I was part of the online community following the development of Ultima IX in the late 1990's. Having played all the previous Ultima games up until then, I contributed a lot to the forums.. I emailed Richard Garriott directly, having guessed his email address. I suggested showing game trailers as ads at movie theaters to show people that a computer game can be immersive. He wrote back and said he loved the idea and then asked how I put a stationary background (ivy) on my email. Lol. I pre-ordered the Dragon Edition of the game that came with trinkets, etc. I was 27 at the time and living with my parents back east, but didn't have a job. This game arrived in a huge box and my dad lost his mind when he saw me open it. So I packed this game in my car, along with all my other few belongings and 500 bucks in my pocket and started driving west. When I got to Arizona, I flirted with a girl at an apartment complex so that I could get a room there for two weeks. I couldn't install the game because my CD drive had stopped working. I called DELL support and they sent a tech and I ended up getting a job with them. That company sent me to Colorado, I met a girl while I was there, we had a kid, and a lot actually happened in my life because of this game, including my career. When I played the game, I had no issues with bugs at all. I played it completely through without issue and believe me when I say that I'm a completionist. I explore every nook and cranny that a game has to offer, and this one was no different. I enjoyed the gameplay, but did find the dialogue to be a bit silly at times. At the time, it was the most beautiful game that I had ever seen. Gorgeous sunsets and sunrises, clouds and weather systems. No other game had this back then. So when you play now, understand that it was a groundbreaking game in many respects. Also, it was a seamless world, so there were no "loading" screens when entering a building or a dungeon... also innovative.
For decades, I listed this as my #1 favorite game of all time. This was the very first computer game (IBM PC version) that I ever convinced my mom to buy for me, back in 1986 after seeing an advertisement on the back cover of Compute! magazine. I only had a CGA video card (3 colors + a background color) but I would've given anything to have had a 16-color EGA card to play this game. Alas. I tried to replay it recently, however, and my it has not aged well due to the clunky graphics and interface. I've seen numerous remaster attempts and sequel attempts over the years just all eventually fall to the wayside; I doubt anyone could ever truly recapture the magic of the first in the series... the story was superb and there's never been quite a feeling again like being thrust out into the great black deep with nothing but a paper starmap to guide your way (and a poorly trained navigator to lose it)... the first time your ship is stopped by an alien race out in the middle of nowhere, just wow. This game is a large part of the reason I went into the IT profession.
