By the end of the year, it had surpassed competitor Ultima Online in number of subscriptions.

Games such as Meridian 59, EverQuest, Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot were routinely called graphical MUDs in their earlier years.

Players interacting in Ultima Online, a classic MMORPG

" It was originally envisioned to be an " Alternative to Ultima Online " and was mentioned in an article on the Slashdot news website, which became a major source of interested developers.

Ultima Online ( UO ) is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG ), released on 24 September 1997, by Origin Systems.

The success of Ultima Online opened the door for the creation of many new massively multiplayer games.

Ultima Online is a fantasy role-playing game set in the Ultima universe.

Several expansions have been released and the release of Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn in 2007 brought a new game engine which offers a newer visual experience.

As of April 2008, Ultima Online held a market share below 0. 6 % of the massively multiplayer online game subscriptions.

Quoting directly from the Electronic Arts press release announcing the Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn expansion, Ultima Online was " The first MMORPG to reach the 100, 000 subscriber base, far exceeding that of any game that went before it ".

Ultima Online is the product of Richard Garriott's idea for a fantasy game involving several thousand people who can all play in a shared fantasy world.

There were a number of prior games that allowed hundreds of people to play at the same time, including The Realm Online, Neverwinter Nights ( the AOL version ), and Meridian 59 ; however, Ultima Online was intended to be a significant improvement over the previous games, both graphically and in game mechanics.

Ultima Online initial features included persistent player housing, skill-based character progression ( without levels or classes ), a crafting and player-driven economy, and unrestricted player-versus-player combat.

Upon release, Ultima Online proved to be very popular, reaching 100, 000 paying subscribers within six months of release, despite severe lag problems.

Origin was able to make a great deal of money from the monthly fees required to play Ultima Online and many other companies took note and began development of their own massively multiplayer games.

The most successful games after Ultima Online have been EverQuest ( released in March 1999 ), Asheron's Call ( released in November 1999 ), Dark Age of Camelot ( released in October 2001 ), Final Fantasy XI ( released in May 2002 ), World of Warcraft ( released in November 2004 ).

Ultima Online continued the tradition of previous Ultima games in many ways, but due to advancing technology and the simple fact that it was Origin's first persistent online game, there were many new game mechanics as well.

Beginning with the first expansion ( Ultima Online: The Second Age ), the original world gained the " Lost Lands ", with additional land, dungeons, creatures, and terrain.

The worlds in Ultima Online include:

The main Ultima series consists of nine installments ( the seventh title is further divided into two parts ) grouped into three trilogies, or " Ages ": The Age of Darkness ( Ultima I-III ), The Age of Enlightenment ( Ultima IV-VI ), and The Age of Armageddon ( Ultima VII-IX ).

* Malas: The fifth expansion pack ( Ultima Online: Age of Shadows ) added a world called Malas, including a Player versus Player arena and space for 1500 new homes.

* Ultima Online: The Second Age ( 1 October 1998 ) featured a new area of land called the Lost Lands, along with an in-game chat system and new creatures.

* Ultima Online: Age of Shadows ( 11 February 2003 ) brought the landmass of Malas with space for new housing, two new character classes ( Paladin and Necromancer ) and the ability to customize house designs.

This release was contained in a small cardboard box containing a triple-CD jewel case, featuring Ultima Online: Age of Shadows, but also included Ultima IX: Ascension install and play discs as a special bonus.

Some were even on the same platforms as the original, for example Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness, a 1986 remake of the original that appeared on multiple platforms, including the Apple II, the same platform the source game originated on.

* Tom Chilton was lead designer on Ultima Online: Age of Shadows and went on to be a lead designer for Blizzard Entertainment.

The character was first introduced as " The Stranger " in the 1980 role-playing video game Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness.

* Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness

* Ultima Online: 7th Anniversary ( 25 September 2004 ) was a special release of the game to celebrate Ultima Online's seventh birthday.

More than 25, 000 players joined the game's public beta that lasted up until its commercial launch on September 27, 1996, beating its next major rival, Ultima Online, by approximately a year.

* Ultima VII: The Black Gate ( 1992 ) The original release, available on 5. 25 " and 3. 5 " floppies.

* Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue ( 1992 ) The original release, available on 5. 25 " and 3. 5 " floppies.

* Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle ( 1993 ) The original release, available on 5. 25 " and 3. 5 " floppies.

* Ultima VII Part Two: The Silver Seed ( 1993 ) The original release, available on 5. 25 " and 3. 5 " floppies.

* Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss ( 8 September 2009 ) featured a new playable race, the Gargoyle ; additional play areas ; and three new skills: imbuing, throwing, and mysticism.

* Ultima Online: Charter Edition ( 30 September 1997 ) was available to pre-order from Origin Systems at the launch of Ultima Online and in small quantities alongside the standard retail box.

The support for this client is ended on 9 September 2009, to streamline the patch process prior to the release of the Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss expansion.

* Ultima Online: Mondain's Legacy ( 30 August 2005 ) introduced a new race, elves, and a new skill, spellweaving.

* Ultima Online: Gold ( 18 July 2005 ) was a special release sold by Wal-Mart and includes the same content as Ultima Online: Samurai Empire.

Ultima Online: Mondain's Legacy was then launched in August 2005.

Ultima Thule, the station's Sunday evening ambient music programme has been on air for nearly twenty years and in 2005 became the first programme to be podcast on Australian community radio.