🚀 go-pugleaf

I have been a consistent fan of Ultima since III came out, but as with many
people in this newsgroup, I have been dismayed by the recent trend in the 
series.  Here are some of my opinions:

1)  The trend to real time combat has to be stopped or at least moderated. 
I am a fan of strategic combat... I think X-COM had perhaps the best combat
system I have seen in a while.  Real time combat has its place in the industry,
certainly, but I think that the Ultima experience is more aligned with 
thinking and planning rather than manual dexterity and speed.  I liked the
return to the emphasis on fighting in U8, after the fighting depleted U6
-U7.5, just not the way it was implemented.

2)  In a similar vein, I was severely dissapointed in the arcade sequences,
i.e. the jumping, etc.  I would advocate doing away with this totally, as the
opinions I have seen on the newsgroup have been almost exclusively negative
about this subject.

3)  I am also alarmed by the trend towards more non-personal interaction in
U8.  I thought U7 and U7.5 were very good in this aspect.  However, U8 
eliminated the portraits, one of my favorite things, and the number of people
to talk to.  I think this is very dangerous, as this is one of the things
the Ultima series is famous for.

4)  Point of view:  in U8 it was too low.  Often it was hard to see what you
were actually trying to manipulate.  I kind of like the slightly off overhead
view.

5)  Finally, recent GOOD things about Ultima:  One is the graphics.  As much
as posible, I think you should keep up the high end graphics.  HOWEVER, game
play should not be sacrificed to make room for better graphics.  I liked the
spell animations particularly in U8.  Also, the addition of climbing was 
very creative.  Just not the jumping over platforms, etc...


Thanks for your time, and you interest in true RPGers opinions.

-- 
Jason Sprague
jja...@mit.edu