8 Massive Online Community Events That Changed Video Games

MMO developers often have a more hands on approach for such massive games; in fact you may well find them playing the game themselves to uncover any bugs or exploits. This is how is went with Ultima designer Richard Garriott, better known as 'Lord British', a character in the game.

British is said to be invincible, a purposeful tweak to ensure players don't break out of their boundaries while playing. Unfortunately for Garriott this claim would ring hollow. Known as 'The assassination of Lord British', many a player argued that someone would try to take him down eventually and it happened in 1997.

This key member of the dev team found himself taken out by a player named Rainz, who casted the fire field spell. A gap in Lord British's immortality showed over multiple play sessions, and he had forgotten to activate his invulnerability flag after logging in.

Enraged, Richard immediately banned Rainz from the game and a fellow developer summoned a set of demon hordes that attacked innocent players. This exploit effectively broke the illusion of the world, knowing that any player character could be killed. The event lived long in the memory, with many an Ultima fan remembering exactly where they were when the incident unfolded.