In the first two diaries, we talked a lot about the ideas behind creating Ultima X: Odyssey (UXO), such as focusing on fun gameplay, reducing downtime, and removing tedium. For the next two diaries, I'd like to talk about the two core elements of UXO that these ideas have helped us create. UXO focuses on strategic combat and grand adventuring--two features that have consistently been lacking in massively multiplayer games. In this diary, we'll focus on UXO's combat.