Zone of Ultima

The Zone of Ultima was a popular gaming clan that started in the summer of 2003, whilst in session the organization lead to a revolutionary change for developers at Raven Software and the Social Networks of online multi player games.The Zone of Ultima, also referred to as ZoU originated on the online multi player game . The reason that the Zone of Ultima was different than any other clans was because they were oriented towards bringing media to the games that they were actively playing.

Michael Chang Gummelt Impersonators

Michael Chang Gummelt is the lead programmer for Raven Software, he was the project manager during the development of . A Zone of Ultima member recruited into the clan posed as Gummelt telling players that they will be banned from the master server if they continue to use a glitch that essentially crashed servers on V1.02a of the online multi player game.

When Raven Software found out about the complications with the game, they created a new multi player game and sent out a patch which was V1.04. One reason that the Zone of Ultima was linked so strongly to the Gummelt impersonator was because the Zone of Ultima members refused to upgrade to v1.04 along with other clans. They brought up excuses such as the fact that the fighting style is different and the previous version is more skilled based.

Zone of Ultima Fortress

Fortress is a gaming clan map, or alternative level in the multi player game that was custom made by a map designer. The Zone of Ultima released a map by the name of Fortress which was placed at the most popular maps aside from the default maps created by Raven Software. [cite web | url = http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/jediacademy/download_6099057.html | title = Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy Zone of Ultima Fortress Map | work = Gamespot | accessdate = 2007-07-02] [cite web | url = http://software.techrepublic.com.com/download.aspx?docid=197769 | title = Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy Zone of Ultima Fortress map | work = TechRepublic | accessdate = 2007-07-02] Along with Fortress, other popular maps include WoV Clan Map, TMBJ Clan Map, and several FoU Maps. Both WoV and TMBJ Clan maps were created by a map designer by the name of ShroomDuck which was an affiliated of the TMBJ clan.

Ultima Source Magazine

The Zone of Ultima grew to a stage where it began to write about news and media articles for its community and the games that it was established on. In January 2005 the administrators at the Zone of Ultima released the Ultima Source Magazine, an online editorial that included information for online gamers. [cite web | url = http://files.filefront.com/Ultima+Source+Magazine+Issue+4/;3852567;/fileinfo.html | title = Ultima Source Magazine Issue #4 | work = FileFront | accessdate = 2007-07-02]

After Jedi Knight and Conclusion

The Zone of Ultima continued to play on Jedi Outcast v1.02a and later moved on to another Raven Software game, Call of Duty. The clan later moved to Unreal Tournament 2004 and then Half Life 2 . In May 2007, one month short of four years of the clans existence, the founder considered the clan to be dead and changed the website and community forums to an 'Online Entertainment Community'. The Zone of Ultima had such an influence on the Jedi Outcast online community that Raven Software created a new version of the game that would ultimately be revised into a whole new game by the name of Jedi Academy.

References

External links

* [http://zoneofultima.com/ Official Zone of Ultima Site]
* [http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,28173/ Michael Chang Gummelt] entry at MobyGames
* [http://history.zoneofultima.com/ Zone of Ultima Software History]