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Second Wind: Ultima Online
When I (legally) sold my Ultima Online accounts in 2000 for the hefty sum of $1800, the game was already three years old and being challenged by the likes of EverQuest and Asheron's Call. I thought I was done forever. My guild was eyeing Dark Age of Camelot, and I wanted to cash out and rid myself of the chore of maintaining a dozen grandfathered houses on the dying half of a shard struggling to find its footing in a post-open-PvP ruleset. I was wrong. A year later I was back in UO with a new account, prowling around Britannia. And the year after that. And every year since, only I never again made the mistake of selling my accounts even when I took extended breaks. It has a special magic that only a handful of MMOs have captured (let alone topped) since, and what it lacks in modern conveniences it often makes up for in unique features. The granddaddy of MMORPGs and one of the only true sandboxes still standing turns 16 this autumn, having survived EverQuest, World of Warcraft, the internet bubble, EA's blundering, Mythic's takeover, layoffs, price hikes, a recession, and disastrous design shifts. But is it still worth playing?
EVE Online's faction ships due for a boost in Dominion expansion
When EVE Online's faction ships were introduced to the game they were, by design, a cut above the rest in addition to lending a certain amount of bling to being a pilot in New Eden. Faction ships had stats that made them worthy of the high amount of Loyalty Points required to obtain such a ship, the risks entailed with mission running in lowsec or 0.0 space, or alternately the high ISK costs to obtain them. But as Tech II ships, Marauders, and other advanced or specialized ship classes entered the game, it became apparent that faction ships in EVE Online were becoming antiquated. CCP Games would like to get more players to actually fly those ships again instead of relegating (a few of) them to shiny hangar ornaments. EVE game designer CCP Ytterbium looks at the changes CCP Games is making to navy and pirate faction ships with the Dominion expansion and explains the reasons for these changes in his dev blog "Adding Flavor to Your Faction Meal". Have a look at the dev blog for Ytterbium's discussion of the various ship bonuses, new slot layouts, aesthetic changes, and how CCP envisions these faction ships rising to greater prominence in New Eden in Dominion and beyond.
