Skip to main content

Garriott's Ultimate Collector the "backbone" of new UO-inspired RPG

Lord British tells Eurogamer about the skeletons in his coffins.

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer

The Ultimate Collector Facebook game Richard Garriott's newish company Portalarium announced today is a front to test technology that will power his new Ultimate RPG - a spiritual successor to Ultima Online.

"Ultimate Collector really is the backbone of the next game," Richard Garriott told Eurogamer.

"None of the art is the same, of course, and there are absolutely no roles in Ultimate Collector, like there will be in the next game, but the tool-suite is continuing to evolve."

Rather than develop and test all of the necessary Ultimate RPG features at once, Garriott had Portalarium make simple casino games to establish (and help fund) "fundamental" back-end tools like friends lists, buying and selling, real-money transactions and Facebook integration.

Ultimate Collector expands Portalarium's capabilities to avatars, houses, secure trading, object collection "and all these other kind of things that are more role-playing-like". But still no combat, no magic, "not the diversity of roles to play".

Ultimate Collector resembles an early Sims game, both in colourful look and in tone. Avatars scour the game world one flea market or garage sale at a time, acquiring and renovating objects to turn into valuable collections to either sell or to decorate their homes with.

"I have five vampire hunting kits, three shrunken heads, two mummies, two full-size - three actually now - skeletons in coffins. I have human hearts, a human foetus."

Richard Garriott

What a strange idea, you may say. Except that for Richard Garriott, a self-confessed "sick collector", it isn't at all.

"I don't know if you know, but I am personally a big collector," he shared.

"I have collections of automatons, scientific instruments, space artefacts, natural history artefacts, fossils.

"Well I don't have any, quote, aliens," he answered, "because I'm not really sure they exist. But I do have a dungeon filled with macabre items. I have five vampire hunting kits, three shrunken heads, two mummies, two full-size - three actually now - skeletons in coffins. I have human hearts, a human foetus."

"You might call it weird; I call it fascinating."

And its that fascination Garriott hopes Ultimate Collector can encourage, because when you find objects in the game, you learn about them. Theoretically, Ultimate Collector can help you become an expert.

"If you collect fossils enough to finish all of our 12 quests in fossils, your actual expertise in fossils, truly, has gone way up," Richard Garriott explained.

"And by the way, this is true for every collector of real objects on earth. If you ask me about the history of automata, I promise you I truly am one of the world's experts on this art form called automata, which are mechanical art models.

"If you ask me about the history of scientific demonstration apparatus and 'quack' medicine apparatus, I assure you I really am one of the world's foremost people on it, because I've been a collector of it for 20 or 30 years."

Richard Garriott

"If you ask me about the history of scientific demonstration apparatus and 'quack' medicine apparatus, I assure you I really am one of the world's foremost people on it, because I've been a collector of it for 20 or 30 years.

"You're not just collecting fluff," he declared. "Some of it is just things you find visually interesting. But if you collect art, you really are going to learn art history. And your appreciation for art as an object to see in the real world and as an object to collect in the game, your passion for it really will be deepened and enhanced.

"Ultimate Collector works at a level, at a depth, that all these other alter-life games don't."

Objects available in Ultimate Collector span McDonald's Happy Meal toys to plastic replicas of the 101 Dalmations dogs - something Garriott is interested in for real.

"You can build collections out of anything you like. I truly, personally happen to be a Barbie collector, of all things," Garriott also revealed.

"And you can build a Barbie collection that is all Barbies missing one arm. You can! Perfectly valid collection.

"In fact," he added, "while an individual Barbie might be worth less than normal because it's missing an arm, when you build an entire collection of 25 Barbies, all of which are missing their arm, the fact that you've managed to do that consistently across the entire collection now means its collection value has gone up.

"Do you follow my meaning?"

Aiding the notion of learning are embedded links to real-life knowledge databases. Garriott used an example of Disney animation art within Ultimate Collector, which links out to a woman who sells Disney animation art in the real world.

Ultimate Collector will also deal with real-world shops, and have them appear in game.

Ultimate Collector will come out first on Facebook in Q1 2012. A launch on iPad will follow, then browser, "executable", Android and iPhone, Garriott told us. That's the plan.

Check back on Eurogamer later this week for the rest of my adventure into the eccentric mind of Richard Garriott, and to find out much more about the Ultima Online-style Ultimate RPG he's making.

Read this next

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com