Slightly OT: EA shuts down Origin for good

[Dominus]

http://games.slashdot.org/games/04/02/24/0352257.shtml
coup de grace

[drcode]

Sad, although they've been "Origin" in name only for a few years now. It's certainly too bad for the employees who have to either face unemployment or a move to Los Angeles.

[The Ghost of Skutarth]

Let them die. They are no longer the real Origin.

[WishStone Dragon]

I would wish them to either find a new home together, away from EA, or to get together and build something new.

Sadly, you guys before me were right. That wasn`t Origin anymore. It was a handpuppet for EA. But if I look back on the (partly gross) changes UO alone went through.. *shakes her head* Nope. Not OSI.

[Dupre]

I wonder wheather Richard Garriot could 'legally' use the name Origin again, considering that it was originally his company that he started in the 80's.

As for the programmers, I feel bad for them as they are caught in the middle of this corporate nonsense. I wish them the best.

[Colourless]

Not a chance. EA has owned the Trademark rights to the Origin name since they acquired the company oh so many years ago (1993?).

[The Ghost of Skutarth]

If it shuts down forever, and it becomes public domain, then if you want the SNES version of Savage empire, just ask me to mail it to you.

[Dominus]

expect a mail from me in about 50 years or so.

[Sean Whalen]

Thank God, I've been hoping this would happen on or off for years, now if they'd only shut down the Ultima name.

[Oblivious]

^^Not a chance, EA is too evil for that.

[Sean Whalen]

I read on Horizons Tavern now that Cynthe and Calandryll have left and it's rumored the UO Lead Designer Evocare might of already left for Blizzard to work on World of Warcraft, saw it on uo.stratics.com. Burn baby burn!!! I feel bad about the people who lost jobs though, but I really do want Ultima to die out completely.

[Macaw]

I want it to die out to, unless Richard Garriott get the rights to it again.. Which is a very low chance

[The Big Joke]

Aye, its indeed a sad thing to see what have hapend to OSI.

UO aint as bad as you people seem to think of it thought. True, its not what it used to be, but at least there is a well developed RP comunity on the european "shard", wich makes it worth its monthly cost.

[Oblivious]

You forget. Most Ultima fans will never warm up to UO, because it is what caused the destruction of the Ultima series (well, aside from EA that is)

[Dupre]

I agree with Oblivious. Most UO fans that did play it left because it bore little resemblance to the Ultima series. ( present company included ).

[Iceshard-]

I played UO up until right after AoS (Age of Shadows, to my knowledge, latest expansion) came out. I left simply because of so many ignored (They even said, somewhere, that they weren't going to even touch them for a few months, at least) bugs, and when people got struck by them and lost everything, including no drop items, they had no way to get them back. (Wonder why I left... Where is my spell book!?)

[Oblivious]

Mitchell, your story sounds so familiar... (UA, anyone?)