#ultima

[prokopetz]

this is a stupid question but i'm young enough to not know this: i've noticed that baldur's gate 3 has picked up a lot of the same level of both broad acclaim and fandom presence as the Bioware games did during the 7th generation. were there western RPGs in the decades before then with about the same level of success both commercial and critical? if so, what were they?

That's one of those "yes and no" deals.

The critical thing to understand is that home Internet service only became a thing in 1994; prior to that point, video game fandoms not only didn't have the same kind of reach, they tended to be geographically regional owing to the lack of online distribution, so what commercial and critical success looked like was very different.

To a large extent, the popularity of Baldur's Gate owed less to anything about the game itself, and more to the fact that it was simply a major production from a major brand which happened to debut at the same time that home Internet service was in a phase of rapid expansion. You can see this phenomenon occurring in other formerly regional genre fandoms that had major titles drop around that time; for example, JRPGs with Chrono Trigger, and later, Final Fantasy VII.

That said, with the understanding that what being a critically and commercially successful video game franchise looked like was a fundamentally different proposition in the pre-Internet era, the king of Western computer RPGs was undeniably the Ultima franchise. Indeed, failure to fully understand the possibilities of the post-Internet era is arguably a big part of why the Ultima series lost its crown ��� which is ironic, given that Ultima Online was the first truly popular graphical MMO, but somehow they just couldn't stick the landing.

[adalheidis]

Spot illustrations done for @runicmagitek's fic "Ignite your Heart and Light the Path Unknown" as part of a collaboration for the @ffladieszine. I love Runic's writing so working with them on a piece featuring Ashe and illustrating their words was a dream project, and I greatly recommend you read their piece!

[lockescoles]

@pscentral event 19: music ↳ FINAL FANTASY XVI OST + CHARACTERS' LEITMOTIF (template)

[asturlavi]

pathos begets mythos

[moonilit]

Do you think how Dion attempting to just end the whole world might have made Ultima panic for a sec?

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Ultima GTR, 1999. A mid-engined sports car built in Hinckley, Leicestershire that was available fully built or in kit form. Factory made cars were powered by a range of Chevrolet small block V8 engines but owners who built their own could use a wider variety of engines and transmissions with the Ultima chassis being rated for engines up to 1,000bhp. The Ultima was replaced by the Evolution in 2016

[knifefightandchill]

[linesonwhite]

I have finally finished the Ivalice raids in FFXIV as of last night, thanks to my friends helping me out. OwO Even if I died a few times, we never got entirely wiped out, which was cool.

I was also really happy to see that the original FFT design of Ultima didn't go unused, even if it only shows up briefly, so I'm using today's drawing to celebrate that. UwU

Got her posted on twitter toooooooo

[jellymadaster]

Onward!

[lihichi2808]

🧑‍⚖️

[everth1ne]

Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken - wallpapers

[assassin1513]

For @millitron 💙 I very hope you and your community love this ☺️

[retrocgads]

UK 1987

[lockescoles]

GAMES I PLAYED IN 2023 ↳ final fantasy xvi (2023)

[megamog]

Final Fantasy XII Week - Day 2: Esper

[kingofreddragons]

Alma Ultima for the FFT Anniversary