The Ultima Online land rush is happening now because of a recent change to the “house decay” policy, where houses unattended to for more than 90 days begin to crumble. After five days of decay, the house disappears, the contents are displayed for all to pick over, and the land opens to the first player who can stake a claim.

“It’s something our players have wanted for a long time, and I’m thrilled we could finally give it to them,” said Anthony Castoro, producer of Ultima Online. “The day before the houses started falling, we were seeing stories of players calling in sick for work, players staying up all night waiting for particular houses to fall and players making plans to expand their existing houses into castles or towers.”

The end result was that tens of thousands of houses fell, and tens of thousands of houses were built in their places. Open lots are still available, but are quickly being snatched up. Players interested in UO home ownership should log in and search out a spot as soon as possible.