The developers from EA Mythic have taken down the Siege Perilous shard in Ultima Online. If this is your realm, then you'll probably want to find out more by checking the full article by clicking on the "read more" link below.

With their strong library of annual franchises, Electronic Arts has gone out on a limb to say that games have longer lifespans today. To prove their point, EA talked about MMOs, DLCs, and their ten-year plan for the upcoming game, Spore (PC, Nintendo Wii, DS,  Mac, Mobile). More details after the jump.

You'd think that it's about time that Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn did something in the face of free-to-play MMORPGs spawning left and right, but actually, they had something for some time now. Just in case you missed this little goodie, we'll spread the news far and wide: EA Mythic is giving out a two week free trial for players interested in experiencing a graphically improved Ultima Online with the new Kingdom Reborn client. More details at the full story.

In case some of you missed it, EA Mythic implemented last night a server update for Ultima Online, the longest running MMORPG to date. There were a lot of changes that concern in-game items, artifacts, and pieces among others.

Do remember though that notes such as these are sometimes incomplete, but the developers promised to inform its players as soon as something else comes up. Click the "read more" link below to see the notes.

Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa end of beta event had players find and kill General British. But why? How? Who the hell is General British anyways? (Hint: Richard Garriott = General British) Well, April Burba (AKA CuppaJo) discussed about the end of beta event and how it came about. Veteran MMORPG players will know this bit of gaming lore for sure.

For those who aren't aware, this event has some historical roots from all the way back in Ultima Online. When the game launched back then, Richard Garriott (the game's creator) he addressed the crowd in-game and... well, died. Apparently, upon giving the other players the challenge to kill him, he had forgotten to make his character invincible. So, right as he jumped into the fray of battle... well, you can probably figure out the rest.

Now in Tabula Rasa, they've recreated the event from ten years ago, with a few tweaks though. For one, Garriott wasn't invulnerable. What made him seem so were the clones of himself causing chaos in the battlefield. As CuppaJo explained before the event:

A lot of the developers will be in the game, dressed in the General British armor, and although they will look identical, they will have names like General Br1t1sh or General Irish. Only Richard Garriott himself will have the correct name, General British. As the players encounter these clones, they will have to eliminate them so that they can find the right one and take him down.

Electronic Arts' Ultima Online, one of the most celebrated and longest running MMORPGs of all time, will be going through a major change during the next maintenance where EA will be publishing together all the shards (i.e. server realms) of this classic MMORPG. There will also be several fixes and in-game changes included after the scheduled maintenance taking care of minor issues, as well as bringing back some well loved events.

Here's a look at the comprehensive list of changes players can expect after the maintenance:

• Gareth, the quest giver for the Cloak of Humility quest, was relocated to Trinsic
• Players that are logged in Magencia will be teleported safely to the Trinsic docks of their facet
• Players will be unable to gate, recall, or Sacred Journey to Magincia
• Fixed issue that caused the virtue set helm to reset its resists to the base values when the full suit was being worn.
• Fixed the bug where certain stealable items could not be locked down causing players to lose these items (Doom Artifacts)
• Fixed an issue where players were getting IGR timer errors and getting disconnected
• Players with bushido skill should now be able to bond with lesser hiryus.
• Added double dragon scale resources in Felucca. Siege ruleset shards do not benefit from this change.
• Oil cloth should now properly remove poison from weapons
• Newly spawned quest mobs can no longer be charmed with the dryad allure spell.
• Made the event-related firefields do more damage 5-7 instead of 3 damage
• Trick or Treating is back!
• Pumpkins are once again spawning in patches all over Britannia
• Boats abandoned in Magincia will randomly catch fire and sink if no one is around

All of these changes will be applicable for the original client and the new Kingdom Reborn client. It's nice to know that even after ten years of continuing the Ultima Online legacy, the developers from Origin Systems are still working hard to continually improve the game. This move aims to bring together more players by allowing access to all shards for subscribers across the world.

Korean-based game company NCsoft has announced that they will not be sponsoring Richard Garriott's flight to the International Space Station next year. The announcement followed the news that Garriott, creator of Tabula Rasa and Ultima Online, has already started preparations to make the space trip.

