https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhDvJ8RketA

Man I never played this game but it was probably a very interesting MMORPG.

I'm sure it was not as painfully grindy as modern MMOs right now.

Final Fantasy 11.

There was grinding, sure, but there was also unparalleled freedom as Ultima was known for...

until they ruined it.

I played this pearl back in the 90's. I was staying at Moonglow doing havoc with my Master Thief. Man, those were the days. You could actually steal items from other players in towns! And there were also "polices"(cant recall the class name) which could hunt thiefs with forensics skill. Then i bought Everquest II and thought it was the same. It wasnt. Disappointment was HUGE.

Man there was some crazy stuff going on in the early days. When you'd basically have players acting like bandits, hanging around moongate warp-in points, damage spamming incoming players, then looting their stuff. It was sorta the wild west.

Downfall started when Garriott created carebear land and most of the player base went there. After that i quit for good. Just cant forget the feeling when you saw red name on the screen edge coming towards you. The sheer panic. Usually ended in death of my player because my thief could stand a chance against armored tank. But still, good memories.

i miss it :( Le sigh...

I quite BECAUSE of that exact thing. I had been a beta tester, barely got to play the game (but apparently the crashes I kept having were helpful to them!) and was super excited to get playing. At the time, I had just graduated college and was working full time. For a while it was great. Then summer vacation came and every pimply faced jerk-off with a computer was playing 24/7. It wasn't long before I couldn't compete at all. Could barely move around a town without get completely robbed. Couldn't leave town without getting pk'd within a few feet. It went from fun to just complete bullshit.

They HAD to do something to keep the game going. I'd given up by that point though.

I totally get what you're saying. I think you have to be in the right frame to really appreciate it in its most chaotic form. But as far as having a bit of free time, only to be constantly PK'd... yeah that's not really the kind of "relaxing" that gives you a sigh of relief before going back to the work grind.

I do really like the idea of a chaotic wild west game where there's no holds barred. There's just something special about t he idea.

Ive played EVE Online more or less since 2006 and that game IS EXACTLY like UO. Theres nothing to hold back. Safe space is (usually) where local govs ships patrol and will intercept instantly if you break the law. Outer rims are all for the strongest to take, theres no law to abide. This is what catched my eye when playing UO. New MMORPG's just keeps players hand and give all sort of helpers from the start just to keep the player not entering unhappy state. In my opinion, if you make a mistake in game youll have to pay for it, like in real world. Why everything has to be in cotton candyland where no harm can be done and we all sing kumbayja.

Boring.

Because everyone doesn't like chaos? ;)

Can't say I would have enjoyed the idea to be insta-killed as soon as leaving a safe city but the robbing part sounds awesome especially if no items are soul bound or whatever that stupid gimmick is called in modern MMOs.

I remember trying a PVP world once in Tibia and I didn't last long. Few people killed just out of town (at least when and that server I played) because if you provoked an innocent player you would get a skull, forcing you to not be able to enter a safe zone. I went out exploring and it was rather scary knowing a high level player could pop up. Once, I noticed some sparkling thing moving and then I realized it was a player having access to invisibility so I couldn't target him or her even if I had something to kill that player with.

As for EVE Online, I don't understand how people can put so many hours into that. It looks fun when you get the hang of it but the idea that can you lose it all after playing so much...I get anxiety just thinking about it. :D

It wasn't just chaos though. Murdering players carried serious consequences, and successfully stealing anything of value was very difficult, yet rewarding.