[Merancapeman]

Just a starter, has anyone forgotten the old Ultima Trilogy? I can't imagine a better RPG game of the past then them. It's most likley what started the Diablo idea. My special favorites were Ultima 6 and 7. How about you guys? (and girls)

Mike/Indy

[Bond]

Frankly I don't know what the appeal of these games were. Of course I only came upon the much lauded Ultima 7: The Stygian Abyss after playing Ultima 8. Both underwhelmed me in comparison to something like the US FF2. Dungeon crawls didn't perk my interest until Baldur's Gate.

[Merancapeman]

Well, the unique thing about it was, you could do whatever you wanted in 6 and 7, create bread, make a balloon, drink too much wine and get drunk, kill anyone (for the sick-minded).

Mike-Stygian abyss? Is that an ultima game?

[Cadfael]

I played Ultima VI: The False Prophet to death!!! Okay... the GFX and interface were rubbish... but what gameplay!!!

It was my first taste of a game with a huge gameworld... with no linier plotline...

AHHHH

A visit to Abandoned Places may be in order1 :D

[Merancapeman]

That had to be the first best game i had ever played! The graphics were crummy, but it was the biggest most realest world i have ever played!

[Richardb]

To understand ultima, you had to buy and play when Ultima 1 and 2 came out. The industry had never seen such immersive gameplay, and those incredible graphics (hey, that's what we thought at the time). I played (and sold as a salesperson at the time) both of these on the C64 computer, as well as the early IBM pc's. They were amazing games, and then Ultima 3 improved the lot, and suddenly came the idea of having vitues and truly having to think and do other than hack and slash in Ultima 4. I played them all but the last one, which was too buggy to even try. What an amazing part of computer gaming history.

[Merancapeman]

I've played All games, but not for very long, just to expeirment. They were in fact fun. The only ultima i hated was 8, which all took place on a single island, it drove me nuts because i kept dying in the volcano in the middle! Ultima 7 was my very favorite, considering it was so fun!
Mike

[Cadfael]

Do you guys like the Infinity Engine games... ie Baldur's Gate and the Icewind Dale series?

The reason i ask is because these games take me back to the fun of Ultima... sort of wha tUltima should have become.

[Merancapeman]

Never have! Do they have demos on the internet?

[Richardb]

Originally posted by Cadfael
Do you guys like the Infinity Engine games... ie Baldur's Gate and the Icewind Dale series?

The reason i ask is because these games take me back to the fun of Ultima... sort of wha tUltima should have become.
In general, yes, I agree that they create some of the same experience. The thing that 'some' of the ultimas did was instill the concept that you can do anything.. but there are consequences. The idea that you can't steal, kill, or even lie without repercussions was unique, and has never been matched. The scope of the quests has also never been matched (remember Ultima 4 and the many many steps needed to finish). There was also something about the scale of the world that was just about perfect... it was huge, but you could get around it in reasonable times, making exploration fun and achievable. The Bioware stuff does not quite match that.
That all being said, I truly enjoyed Icewind dale and the Heart of Winter. Icewind Dale 2 is the first of all of them that I just got bored with...
Baldurs gate and BG2 were great, but not if you had to listen to those NPC's chatting endlessly at the most inopportune times... that drove me to use the multi player option. Gameplay is well balanced, though the BG games do ultimately force a lot of linear gameplay, which can be a bit annoying. All that aside, I finished BG, BG2 and the expansions, so clearly there is fun to be had there.