Expansions have been released regularly, all of which add new content in the form of landmass, art, quests, items, or game mechanics.
Ultima Online: The Second Age
(October 1, 1998) featured a new area of land called the Lost Lands, along with an in-game chat system and new creatures. Also known as T2A. It was released in two boxed versions with the first having different artwork and a single manual.
Ultima Online: Renaissance
(April 3, 2000) doubled the size of the world, as there were literally two copies of it. The worlds were called Felucca and Trammel, after the two moons in Ultima's Britannia world. The Trammel world did not allow player killing and was geared towards fighting monsters. Felucca also adopted a darker, more foreboding look and kept it's player vs player roots. Subscription was at its height during this period[citation needed].
Ultima Online: Third Dawn
(March 7, 2001) included a 3D client to compete with 3D competition like EverQuest. Also, a special Third Dawn only land was created, called Ilshenar. It was accessible only to 3D clients until the release of Lord Blackthorn's Revenge.
Ultima Online: Lord Blackthorn's Revenge
(February 24, 2002) brought "a dark new world based on new characters from Todd McFarlane" to Ultima Online with improved game artificial intelligence, in-game help, and improved character creation.
Ultima Online: Age of Shadows
(February 28, 2003) brought the landmass of Malas with space for new housing, two new character classes (Paladin and Necromancer) and the ability to customize house designs. The item system was completely reworked with this expansion. Armor resistance was split into five types of resistance, and many new properties that affected game play were added to weaponry. As good equipment became vital, this expansion also brought with it item insurance. Subscriptions started to fall as item dependency took over skill dependency[citation needed].
Ultima Online: Samurai Empire
(November 2, 2004) brought ancient Japanese mythology and folklore to the game, two new classes (Ninja and Samurai) and a new area to explore, the Tokuno Islands. The new class skills shifted the balance of player vs. player combat away from mage dominance.
Ultima Online: Mondain's Legacy
(August 30, 2005) introduced a new race, elves, and a new skill, spellweaving. Several dungeons were also added.
Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn
(June 27, 2007) introduced a new client with new graphics and interface. As of August 2008, still unfinished.
Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss
(TBA, 2009) will feature a new playable race, the Gargoyle, and a new skill, imbuing. Stygian Abyss will also feature significant upgrades to the Kingdom Reborn client, which will be renamed to the Stygian Abyss client. The legacy client will still be supported.[11]
Ultima Online is an MMORPG, which stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Also referred to as a Virtual World, an MMORPG is a place you co-inhabit with hundreds of thousands of other people simultaneously. It's persistent in that the world exists independent of your presence, and in that your actions can permanently shape the world.