TheCycoONE: Since we're on the topic: What about the balloon, glass sword, nightshade, and mandrake root. IIRC none of those items are strictly necessary and all could be called side quests.

organmike: Well, without the balloon, you can't get a certain item that you'll need in the Abyss, unless you're prepared to "cheat" (use knowledge not gained in game) or test a lot of blink spells until you find the exact spot you're looking for.
I've never heard of the glass sword (in Ultima IV, anyway), so I'm not sure what you're talking about.
Nightshade and Mandrake aren't technically necessary items, I s'pose. Still, trying to get through the game without Mandrake Root would be an awful hardship, as it's basically required for any of the more useful spells - not for your everyday stuff, but anything that you pull out in difficult situations. You don't ever have to use magic (unless there are a couple of purple fields that need dispelling; I can't recall if that's ever a necessity) but it makes the game near impossible to try and get through without the benefit of Heals or Cures; I could see living without Fireball, but getting through without ever using Tremor would be a major challenge.
While we're at it - a sextant isn't ever wholly necessary, either, but the game would be near impossible (even for veterans) without it.

organmike: [...]

At the risk of saying something that might fall under the header of "No True Scotsman," No True '80s CRPG fan cared enough about continuity to be overly concerned. Ultima I took place on Sosaria, Ultima II on Earth (sort of), and Ultima III on a completely different Sosaria than Ultima i.
Obsessive linking of story to make a continuous chain is a modern ill of society, an unfortunate byproduct of the internet (and, previously, of VCR; syndicated TV started it, though). We were satisfied then by a few nods to some form of continuity, if we even bothered to concern ourselves with it - since, after all, not everyone playing Ultima IV will have played the previous installments.

[...]

... at which point, Origin Systems and Lord British got in and not only created a direct sequel (actually pretty rare in those days, in any game) but one wholly consistent with its precursor (equally rare now as then, incidentally) - except, of course, that whole Underworld that sprung up more or less out of nowhere, and the fact that the dungeons are all completely different now (although, admittedly, keeping them 100% consistent would have spoiled a lot of the gameplay for those who played Ultima IV! That the mantras remained - and remain - the same was enough of a roll).
Although from what I remember of those days, Origin could have raised a new island from the deep, summoned up a villain from the aether, turned a vast forest into a desert and absented the beloved lord of the realm from the entire game and we wouldn't really have minded all that much*. They knew they had a good game, and they ran with it.

The backstory to Ultima V (in the manual) also has an interesting little vignette as to how Lord British wound up in Sosaria in the first place, since he's from Earth - and is presumably an alternate-history version of Richard Garriott, the guy what made all them purty games.

* P.S. - they did all of that. And made it make sense.

TheKid965: What RafaelLopez failed to mention above is that there's another game that takes place between Ultima VII and VIII, Serpent Isle. Although it's officially called Ultima VII Part 2 it really should be considered a full-fledged sequel, one that just happens to use the same engine as VII with minor enhancements. (The reasons why it wasn't "Ultima VIII" are open for debate, with explanations ranging from "The game was too large and had to be broken into two parts" to "Richard Garriott didn't want a 'new' Ultima to rehash an old engine, since every game's engine had been rewritten from the ground up.")

Serpent Isle is notable in that it represents a nearly-successful attempt to fully integrate Sosaria (the setting for the first trilogy) into Britannian history. The titular Serpent Isle turns out to be one of the three "lost" continents from Ultima I, its towns are populated by the descendants of Sosarian dissidents who fled here after Lord British united the lands under his rule, and there's even an attempt to clear up how Shamino could have gone from being a "king" in Ultima I to just another one of your companions in the later games. While this could have come off as little more than a silly retcon, it's a testament to Origin's storytelling powers that it actually makes sense in context! (There are even some clever puns based on Ultima I's bizarrely-named towns and dungeons. For instance, in the original game this continent contained a town incongruously named "Bulldozer." The corresponding location in Serpent Isle features a tavern on that spot dubbed... get this... "The Inn of the Sleeping Bull!" There's even a legend about how it got its name if you talk to the right NPC.)

While familiarity with Ultima I or III is hardly necessary to fully enjoy Serpent Isle, you'll probably gain a better appreciation of the game and its setting if you have played the original trilogy. Just thought I'd mention it.

RafaelLopez: Last big innovation was probably Guitar Hero a good 6 years ago.

gammaleak: I think I've decided that I'm going to buy the Ultima games the first time they're on sale. It could be a long wait, but I do have a lot of games to try in between now and then.

I've started up Ultima IV and like it, but I think one of the things that frustrates me a little is that I need a sheet with all the commands on it. As far as I can tell, the game manual is just background info and doesn't tell you how to actually use the user interface.

gammaleak: I've started up Ultima IV and like it, but I think one of the things that frustrates me a little is that I need a sheet with all the commands on it. As far as I can tell, the game manual is just background info and doesn't tell you how to actually use the user interface.

organmike: Guitar Hero was simply a natural extension of the rhythm games already in existence; the fancy new controller is about all the innovation that they could muster for it. (they didn't even get new music!)

RafaelLopez: *sigh* yeah, I thought someone might mention older music games. But Guitar Hero probably brought it to mainstream ocidental Playstations everywhere. By that time, we already had some dancing rhythm several years old down here, and in Japan they probably already had complete TV shows about it!

Ultima 4 too, it isn't the first great 80s-CRPG, it's just one of the older huge hits.

organmike: We've listed the commands here, too:
http://www.gog.com/en/forum/ultima_underworld/ultima_iv_rules_of_thumb
Do note that between two of us, we forgot {X}-it (to get out of boats, or off horses, and so on).

gammaleak: As you suspected, Guitar Hero wasn't even the first guitar-controller game. At least one series, Guitar Freaks by Konami, was available in Japan in 1999 - six years before Guitar Hero was released.

Max_R: It's good to see how much oldschool rpg fans are there!
I hope to see the gold box soon on gog...