Jonric: What high-level goals did you set for yourselves with respect to the kind of combat system you wanted to implement in Ultima X: Odyssey, and also in terms of making this part of the game both important and distinctive?

Rick Hall: Trying to put it as succinctly as possible, the primary high-level goal for the Odyssey combat system was interactivity. We've noted before that we perceived a distinct lack of required player participation in existing massively multiplayer games. We began referring to this situation as "sandwich combat", and judging by the number of players and even developers who've picked up the term and started using it themselves, it seems that many agree with us.