Forums » Off-Topic and Casual Chatter

MMO Documentaries & Videos

    • 470 posts
    July 30, 2019 8:20 AM PDT

    Been recovering from a bit of a nasty bug the last few days so I've been dredging through old YouTube videos. So if you're like me and enjoy videos about the history of MMOs as well as a bit of commentary, you might enjoy this little list. It covers quite a bit from the highs and lows of EverQuest, WoW and others, as well as some comedy and tragedy. Anywho, enjoy!

    EverCracked
    A light-hearted Jace Hall documentary about EverQuest.

    https://youtu.be/mHnDSr-b02Q

    The History of EverQuest Parts 1 & 2
    A retrospective on the history of EverQuest with some of the highs and lows of the earlier years of the MMORPG that revolutionized the genre. That said, we'll excuse the fact that early on in Part 1 they used a picture of Dave Georgeson for Steve Clover. ;p

    Part 1: https://youtu.be/Cf7yPC0akFo

    Part 2: https://youtu.be/JyF6vDIEBOk

    How Gamers Killed Ultima Online's Virtual Ecology (Featuring Richard Garriott)

    https://youtu.be/KFNxJVTJleE

    Ultima Online - Richard Garriott Interview 1997

    An informative and fun interview with Richard Garriott discussing some of the early challenges and fun of developing Ultima Online, including one comical in-game event in the form of a wrestling match officiated by GMs after a player named The Hulkster (yes, like Hulk Hogan, the Hulkster) called out Richard Garriott's Lord British by challenging him to an in-game wrestling match.

    https://youtu.be/4-TlwwwJGH0

    EA Shot Down Ultima Online Pitch 3 Times - IGN Unfiltered

    An interview with Richard Garriott where he discusses how not onboard EA was with Ultima Online, showing that even back in the 90s EA was out of touch. Garriott also talks about some of the challenges of actually testing the game without the modern day convinience of digital downloads.

    https://youtu.be/mgpKHuxy4To

    World of Warcraft Looking for Group Documentary

    A fun little documentary that goes behind the scenes at Blizzard to look at some of the challenges of managing Wo as well as delving into some of the community.

    https://youtu.be/xyPzTywUBsQ

    I could keep going but I'll end it there before I consume the Pantheon website. lol 


    This post was edited by Kratuk at July 30, 2019 8:22 AM PDT
    • 2886 posts
    July 30, 2019 4:37 PM PDT

    I do love me a good documentary. I've of course seen the EverCracked one, but I'll check the others out! Even if I've never played a game before, I still find the whole MMO genre fascinating - especially the backgrounds and how we got to where we are. Cause you know, as they say, those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it!

    • 470 posts
    July 30, 2019 5:03 PM PDT

    Bazgrim said:

    I do love me a good documentary. I've of course seen the EverCracked one, but I'll check the others out! Even if I've never played a game before, I still find the whole MMO genre fascinating - especially the backgrounds and how we got to where we are. Cause you know, as they say, those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it!

    Yeah there's some great vids out there related to the history of MMOs. I'll probably edit this to add more later just in case anyone is a junky for stuff like this as I am. The "How Gamers Killed Ultima Online's Virtual Ecology (Featuring Richard Garriott)" video is interesting if you haven't seen it. That was an interesting story about how those ambitious mechanics to address certain issues can go off the rails sometimes. lol

    • 844 posts
    July 31, 2019 6:49 PM PDT

    I was the pre-pre-pre alpha (there was no term for it back then) player in UO. Well frankly I was possibly the only player. I never saw another.

    Not sure how that happened but I was one of the first to walk around UO when it was first open for testing to a rare few (I assume, never saw another player). There was nothing, just terrain. No buildings. No animals. No monsters. No towns.

    It was probably because I was an IT engineer back then and had a robust ISDN dual-B channel connection. Most everyone had a single basic land line and poor modems.

    It was amazing to be one of the few first people to walk around in the first online graphical game world.

    But alas, the UO sandbox quickly lost it's luster for me. I found I really don't care for isometric style games.

    Hello EQ Pre-Beta. Or whatever it was. :)