Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar

Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar was a free-to-play, cross-platform, online, action role-playing game developed by Mythic Entertainment and Escalation Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It was formally a part of the Ultima series. Information was previously released by BioWare in mid-2011 and more information was released on July 11, 2011. It was officially announced at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July 12, 2012 and it was fully released for iOS on August 7, 2013.[1][2] The game was shut down on August 29, 2014.[3]

Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar
Developer(s)Mythic Entertainment
Escalation Studios
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Platform(s)iOS
ReleaseAugust 7, 2013
Genre(s)Action role-playing game
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Gameplay
We took Ultima IV, with all of its ethical moral choice, which was innovative for its time, and updated it for the next generation.

—Kate Flack[4]

The game was based upon Ultima IV, but was considered by Mythic to be an "action role-playing game". Ultima Forever included both online play with a group, as well as a single-player mode. Unlike Ultima IV, there was a Lady British character instead of Lord British. This was due to Richard Garriott retaining the trademark rights after he left Electronic Arts. Mythic emphasized that the Virtues from the Ultima series would play an important part.

Ultima Forever featured a top-down isometric point of view, with "hand-painted backgrounds and 3D characters."[5]

Development

On March 31, 2011, an image was leaked on to the internet, from a presentation being given by Paul Barnett.[6] The official Twitter account became active on April 4, 2011, and was discovered by the Ultima community at the end of May 2011.[7][8] The official website was registered on March 17, 2010[9] and went live on June 2, 2011.[10]

On June 11, 2012, Mythic Entertainment General Manager Eugene Evans revealed at the Develop Conference that a new free-to-play online was going to be announced on July 12, 2012.[11] Later that day, the official Facebook page became active, and the official website was updated to a new design, with a brief description of the game, and a link for Beta applicants.[12]

Paul Barnett revealed on Twitter that the game would be announced at San Diego Comic-Con International.[13]

Reception

Reception for the game ranged from mixed to negative. Most reviewers criticized the microtransaction system used.

Forbes gave it a 6 out of 10 rating. [14]

Touch Arcade gave it three out of five stars. [15]

Eurogamer gave it a rating of 2 out of 10, calling it 'a game built for idiots, a Cow Clicker with a beard'. [16]

References
  1. WtF Dragon (July 12, 2012). "BioWare Mythic Announces Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar". ultimacodex.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  2. "'Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar' Now Available in the US App Store". Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  3. Gera, Emily (1 August 2014). "Ultima Forever comes to an end months after closure of EA Mythic". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  4. McWhertor, Michael (July 19, 2012). "'Ultima Forever' will be 'very respectful of the original' says BioWare". theverge.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  5. Kox, Kate (July 12, 2012). "Ultima Is Going Free-To-Play. And It Just Might Work". kotaku.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  6. Wtf Dragon (March 31, 2011). "Is This An Image of Mythic's Secret (Ultima) Project?". ultimacodex.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  7. UltimaForever (April 4, 2011). "Art thou Humble?". twitter.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  8. Sergorn (March 31, 2011). "Ultima Forever en approche ?". ultimalegend.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  9. Mister_Bubbles. "Ultima Forever a hidden Ultima legacy site by EA in the making!". reddit.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  10. Wtf Dragon (June 2, 2012). "UltimaForever.Com Launches (For Real, This Time!)". ultimacodex.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  11. CVG Staff (July 11, 2012). "BioWare Mythic to announce new F2P online game". computerandvideogames.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  12. Deckard (July 12, 2012). "Ultima Forever Facebook & Website Live". ultimacodex.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  13. Barnett, Paul (July 11, 2011). "On way to comic con, we have a game to announce! Go go BioWare digital!". twitter.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  14. https://www.forbes.com/sites/games/2013/08/13/ultima-forever-review-the-folly-of-lady-british/+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
  15. "'Ultima Forever' Review - Party Up in This Free MMORPG". 12 August 2013.
  16. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-09-05-ultima-forever-review
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