To understand why uo free servers are so successful one just has to look back over the myriad of time periods to understand it's not necessarily about the money but more of personal preference. Whether a Mage, Ninja, Paladin, or Bard Ultima Online eras have catered to different play styles and gave birth to new templates. This essay isn't to promote one particular era or free shard but to enligten people about each era and let them decide what to search for.
When one talks about role playing games or mmorpg games, they are sure to have played or heard about ultima online. There have been many changes and time eras throughout Ultima Online with the player versus player combat experience being intensified around the Second Age. The Second Age is a time period of a few years, after Dread Lord Days and before AOS, but it's impact is everlasting.
The early years, the Dread Lord Days. As the name suggests the Dread Lord Days of Ultima Online were filled with "Dread Lords" that hued red. These were players that killed other player characters becoming feared throughout the land. The game consisted of mostly Heavy CrossBow wielding mages and dexers that would hunt their prety in packs. The era was limited to less skills until the birth of the Second Age.
The Second Age was the birth of the instant hit weapon hit. This created devasting combinations of large weapons and explosive magic. Explosion, Energy bolt, Hally Weapon hit would kill most players. Anatomy and Meditation were added to give the game more diversity. Archery, Dexers and Mages all coexisted in a well balanced time era of Ultima Online.
Ultima Online Renaissance gave birth to new lands, which were really a mirror image of the old lands. They would be split up with Felucca with the old ruleset and Trammel with the new, often referred to as carebear lands. PvP during this era remained decent but it was a step backwards for the SecondAge fans of the instant hit. Trammel doubled the world size, spreading the population increasingly thin.
Third Dawn would then come out, showing there ability to stay with the times Ultima Online released new lands Ilshenar. The client could then be played in both 2d or 3d. The 3d client was different but the polished timeless look of the 2d remained a staple of the game. Lord Blackthorn's Revenge would give rise to players constant need for tougher monsters as the artificial intelligence boost proved a good move.
With an ever growing population and less housing space available UO came out with Age of Shadows in which users could place more houses on Malas. The much anticipated release of the Paladin and Necromancer class would also come to fruition giving more diversity within the genre. With it came more item based dependency than ever as evident by item insurance. Resistance as well would become more specialized into 5 categories rather than one general in the previous eras.
Mages began to dominate even more than the SecondAge. The Samurai Expansion was born with two new classes, Samurai and Ninja along with new exploreable lands, Tokuno Islands. Deathstrike would add more effective combinations for player versus player combat. Shortly after Mondain's Legacy was released, adding a new playable race, Elves with spellweaving ability. Weapons could again be worn when casting spells. Nearly eight years earlier the same principle could be applied to Dread Lord Days. Kingdom Reborn came out and is still being polished.
Stygian Abyss which is expected to come out in 2009 will feature a new playable race, Gargoyles and improve upon the Kingdom Reborn expansion. Whichever time period you most enjoyed there have certainly been many changes to Ultima Online. No other game to date has been as nimble and willing to explore possible avenues of growth. Whether it's going from a 2d mmorpg game to a 3d client, or listening to it's playerbase, (Trammel), Ultima Online free servers offer an alternative to the game they once loved.
