With Ultima Online’s first annual New Legacy server underway earlier this week, Broadsword has begun releasing new videos explaining the game to newcomers. Might this have been better before the launch? Too bad! It’s here now.
This episode focuses on how New Legacy’s skill system differs from that on the production shards. On the regular servers, players increase their skills through use. If you want magery, you cast spells. If you want hiding, you spam your hiding button thousands of times. It doesn’t quite work that way on this alt ruleset, however.
“One of our favorite new changes is the two paths for skill gain on New Legacy: the narrative path and the divergent path,” Broadsword says. “The narrative path is for you classic Ultima RPG fans who revel in the moral choices and deep storytelling in Britannia. Playing this narrative path is fast and exciting, with a few surprising moments waiting for those veterans who think they know what Ultima Online offers.”
In other words, the narrative path doles out skills as you quest along through the story. However, if you take the divergent path, you can take more control of your character and skip some of the narrative content.
“You start right on the front lines with accelerated skill gain and a challenge: Can you survive the 30 minutes on the front before entering Britannia?” the studio says. If so, you can pretty much play the new server as on regular shards, though fully custom character builds are pushed off until later in character development.
As a perk for vets, the video opens with a slow pan of the classic client on an old CRT monitor, all as the original Stones music plays. Cute.
