The MMO That Never Was: Ultima X: Odyssey

With Ultima Online heading into its 12th year, and Richard Garriott declaring he wants to make a new fantasy MMORPG, GameStooge has decided its time to examine the MMO that never was: Ultima X: Odyssey.

Excerpt: "One of the deliberate challenges by the designers of the announced MMO was the name itself. Unlike Ultima Online and the aborted Ultima Online Worlds: Origin, Ultima X was putting itself in the canon of the series as a numbered Ultima; when rumors of Ultima X began, people initially thought it was to be the first of a new trilogy. The use of the "X" was seen as a bold declaration in another way: it was following the disastrous Ultima IX, putting the game in the same position that Star Trek VI did, having to follow the footsteps of a franchise-killer. Furthermore, this was being done without Garriott, the lifeblood of the Ultima franchise, for the first time."