Ultima Online cost only 5-6 million

You need to qualify that statement with IN THE SAME GENRE.

Cause there are a litany of games, made for way less, with as much, if not MORE impact, than UO, they are just not in the MMO genre.

 

Sure, fair point.

 

See - I am never wrong... amazing

mittens

 

I don't agree with the premise from the OP, its still apples and oranges.

 

I wish i lived in a perfect world where everything added up with the one .i wish Richard Garriot would buy back Ultima online ? .Kick's Shroud of the Avatar around >Now you give us the % after i upgraded to Lord Marshal hahaha

 

Okay, first of all, SotA won't be Ultima Online 2 (this was already stated enough and again and again and again be the developers). It will be a spiritual successor to the Ultima franchise, not just to one game of the series.

Second: Most developers will tell you, that developing games today is much more expensive than it was 20 years ago. Since I'm not a developer myself, I can't tell you why that's the case and I would be quite interested in seeing some kind of documentary, where the progress of game development over the years is shown.

But I'm very careful, when it comes to comparing things, that are so wide apart. Often, when it comes to such topics, there's a note of annoyance noticeable like "In the past, everything was cheaper and better. Are developers from today worse (slower, more wasteful, more expensive) than they were in the past?". And I can't imagine, that a developer likes hearing such accusations.

And I'm not quite sure, what answer from the developers you'd like to hear...

 

I agree. Definitely apples and oranges. lol.

But more importantly, to me anyway, is...........what the heck is this thread really about; the purpose? What is the OP alluding to, really? I've been reading it, trying to figure out what the purpose of it is, hoping one of the posts would shed some light, and having no luck. Is this criticizing Port saying they should be doing something that someone thinks they're not doing with the current budget? Is this defending Port's current work within the current budget?

Maybe I'm just being obtuse here. (always a possibility since I frequently forget & leave my brain on the kitchen counter when I get my morning coffee). But honestly, I'm at a complete loss as to the purpose here and maybe someone could enlighten me.


edit: Also, an aspect that needs to be taken into account which contributes to why I agree it's apples to oranges is the cost of running your own offices as opposed to working within a large corporation. I don't know the arrangements they had, but going by what I've seen in other industries, an independent has to rent their own offices, buy their own equipment and office supplies, pay their own utilities, pay their own cost of advertising and travel for PR work, etc, etc, etc. All of which is more expensive than it was back then, even if they for some reason did have to pay all those things then. UO was made under completely different circumstances, in addition to all the other things mentioned in this thread.

 

Basic math will tell you this applies to everyone so you don't compare the terms which cancel each other out. We're talking about the price tag to develop the game.

 

Except they don't cancel each other out. I very much doubt they had to pay all those things since they were working within Origin & EA.

p.s. I'm still wondering at the purpose of this thread

 

Keep in mind that's not the topic of this thread. I was simply debunking claims UO had so much more support than SotA because of EA, when in truth it had very little support from the get go.

I'm a big fan of the single player Ultimas. So far this game is shaping up to be nothing like the single player Ultimas. I don't expect it to, either. So I'm not sure what it is the spiritual successor to at this point.

 

Except it does cancel out. We're comparing the money raised for SotA, which is directly going to the development of the game, to the money raised for UO, which went directly to the development of the game.

"I'm not sure people have a correct understanding of what I call my personal finances," Garriott told me. "Nor am I really prepared to discuss them. But suffice to say the following, which is, I have and continue to support this company and this project to the tune of millions of dollars."

How much has he invested in Shroud of the Avatar specifically?

"It's hard to tell," he answered. "I don't think we actually split out our accounting on an individual process. But we've got millions into the organisation by all means, and a good chunk of that toward Shroud."

See the following link:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...iotts-shroud-of-the-avatar-whats-the-big-idea

SotA is being made within Portalarium, a company founded to make mobile and social media games (before SotA ever existed) and funded by Richard Garriot who has stated he committed several million of his own money to the company.

What's your point again?

 

Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree on this. Arguing about it is pointless. Speaking of points...I'm not the one who started this thread. I was asking in my original post here, what the point of the thread was since it's really wasn't clear in your OP. Guess you answered that with the last couple posts. Thanks.

 

UO also shipped out as a boxed CD with maps & big rule books adding to costs unlike to day were its all digital downloads that you never really own.

 

That's very true. Another good reason why there's really no way to accurately compare the two. Any way you look at it, it boils down to apples to oranges.

 

My copy of SotA Collectors Edition will be shipped out as a boxed CD with maps & big rule books adding to the costs yet today. I will own it like back in in time. Somethings never change.

 

I am getting a whole ton of stuff set to me from maps to hard copies to coins, this is actually the only game in the last 25 odd years of gaming where I shall be getting MORE than just a disk and a box.

 

Very interesting post with alot of history about UO. Gave me a headache though with the inflation bit.
**Goes back to chopping wood to make a sturdy stool.

 

Really? Were some users just floating heads in the 6th release alpha of UO? If trying to backpedal into that comparison makes you feel smug, have fun.

 

Isn't a huge cost factor the difference between 2D isometric and a 3D world?

 

Frankly, I was asking in perfect seriousness.

One cannot compare the intermediate development stages of two incomplete games, only the end result can be honestly compared. And the devs are nowhere near complete regarding this particular game.

However I now gather you were simply being sensationalist, so there is really nothing to talk about apparently.

I will leave you be.