Ultima Online shard emulation

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Fans of Ultima Online have reverse-engineered the game to produce server emulators of the original Electronic Arts servers. With the modern emulation server software available today, it is possible to customize most aspects of the game and support large numbers of concurrent players on a single server.

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[edit] Popularity

In recent years, the number of people who have begun playing on emulated servers without first playing on Electronic Arts servers has steadily increased[citation needed]. This is partly due to several free releases of the original client for download, as well as advertisement of the game by those who either create or support emulated servers[citation needed].

Some third-party servers claim to maintain high numbers of active accounts (upwards of 60,000 active accounts), online players (upwards of about 500 to 1000 average), and content (between 6 and 7 million items), rivaling Electronic Arts servers[1][2]. It is possible to find complete and well-populated servers emulating the world as it was in the days before the Renaissance expansion pack as well as servers that provide support for all expansion packs to date. Many European and Asian servers boast of very high numbers of players, as well as extremely customized features, while a higher percentage of American servers have been predominantly small and less customized[citation needed].

Part of the reason why emulation in Ultima Online has been so successful is the relatively open format of the game's software; it is possible to change the server to which the game client connects by merely editing an ASCII text document, although many modern emulators require that the client packet encryption be turned off as well[citation needed]. Removing the packet encryption can be accomplished by either removing it from the client's executable (as UORice does) permanently, or by circumventing it on a per-use basis by either filtering the packets or modifying the client each time it is run (such as UOGateway and Razor do)[citation needed].

[edit] Customization

Today, it is commonplace for many custom servers to not only feature custom game play, but also custom media, such as graphics and maps, as well. Almost all of the Ultima Online client files have been reverse-engineered, and a whole slew of editing software has arisen.

[edit] Legal issues

Please note disclaimer: Wikipedia does not give legal advice.

Operating or playing on an emulated server is in violation of the Ultima Online terms of service (see below), and as such, anybody caught doing so faces the possibility of his or her Electronic Arts account being suspended or permanently banned. However, due to ambiguity in the law relating to whether or not operating or playing on an emulated server is an actual crime, little has been attempted on behalf of Electronic Arts in response to players doing either activity[3]. The creators of other games, such as World of Warcraft, Diablo 2 (Battle.net) and EverQuest, on the other hand, have had some success in shutting down emulated servers and have been actively doing so[4] [5].

See also: Server emulator - Legality

[edit] Copyright

One legal issue in relation to emulated servers is that of copyright. Electronic Arts owns the copyright to all of the Ultima Online client files and holds the exclusive right to decide who may and may not distribute them. As a result, no server operator may provide in whole or in part any of the Ultima Online client files to its players, unless they are completely custom-made from scratch (in which case they would not be the property of Electronic Arts). However, full versions of the most recent expansion may be found (with all of the data files) on the public Electronic Arts FTP (and free download sites such as fileplanet), where they may be downloaded legally.

[edit] Terms of service

The language in the terms of service in relation to emulated servers as of August 11, 2006[6]:

(d) Official Service. Ultima Online has been designed by Electronic Arts for play only on the Service. The Software is licensed to you for play on the Service only. Electronic Arts does not grant you a license to use the Software for any other purpose. You agree to play Ultima Online only on the Service and not through any other means. You further agree not to create or provide any other means through which Ultima Online may be played by others - for example, through server emulators. You may not reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the Software, including any proprietary communications protocol used by the Software. You acknowledge that you do not have the right to create, publish, distribute, create derivative works from or use any software programs, utilities, applications, emulators or tools derived from or created for Ultima Online unless specifically authorized in writing by Electronic Arts.

This paragraph did not exist in the terms of service before the release of the Ultima Online expansion Ultima Online: The Second Age[citation needed]. Whether or not the current version of the terms of service is enforcable depends to a large extent on the country where the player or server operator resides, as laws vary.

[edit] Reverse engineering

Reverse engineering the Ultima Online client for the purpose of copyright circumvention is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the United States. Many of the file formats used by the Ultima Online client were reverse engineered prior to the DMCA being signed into law on October 28, 1998, and have become accessible to the general public[7]. The continued reverse engineering of the Ultima Online client for the purpose of removing the encryption placed on the packet stream, as is necessary to use newer clients with most third-party servers, may be a violation.

[edit] Trademarks

Electronic Arts is the holder of many Ultima-related trademarks, such as Ultima Online and Britannia, with the notable exception of Lord British (which is still owned by Richard Garriott) [8]. Use of trademarked names on third-party servers may be a violation of trademark law.

[edit] References

  1. ^ RunUO (unknown). RunUO Free Shards. RunUO.com. Retrieved on August 10, 2006.
  2. ^ TopShards.com (unknown). Freeshard Topsite. TopShards.com. Retrieved on August 10, 2006.
  3. ^ Joe Blancato (unknown). The Highest Form of Flattery. The Escapist. Retrieved on August 11, 2006.
  4. ^ Joe Blancato (unknown). The Highest Form of Flattery. The Escapist. Retrieved on August 11, 2006.
  5. ^ United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (2005). Davidson & Associates DBA Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.; Vivendi Universal Inc. v. Jung et al., 422 F.3d 630 (8th Cir. 2005). USCourts.gov. Retrieved on March 22, 2006.
  6. ^ Electronic Arts (unknown). UO Terms of Service. Electronic Arts. Retrieved on August 11, 2006.
  7. ^ Alazane (2002-03-23). UO File Formats. UO Stratics - Heptazane. Retrieved on August 11, 2006.
  8. ^ Electronic Arts (2004-03-12). Legal Notice. Electronic Arts. Retrieved on August 11, 2006.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Notable server emulators

[edit] Emulation information

  • Emulator Resource - A website tracking server emulator projects and private servers.
  • Gamelists - A website listing popular free shards.
  • Gamesites - Another website listing popular free shards.
  • Ryandor - Very active web site regarding making custom maps for UO.
  • UOGateway - A program that removes the client encryption, and lists some free shards.
  • UO game list - A website listing free shards.
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