2002-07-18: Tajima Speaks of Interesting Times
Tajima Speaks of Interesting Times
Jul 18 2002 1:47PM
This was originally posted to Development at uo.com. [1]
There’s an ancient Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times." Though this may have been viewed as a curse back then, when it comes to UO and the future of Britannia, it’s a good thing!
As you may have recently learned, we’re hard at work on the Age of Shadows expansion. Hopefully this announcement in itself answers a lot of questions about the changes we’ve recently made, while also explaining why we’ve been pretty tight-lipped about our future plans. In other words, we really aren’t crazy, UO does have a bright future, and we really do listen to our players!
The past several months have been a real test of the development team’s self-control. We’ve been knee-deep in design and prototyping work for Age of Shadows, but haven’t been able to even hint at how exciting this expansion is shaping up to be. Just the marquee features, such as the two new professions, more housing space and the ability to design custom homes would make this the biggest expansion to date, but those are just the tip of the iceberg. Now that we can finally discuss what we’ve got up our sleeves, you can look forward to constant updates on our efforts over the coming months.
It’s fitting that the release of Age of Shadows converges nicely with UO’s fifth anniversary. While we could consider resting on our laurels at this level of achievement, everyone here is going all-out to take the game in exhilarating new directions. Our customers are immensely valuable to us, and we owe you all, veterans and new players alike, nothing less than our very best efforts in this regard.
But before we all get wrapped around the axle about the new features, landscapes, and monsters for UO, I’d like to let you in on a secret: There are a lot more people required to keep UO ticking than the handful of "reds" you see on the boards or in the game. The folks behind the scenes are just as vital to our efforts as any programmer, artist, designer, producer, GM, or tester. You may never meet someone from our Customer Service, Engineering, Operations, Facilities, Finance, Marketing, or Human Resources groups, but UO wouldn’t exist without them. We’re all on the same team, dedicated to providing you the most enjoyable experience possible.
In closing, I’d like to thank all of you for your feedback and support through the years. Because of you, UO has become more than a game. It’s an international meta-culture, a social phenomenon, and a fascinating convergence of real people and virtual lives. And this year, more so than any other, it’s going to be…interesting.
See you in the game!
Bryan "Tajima" Walker
Producer
Origin Systems
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