Ultima Online (PC)

A true “flawed classic,” UO was the my first significant MMO experience in a very familiar world (I’ve played all of the Ulitma games over the years).  Right from the beta I was hooked and spent incredible amounts of time exploring Britannia, battling monsters and engaging Dread Lords in vigorous PVP combat.  No game matches the incredible wild-west feeling where on the occasion you died you not only had to retrieve your body, but it would usually find it picked clean by other members of the world; you learned very quickly to have a couple extra suits of armor and bags of reagents in your bank for that unfortunate occurrence.