Kim Ju-young, a spokesperson for NCsoft explains: "It is a personal affair [of Garriott]. We decided not to participate in the program." The decision may be the result of some internal problems in NCsoft, caused by some conflict between CEO Kim Taek-Kin and the employees.

The hefty price to create Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa (it cost the company about US$ 18.5 million) and the long delays (around six years), caused NCsoft employees to lose trust in Garriott and are troubled since Kim continues to support Garriott. The decision not to fund the space trip may be a move to mitigate the issue.

Garriott may end up having to fund his own trip to outer space next year. If he does decide to do so he may have to dish out something within the region of US$ 30 million.

As some of you might be aware, the much-celebrated MMO title Ultima Online is currently having its 10th anniversary celebration. To commemorate the occasion, EA Mythic is giving long-time players of the MMORPG the chance to return to the game and remember how it feels like to walk the dungeons of Britannia.

Take note that this offer is for free and will last until October 9 (2 a.m. PST). Those who decide to return will be receiving a fancy Wand of Fireworks and 10 Decor Tokens. This offer will also allow returning players to complete the full Virtue Armour set. The set contains Ankh Necklace, Map of Britannia, and historical weapons owned by notable in-game figures.

For interested parties, you can refer to our Read link below as it leads to the official Ultima Online page dedicated to this event. You can download there both the original client and the Kingdom Reborn client. It will also provide you with useful information on how to get back in the game.

Aside from Halo 3's much-publicized launch, the gaming community may have another good reason to be celebrating today. Electronic Arts is sending out word that September 25, 2007 marks the 10th anniversary of the long-lived Ultimate Online MMORPG.

As part of the celebrations, EA will be starting up the Return to Brittania campaign, an amnesty program that welcomes former players to discover the gameplay and graphics upgrades implemented in Ultima's Kingdom Reborn expansion. EA Mythic VP and general manager Mark Jacobs has this to say regarding the occassion:

Ultima Online has thrived for 10 years and achieved the status of an MMO classic, thanks in large part to the devoted player community. We are very excited to celebrate this special anniversary with players.

Aside from the amnesty program, players can also look forward to a special monster monster hunt to commemorate Ultima Online's tenth anniversary. Prizes for upcoming quests include an ankh pendant necklace, map of Brittania, an Ultima Online commemorative sculpture, and and a virtue armor set. All players will also receive 10 decor tokens, and a wand of fireworks. Guys interested in signing up for the Return to Brittania campaign will want to visit the official Ultima Online site. Subscribers to this program have until October 9 to play.

One of the relatively newer genres in the gaming industry is the MMORPG. It's advent goes back to as far as the 1990s when games such as Ultima Online and EverQuest popularized the concept of an online gaming community where people can band together and bash random critters for experience and gold.

One of the most popular MMORPGs to date is Blizzard's phenomenal World of Warcraft, which has a subscriber count of at least 8.5 million worldwide. However, it owes a lot of its existence to its proverbial forefathers. Conditions back then were considerably different for such a budding game genre to grow.

In 1999, Ubisoft introduced EverQuest to the German market. A lot of hindrances such as the limitations of technology, as well as the relatively high costs of online fees made its rise to popularity quite slow compared to today's standards. Peaking at 500,000 subscribers,many consider EverQuest as the one which paved the way for the MMORPG genre to take flight.

Karsten Lehmann, a spokesman for Ubisoft, relates their past difficulties: "It's hard for players today who are accustomed to the idea of flat rate Internet access to remember how complicated this kind of stuff was at the time".

It was only during 2004 that Blizzard capitalized on the growing fame of the new gaming genre and launched World of Warcraft into the MMORPG giant it is today. It took all the elements that gave EverQuest its massive appeal and simplified it for users everywhere to enjoy. It goes without saying that Blizzard definitely struck gold here.

Today, more and more gaming companies are riding on the ever growing community of online gamers. With the genre continually growing in depth and dynamics, who knows what the next wave of online games can bring.