especially MMO’s, doesn’t work. I’ve lost trust in them, like the next person. But you can’t say RG or Starr aren’t visionaries, it just feels like UO needs a breath of something new other than a custom shard.

there people who have ran uo last 12 years have ran it in to the ground. he needs to tack over and fix stuff. lot of boters will be mad owell. then had there shoot to run it right and then ran it like it was there piggy bank. and there keep doing it to theres noting left. let 4 people run housing in all uo yea thats fair lolllllll