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But a complete reiteration of the classic game, such as what NetDevil is doing with Jumpgate, could allow the hundreds and thousands of gamers to return to the icy halls of Halas or the verdant fields of Qeynos. A Norrath – and not the pseudo version that belongs to Everquest 2 – complete with a modern graphics engine would be something to behold and would probably make shake with excitement. Advanced AI systems would allow those pesky gnolls to be even peskier and go out of their way to kill adventurers that are waiting on the ramp in Blackburrow. Spectres and Sand Giants alike would roam the hills of the Oasis, looking for adventurers to destroy.

The problem, however, lies in the players still adventuring in the Norrathian lands. This is where Jumpgate Evolution holds an immediately recognizable advantage over the other older games. While Jumpgate was not popular with a multitude of people, Everquest and its brethren were and many remain steadfast in their loyalty to this day. What would developers do with those individuals who wouldn’t give up their maxed out character that owns loot from every plane of existence?

UO: Kingdom Reborn hopes to draw UO fans back to the game with an improved graphics engine.

Despite this problem, there could be a simple solution to the dilemma. Give gamers that are still interacting in the old world a chance to fill out a quick questionnaire and ask them if they would mind abandoning their character in the hopes of returning to an entirely repopulated Norrath. Developers could reciprocate those players with some sort of bonus, item, or title depending upon their characters and their level in the old game, but I doubt that there would be any hesitancy to see a reforged Norrath go live in the MMOG marketplace.

And Everquest is only one example. Several MMOGs are still functioning in the mainstream marketplace today and they are crawling towards that sixth, seventh, and eighth year of existence.

There is another group that is overhauling there original game, and that’s EA Mythic and Ultima Online. However, there are a number of differences between Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn and Jumpgate Evolution. With NetDevil’s space combat sim, gamers are being introduced to an entirely new game, redeveloped from the ground up to be true to veteran players, but to also introduce new players to the Jumpgate series. The team behind Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn decided to opt for a less thorough upgrade of their game, and instead are simply reforging the graphics, implementing some new features, and redeveloping the new player experience for the title. For many UO fans that have gone out of their old Brittanian homes, this sort of overhaul simply isn’t enough. To get old players, you need to play to their nostalgia, but also include something that will make them sit back and consider that this isn’t exactly the game they played years ago.

Other games, like Dark Age of Camelot and Everquest, have tried this "graphics ugrade only" approach in years past, but there never seems to be a huge response to the improvements. We never see the publisher announcing enormous sales figures after a graphics enhancement expansion, and you probably never will. The gamer might want better graphics, but they also want improved gameplay as well.

Unlike the Kingdom Reborn enhancement to UO, I think that the games of yesteryear should be remade completely and turned into games that are familiar yet new, changed yet vaguely reminiscent of what our initial gaming days were like. Other licenses – mainly old cartoons – continue to refresh their looks and develop another new group of patrons while still holding the interest of past fans. Shows like Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles prove again and again that their old market value remains high despite a fresh set of legs every other year.

For many gamers, we’re anxiously awaiting the response that the revisioned Jumpgate will have. If players come flocking to the servers and instantly dive into the games new and improved content and features, we may begin to see a host of older games begin taking a new look at their future expansion plans. Instead of continuing to add content to an aging game, perhaps they could just remake that aged game into something tremendous and save their dying game from an eventual grave.

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